Johnson County Montessori Preschool
Parent Publication
November & December 2015
www.jocomontessori.org
Morning Routine Changes with Seasons
At this time of the year, instead of starting our day on the playground, children from
all of the classrooms may gather in the lunchroom. By 8:30 a.m., teachers take the
children to their respective classrooms to start their Montessori day.
Some children who arrive early (before 7:45 a.m.) eat breakfast here at school. Breakfast food is provided by parents; we offer a supervised table in the lunchroom. Please
note that we can provide that supervised breakfast table only until 7:45. If you arrive
later than that, please make sure your child eats breakfast beforehand, or be prepared to
sit with your child in the lunchroom while he or she eats.
We appreciate all of the extra effort parents make to get their children to school on
time. The children are better able to focus on their work without the distractions that
late arrivals can cause. When a late arrival (after 8:30 a.m.) cannot be avoided, please
accompany your child to his or her classroom, say your good-byes quickly and quietly at the
classroom door, and let the teacher take it from there.
Depending on the program your child is enrolled in, a parent or authorized adult needs
to pick him or her up at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., or no later than our 6:00 p.m. closing time.
Please do your best to be here a few minutes before 6:00 to gather belongings, sign out on
the classroom clipboard, etc. Our goal is to lock the doors by 6:00 so that our staff
members can get home to be with their loved ones.
Annual Kansas Reads to
Preschoolers Week
The annual Kansas Reads to Preschoolers week is November
15-21. This year’s selection is “Is Your Mama a Llama?” In this
delightful guessing game book, filled with whimsical riddles
and endearing illustrations, a little llama named Lloyd
discovers what kind of animal his mama really is. Rhyming
questions and answers will charm and amuse babies,
toddlers, and preschool-age children alike.
Dates to Note on Your Calendar
November 13
November 25
November 26 & 27
December 2
December 22 - 25
December 30 – January 1
May 30, 2016
May 31, 2016
July 4, 2016
August 1-5 or 8-12, 2016
For Small Hands catalog orders due
School closes early (3 p.m.) for Thanksgiving break
School closed for Thanksgiving break
Christmas tree farm field trip
School closed for Christmas holiday
School closed for New Year’s holiday
School closed for Memorial Day holiday
School closed for summer session preparation
School closed for Independence Day holiday
School closed for 2016-’17 school year prep week
Reminders
 Help us keep our stuff! If you
spot a Montessori teaching tool
or piece of equipment in your
child’s pocket or toy box at
home, please return it to your
child’s teacher so that we can
get it back to its proper place.
 Be sure your child is dressed in
comfy play clothes that can
withstand the rigors of yearround outdoor play and art
projects. The children love
playing in the fallen leaves,
and we have tons of them!
You’re likely to encounter some
happily dirty little kids at the
end of the day, with dirtsmudged faces and bits of
leaves in their pockets and
shoes.
 Each child needs a complete
change of clothing (including
socks) to keep at school. Each
item should be appropriate for
the current season and labeled
with his/her name.
 Please label all of your child’s
cold-weather clothing items
(jacket, coat, each mitten or
glove, each snow boot, snow
pants, etc.). So many of these
items look alike that it’s hard
for us to keep track of what
belongs to whom!
 Normal closing time is 6:00 p.m.
The late fee is $1.00 per
minute, payable that evening to
the teacher who has to stay
past closing time.
 Our school’s federal tax ID
number is 48-0896520
Great Gifts for the Upcoming Holidays
If you would like to extend your child’s learning experiences at home, there is a way to acquire Montessori materials and
help our school at the same time. Wouldn’t a few of your child’s favorite Montessori materials make a great gift? We will be
placing a group order for items from the “For Small Hands” catalog. A group order of $500 or more qualifies us for a 15 percent
merchandise credit for our classrooms. Catalogs have been distributed, so make your selections and submit your order to your
child’s teacher by November 13. You can also refer to the catalog for information on placing an individual order; just be sure to
designate our school, customer #108974.
December Field Trip
We have scheduled a fun, holiday-oriented field trip for Wednesday, December 2. We’ll take a bus ride to the D & G Tree
Farm, where each class will pick out a nice-smelling pine tree to bring back for their classroom. We’ll also go on a wagon ride and
enjoy hot chocolate and candy canes in D & G’s warm barn. The bus will leave our parking area at 8:45 a.m. We welcome parent
volunteers to go with us on field trips; consult with your child’s teacher to sign up. If your child does not attend school on
Wednesdays, you’re still welcome to join us on the bus or meet us at D & G Tree Farm, which is located at the northeast corner
of Highway 69 and 247th Street, north of Louisburg, Kansas.
Wishing Star Program
If you and your child are looking for a way to include your child’s teacher,
classroom, or our school as a whole in your gift giving during the upcoming holiday
season, we hope you’ll consider granting one or more of the small wishes that will soon
appear on Wishing Star displays throughout our school.
