Merry Mayhem

So... the Holiday party. That was a doozy, wasn't it?

I mean, I hadn't experienced crowd density like that since the last time I saw the Rolling Stones. Crikey.

Rest assured we're busy thinking up ways to accommodate this size of crowd - 4 times bigger than last year's, FYI - more comfortably (maybe split the event over two nights with younger kids going the first night, and bigger kids the second...singing upstairs, Santa downstairs...filming the kids as they perform at school and then sending everyone a link to the video so we can all stay home with spiked egg nog and watch the show in our jammies...etc). If you have a brilliant idea we might not have considered, please let us know. 

The kids seemed to have a great time getting their gifts from Santa. If you didn't manage to grab your own picture, I put the ones I took over the on the school's SmugMug page - you can always click the camera icon on the right side of this blog to reach it. You should be able to drag n' drop 'em, or click n' save, or link to 'em on facebook, whatever. Let me know if you run into any tech issues there.

I especially loved that Ciaran brought an illustrated list of everything he wanted from Santa, just in case he didn't get enough face time with the guy. That's brilliant, kid, and I wish I'd thought of it myself.

I think when the event started to wrap up, and we all regained a little personal space, this is how we all felt:

Thanks to everyone who came out to hear the kids sing and see them spend time with Santa; you're helping to build a sense of community at the school, and we appreciate it.

Speaking of appreciation, thanks to the volunteers who came early to set up chairs and decorate and assemble the buffet.

I hope you all have lovely holidays with your families. Santa's been too busy to do much shopping for our house, I'm afraid, so he's considering filling the kids' stockings with toys they haven't played with in a while, along with a note from the elves that reads, "Santa thought these things deserved a second look." We'll see how that flies.

Ho ho ho.

Brooke

December Newsletter

(as scanned from the hard copy available at each sign-in table). 

Teacher Gifts

I've had a few people ask about Christmas gifts for teachers. For me, at least, it's always been a little confusing because there are so many great people who interact with my kids on an average school day. Sure, they have primary teachers, but you don't want to discount the other teachers who take over in the afternoons...but that's like five people and now I'm overwhelmed and broke and blah blah blah I give up. 

So this year, I turned to Katie for an affordable but meaningful suggestion, and here's what she came up with for the parents who might be considering giving a gift to a teacher this year (keep in mind this is totally optional, and just meant as a helpful tip) - 

After school on Dec 20th - the last day of school before the Winter Break - the teachers are going to be having a staff party. If parents would like, they can contribute something for the party: chocolates, a bottle of wine, a cheese tray, a second bottle of wine, etc. That way, your one contribution could be shared and enjoyed by many teachers. You can bring anything you'd like to contribute to the school on the 20th. Also, teachers always appreciate a nice note from their students, so encourage your little ones to draw/write/paint a card for their favorite teachers. 

Of course, you can also do whatever else strikes your fancy, or nothing at all. In case it's helpful to anyone, here's a current list of the teachers:

POLLEN

Michelle

Whitney

Judy
Courtney

Emel

Reggie

SEEDS

Cassidy

Kari
Ashley

Yael

Riley

Faith

SPROUTS

Teacher: Anna

Helper: Mariah

Teacher: Jenn

Helper: Madison

SUNFLOWERS

Teacher: Sam

Teacher: Indima

Katie, Hanna, Jena, Kaci, Lillian

Teacher: Reina

Ione, Julie, Jena, Kaci, Zarha, Lillian

ELEMENTARY

Alison

Cheryl

Kacie

Lillian

Manda

Feel free to use the comments section below if you want to get together with other people on a larger item, or you want to be sure no one else is bringing an armadillo-shaped red velvet cake... it's always so awkward when there are two of those. 

-Brooke

HOLIDAY CONCERT INFO

Sunflower typically hosts a holiday concert before the winter break, and this year is no exception. Here's all the info on the event:

1) The concert will be held on Thursday December 19th at 6pm at the Seeds Building. For those who attended previous years' holiday events held at the Elementary school, you know they were cramped affairs without enough seating for all the parents and family members who wanted to attend. The new Seeds building has an actual stage and plenty of room to accommodate all the Sunflower families.

2) EVERYONE is invited and encouraged to attend (Pollen, Seeds and Sprouts - this means you), though only the Sunflowers and Elementary students will be performing.

3) After the kids sing their holiday songs, everyone's favorite fat man in a red suit will "Ho Ho Ho!" his way onstage to surprise the kids with presents.

