MAY NEWSLETTER
Lodi Montess ori Preschool & Kinder gar ten
A Message From The Director
May 1, 2015
Inside this issue:
Message From
Director
1
Book Sale Was A
Win/Win!
1
C. I. N (101, 102,
103)
2
Graduation
3
Montessori Minute
3
Mother’s Day Tea
3
Close Toe Shoes
4
Early Drop Off/
Breakfast
4
OTC Meds
4
VWM Disease
4
May Birthdays
5
Reminder Dates
5
Looking Back
5
Come say hi to us at
the Lodi Street Fair
on Sunday, May 3rd!
Wow, it is hard to believe our
2014-2015 school year is coming to an end. What a fabulous year it has been! Getting
to know all of our wonderful
families, and watching our
students grow, has been a true
pleasure. We have made
many great memories this
year. The Harvest Festival is
one event that stands out in
our minds. The overwhelming
amount of parent involvement
that day made us realize how
lucky we are! Serving Stone
Soup to our Lodi Montessori
families for Thanksgiving was
also a memorable day. The
children were so proud to see
their families tasting the soup
they contributed to and
helped cook. Events like this
would not be possible without
your enthusiasm and participation; we thank you for this.
at Lodi Montessori this year.
Have a wonderful Summer
and we are looking forward to
seeing many of you for the fun
Summer session ahead!
This year our staff has also
grown along the way. We are
proud of our team and their
continued efforts. They have
thoroughly enjoyed working
beside your children and have
grown to love and build a
solid connection with them.
Jolie Zins
Sincerely,
We hope your family has enjoyed your experience with us
Book Sale Was A Win/Win For All
It was fun to see our families
at the weekend Big Book Sale
event this past month. We
hope your children are enjoying his/her new books.
Although the school sold over
2000 new and gently used
books to the public, we still
had thousands and thousands
left over. So what happened to
those unpurchased books that
needed a home? The remaining books were donated to
Child Abuse Prevention
Council of SJ County. This
organization is committed to
improving protection and
safety of the children in our
area. CAPC operates several
preschools and daycares
throughout the San Joaquin
County, where they can very
much use the books for their
children. Needless to say, they
were extremely appreciative of
our contribution.
As you may know, all monies
made from the sale will be
helping with the new playground for the school. Yes
parents, it is finally that time
to say good riddance to the
loose gravel. No, that was not
a misprint! No more rocks in
your washing machines or
cars. Hooray! We will be adding foam mats in place of the
loose gravel, installing brand
new play structures and adding sun shades to off-set the
rising Summer heat. We
couldn’t be more excited! The
best part will be the children’s
reaction when they see the
finished product! ETA: July 6,
2015
Page 2
May Newsletter
Curriculum In A Nutshell: Room 101
It is hard to believe that May is already here. This time of year is particularly hard for me because it is the time to say goodbye to some of
my wonderful students that I have grown with this past year, or even three! We have had a wonderful year together. I will be sad, but also
at the same time happy to see them graduating onto bigger and better things.
As part of the lesson plan to end the school year, our class will be reviewing jobs from all areas of the classroom. However, our class will
also incorporate a few new subjects. In zoology, children will be learning about mollusks. Mollusks are animals which live in shells. There
are about 85,0000 extinct species of mollusks. The children will be focusing on two different kinds of mollusks this month. In math, children will be working on the positive snake game. They will be using both the color beads and golden bead materials in this math activity.
Children will count by ones and then exchange the ones for the golden bead ten bars. In Spanish, children will be reviewing what they
have learned regarding colors, numbers, greetings, and names of animals.
Our class will be having a Mother's Day tea party this month to celebrate all of our beautiful mothers. All mothers and students from
room 101 are invited, but please only one guest per child due to the limited space in our classroom. The tea party will be on Friday, May
8th, from 9:30 am to 10:30 am in our classroom. We will be serving cookies and tea. You can view the invitation posted on the front door.
Teacher and parent conferences will be from May 13th to May 21st. Parents, I urge you to sign up. This will be your last chance to confer
with me about your child’s progress for this school year.
Once more, many thanks to all parents for letting Miss Rosanna and I work with your children. We have had a few challenging times, but
many more good times than bad. I would like to wish all mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day. Everyone, please have a wonderful
month of May. —Evelyn
Curriculum In A Nutshell: Room 102
All mothers are invited to our annual "Mother's Tea" party on the morning of Friday, May 8th. It will be held in our classroom starting at
9:00 AM until 11:00 AM. Your children have been carefully preparing this to be a very special day for you. Please spend a few minutes
with your child to create a wonderful Mother's Day memory.