Our Wishing Star program started more than a decade ago, with some parents
asking for suggestions for how they could show appreciation for teachers in a more
meaningful way than giving a token knick-knack. You can pick an item from the display
and shop for it on your own, OR you can make it easy on yourself during this hectic
time of the year by making a monetary contribution toward the purchase of any of the items. Just put your contribution in an
envelope, indicate whether you would like a receipt for tax purposes, and put the envelope in the classroom tuition box. We will
handle the ordering, shipping, etc. Please contact Barbara Lyons if you have any questions about the Wishing Star Gift Program.
P.S. If you, a relative, or friend would like to make a year-end charitable contribution, gifts to our preschool are taxdeductible, thanks to our status as a division of CLO, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. We can provide a letter acknowledging
any contribution for tax purposes. Please make sure contributions are received before December 31 for 2015 tax purposes.
Attendance Information for Late December
In early December, we will distribute a form for you to fill out to let us know which days your child will be attending school
in late December. Please submit the form by December 11 so that we can plan our teachers’ schedules. If your child normally
attends half days and you would like for him/her to attend full days for the last part of December, an extra charge will apply;
contact Barbara Lyons for details.
Cold Weather Attire and Snow Days
Please take time NOW to make sure your child has appropriate cold-weather attire, including a warm coat, hat (or a coat’s
snug-fitting hood), and mittens or gloves (mittens are generally easier for the children to put on by themselves). Start shopping
for warm, waterproof boots and snow pants. Make sure your child’s name is on everything, including individual mittens and boots.
You can bring these items to school daily or keep some of them at school.
Since our school is located within the boundaries of the Shawnee Mission School District, we generally follow their guidelines
for staying indoors during extreme weather conditions. We’ll keep the children indoors if the temperature outside is 15
Fahrenheit or below, or if the wind chill factor is 0 Fahrenheit or below. We may also stay indoors if there’s too much snow or
ice to move about safely on the playground. If it is safe, however, we’ll get the children into their warm outerwear and go
outside to run around and play. If the Shawnee Mission School District closes all of its schools because of snowy or icy
conditions, our school will be closed, too.
Musical Notes from Ann Stein
During individual music days, I help
students with the work they choose
from the classroom’s music shelf. In
group music class, each student has
been playing the keyboard, the tone
bars and the lap harp. We have also
been listening to Vivaldi and Bach and
identifying instruments in the
orchestra.
Playing tone bars (above) and lap harp (right) in the
music area of the classroom.
To introduce the children to
seasonal music like The Nutcracker,
we will be listening to and discussing
choral music, choir music, and ballet.
We will be celebrating the holiday season by playing dreidel during Hanukkah
and singing Christmas carols. The children will be playing instruments of their
choice in our very own Jingle Bell Band.
Classroom Happenings
From Deja in Classroom 2
Can you believe we’re already into the second quarter of the school year? We had a great time last month learning about and
having fun with Halloween. A big THANK YOU to all of our parent volunteers who helped out with Halloween festivities.
In November, we are reviewing four more letter/sounds: h, n, d, and e. We will continue talking about our universe (including
land, air and water, and living versus non-living things). The Delgado-Walton family shared information about the Day of the
Dead, an important day in Latin culture. We will say “thank you” to our nation’s servicemen and women on November 11, Veteran’s
Day. We will also discuss the first Thanksgiving. December will be a wonderfully busy month. After our field trip, we will
decorate the tree that we pick out for our classroom. We will talk about the various holidays that occur throughout the month
and why, even though we may not celebrate some of them personally, we still respect others and what they believe and
celebrate. We will start with Hanukkah, followed by Christmas and ending with Kwanzaa. Our class will have a learning-themed
celebration of our own that will include a book exchange. Please have your child bring a gift-wrapped book and label the gift tag
“To my friend,” from (your child’s name). Through it all, our sound-of-the-week will continue, and we hope that you will encourage
your child to choose challenging work.
From Emilie in Classroom 3
October was filled with much learning and fun, including an exciting pumpkin patch field trip, a visit from Chief Eagle Bear,
United Nations Fun Activities Week, and the ever-popular Halloween trick or treating next door at Ad Astra. Thanks to our
parent and grandparent helpers who joined us at the pumpkin patch, helped with Halloween snacks, and joined us for trick-ortreating fun. In addition, thank you for your participation during our United Way fundraising. What a great time we had on
these fun learning days!
In November, we are learning about living versus non-living things, vertebrates versus invertebrates, nursery rhymes, and
Thanksgiving. We are almost done with the letters/sounds b, f, o, and x and numbers 6-10. Next we study d, r, e, and n and the
numbers will be 11-15. The children are always eager for the arrival of December, one of their favorite months. The excitement
will begin with our field trip to D & G tree farm, and it won’t take long for the children to fill our tree and classroom with
holiday decorations. December’s learning themes will be money; winter; letters/sounds h, c, u, and p; numbers 15-19; Hanukkah;
and Christmas.
