Lincoln Elementary Montessori
Ms. Sheela’s Classroom
Room #112
September 7th, 2014
“Teach by teaching, not by correcting.”
Dr.
Maria Montessori
The first few days were filled with sharing
summer news and experiences, and getting back into the “rhythm” of our school
activities. The school year begins with simply
following the routine of the school day at a pace that allows each student to
take in the new experiences. There are classmates and teachers to get to know,
routines to figure out (e.g., sitting on the green line, singing
songs, waiting for a turn), lockers to find, and new activities to discover and
even the younger students soon enjoy the routine. This simple consistency
builds their confidence and independence. This is what Dr. Montessori referred
to as "normalization" - the transition of the child into the
responsibility, productivity and joy of the school day.
NOTES
& REMINDERS
Nut Allergies-Please note we have two
students with severe nut allergies in our classroom, please do not send nuts in
your child’s snack, we really need your support here.
**Non-Student Contact Day
Monday, Sept 22nd, 2014
Monday, Dec 1st, 2014,
Friday, April 17th, 2015
3 and 4 year olds will not have school on the above
dates. Only Kindergarten students will attend school as we will have a
Substitute teacher for that day.
Please mark this on your calendars now so it won’t be a
surprise later on.
**Arrival and Dismissal
Thank
you for your patience and support as we help our little ones adjust to the routines.
Please say good-bye quickly, lovingly
and go. This is important for your child’s transition as well as traffic
flow. We will help at easing the transition for your child and we will let you
know if there is a problem. Groups of parents lingering in the classrooms or in
the hallway can affect an otherwise calm routine.
With younger children you may want to
discuss and role-play saying good-bye. Be sure to convey your confidence
that school is a good place for them to be. Some
families establish a ritual such as “hug-kiss-snuggle” that reassures them both
at parting. Saying good-bye quickly, warmly, lovingly and matter-of-factly just
as you rehearsed (no matter how anxious you are feeling!) will ease them
through this transition.
Please be on time, allowing us to prepare a peaceful,
harmonious and happy environment for your child. And if you are late picking
up, we have a hard time fitting in cleaning, prepping, phone calls, lunch and
meetings. Children are often worried and distressed when
they arrive too early, too late or when parents are late for pickup.
**Tote Bags
All students
should bring their Tote Bags to school every day with one snack for half days
and two snacks and a lunch (unless buying a hot lunch) for full days, They
should all have a water
bottle, and a change of clothes at school. They should be quite
independent in dressing for the out-of-doors so please make sure your child can
easily put on and take off his/her own shoes, especially during winter. If your
child cannot yet tie laces, please
provide shoes with buckles, Velcro or slip-on styling. We also ask
that you ensure your child can open all containers for snack and lunch by him
or herself to foster independence.
We
would like all children to bring a water bottle to school on Mondays to use in
the classroom during the week. We will send water bottles home on
Fridays to be washed and returned on the following Monday. This
is especially important during this hot, end of summer days.
**ECE Forms/Classroom Funds
Our three and four year old children must turn in all
paperwork ASAP. Our
program is licensed by the state and it is a state regulation that we have this
paperwork in your child’s file. If you are missing any forms we will
be contacting you at arrival/dismissal times.
Also, don’t forget that we ask parents of Kindergarten
children to contribute $35.00 and parents of Preschool children to contribute
$25.00 to the classroom fund for consumables and supplies. If
you haven’t sent this in yet please do so.
**Scholastic Books
We will be sending Firefly (Preschool) and See-Saw
(Kindergarten) book orders home with your child monthly. Scholastic
Books offers quality paperbacks at reasonable prices. We
enjoy the added plus that Scholastic offers bonus points with your orders to
obtain books and materials free for the classroom. So
we really appreciate all your orders. We are offering you the opportunity to
order books from Scholastic online if that would be more convenient for you. All orders for this month are due on Friday,
Sept12, 2014
**What is Show and Tell? For New
Parents
Show and Tell is an oral language experience designed to
give the children an opportunity to talk about an object they bring from home
and to answer questions the other children ask. The children sign in on the Show and
Tell book as they arrive in the classroom. We will again be using the alphabet
sounds to guide your child’s
choice of items. Show and Tell will officially begin on
Monday, September 15th, 2014. The sound for the first week is ‘a’ as
in apple. The
sound for each week will be posted on our bulletin board. We
ask that you help your child choose an item that begins with the sound of the
week. Also,
help your child think of clues such as what color the object is, or what the
item is used for, as your child will keep their item hidden and give these
clues to the children at Circle Time. The other children will then guess
what the item is. These
items will be available to take home from the basket at dismissal. We encourage your child to bring
educational items, items from a trip, or from your back yard; a book,
telescope, painting, picture, etc. We ask that you please do not select stuffed
animals or toys. Thank you!
Thank you for your support as we begin
this school year. Please
feel free to contact me at school anytime you have questions or concerns. Dismissal
times are good times to catch me or you can call and leave a message at school
for me to call you. The school’s number is (720)424-5990,
and my email is sheela_dharmarajan@dpsk12.org
We are looking forward to a fantastic
year! Thank you again for your patience,
help, and your understanding these first few weeks.
We hope that your September is happy and healthy!!!
Peace,
Ms. Sheela, Ms. Kelly & Ms. Paula
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