1. family and parenting
2. children

Miniapple Int’l Montessori Newsletter
Director’s Corner
I wanted to give everyone an update with
our beloved Danielle. Danielle’s water broke on
Thursday, March 26th. They are keeping a close
eye on her and her baby, since she is only at 28
weeks. They are hoping to keep the little guy from
coming before 34 weeks. So, she has been trying
to stay sane by being on bed rest, indefinitely. We
have been getting regular updates and have a
visit coming up. Any love you want to send her
way, she would greatly appreciate it!
We have finalized our class lists for summer
and are working on our fall class lists, thank you to
the families who have turned in their fall
registration forms. We have had several referrals
from our parents, we are so grateful for your
recommendations. Thank you!
We’ve been lucky enough to have extra
clothes on hand to send home with your child if
they are missing something. However, we have
not always gotten them returned to us. If your
child was sent home with MIM clothes, please
return them so other children can potentially use
them in the future.
STAFF UPDATES: We have a couple of new
staff I want to introduce to you. Please welcome
Erica’s new assistant, Annah Garrett! She
completed her Montessori training through the
North American Montessori Center, is wickedly
funny, and seems to be loved already by everyone
in CH1. Her daughter Mila also joins us-welcome!
We’ve changed the title of Daycare Coordinator
to Activities Director and have hired a wonderful
addition to our team, Lindsay Redman. She
brings energy, leadership and wonderful ideas to
our day, and especially after our Montessori school
day ends. Don’t forget to introduce yourself!
Another staff change is Kayla, our assistant in
Toddler House 2. She moved to Colorado and
we’ve hired Amanda Brunner to fill her shoes.
Amanda has a lot of experience as a Lead
Teacher at New Horizon. She is very interested in
learning more about Montessori and has shown
interest in taking the Montessori teacher training.
Please also welcome Jordan Thomas! Jordan
mostly works in the afternoons, helping with after
school activities, but occasionally fills in the
classrooms too. She is a student at the University
April 2015
of Minnesota, majoring in Child Psychology, is a
literary mentor for America Reads, and is a
wonderful addition to our team. She is wonderful
with the children, a hard worker, and brings a lot of
energy and excitement to Miniapple. PLEASE
WELCOME ALL OUR WONDERFUL NEW STAFF!
Our Spring Program is coming up on May
14th. We will be starting the program at 6pm. We
will be at First Congregational Church. The church
is located at 500 8th Ave SE, just on the other side of
35W. More info to come.
Dates to Remember:
April 8th: Montessori Education Night (pre)
April 20th - April 24th: Paths to Peace Week
May 14th: Spring Program & Kindergarten
Graduation
May 21st: Preschool Recognition
May 25th: MIM closed (Memorial Day)
May 29th: Last day of school year
June 8th: School Age Program Begins
June 10th: Step up to Soccer begins
For the first time in several years, we have
openings in our Summer School Age program. For
our current Kindergartners, you are welcome to
join us. If you know of any school age children
ages 5-10 years, we have a few openings. Please
let me know if you would like registration
information.
We are really thankful for your calls when
you are going to be late or out for the day. This
helps us plan classroom activities accordingly.
We also have seen more families trying hard to
arrive by 8:30 which is also appreciated.
We would like to remind parents that it is a
licensing requirement that we have parents sign in
and out every day. We appreciate your
dedication to this. Thank you very much!
Please let us know if you have any questions
or concerns.
Lee & Danielle
Miniapple Int’l Montessori Newsletter
April Classroom News
INFANTS
Hello Spring! Please remember to label all items with
first and last names and please date all the bottles. To
ensure your child’s belongings get back to you, all
items must be labeled and we recommend the sticky
labels that won’t come off. If you want, you can order
great sticker labels at Namebubbles.com.
If your child has a sleep sack, please bring it in to be
used at nap time. Since spring is here (almost), please
check your child’s extra clothes supply to make sure
the clothing is appropriate for the weather. We will be
taking more walks with our new stroller, so please
make sure to send along a sun hat for your child. We
can bring 10 babies now at once! We want to wish a
“Happy Birthday” to Evan, Ingrid and Iliana who
will turn 1. Ingrid is also our Baby of The Month!
Please let us know if you have any questions or
concerns.
Nicole, Val & Katelyn
Toddler House 1
Hello toddler parents. Finally spring is here (I
think)! We will play outside more frequently, so
please bring outdoor gear every day and label
everything. This month we have many fun
activities planned. We are going to talk about
frogs, spring colors, spring weather, spring
showers and Easter. Next month is conference
month; the sign-up sheet will be posted outside of
the classroom, to choose a date that works best
for you. We welcomed Avery to our room from
the Infant House, welcome Avery! We were lucky
enough to have Avery’s brother Brady in our
toddler room too! We said goodbye to Niraj and
Lakshya who moved to their new preschool
classrooms. Our Spring Program will be on May
14th. If you have any questions, please see me or
Rachel. We always appreciate your suggestions
and advice. With love, Reshma & Rachel
April 2015
TODDLER HOUSE 2
Welcome spring!
We will be going outside as much as possible
now that the ice and snow are melting. Please
continue to bring boots and snow pants, as the
playground can get wet and muddy. As always, we
appreciate you labeling everything that comes to
school. Please also take a moment to check that your
child’s extra clothes bin is stocked with clothes that fit
– the toddlers have grown a lot since last fall!
