Once again THANK YOU to the parents and grandparents that brought their children to Ledgewood. It means so much to the Grandmas and Grandpas to have the children share Halloween with them.  I can’t tell you how much your children brighten their day!  Even before I left, they began to ask when they’ll be returning. And even before you arrived, several residents that were leaving for appointments expressed such regret they weren’t going to be there for the children. I could tell by the faces of the children that they were as delighted to be there as the residents were to have them. It warms all our hearts.

Elementary News

     October is leaving in a hurry and November is upon us.  As the calendars detail, we are beginning our YOGA classes. Permission slips will be going home with this newsletter. Remember to leave car seats if you will not be driving your child.  We would like for as many parents as are able to pick up their child for end of day at the Yoga Studio in Merrimack. We will speak to you individually if this is not possible.

We have a field trip to Beaverbrook on Thursday as well and would love for you to accompany us if you would like to. Babies are welcome and the only caveat is that it may be cold. Watch the weather and dress you children accordingly. We have been spoiled with the recent spat of unseasonably warm weather. Changes are in the wind.

     Now that we are into November, I will be sending home a “homework” reminder sheet that may help you organize your child’s efforts a bit more. We will regroup in December for a conference report of their developmental progress to date.

Children’s House and Elementary

·         Paula Dyer (Zara) has offered to fundraise for the school through her company, Phoenix trading.  Please have a look at the catalogue and if you would like, follow the directions on the cover letter and Paula will do the rest. Thank you Paula!

·         Everyone needs to have a seasonal change of clothing at school. Please send in ASAP.

·         No School Thursday, Nov. 11^th.

·          Thanks to you that have already sent in tuition (due 1 November)

HUGE THANK YOU to Jonette Montbleau (Bella) for donations of paper towels, clorox wipes and tissues…..always needed always appreciated

 “There is no description, no image in any book that is capable of replacing the sight of real trees, and all of the life to be found around them in a real forest.”

                                                                                                            Maria Montessori

 With this invitation to go out and enjoy the beautiful leaves on a sunny autumn day, we will go over our activities in October.

 Daily Living/ Sensorial

The children practice to put on jackets, turn the sleeves the right side-up, to fold a sweater, to put on mitten and gloves, to button and zip. Please assess their clothes and keep home those that are too tight, with rigid buttons or zippers.

The leaves gave us plenty of choices for color-grading exercises, and pounding cinnamon rewarded us with a homey scent.

We tried three varieties of locally grown apples. The children marked their favorite apple on a graph that showed more choices for Cortland, followed by Golden Delicious and Red Delicious.

 Language

The younger children began to work with metal insets and are getting used to holding pencils (please encourage correct pencil grip). As they show interest, they are introduced to sandpaper letters and sounds. Word games with beginning sounds and rhymes are part of our circle discussions. We read about Johnny Appleseed and followed his journey from Massachusetts to Indiana. Shell Silverstein helped us with his story “The Giving Tree” in our discussions about friendship, love and how many times over we can enjoy a tree..

Math

Counting, comparing quantities and sizes, and estimating exercises are used in games at circle time. Individual lessons are presented according to the child interest and ability. The bead cabinet is the most coveted material, and even the very young children have started their way up with the square chains.

Science/Cultural

The trees continued to be in our lessons as providers of many of the life’s essentials and commodities. A display table with some examples was available to look, touch, think and try out.

We talked about healthy choices for good, nourishing food and looked at some farm animals.

Books about bats, spiders and owls showed us where and how these animals live, what they eat, and why people associate them with scary stories.

We stepped into Central American countries as on a bridge to our next continent.

Art: Hands on with collages, and dropping colors on watered paper leaves;

Appreciation of art: The importance of the background in a picture, how to look at a painting, and commenting on isolated details.

For November we are planning to use “The Quiltmaker Gift”, a beautiful story by Jeff Brumbeau, as a starting point for our themes:

- Loving and sharing

- Native Americans (we would appreciate some Indian corn for our activities)

- Animals in winter (focusing on birds and more mammals).                            

 Kindergarten and JKG

 We see good progress in working habits and acquired skills. All children practice writing, adding with beads, strip boards, and number rods. Some of the students  were introduced to the decimal system, working with bead and card layout.. Association of quantities and symbols in the teens, and 100 board are other routine works in the math area that require long attention span, and concentration.

.Phonogram booklets and associated objects are adding new dimensions to the reading skills.

Starting as word games we discovered the magic(silent) e, the oo, ch, sh, th, and ow.

 Writing and illustrating a sentence is another choice for those who have enough practice in sounding out and writing words. It creates a strong motivation for looking into a dictionary to find the favorite words and go back to practice reading (““cause there are soooo many words” one can read!)

 Two Requests

 We are in need of “Fall Corn”. A favorite activity is tweezing individual corn kernels from the cob. It is excellent for the children for several reasons: It fosters concentration, eye-hand coordination, and strengthens the hand for writing! Donations are appreciated.

 Also, with the cooler weather on the horizon, please send in a seasonal change of clothing for your children complete with extra socks, shirt, sweater or sweatshirt, pants and underwear.

 Did You Know?

 Your children are treated every Friday afternoon to 45 minutes of gentle yoga and stretching with Mr. Rob? We are extremely pleased and fortunate Ms. Sue’s son, Rob, who is a Plymouth graduate teaching Phys Ed in Compton Elementary School has volunteered to be with us this Fall.

Hope to see you all on Friday, at Ledgewood…….

  Dorina Nimigean

Dear families,          

The colors are out in their entire splendor and it is truly a great time of year in New Hampshire. This weekend looks to be pleasant weather-wise and as it is a long one – I hope you will all enjoy it to the max!  There are a couple of noteworthy announcements to bring to you attention before the week is up.

At the end of the month on Friday, October 29^th is our first irregular school day of the year. We will ALL be meeting at LEDGEWOOD, the assisted living facility in Milford, for our annual Fall Songfest and Halloween Parade for the residents. Please make arrangements now and remember that we will not be opening school early that day, rather we all meet at Ledgewood by 9:15am in costume with parent support – to sing and pass out candy to the folks!  The residents have loved seeing the children and request them year after year. You may want to bring your camera.

We plan to be back at school for lunch and a regular afternoon.

Morning children may choose to go home for the day after the event depending how much time we have left in our morning. Directions to follow.

Our October Parent Meeting is RSVP Wednesday, October 13^th at 6pm. We plan to discuss the Parent Observation and Conference process. Sign-ups will be available. We will also review the up and coming Country Village Montessori School events and happily take any and all questions from you!    

A quick reminder to check our website, countryvillagemontessori.com for news, calendars and announcements and a way to check snack is available with a password. Thanks for the box tops, Campbell soup labels, and Small Hands and Scholastic Book orders. And a special thanks to the Meisner Family for the beautiful purple mums!