4) For your child to receive a present from Santa, you must bring a small, wrapped gift in advance to the school to be opened by your child during the event. The gifts will go into Santa's bag, so nothing fragile or valuable, please. Make sure your gift is clearly labeled with your child's name. Katie/Correy will collect these gifts and have them ready for Santa to distribute.

5) Every child will have a chance to talk with Santa and have his/her picture taken.

6) Because the event is occurring during dinnertime, there will be a mac n' cheese (and salad) buffet downstairs, with lots of varieties to sample (gluten-free option provided).

7) "But guys, this event has always been during the school day before - what gives?" Well, in previous years, the event was held on the morning of the last day of school. Parents were required to attend, and school was dismissed for the day after Santa's visit, because it was too difficult to maintain an orderly learning environment after Santa had been by. This required many parents to miss a day of work. By moving the event to the evening, school will be open all day as usual on Friday the 20th.

8) We're looking for a few volunteers to help set up chairs for the audience and do some minimal decorating before the event, and additional helpers to pick up gift wrap, etc after the event. If you're able to help, please let us know. 

Also let me know if I'm leaving any info out that you would find helpful, and I'll add it!

-Brooke

Illness Exclusion Policy

Ugh at the weather today. 

With cold/flu season approaching, I thought it would be helpful to post the school's official Illness Exclusion Policy so everyone will know "how sick is too sick" to bring your special snowflake to school: 

____________________________________

The decision to exclude or dismiss a child from child care will be based on the child’s signs and symptoms and/or the diagnosis of a health care professional as outlined below:

a.  The illness prevents the child from participating comfortably in the routine activities of the school

b. The illness results in greater care need than the childcare staff can provide without compromising the health and safety of the other children

c. Signs or symptoms of possible severe illness such as lethargy, uncontrolled coughing, persistent crying, difficulty breathing, wheezing complaints of severe pain. 

d. The child has any of the following signs or symptoms of contagious illness:

1) Fever accompanied by behavior changes, oral temperature of 101 degrees or axillary temperature of over 100 degrees or greater.

2) Vomiting: 2 or more episodes in the previous 24 hour period.

3) Diarrhea: increased number of stool, watery stools, stools with mucous or blood and/or stools that cannot be contained by a diaper or clothing and are different or more frequent than the child’s regular pattern.

4) Bacterial infections listed until treated for 24 hours with antibiotics and the child feels well enough to participate.

a. Conjunctivitis

b. Strep throat

c. Impetigo

d. Skin infections or draining burns

5) Lice or scabies until after treatment and no nits present

6) Generalized rash with fever or behavior changes or jaundiced skin color until medical evaluation determine that symptoms do not indicate communicable disease

7) Chicken pox until 6 days after onset of rash or until all sores have dried.

e. Readmission to child care: after an absence, the family needs to share pertinent information with the child care staff regarding the illness.  A release from the health care provider is required after a serious illness or diagnosis of a communicable disease.

Curriculum Notes: DECEMBER

This month the Seeds will be talking about snow! We will look at pictures of snow, learn the sign for snow, and we will learn the song “Little Snowflake”. 

Our special book this month will be The Snow Man Just Named Bob by Mark Kimbal Moulton. In Practical Life, we will be introduced to using scissors. In science, we will talk about hot and cold.

Now that all the sprouts a proficient at dressing themselves we will be playing in the snow this month! Our song will be “Little Snowflake” and we will read the book The First Snow in the Woods by Carl Sam.

For Practical Life, we will be practicing throwing snow balls (the bean bag toss) and in science we will watch snow melt.

In Ms. Reina’s class the study of Europe will begin. We will read “The Nutcracker” by Susan Jeffers and learn the song “Frere Jacques” from France.  In Practical Life, we will be building a snow village. In Science this month, we will talk about the different states of matter and watch snow melt to learn about evaporation.

This month, Sam’s class will be studying South America with a focus on ancient civilizations.  A special book they will be reading is A Walk in the Rainforest by Kristin Pratt.  Our new song will be “Los Pollitos." In science, we will be talking about vertebrates and invertebrates in the rainforest and our new practical life skill will be sorting different grains and legumes from South America.

