We have oodles of dates to put on your calendars and some noteworthy reminders to juggle your memories …….
Oct 2 – Friday The first scholastic book club orders are due in
Oct 6 – Tuesday PARENT NIGHT. We are VERY excited to be able to offer you this VERY special parent night to take place at 6:00pm AT the TOADSTOOL Bookstore in Milford. (Just down 101A past the school; the first shopping center on the rightnear Shaw’s supermarket) Sue, their most wonderful employee and past elementary school teacher will present good children’s book picks for all ages. In addition the bookstore has generously offered a 20% discount to all our families who wish to make purchases that night. This is a most requested topic so we hope to see you there!
Oct 9 – Friday. Our Ms Sue requests Box Tops come in. If you’ve been saving some at home please bring them in by this date. Sue has a mailing deadline for this first batch of the year. Thanks.
Oct 12 – Monday. No School. Columbus Day. Enjoy!
Oct 16 – Friday For Small Hands orders due in.
Oct 30 – Friday. Our second Annual trip to The Isles at Ledgewood assisted living facility in Milford. This brings Halloween cheer to our senior friends. The children go in costume sing songs and bring treats to all the grandmas and grandpas. More info will follow.
That’s almost it for a busy October. Remember to schedule your observations and conferences with your child’s teacher this month.
And don’t forget to check our website regularly as we have info, photographs, and updates posted regularly.
An October will be on the reverse of this newsletter.
We have our first field trip coming up this Friday to Beaverbrook in Hollis. Our Plant Walk is 1 hour and begins at 10am. We will be leaving the school 9:40am and returning to school 11:30am. The children will not have time to snack so be sure to feed them a protein-packed nutritious breakfast. Upon returning we will lunch. They may choose an afternoon snack if needed. We are happy so many of you can drive. This means no other chaperones are necessary. Too many adults actually interfere with the children learning to manage on their own which is important on their path to independence. Please dress your children for the weather. Tune in to WMUR to find out what is predicted for the day. Also, STURDY FOOTWEAR IS RECOMMENDED.
Trip #2 to the Amherst Public Library has had to be changed due to our Day of Peace Celebration. New date is Friday, September 25th. Time is 11am. Again, thanks for your help in transporting and chaperoning. We will take chaperones this trip. Extra hands to help are fine in this venue. We are going with the express interest in researching biographies. We will be starting our 3rd annual Halloween Peacemakers reports and will be researching people we want to know more about.
Homework:To aid your child(ren) in thinking about peacemakers, start sharing with them some of your personal heroes and heroines and the stories of their lives. We like to look at people who have advanced the cause of peace throughout the world. They do not have to be Americans. In the past some of our children researched, wrote and gave reports on, Gandhi, Maria Montessori, George Washington, Ticht Nat Hahn, Desmond Tutu, Mother Theresa, Clara Barton …you get the idea. We can’t help but include explorers and inventors in our discussions– but would really like to save those for other studies and special days like an “Invention Convention”. Oh we have plans……
Spelling Homework: Going home with your child today is the list and activities for next week. We are starting out easily so you and your child can get in the swing of doing homework together. The assignments should be completed in their red composition books and sent in daily for a check.
Soccer: The much anticipated start of soccer begins next week. Accompanying info can be found on the reverse of this newsletter. No child will be allowed to go to soccer without shin guards and water.
Lastly, for safety and our protection, anyone driving children this year will be asked to furnish a driver’s license and proof of insurance to Ms. Sue. She will make a copy and keep in our files. Thank you.
We are beginning our first full week of school and I can’t help reflecting how anticipant we all are! Do you know your staff has been preparing ALL summer for this day? I can’t help but feel such a sense of pride and joy when I look at the tremendous preparation all of us here at CountryVillageMontessoriSchool sign on to when it comes to the welfare and education of your young children. Our standards are high and we only accept the best. I’d like to take a little minute to acknowledge our staff and also tell you about our planned improvements.
Monika M. and Monica J. spent the better part of their summer away from their families in a grueling sunup to sundown 6-week training. Monica traveled to Newton, Massachusetts and Monika to Stratham, NH.I went to Stratham as well and completed my second summer of 9-12 training. I await the certification in the mail. Sue and Carla spent a very worthwhile and productive weekend in Maine for a “Positive Discipline Workshop” offered by a Montessori Head-of-School certified in training for “Positive Discipline”. I later attended a one-day version of the same offered in upstate NH. Additionally we all certified or re-certified in American Red Cross CPR and First Aid. We’ve been busy.
On the home front, the school has received a fresh cost of paint, a new driveway, a garbage receptacle pad off the parking lot, and a downstairs rug cleaning. Improvements you can’t see are also a drainage system put around the back perimeter of the parking lot to help with rain and snow accumulation.
Now to the children: Graduating a full ½ of the Children’s House class from last year leaves us in rebuilding mode for the 3-6 year old classroom. Happily we have a wonderful group of returning students with many fresh new faces too. However, we do have room for more. Please tell your friends and neighbors that if they are thinking of starting their child at Country Village Montessori that now is the time! We are known to fill to capacity rather quickly but in today’s economy they are still fortunate we have room. We have unfortunately lost the Pritz twins to a 2-day program elsewhere. We will miss them and wish them the best with this difficult decision.
The classes are coming together nicely in learning the ropes of a new school year and fresh challenges, especially for new comers and rising elementary students. We have every confidence in their successes. As always, we look eagerly to your first observation and following conference. There we can open up and dialogue with you about your child, our program, or any other connected matter. The reverse of this newsletter will give a few specific dates and times as reminders for up coming events that we’re sure you don’t want to miss.
Thanks for all you do – from all of us,
ALL SCHOOL EVENTS:
1.Don’t forget our SECOND ANNUALInternational Pot Luck Picnic is this Saturday 12 -2pm. This is a great time to connect with other families and visit with staff. Come with the family and bring picnic blankets and chairs.Don’t forget the bug spray and water too!
2.Did you know that September 21st is the International Day of Peace? That’s right in 1981 the United Nations General assembly established this day to “commemorate and strengthen the ideals of peace within and among all nations and people”. Twenty years later , the General Assembly set21 September as the date to observe the occasion annually as a “day of global ceasefire and non-violence…through education and public awareness and to cooperate in the establishment of a global ceasefire.
CountryVillageMontessoriSchool will participate in a show of support of world peace by singing the Peace Song entitled, Light a Candle for Peace, on that day. In collaboration with schools in every time zone, we will sing continuously for five minutes. New Zealand will start the singing and our time slot is 11:08am. Parents are invited to join us on this very special day. We will fly our peace dove again and dedicate the day to Peace with special crafts, stories, and activities.
Light a Candle for Peace:
Light a candle for peace, Light a candle for love
Light a candle that shines all the way around the world,
Light a candle for me, light a candle for you,
That our wish for world peace will one day come true.
Sing Peace around the world
Sing Peace around the world
Sing Peace around the world
Sing peace around the world
MANY THANKS:
-To the Montbleau for their incredible donation of $250.00 to put toward a refrigerator for the school and a supply of bathroom tissues and Clorox wipes.
-To the Bartolomucci family for their generous donation of Softsoap refill and Gelsoap.
-To the Salzman fisherman for catching and putting on ice a spectacular fish for the elementary to explore and make their “fish prints” from.