Greetings Families!

The children have enjoyed the few snowy days we have had this past week, we are requesting that all of your children’s outdoor clothing and extra clothes are labeled. Black snow pants and black boots are hard to tell apart and sometimes children forget what their clothing looks like!

It is a State of Michigan licensing rule that children go outside every day; we use the temperature of 20 degrees or above with the wind chill and take in the weather conditions when making decisions about outdoor play. The children are outside for typically no more than 20 minutes. Please send the proper clothing so that your child will be comfortable when outside: gloves or mittens, snow pants, boots and hats.

It is also a licensing requirement that children are signed in and out each day on the iPad. We must have an accurate count of how many children are in the building. We ask that you bring your child to school between 8:15 and 8:30, this is when school starts, and the children begin their Montessori work, they lose some of the instruction and group meetings when they arrive after 8:30.

This is a friendly reminder that Novi Woods Montessori is closed on Thursday, November 22 and Friday, November 23 for the Thanksgiving Holiday. We hope that you enjoy this time off to be with family and friends!

Please mark your calendar for our Winter Festival on Thursday, December 20, 2018 from 6:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Novi Civic located at 45175 West 10 Mile Road in Novi. More detailed information will be provided as we get closer to the date!

Scholastic books is hosting the Pajama Program, Good Night are Good Days, a pajama drive to provide  pajamas to children in need. As a program we would like to support this activity and ask that if you are able to donate a pair of pajamas, we will collect them here at the center and then then turn them into Scholastic. For every pair of pajamas that are donated, Scholastic will donate a brand new book to the Pajama program!

In the Maple Room this week the teachers and children discussed more details about South America. The children have been able to memorize up to 5 countries. This week the teachers also discussed how our brain works and the 5 senses. The Pledge of Allegiance is recited every day. We have been reviewing with the children how to handle the Montessori materials and giving individual presentations as needed. The children were excited to see the model of our teeth on the Practical Life shelf! They are learning the right way to brush their teeth and overall dental hygiene. Some of our older children have been introduced to dynamic addition and some have stepped into reading. The children have enjoyed singing, ” Senses Work in Harmony” this past week.

In the Cedar Room the large group activities focused on the Food Pyramid, the human body system and healthy living. The children enjoyed making turkey paintings one afternoon. The Practical Life activity focused on healthy food for our body. The Sensorial Presentation involved the children using primary and secondary colors. During the Geography Presentation the children discovered the countries of South America. The Science Presentation focused on parts of the human body and body patterns. During the Grace and Courtesy presentation the Cedar room discussed health and safety and sang the song, “When You have to Sneeze”. For our cultural studies the children will celebrate Cultural Day and also discuss the Thanksgiving Holiday traditions.  Please make sure to send gloves for your child as we do go outside when it is cold!

In the Pine Room during large group the teachers and children discussed parts of the human body. We reviewed using our manners, keeping our hands to ourselves and saying excuse me when needed. We are practicing the song that we will sing at the winter festival. (The lights on the tree). In the Practical Life area the children worked on color mixing, we have added more water work to our water area. The children continue to work on tonging and tweezing. During the Sensorial Presentation the teachers introduced the color box 3 and a review of the triangular and hexagonal box. We continued our study of South America as our Geography presentation, A human body booklet was worked on as part of the Science Presentation and our Grace and Courtesy Presentation was a continuation on blowing noses and then remembering to wash hands. Parents, please reinforce this at home as the weather has changed and there are more runny noses in the classroom. Just a reminder-please send in the appropriate clothing for outdoor activities. Per the State of Michigan licensing rules children are to go outside everyday so please bring hats, gloves, snow pants and boots in addition to a warm coat.

In the Toddler Room the theme of the week was Thankfulness. During large group the children engaged in animal yoga and enjoyed hearing “Fat Cat”. The Practical Life work focused on opening and closing containers with various lids, children manipulated sound cylinders during the Sensorial Presentation to discriminate sounds. The art activity centered on Our Thankful Tree. The children also poured water using a teapot. Parents-please send in your child’s winter accessories-snow pants, boots, hats and gloves. Thank you and have a good weekend.

Thank you to all of our families for donating a cultural dish to share with classmates! Thank you to the teachers for their hard work putting the meal together and talking about each dish and what being thankful means!

Enjoy these pictures from our Cultural Day celebration!