Since cooler temperatures are now here, please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the day’s weather and has
a jacket for the chilly mornings. As long as it is warm in the afternoons, your child still needs to bring a water bottle. Fall
allergy season is hanging around until the first hard freeze, so if your child needs allergy medication, please send some to school
and fill out an authorization form so that we can administer it here to keep allergy symptoms under control.
(continued)
More Classroom Happenings
From Emilie in Classroom 3
(continued)
We are also finding hats, coats and jackets with no names. Please help us by labeling every item so that we can keep track of
your child’s belongings. Thanks for everything that you do!
From Tammy in Classroom 4
October was filled with great activities. The pumpkin
patch field trip was so much fun and we could not have
asked for better weather for it. Thank you to all of the
parents who help out on our field trips; you’re awesome!
Chief Eagle Bear’s visit was exciting, as always, with
Native American stories, songs, and dances. We also
learned about pumpkins, apples and the legend of Johnny
Appleseed, fire safety, autumn, and Halloween.
In November, we are going over air, land, and water;
living versus non-living things; vertebrates versus
invertebrates; and the Thanksgiving legends of the
European settlers and Native Americans. December’s
learning topics will include winter and holidays around the
world.
The weather is changing quickly, meaning it is time to
Ready for Halloween fun in classroom 4
check your child’s clothing box and make sure it contains a
complete change of clothing that is suitable for the current season. Morning temperatures can be very chilly this time of year;
please make sure your child has a suitable jacket to wear.
Winter weather is right around the corner. The children love to play in the snow, but before we can do that, each child will
need waterproof boots, snow pants, and gloves or mittens, in addition to a warm coat with a snug-fitting hood or hat. You may
leave some of these items at school if you’d like or bring them daily as needed (and please LABEL, LABEL, LABEL).
From Nancy in Classroom 5
October went by in a flash! We started things off with our annual field trip to Johnson’s Family Farm. It was a beautiful
day that went so smoothly. We were blessed to have a lot of parents and grandparents to help out on this pumpkin patch field
trip. Thank you! We also had a great time last month learning about the life of Christopher Columbus, studying his biography,
the continents, and land/water. The children also enjoyed Chief Eagle Bear’s visit, complete with Native American stories,
songs, and dances. Again, thank you for helping us out with our trick-or-treat party.
In November, we are tackling our third set of letters/sounds (h, n, e, and d), continuing our study of the continents
(concentrating on Europe), and learning about the first Thanksgiving. This is a season of giving, which brings so many
opportunities to teach kindness, peace, and love. The excitement will continue with our December field trip to pick out a
Christmas tree for our classroom. Later, our classroom will celebrate the season with a Polar Bear Express pajama party. This
party, scheduled for December 18, will include a book exchange. Please have your child bring a gift-wrapped book and write “To
my friend” from (your child’s name) on the gift tag.
Early Autumn at Work and at Play
Evie Nydegger and her grandmother read together during our school’s
Grandparents’ Day celebration.
Keely Shuck (above) with math work in classroom 4
During October’s pumpkin patch field trip, Jackson Frost (above) had fun
in the straw bale maze, while Tallulah French (right) took her turn at the
wheel of an old school bus converted to covered sand box.
Spotlight on Practical Life in
the Montessori Classroom
Practical Life exercises are designed to give a child real-life experience using real working tools. Directly, the child
gains coordination, concentration, self-control, large and small motor skills, and attention span. Indirectly, the child
is learning to spoon beads, clamp clothespins, pick up small items with tongs, use a brush to clean an item, or
whatever the activity is. The child is also indirectly learning pencil control and writing. Believe it or not, Practical
Life exercises lead the child into reading and writing because the exercises involve precise movements of the hand
and body, leading to coordination of sight and muscle control. Furthermore, lessons are given so that the child is
spooning, pouring, using tongs to grasp, etc., from left to right, just like we read and write.
Once a child has mastered several activities in the classroom’s Practical Life and Sensorial areas, activities in the
Math area and other areas can be introduced. It is important to master the Practical Life and Sensorial materials
first because they help the child develop attention span.
Tonging ▼ (using tongs to pick up and transfer items with precision)
Direct Aims:




Order
Coordination
Concentration
Independence
Indirect Aims:
 Use of tongs
 Preparation for using scissors
Pouring Liquids ►
Direct Aims:




Order
Coordination
Concentration
Independence
Indirect Aims:
 Preparation for other real-life activities that
involve working with liquids
 Preparation for using a sponge to clean
up spills
 Experience of left-to-right movement
 Preparation for writing and reading