We are now planning for the graduation activities and reviewing everything we have learned this past school year. Our students have
scored to the best of their knowledge. They have been introduced to all areas of materials and some are becoming a great role model for
the younger students. It was a great honor for us to teach and spend time with each of these wonderful children. We would like to thank
all the parents for choosing Lodi Montessori School for your children’s education. We’ve had so much fun every day, while you are at
home, or at work, we get to play with your children all day long. Oh…. We did some academic things too of course… like mathematics,
science and language art. :) We talked about some complex numbers and solved a few equations. We also talked about the big Universe
and then talked about very small things (bacteria, virus, and atoms). They have learned quite a few things, and we are very proud of them.
We can't thank you enough for your understanding and support all year long. One more month to a big graduation day, let us begin finishing up a wonderful school year! Thank You. —Jamie and Setsuko
Curriculum In A Nutshell: Room 103
Hello from room 103 :D
" A mind once stretched with a new It is almost hard to believe that we are in the month of May already! With that said, the end of
idea, is forever enriched"
the school year is near. The children have been working very hard in class. It has been an amazing school year here at Lodi Montessori. We the teachers in room 103 have enjoyed watching
-Maria Montessori
the children grow & progress. ♥
This month the children will learn about the last two continents: Oceania and Antarctica. The letters to focus on will be h, k, q, v. With
math, the younger ones will still work on identifying their numbers 1-10. Don’t forget, knowing how to count from 1-10 is one thing, but
knowing what each number represents is a different challenge. The older kids will continue to identify and understand quantity 1-15. The
children's fine motor skills continue to progress; the older kids are name tracing more and have been great role models for the younger
ones. There have been a couple young ones who have shown strong interest in writing! We are very proud of them. Since we are still focusing on spring and gardening, we will also learn about insects and spiders! The children will learn the difference between insects and spiders, understand their purpose, and of course, perhaps find some to observe. Also since May 29th will be the last day of the school year
(& minimum day, school will be out at 11:30am), our classroom will be having a small, fun Toy Story party for the children. Yay! More
details will be posted soon. Have a great month. :) –Amber
MAY NEWSLETTER
Page 3
Graduation & Ice Cream Social
Graduation day will be here before we know it. Please save the date! We will
be celebrating our Preschool and Kindergarten graduates on Friday, May
29th which is also the last day of school. The graduation ceremony will start
promptly at 10am. Immediately following will be an ice cream social to celebrate the last day of school. All preschool families are welcome to attend this
annual function. Come help us send well wishes
to the graduates and celebrate another successful
year at Lodi Montessori. It will be a fun time for
all before school is officially out for Summer.
This day will be a minimum day and school will
be out at 11:30am.
Graduation 2014
May 13 - 21
Parent/Teacher conference sign-up
sheet is now located by the sign
in/out binder in your child’s classroom. Please use this opportunity
to speak to our teachers about your
child’s progress, and get questions
answered.
Please note, the Toddler class will not be participating in the graduation
activities. Instead, they will be celebrating the last day of school with a class
party with their friends. This will be a student-only party. All 103 students
are welcome to come to school this day, even if they do not normally attend
school on Fridays.
Montessori Minute: Bead Cabinet
If you step foot into a Montessori classroom, you will always find the incredible “Bead Cabinet.” The
bead cabinet is a well known, quintessential material that defines Montessori material. The beads on the
shelf can be used in different variations. It is what helps make abstract mathematical concepts into
something more concrete, so that the students can see the physical representation of a number. The
children will build upon knowledge previously gained and explore other possibilities such as skip counting, multiples, divisibility, etc.
Beads, beads, beads. All I see are beads! What is in a bead cabinet? When observing a bead cabinet, you
will find where chains, cubes and squares of the numbers 1 through 10 are kept. Across the top is a long
shelf on which the cubes rest, starting with 1000 cube on the left and ending with 1 on the right. Under
this shelf are hooks on which the long chains hang. The 100 chain is hung on the left then the chain of
9’s, 8’s, etc. to the 1 on the right. On the right side are ten shelves beginning with small shelf at the top
for 1, and ending with the longest shelf for the hundred chain. Each shelf also contains the squares representing the part of the cube. Everything in the classroom has its place and order, including the beads
stored in the incredible bead cabinet.
Mother’s Day Tea Party
May is the month to celebrate
all the wonderful mothers out
there. We will be doing our
own celebration here at Lodi
Montessori. On Friday, May
8th, the school will be hosting
its’ annual Mother’s Day Tea.
Please keep a look out for an
invitation from your child’s
teacher. Each class will be
celebrating this special event
in their very own way. Mothers, won’t you come enjoy a
cup of tea and cookies with
your little one?