Ms. Indima's class will be studying Asia.  Our song will be “Anilae Anilae” from India, and a special book we will read is A Quail’s Egg: Folk Tales from Sri Lanka.  We will learn many great things about Indima’s home, culture, and language.   In science we will continue to look at vertebrates and invertebrates focusing on insects of Sri Lanka.

Our elementary kids will begin a two month journey around Europe. Along with many great seasonal songs, we will be working on "Weggis Zue" (Swiss Hiking Song). That’s right: we are yodeling!  Our special book this month will be The Wish by Lori Evert. We will be focusing on cultural traditions of Europe for the holiday season and sampling some new cuisine.

Did you know Missoula is the tenth cloudiest city in the nation? This month for science we will discuss weather and clouds. Our new practical life skill will be knitting. We also have many great new Spanish books to share including Como el Grinch Robo la Navidad!

A Day In The Life: SUNFLOWERS

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SUNFLOWER

Drop off for the Sunflowers is between 7:30 and 8:45. After saying goodbye to their parents, many Sunflowers like to wave goodbye out the big window. They hang their belongings on their hooks and put their shoes on the shoe shelf. The Sunflowers help themselves to cereal, pour their own milk and visit with their friends in the kitchen. As they finish, they scrape their bowls and wash their bowls in the child-sized sink and head to their classrooms. 

By 9:00, the Montessori work period has begun. During this period, the children are free to explore the carefully prepared environment. The children work with many different materials throughout the work period. They can refine their practical life skills by scooping grains or pouring liquids back and forth. They build towers with the sensorial materials while learning about gradation and if a three year old boy is involved: gravity! 

The math materials provided begin with simple number recognition and graduate up to counting to one hundred. The students can also explore addition, subtraction, multiplication, division... The possibilities are endless. Children begin to learn to write and recognize letters in the language program seamlessly leading to learning how to read. Science, geography and culture are studied using the Montessori maps and our very own teachers' cultural backgrounds and world traveling experiences. 

Around 11:30, the work period wraps up and the kids gather for their circle. In circle, they talk about the monthly geography curriculum, sing songs, read books and play games. Everyone is excused from circle to wash their hands and join their friends at the tables for lunch.  Lunch is served family style. The lead teacher talks about what is for lunch and shows how to serve oneself. As food is passed around, each child practices their manners and serves up lunch. "Bon appetit! Now you may eat!" 

After lunch, everyone gears up for some outside time. Around 1:00p, everyone returns to the classrooms for rest time until snack time.  Snack is prepared by fellow Sunflowers in the morning in practical life activities and served up buffet style in the kitchen; as each child gets up from rest time they serve themselves snack and visit with friends.  

Between 3:30 and 4:30p, the Sunflowers enjoy a specialist activity. Depending on the day and the month, kids enjoy art, music, dance, gymnastics, and language. From 4:30 on the kids enjoy some free time doing art, playdough, or blocks.  Our day is over at 5:30p, when the students head home to practice their new skills.  

A Day In The Life: SPROUTS

Second in a series compiled by Ms. Correy:

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SPROUT

The Sprouts start their day by taking off their shoes and putting away their coats on their individual coat hooks. Then, they move on to the breakfast area where each Sprout scoops his or her own cereal and practices adding the milk so carefully. 

As the Sprouts finish their cereal, they put their bowls and cups into the dirty bin and move into their classroom to have a brief circle around 9:00am

At circle, they sing songs, read books and practice listening.  They start their Montessori work period around 9:15am. During the Montessori work period, the Sprouts explore the materials on the shelves.  They work with sensorial materials, learning gradation, colors, and textures. 

Sprouts love working with the practical life materials, learning how to scoop, pour, and sort.  Some beginning language and math materials are also made available. 

As the work period wraps up around 10:30am, the Sprouts meet together for snack time.  After snack, the children head outside to play in the sand box, slide down the slide, or run the trucks with their friends. 

Each child then comes in to wash hands and sit down for lunch.  When lunch is over, each Sprout finds his or her own rest mat and takes a nap. 

Nap time wraps up around 3:00pm, when everyone meets together again for snack.  

From 3:30-5:30 as kids are getting picked up, they are enjoying either another work period, group art project, or outside time (depending on the weather).

