Please stay in close touch with the teachers throughout the year through emails about your child's progress, and seek their advice on how you can help at home to build upon your child's skills.

Our goal is to engage with you in every way we can in helping your child to have great success at Montessori and to achieve his or her goals.

We have found that communicating via the internet to be fast and efficient for parents and teachers. Of course nothing is better than eye to eye contact when visiting with someone but often time does not permit us to have this time with you. If you have comments or questions, please feel free to email us.

Thank you to all of you who attended our Parent Teacher Conferences last week. We had almost a perfect attendance from the parents. Conferences provide you with an opportunity to learn about your child's progress and to build a team with your child's teachers. It is our number one goal that we provide your children with an authentic Montessori education. Again, thank you for your time and support.

In The Classroom:

Are you fascinated by the endless curiosity of your child? Montessori education fuels that spark for learning in the child. Our students become lifelong explorers. Because they are taught how to learn, they love learning.

The school year began with a great start the children the children are filled with excitement and enthusiasm. While old friends have renewed their friendships, our new students have added delightful new personalities to the blend of the classroom.

We have observed the second and third year students to have returned with a wonderful sense of confidence as they are the role models of our new students. This is one of the beautiful aspects of having a classroom with mixed age groups.

In the first few weeks of school we began with Grace and Courtesy lessons, as well as ground rules for the harmony of our classroom. The children are working respectfully in a courteous and respectful manner. Some of their lessons included how to say please and thank you, how to walk around another child's work mat, how to observe another friends work, how to properly get another child's or teacher's attention. These as well as many other lessons are very important to the foundation that help children learn how to live and work together with others.

Quote by Maria Montessori

" The first essential for the child's development is concentration, when the child concentrates he/she is immensely happy".

We can now really focus on advancing and strengthening each child's individual progress to continue his/her journey of mastering the complex skills of Montessori learning.

October has been a month of huge connections as the children have established great friendships and shown us how comfortable they feel in their Montessori classroom.

The children have familiarized themselves with much of the work and love finding new materials on the shelves. The new talk about the classroom is " I want to choose challenging work today."

Areas of Study in the Classroom:

The Discovery of Fall: Welcoming our new season (Autumn). Our botany leaf cabinet: learning about different kinds of leaves, their names and shapes. Lifecycle of the apple, parts of the apple, Lifecycle of the pumpkin, parts of the pumpkin. We explored many fun math, science and art activities with our apples and pumpkins. We weighed, measured, rolled and practiced sink and float.

October and November is one of our favorite months of the year. The days are cooler and there are so many changes to discover with this new season. In the classroom we are preparing for this season by reading stories that are theme related and teach about the importance of sharing "We are thankful for". Thanksgiving is a perfect time to start setting the tone for the holiday season that focuses on giving, gratitude and generosity. We try our very best to instill gratitude with our students as they navigate their world. This is a concept that is presented in our classroom all year round.

Africa Continent Study Unit: The children have been learning all about the continent of Africa (green continent) on our colored globes. We will study the diverse habitats: deserts, jungles, savanna plains, animals, people, housing, food, and much more. Ms. Tess being from South Africa has so much to share personally to the children. Africa is the second largest and most populated continent.

Classroom Snacks:

Super foods are foods that provide health benefits far beyond their recognized nutritional value. They help us to embrace health and prevent disease. The children have really enjoyed Ms. Monique's super-food organic snacks we have zero waste and the children love the creativity and variety of choices that she provides. Some examples that she has presented to the children: fruit on a stick, individual salads, grain muffins, banana bread, and much more. All menu items provided by Aspen Hill Montessori are free from trans-fats, artificial coloring and artificial preservatives which all play an important role in the children's nutrition. We want the children to be exposed to a variety of whole, healthful foods this sets the stage for lifelong healthy living.

Classroom Health Awareness:

Fall is here with winter around the corner even though it really feels like winter now. The light is growing shorter and the days are much cooler. Flu season is fast approaching. We kindly request if you suspect your child has a cold, or flu, and they have an excessive runny nose or bad cough, please keep them at home to help prevent the spread of illness among their friends, teachers, and other families. We encourage plenty of hand washing at home and at school. Tucked in at home is really where the child wants to be when they are not well.

Yoga: with Ms. Laurie-Anne and Ms. Adonia

Yoga with the children so far has been an interesting journey. Having said that they are now learning to calm themselves and working on their balance and mindfulness. It is really wonderful for us to observe how calm the children are after their yoga class and how they so peacefully return to their work. The first step along the path of yoga is not brilliant illumination instead it is a humble acceptance that our best efforts it teaches us to be diligent, enthusiastic, and committed to our practice and our lives. Namaste.........

Spanish Classes: with Ms. Pilar

Many of you got the opportunity to meet with Ms. Pilar during our Parent Teacher Conferences. Your feedback has been so positive. As part of the Spanish curriculum the children have been learning their numbers, colors, greetings, listening to songs, special autumnl activities, etc.

Montessori Education:

Today many people speak about education as a race. Remember "Life is a Journey not a Race". One thing that Montessori teaches us is to stop and watch children carefully, to be with them in the moment, and to take the pleasure in simply being witness to the miracle of their growth and development. Sometimes the rush of our highly scheduled lives, we forget to make time to really "see" how our children's minds and personalities are unfolding right before our eyes. Our Montessori program works to develop culturally literate children and nurture their fragile sparks of curiosity, creativity, and intelligence.