Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF Boxes DuePlease return your child’s UNICEF box to school as soon as possible. Submit

the box to your child’s teacher, to Barbara, or leave it in the lunch room. We need to tally our total contribution to UNICEF and send it in.

Morning Routine Changes with SeasonsWith chilly autumn weather now upon us, you’re likely to find us indoors

when you arrive at school in the mornings. Generally, the children from all the classrooms gather in the lunchroom. At 8:30, the teachers take the children to their classrooms to start the Montessori day.Some children who arrive early 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 a.m. for your child to eat the breakfast that you send. If you arrive after 7:45 a.m., please make sure your child eats breakfast before you get here, or be prepared to sit with your child in the lunchroom while s/he eats.

Annual Kansas Reads to Preschoolers Week

The annual Kansas Reads to Preschoolers week is scheduled for November 11-17 this year. This year’s book selection is Lola Loves Stories. ”I’m absolutely thrilled that so many children will be getting to know Lola through this program,” said the author, Anna McQuinn. “I hope she will inspire them with a love of reading and prompt many hours of imaginative play.”

Dates to Note on Your Calendar November 21, 2012 School closes early (at 3 p.m.) for Thanksgiving

breakNovember 22 & 23, 2012 School closed for Thanksgiving breakNovember 29, 2012 Tree Farm Field TripDecember 24-26, 2012 School closed for Christmas holidayDecember 31, 2012 School closed for New Year’s Eve January 1, 2013 School closed for New Year’s DayMay 27, 2013 School closed for Memorial DayMay 31, 2013 School closed for summer session preparationJuly 4-5, 2013 School closed for Independence Day

October Memories

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.

Please label all of your child’s clothing items (jacket, coat, each mitten/glove, each snow boot, snow pants, etc.). So many items look alike that it’s hard for us to keep track of what belongs to whom!

Each child needs a complete change of clothing (including socks) to keep at school that is appropriate for the current season. Please label every single item!

Normal closing time is 6 p.m. The late fee is $1.00 per minute, payable that evening to the teacher who has to stay past closing time.

Be sure your child is dressed in comfy play clothes that can withstand the rigors of year-round 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 dust smudges on their faces and sand and bits of leaves in their pockets & shoes.

Johnson County Montessori Preschool

Parent Publication

Cold Weather Attire and Snow DaysThe first snow always seems to arrive before we grown-ups are ready, so 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 now for warm, water-proof boots and snow pants. Make sure your child’s name is on EVERY ITEM, please, 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.

Car Seats AvailableSteve and Jamie Schonfeldt (Jordan in room #4 Mom and Dad) donated a couple of used Eddie Bauer car

seats for anyone at our school who can use them. The seats are sitting at the bottom of the stairs to Barbara’s office and are available to you. Just stop by and grab one if you need it. Thanks Schonfeldts!!

Our neighbors to the west, Ad Astra, did a fantastic job of hosting our Halloween trick-or-treaters. Ad Astra’s staffers were in the Halloween spirit for passing out treats, and everyone had a wonderful time. As always, we appreciated Ad Astra’s hospitality. If you’d like to send a thank-you note of your own, you can email it to Karen at kmcfarland@aais.com.

Chief Eagle Bear visited our school on Monday October 8 th, a picture perfect autumn day. The children watched his son, Bear, perform Native American dances and also participated themselves.

Late November Field TripWe’ve scheduled a fun, holiday-oriented field trip for Thursday, November 29th. 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 Thursdays, 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 near Louisburg, Kansas.

Great Gifts for the HolidaysWouldn’t a few of your child’s favorite Montessori learning materials make a great gift? If you would like to

extend your child’s Montessori learning experiences to your home, there is a way you can order Montessori materials and help our school at the same time.

We are going to place a group order with Montessori Services for items from the “For Small Hands” catalog, and a group order of $500 or more qualifies for a 15% merchandise credit for our classrooms. Catalogs have been distributed, so make your selections and be sure to get your order in by November 9th, or see page 29 of the catalog for information on placing an individual order (and be sure to designate our school, customer #108974).

Wishing Star ProgramIf you and your child are looking for a way to include your child’s teacher

or classroom 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 10 years 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. More information about how this giving program works will be available soon.

Attendance Information for Late December

We will soon distribute a form for you to fill out to let us know which days your child will be attending school in late December so that we can plan our teachers’ schedules. Please submit the form by December 2nd. 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. Developmental Screening for Your Child

Preferred Physical Therapy in Lenexa is offering pediatric occupational therapy services as an outpatient treatment option and is offering our children a free developmental screening through the Johnson County Montessori School. Forms were distributed a few weeks ago and Barbara is starting to schedule the screenings so please put your child’s form in the tuition box if you would like him/her to participate.