A Day In The Life: SEEDS

I  had a parent request a blog post that would detail an average day in her kid's classroom. Nothing thrills me more than when another parent has an idea for a specific blog post. It's the difference between asking your family what they want for dinner and hearing, "Oh, anything. Whatever," or, "Please, Mom, could you make me a taco?" Because yes, I can make the hell out of some tacos. Point being: if there's a blog post you'd like to see in this space, please let me know and I'll endeavor to make it happen. Because of that original request, we're rolling out a new series called A DAY IN THE LIFE with a new entry for each "grade" at Sunflower. We're starting with Seeds, because the Pollen schedule is different for each individual infant and doesn't lend itself to the "Day in the Life" format. -Brooke


As contributed by Ms. Correy:

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SEED

A Seed's day starts out by saying goodbye to Mom or Dad and then learning how to take off their shoes and coat and put them away on the shoe shelf and their special hook.  

They then very carefully help themselves to a bowl of cereal, scooping out of the cereal jar and pouring their own milk from the milk pitcher.  

After they have finished eating, they put their bowl in the dirty bin and join their friends in the large motor skills room. 

As it nears 9:00 and everyone is finished with breakfast, the Seeds sort out into smaller groups to explore the other classrooms: practical life, sensorial, or fine motor skills.  

The work period wraps up around 10:15 and everyone joins together on the stage for circle time where they sing songs, read books, and learn new signs.  

From circle, they are excused one at a time to wash their hands and have a snack. 

As each Seed is done with snack, they are asked to go find their coats and shoes and get ready for some outside time.  

Outside, they play on the jungle gyms, drive around in their car, or enjoy a good game of chase or Ring Around the Rosie.  If it is too cold, the outside time will be shortened and another work period will happen in the classrooms.  

After we all gather back inside and practice putting our belongings away again, we meet up for lunch. 

At lunch time we practice using our utensils, good manners, and drinking from a glass. It's always more fun to explore eating new foods with your group of friends.  After they have put their bowls in the dirty bin, they head back to the stage where each child has their own cot set up and they take their rest.  

Each child is allowed to sleep as long as they would like and as they wake up they come out to the eating area to do an art project until snack time at 3p.  

Depending on the weather, after snack is spent outside or enjoying another work period in our classrooms.  

The children who are there still at 5:00 have a small snack to tide them over 'til suppertime at home.

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

NOTE: Each month, Katie writes a newsletter and makes hard copies available at the sign-in areas at each school. Here's your info and hyperlink round-up from this month's newsletter:

HALLOWEEN PICTURES: The Halloween party was a big success. If you haven't already checked them out, the photo booth pictures are available at http://sunflowermontessori.smugmug.com/ 

PARENTS ASSOCIATION: If you are interested in joining the Sunflower Parent Association and helping to plan future fun events, please contact sunflowerparents@gmail.com.

CONFERENCES / SCHOOL CLOSURE: Parent/Teacher conferences are coming right up.  Our fall conferences will be held on November 15^th.  Please sign up for a reserved time at the sign in areas to come and visit kid’s classroom and school.  On conference day, bring your little one with you and they can give you a “tour” of their classroom and school.  SPROUTS, SUNFLOWER AND THE GARDEN (ELEMENTARY) WILL BE CLOSED ON THE 15TH. POLLEN AND SEEDS WILL BE OPEN. 

CURRICULUM NOTES: See the blog post below for information about each teacher’s curriculum for the month of November. 

WINTER WEAR: We go outside every day, and it has started getting cold out.  Outside time is a whole lot more fun if kids have warm winter gear.  Please send your kids to school with snow pants, warm coat, waterproof mittens (better than gloves) and an ear-covering hat.  You can send extras and leave them at school in your child’s bin or on their hook.  Label everything. 

NEW PAPERWORK: The powers-that-be have informed us that we are required to have yet another permission form on file: the “Non-Ingestable Medical Form.” This form covers the use of such over-the-counter things as sunscreen and diaper cream.  You can pick up a hard copy at the school or download one here.

We are also required to gather annually from every family a “Food Income Eligibility Form” (again, available as a hard copy at the school, or download it here).  Please return yours if you have not yet.  In addition we ask that you keep immunization records up to date.  Feel free to have info faxed to 406-830-3029 

T-SHIRTS FOR SALE: We will be again offering the sale of the Sunflower Montessori tee shirts.  Please let the office know if you are interested in purchasing a tee shirt, onesie or sweatshirt.  Onesies are not available in adult sizes.

Onesies: $15

Women's Organic Tee - $25

Men's Organic Tee - $25

Kid's Tee (2T, 3T, 4T, 5T) - $15

Adult zipper sweatshirt - $30

THANKSGIVING, COMING UP! Thanksgiving break will be November 27^th through 29^th.  We have so much to be thankful for – mainly YOU!  Have a great month and enjoy the seasons shifting!

