June is upon us.
The 2nd busiest month of the school year!!
-Each graduate will be having their cap and gown sent home with instructions for their front porch ceremony, date, and time. These worked very well the last 3 years and were well received by everyone. It is a much more personalized ceremony, and the children are generally less nervous about being on stage.
-Please make sure your child has a sun hat at school. We are hoping to get outside everyday this month. It is important that your child is protected from the sun and is wearing proper footwear. Runners and socks are the best for tiny feet: it is more comfortable, less smelly and a safer option to avoid blisters when we are out and about.
-We did not have any issues with the sunglasses during walks so this is something that I would like to continue with through the next few months.
-The older children will begin taking their water bottles on walks in the afternoons now that the weather is warmer. It is extremely helpful if the children have smaller water bottles with handles that they can independently use and carry. We have found that the bigger water bottles get too heavy for them and often get dropped and broken. As always please label them for easy identification.
-I will be sending home notices to each family to reflect the fees for the summer and fall as many of you are adjusting days of attendance. If there are any errors with days, please let me know and I will fix it. Families using the subsidy system are still reminded to maintain hours through the summer to have full coverage; it is your responsibility to pay the difference
-Make sure your child has a full and healthy lunch. They have been working up an appetite on their morning walks and when they return at lunch they are famished!!
-With the warmer days the lunches need to have an ice pack put inside to keep them cold and maintain freshness of the food.
-We aim to leave for walks by 10:30, please come on time to school if you want your child to participate. Most days there will not be staff remaining at the school and the doors will be locked. We will leave a phone number to reach the group. Please call the number to the appropriate age group. For privacy reasons we don’t want to put the staff names beside their numbers. Please let the staff know if you are coming early to get your child in the afternoon. This way we can plan our walks or leave your child with the afternoon group at the school, so you do not have to track us down.
-If the weather gets hotter early in the day we will have the children in the yard first thing (on arrival) and inside during the heat of the day and back outside in the afternoon when the yard shades over.
-Please continue to apply sunscreen before school, it was a huge time saver for staff on those few sunny days. We will reapply it at lunchtime.
-We will also monitor the mosquitos on our walks, so far it has been fine but we will keep this in mind as we head out,
-We will be sending clothing bags home soon to be restocked with season clothing. Please refill and return as soon as possible.
-The white bags on your child’s hooks need to be gone through as well, they only need 1 pair of shoes/slippers in there and a sun hat. All mittens and toques can go home as can artwork, rocks and other treasures that have been collected. We have noticed that they are bursting with miscellaneous items that are unneeded at school.
-If your child is going to be taking additional holidays, please let us know so we can mark it down for reference.
-Last day of school for the EA’s for the school boards is June 23rd.
-Last day for kindergarten is Friday June 23rd, after that day we will be joining the main class for all activities.
-This is the last month for some of our older children to be attending Montessori. Some have been with us for a short time of 1-2 years and others have been here since their siblings came, 6+ years. We are excited for these children to go onto elementary school, but they will be missed dearly. Each is part of our Montessori family, and we know our paths will cross again within our community. We encourage drop-in visits if you’re in the neighborhood!
-To our families who are taking the summer off, going part-time or leaving for good, we appreciate your kindness and support over the past 10 months. It’s been another year of learning and growing and we are grateful that you have trusted your child(ren) to us and stuck with us through times of uncertainty and change. Thank you for everything!!
Happy June everyone!
Medicine Hat Montessori's Blog 