This is our annual school-wide
event, which means that all of
our students who do not attend school regularly on Fridays are welcome to come join
the festivities. Mom, if you are
unable to make it, please feel
free to invite Dad or another
family member to sit in for
you. Only one guest per child
due to the limited space available. Cheers to Mom!
MAY NEWSLETTER
Page 4
Early Drop-offs/Breakfast
Closed Toe Shoes
Summer is quickly approaching and the weather is already getting
close to the 90’s! We understand that it is starting to get warm outside. However, it is important to keep in mind that open toe shoes
are not allowed at school, as they can be hazardous to the students
on the playground. We recommend students wear closed toe shoes
with good support. Clogs and flip-flops should be avoided. Shoes
should be simple for children to take on an off by themselves, allowing for easier transition to and from school as well as for more time
to play outdoors. Velcro or slip-on shoes are ideal.
If eating breakfast at school, children must arrive
by 7:30am. Children who arrive later than 7:30am
will need to eat breakfast at home.
As you know, our little ones are slow eaters. Consequently, our staff will need sufficient time to get
them packed up, before transitioning to cleanup
and morning care outside. Thank you for your
cooperation.
OVER THE COUNTER ITEMS:
Hand Sanitizers, Sunscreens, , Lotions, Chapsticks
All over the counter medications and or personal hygiene items brought into the school must be handed over to a staff member for
appropriate storage. This includes, but not limited to: Aquaphor, Petroleum Jelly/Vaseline, Chapsticks, Visine, Lotion, Anti-itch Cream, Neosporin, Sunblock, Hand Sanitizer, etc.
All of these over the counter items are required to be kept out of children’s reach and labeled with the child’s name. This means that
these items cannot be stored in your child’s cubby or backpack during school hours. Depending on the type of medication or personal
hygiene items, you may be required to complete an “Authorization to Dispense Medication” form. Our state has strict guidelines on
over the counter medications, and the school would like to do its best to follow through. The regulation was put in place for children’s
safety and for sanitary reasons. If these items are found in a student’s cubby without staff knowledge and/or appropriate paperwork, it
will be confiscated. No exceptions.
Community: What is VWM?
Those who attended our big
book sale event in April may
have seen a donation jar to
help VWM patients. All proceeds will benefit research to
find a cure. Sadly, many folks
are not aware of this degenerate disease since it is very rare.
Well, what is VWM?
VWM stands for Vanishing
White Matters. VWM disease
is a rare, genetic generative
brain disease belonging to a
family of conditions called the
Luekodystrophies.
Imagine a child you love: a
niece, nephew, friend’s child,
or even your very own, developed a horrible disease that
makes them lose their ability
to walk or function to complete their everyday to day
tasks, and this child has only
several years left in this world.
VWM causes the deterioration of the central nervous
systems’ white matter, affecting everyday activities especially motor skills. Patients will
eventually lose their ability to
walk, move and speak.
Unfortunately, there is no
cure or form of treatment at
this time. A diagnosis is usually made in the early years of
life at around two to six years
old. Children’s life expectancy
is reduced when diagnosed,
most within the first decade,
however, some patients can
live into their second or third
decades.
How wonderful would it be if
we had a magic wand to rid
something so horrible as
VWM so that those children
affected could be saved? Because there is no such thing as
this so called “magic wand,”
we can try to help by spreading the word about VWM
Disease or support research so
that there is hope.
Awareness + Funds +
Research = HOPE
Not so far from here, in our
neighbor city of Elk Grove,
VWM disease has affected a 6
year old girl by the name of
Laila. Her family is determined to spread the word to
help find a cure. They have
started a VWM run called
Run 4 Laila to help fund research. For more information
please visit:
www.facebook.com/
Love4Laila
Laila at the 2nd annual Run4-Laila event on April 23rd.
Parents, do you have or know of
something going on in the community that you would like to share
with our Lodi Montessori families
in our next newsletter? Please send
y o u r c o nt ent to M s . Vy
@[email protected]
Page 5
L ODI M ONTESSORI
P RESCHOOL & K INDERGATERN
Learning Is Growing!
Colton B.
2525 S Stockton St.,
Lodi, CA 95240
London J.
Torsten D.
Darren M.
REMINDER DATES:
Phone: 209-366-1012
Fax: 209-366-1013
E-mail: [email protected]
* Mother’s Day Tea—May 8th, Friday
* NO SCHOOL - Memorial Day—May 25th , Monday
* Parent/Teacher Conference Week—May 13th - 21st
WWW. LODIMONTESSORI. COM
* Last Day of School/Graduation/Party/Minimum Day
(dismissal 11:30am)—May 29th, Friday
A Look Back At 2014-2015
Safety Training
Dr. Huston
A lot has happened throughout the school year! For more
photos please go to www.facebook.com/lodimontessori
Stone Soup Servers
Hunting for gold!