MENUS: The lunch and snack menus are added every month to our google calendar, available by clicking the CALENDAR icon on the right margin of this blog. They're also available as printer-friendly pdf downloads in our FORMS AND PAPERWORK folder (also on the right margin of this blog)

November Curriculum Notes

This month in the Seeds program we will be talking turkey! We will practice saying “turkey," learn the sign for turkey, and even talk like a turkey! Our new song will be “Five Little Turkeys”. 

We will introduce the book A Plump Perky Turkey.  Our new practical life skill will be pouring water, and in science we will explore feathers.

The Sprouts this month will be learning “The Months of the Year” song and reading the Thanksgiving book “Happy Thanksgiving, Biscuit by Alyssa Satin Capucilli. 

In their science area, they will be exploring evergreen trees with pine needle discovery bottles.  The Sprouts will be practicing our favorite practical life skill at Sunflower: Dressing yourself for winter! They will be practicing putting on hats, gloves, boots, coats, snow pants! Make sure everything is labeled!  

This month, Sam’s class will be studying South America with a focus on ancient civilizations.  A special book they will be reading is A Walk in the Rainforest by Kristin Pratt.  Our New song will be “Los Pollitos."

In science, we will be talking about vertebrates and invertebrates in the rainforest and our new practical life skill will be sorting different grains and legumes from South America. We will have some special circles at the end of the month to talk about what we are thankful for.

This month, Indima’s class will be talking about South America with a focus on South American music. One of their new songs will be the “Number Song” in Spanish.  In her science curriculum they will be talking about vertebrates and invertebrates of the rainforest. The special book this month will be “Brazil” by Tara Walters.  A new practical life skill they will be working on this month is scrubbing a chalkboard. We will have some special circles at the end of the month to talk about what we are thankful for.

In Ms. Reina’s class this month we will be studying South America, focusing on animals and plants of the rainforest. Their new book this month will be “The Kapok Tree” by Lynne Cherry and our South American song will be “Ciranda”.   

In science, we will begin to study vertebrates and invertebrates.  Our new practical life skill will be weaving, while studying patterns of South American textiles. We will have some special circles at the end of the month to talk about what we are thankful for.

This month our elementary school will be studying South America with a focus on South American celebrations such as All Saints Day.  We will explore some South American cuisine and continue working on our continent maps.  Two of the many new songs we will sing this month are “Los Pollitos” and “Ciranda.” A fun new book we will read together is Wonders of the Rainforest by Janet Craig: 

In science we will talk about classification of the living world and our new practical life skill will be seed collection for next years garden.     

Get Yer Pictures

Thanks again to Damien for taking the photos at the Halloween Party. You can access your photos by visiting the gallery at the SUNFLOWER PHOTO SITE. 

Last year, we posted photos of school events on a members-only Shutterfly site, but it seemed to irritate and confuse people because we had to manually add members and adjust permissions. The pictures were difficult to download and from an aesthetic standpoint, the albums just didn't look as good. This year, we're switching over to Smugmug, which so far seems to be better in every way. While we'll occasionally offer photos as a school fundraiser (annual school photos being the best example of this), for most events they'll be available fun, free downloads. 

Each school event will have its own gallery, and you can save or share your photos by clicking on an image of your child and checking out these icons in the bottom right corner of your screen:

If you're a Mac person, you can also just drag n' drop 'em to your desktop. If you're a PC person, I probably can't help you because I haven't used a PC since 1998, but I hear it has something to do with "right-clicking." 

I've also updated the camera icon on the right margin of this blog, so you'll be able to click on it and be instantly redirected to the photo site whenever your heart desires, or you can bookmark:

http://sunflowermontessori.smugmug.com/

Technical issues? Questions? Concerns? Let us know. 

-Brooke

Thank You

Last night's Halloween Carnival was Sunflower's biggest ever. It was also a housewarming of sorts for the new Seeds building. Thank you to all of the families who ventured over to 10th Street for Halloween fun and games.