Menu for NovemberMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

1Veggie Soup w/NoodlesCrackersParmesan Potato

Wedges Pears

Milk(+ am & pm snacks)

2PB&J on Wheat BreadCarrots & BroccoliFresh FruitMilk(+ am & pm snacks)

5 Grilled Cheese

with SpinachTomato SoupMelonCarrot Sticks

Milk (+ am & pm snacks)

6Broccoli Cheese

Casserole w/QuinoaPearsPeasMilk(+ am & pm snacks)

7Vegetarian ChiliCrackersGreen BeansApplesauceMilk(+ am & pm snacks)

8Roasted Vegetables OrangesWhole Wheat RollsMilk(+ am & pm snacks)

9Chef SaladGarlic BreadFresh FruitMilk(+ am & pm snacks)

12Chicken & Rice Soup

with KaleCrackersPeas & CarrotsPeachesMilk (+ am & pm snacks)

13 Green Salad Wheat Rolls Melon

Milk(+ am & pm snacks)

14PB & J SandwichCarrots & JicamaFresh FruitMilk(+ am & pm snacks)

15Roasted ChickenMashed Cauliflower &

PotatoesCinnamon ApplesWheat RollsMilk(+ am & pm snacks)

16Deli Plate (Meat, Cheese,

& Crackers)Fresh VeggiesFresh FruitMilk

(+ am & pm snacks)

19Breakfast Casserole

(w/Cheese & Spinach)Apple SlicesCerealMilk(+ am & pm snacks)

20Chef Salad (w/Cheese,

Meat, & Egg)Garlic BreadPeachesMilk(+ am & pm snacks)

21Pasta SaladCrackersFresh VeggiesFresh FruitMilk(+ am & pm snacks)

22School closed for

Thanksgiving holiday

23School closed for

Thanksgiving holiday

26Italian Chef SaladGarlic BreadPearsMilk(+ am & pm snacks)

27Mac & CheesePeachesPeasMilk (+ am & pm snacks)

28 Hot Dogs on Wheat BunCarrotsMelon & GrapesMilk(+ am & pm snacks)

29 Broccoli Cheese Soup

w/VeggiesRollsGreen BeansApple SlicesMilk (+ am & pm snacks)

30 Breakfast for Lunch:

Pumpkin PancakesCerealApples & OrangesMilk(+ am & pm snacks)

Musical Notes from Ann Stein In music class, your children are being introduced to a composer each month. So far, we have studied Vivaldi and Bach. The children are able to identify some of Vivaldi’s and Bach’s works and even recognize and name the instruments they hear. Each child has also played a song on the tone bars, the keyboard, and the violin. Recently we have been working hard on violin skills; ask your child to tell you about the bow exercise we do called “Up Like a Rocket.”

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)

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

Classroom HappeningsFrom Deja and Lei in Classroom 2

Wow!! Can you believe that we are beginning the second quarter of the school year? We would like to thank all of the parents who were able to come in for Parent Teacher Conferences. Please keep encouraging your child to choose challenging work. Also, we would like to say a big THANK YOU to all of the parent volunteers who were able to help out with our Halloween festivities!

This month our sounds of the week will be “h,” “n,” “d,” and “e.” We will learn about the first Thanksgiving, and we will continue talking about our universe, including land, air and water, and living versus non-living things.From Emilie and Molly in Classroom 3 October has been a busy month, filled with much learning and fun--an exciting pumpkin patch field, a visit from Chief Eagle Bear, and the ever popular Halloween trick-or-treating next door at Ad Astra. Thanks to our parent helpers who braved the cold weather at the pumpkin patch, helped us out with our Halloween snacks, and joined us in our trick-or-treating fun next door. We all enjoyed having you with us, but your child appreciated it the most. The cooler weather is here, so please remember to send your child dressed appropriately for the weather. We are finding coats and jackets with no names- please label everything so that we can keep track of what belongs to your child! For the month of November, we will be learning about the Solar System, the Earth’s Core and Thanksgiving. We are almost done learning about the letters “b,” “f,” “o,” and “x” and the numbers 6-10. Our next set of letters will be “d,” “r,” “e,” and “n,” and our numbers will be 11-15. Thanks for everything that you do. Have a wonderful, safe Thanksgiving!!!! From Tammy and Nancy in Classroom 4

October is always filled with fun activities. The pumpkin patch is always a field trip that the kids look forward to- thank you to all the wonderful parents who helped out! Chief Eagle Bear’s visit is always exciting as well. The kids’ attention was captivated all morning by the Native American stories, songs, and dances.

This month we learned about: the seven continents; planets (yes, we do live on Earth!), land, air, and water; animals that we see during the day and night; pumpkins; and Halloween.

Next month we will be talking about: nursery rhymes; living versus non-living things; Thanksgiving; and the zoo. We will learn about Election Day by taking a vote here at our school to decide between tub toys or playing outside!

The weather is getting colder- please change out your child’s extra change of clothes for warmer clothes. Remember to bring a jacket to wear, as it is cold in the morning! It is a great time to buy your child’s snow gear for the winter. Each child will need the following: hat, waterproof gloves, boots, snowsuit or snow pants, and coat. LABEL, LABEL, LABEL. We do play outside even in the SNOW- what’s more fun than making snow angels and snowmen?!

Just a reminder- if your child will be out of school for the day or on vacation for several days, please give me a call. Thanks for all you do!From Cassie in Classroom 5

October went by in a flash! Our class was very busy with Halloween preparations and “spooky-themed” work. We started out with a trip to the pumpkin patch, which was a blast and a huge success, thanks to our wonderful helpers and the Johnson family farmers. The chill in the air was kind of a shock for us, but that’s just because we have been spoiled with warm weather! The mornings are chilly now, so layers are a good idea. Please be sure to label everything- coats, gloves, hats, etc.

I have started the transition into the celebration of Thanksgiving. We will be talking about what it means to be thankful and creating lots of decorations for the room and for your homes as well!

With November comes fall conference time: an opportunity for me to tell you more about what your child has been working on and what I intend to introduce to him or her next, and a chance for you address any concerns you may have. Please have your questions ready, as these conferences are only 15 minutes long. I will be posting a conference sign-up sheet soon, and I look forward to meeting you all face-to-face.