The party could not have been accomplished without the help of some important volunteers:

Thanks to Nicole and Sara for donating so much of their own time and money to decorate the space and provide prizes, games and a craft table. Thanks to Damien for manning the photo booth*, and to Thor for figuring out how to turn 40 plastic nap pallets into a preschool-sized maze. We appreciate Maile and her SuperHelper Lyell so much for decorating the Glow Room. Shout-out to my mother-in-law Grandma Sue for making enough chili to choke a goat. Jeremy stayed late to vacuum and otherwise clean up the aftermath in his insulated camouflage hunting outfit, and we love him for it. And thanks, of course, to Katie and Correy and the teachers at Seeds for allowing us to turn their peaceful learning environment into a place streamers go to die.

I know this word is overused, but it was so awesome to work with parents who've never before volunteered at an event, and to see new families who've just joined the Sunflower family at the party. As more families and friends step forward to volunteer, we're able to make our events bigger and better.

Thanks all!

-Brooke

* As soon as we get the pictures in and uploaded, we'll share a link. Stay tuned!

Or She'll Turn You Into A Frog

Don't forget the Halloween Carnival tomorrow evening at the Seeds building! More details in the post below.

A group of parent volunteers is getting together tonight at 6p at the Seeds bldg to start decorating for tomorrow's festivities. Should you be minding your own business tonight when all of a sudden - BAM! - the mood to hang streamers and inflate spider balloons strikes, well, you know where to find us. 

REMINDER: Don't send your kiddos to school in their costumes tomorrow - save 'em for the party.

Can't wait to see you all at the carnival. I'm going as The World's Laziest Witch Who Used To Rock A Full Costume But Then She Had Two Small Kids So Don't Hassle Me.

-Brooke

HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL

I met with a great group of parent volunteers this afternoon who are excited to make this Sunflower's biggest and best Halloween bash ever. Check the flyer above for some of the great things we've got cooking for the party.

For the first time ever, we'll be hosting an event at the Pollen/Seeds building at 1960 S 10th St W. This will give everyone a chance to check out the new building, which is a much better event space. Big open interior! Ample parking!

Kids and grown-ups are encouraged to wear their costumes to the party. Upstairs on the main level will be carnival games suitable for all ages and (non-candy) prizes. There will also be a craft table and photo booth and "boo-tique" if you want to add any fun dress-up accessories to your costume. Downstairs, you'll find a chili buffet and snack area with kid-friendly drinks, as well as a cooler for anything adults might want to bring from home. We're also putting together a not-very-scary "haunted room."

We'd love to find a few more parent volunteers to help (wo)man the carnival games, so if you think you can pitch in for an hour or so, we'd love to hear from you. 

Hope to see you there!

-Brooke

School CLOSED Thur & Fri

Sunflower Montessori teachers are required to complete between 8 and 16 hours of additional training per year, so Sunflower's teaching staff will be using the next few days to engage in learning opportunities that will make them stronger, more prepared educators.

Katie assures me that "Professional Development Days" is NOT code for "Hanging out at the James Bar, eating tater tots and enjoying pitchers of margaritas." Although, as I'm typing that, it sounds pretty darn good, so that's where you can find ME.

Reason #287 I am not an educator.

-Brooke

Virtual Lost & Found

I talked to a mom today who mentioned she was missing a few items her girls had worn to school, which made me think about the lost and found. Typically overflowing, the lost and found really hits its stride in winter, when all the kids come in with gloves and hats and scarves, etc.

So, first and most important: LABEL EVERYTHING.  If every child comes to school wearing or carrying twelve items, (shirt, pants, undies, jacket, socks, shoes, hat, scarf, gloves), that means there are 1200+ items in motion at Sunflower Montessori every day. Kids drop things on the playground, bury 'em in the sandbox, toss 'em in the bushes, etc., etc. Speaking only of my own children, of course, they are miniature crazy people. By labeling everything, you have a 99% greater chance of seeing it again.*

Now that we're all committed to labeling, let's work on identifying the things that are already in the lost and found. I dumped out all of the lost and found bags this afternoon, sorted the items by size, and took these pictures. If you see something you recognize, it can be found in a bag inside Katie's office. Check with her to claim your items. There wasn't a name to be found on any of these items.

ACCESSORIES

HATS, SWIM TRUNKS, SWIM GOGGLES

TWO NEW, EMPTY BACKPACKS

LOVEYS

SO MANY SOCKS, Y'ALL, I CAN'T EVEN.

12 AND 18 MONTHS

24 MONTHS, 2T

3T

4T

5T AND LARGER

If you're missing something that you don't see pictured above, feel free to leave a note in the comments. Let's all take a look around our houses, cars, etc and maybe we'll find some extra items that need to be returned to school / another family. 

Hope this helps-

Brooke

* I am totally making up this statistic. 

Photo Ordering: A How-To

Parents -

I ran into a mom the other night at the Sunflower softball game (our team lost in the second game of a hard-fought double header) who mentioned she didn't really understand how to order the school photos. I always figure that if there's one person who admits to not understanding something, there must be others lurking in the shadows. So, a few notes on how to view and order school photos:

1) Go to the online gallery (http://sunflowermontessori.smugmug.com/) and click on the appropriate class. Every student should be filed under Seeds, Sunflowers, etc., with the exception of the kids who came to the Make-Up and Re-Shoot Day last Thursday. Those folks have their own gallery, which you'll see when you go to the site.

2) Browse around 'til you find a photo (or photos) you like. When you've clicked on one you're interested in purchasing, you'll see a green button in the top right corner of your screen called ADD TO CART. Click on it.

3) A drop-down menu will appear, where you should choose "THIS PHOTO"

4) From there, a menu will pop up with all kinds of sizes of prints you can purchase. SUPER IMPORTANT NOTE: On the top toolbar, you'll see three options - Prints, Merchandise and Downloads.

                            

If you click on DOWNLOADS, you can purchase a full-resolution copy of your photo file. It comes with a copyright release, so you can print and distribute your photo however you'd like forever and ever, amen. Because there's no processing or shipping fees associated with downloads, the highest percentage of money goes to Sunflower for these purchases. At $20, they are $5 cheaper than last year, 

THIS PHOTO SITE WILL BE OPEN AND ACTIVE FOR ORDERING THROUGH THE END OF OCTOBER, THEN WILL BE TAKEN DOWN. 

YOU MUST GET YOUR ORDERS IN BY THE END OF THE MONTH. 

If after reading the above, you still have technical questions/confusion/concerns, please let me know. I'd be happy to help if I can. If you have procedural questions about how/when/why school photo day was run, holler at Katie and Correy. I am but a lowly volunteer. 

-Brooke

October Curriculum Notes

This month, our Seeds will be exploring pumpkins! We will practice saying "pumpkin," will learn the sign language for pumpkin, talk about the color and texture of a pumpkin, and see if they are large or small pumpkins. 

Our new song will be “Where is Pumpkin”.  Our practical life skill will be putting on our jackets. Our special book this month will be “Brown bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” by Eric Carle and we will talk about Halloween costumes.

This month, our sprouts will be exploring leaves! They will talk about the colors of leaves, count leaves and watch the stages of a leaf to see how long it takes to get crunchy.  Our song will be “Five Little Pumpkins”. 




Our practical life activity will be raking and bagging leaves. We will be reading two fabulous fall books “The Stubborn Pumpkin” by Laura Geringer and “When the Leaf Blew In” by Steve Metzger. 

Miss Sam's Class

This month we will be studying North America focusing on where our food comes from.  We will be working on the song “Apples & Bananas” to warm up our vowel sounds for our language work.  In science we will be studying the animals of North America and learning the parts of the horse. Our practical life skill will be weaving.  A special book Miss Sam is sharing this month is Peace Rose.

Ms. Indima's Class

This month we will be studying North America. We will focus on Native American traditions.  Our new song for the month will be “Alice the Camel Has Five Humps” to warm up our math skills.  In our science curriculum we will discuss the parts of a volcano and talk about Mount St. Helens.  The new practical life skill is using a peg boards which helps develop the pincher grip muscles to assist in learning to write. Our book this month is “There Was an Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything”  

Ms. Reina's Class

This month we will be studying North America and talking about Native American cultures.  Our song this month is "Going Over the Sea" from Wee Sing.  In our science curriculum, we will be studying the parts of the fruit and our practical life skill will be apple slicing.  Our special book will be Arrow to the Sun: a Pueblo Indian Tale by Gerald Mcdermote.  

The Garden

This month, we will be studying North America. We will be talking about many different aspects of Native American cultures including languages (with help from Grandma Midge), different forms of shelter, and traditional foods from all the different regions. Some of the many songs we are working on are American folk songs “The Fox," “Froggy Went a Courtin," and various Halloween songs. In our science curriculum we have been studying different forms of matter and doing density experiments and turning liquids into gas.  Our book this month is Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar by Masaichiro and Mitsumasa Anno.