At the end of March we welcomed new friends
Leila and Boden to our room. We also welcomed our
new assistant teacher, Amanda. Though we were all
sad to say goodbye to Kayla, we are very excited to
have Amanda join our toddler community. Make sure
you stop in and say hello!
At the end of April (the week of the 20th to 24th)
we will be having parent teacher conferences. Look
for a sign-up sheet outside the classroom soon.
Conference slots will be before and after school, but
please talk to Julianna if none of those times work. This
is a great opportunity for us to connect about your
toddler and to think ahead as they move towards the
Children House environment. In advance of your
conference, we will be sending home a brief
questionnaire to get your input and ideas to guide our
conversation. We look forward to hearing from you!
With love,
Julianna, Katie, and Amanda
Children’s House One
March was full of transitions for Children’s House 1!
We bid Jamila a fond farewell as she embarks on a new
adventure and welcomed Annah to our community. We
are so lucky to have Annah’s experience, compassion and
enthusiasm! Annah was able to observe and train, prior to
Jamila’s departure, making for an incredibly smooth
transition. The children have handled the change with
graceful ease. Woohoo!
Please note that conferences are scheduled for the
week of April 13th. The sign up will be posted soon.
Thank you for your support and being such a
welcoming community!
Cheers, Erica and Annah
Miniapple Int’l Montessori Newsletter
Children’s House Two
Happy Spring!
We're welcoming spring by reading books about spring,
talking about signs of spring and changing our poking
works to raindrops and blades of grass. Many children
choose to put these on our tree above the wash bins, so if
you get a chance, take a look! Soon, we will also study
different kinds of birds and parts of the bird.
We will also be putting Flower Arranging back on the
shelf, so look up for our flower sign-up on our board.
For our Spring Program, we will be singing “I’ve Been
Working on the Railroad,” which I think the students will
love learning. Look out for a note about the dress code.
Sincerely, Mia and Blake
Children’s House Three
As we enter into the warmer yet wet time of spring, it is
helpful if the children have extra sets of clothing, socks are
especially important. In March, we were happy to welcome
Kai, Kelenn, Nina and Niraj from their toddler rooms. The
older children have done a nice job of stepping up and helping
our new friends learn our routine. These are wonderful
opportunities for the older friends to reinforce their
knowledge as they teach our young friends, and the toddlers
are inspired to do what the preschoolers are working on.
Spring conferences will be offered mid-April. Please keep
your eye on the white board for a sign-up sheet. Maria will
be happy to reschedule if none of the posted times work for
you. Hopefully April brings warmer weather and more
sunshine. We plan to use our deck for some small group
activities, story time and snack. We may do some planting as
well!
Take care, Maria and Cecily
Children’s House Four
Our spring conferences will be held on May 11-15.
Conferences start in the morning from 7:30am to 8:30am
and in the afternoon from 2:15pm to 3:15pm. 20 minutes
for each family. Time slot sign-up sheets will be up by
the bulletin board soon.
Now the weather is so nice hopefully, that will help
your child arrive to school by 8:30am. If the classroom is
already started, then please remember to give your child
April 2015
hugs and kisses by the door and let your child put their
lunch-boxes in their cubby by themselves. If you make it
into a routine, they will follow it. Dr. Maria Montessori
says that " independence allows the child to function.
The prepared environment should be like a living
environment for the child, directed by higher
intelligence. It's a place where the child can be
independent from the adults, and can direct by his own
life. By doing this, he will become more aware of his
own powers. Here the child becomes more active and the
teacher becomes less active."
Wangmo and Najat
CHILDREN’S HOUSE 5
We have made new friends and kept the old this
month. Some have moved or are going to move away
and we have had new friends join us. This has given
great teachable moments on real life situations of how to
say good-bye and how then introduce and welcome
someone to our classroom. The children have been
excellent role models and enjoy being the one that shows
the basic rules of our classroom. I have been especially
impressed the last two weeks were we experienced many
days where the children were so eager to continue with
their work that the pleaded to not have to stop for
lunch. Also, more have been concentrating with great
focus and finishing their work succinctly and then
moving on to something else without suggestion.
When it has come time to be dismissed from our circle
times, many have chosen to change into a meditative
stance with crossed legs, eyes closed and fingers curved
into circles balanced on their knees. Your children are a
joy to work with and they provide me with many
touching as well as hilarious moments. Thank you for
that!
A reflection on a favorite Sensorial material that
is indirect preparation for Algebra in Montessori is
the ‪trinomial cube. "Whereas most of us as adults had to
memorize mathematical formulas, eventually solving
the problems we faced, children who grow up with
Montessori, will understand the problem, before they are
faced with the formula."
"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I
understand." ~ Confucius‪‪
Jil and Gabrielle
Miniapple Int’l Montessori Newsletter
April 2015
Toddler French
Bon Jour à tous. March has been a busy month at
Miniapple, but Spring is finally here! I am excited to
start new vocabulary words about nature: fleur
(flower), soleil (sun), arbre (tree), oiseaux (bird). I
can’t believe it is already April-time has passed so
quickly, but I am very pleased with the toddlers’
progress in French. Merci, Cecily
Preschool French
Bon Jour à toutes les familles et joyeux mois d’Avril.
After learning about our house (maison) and the basic
Step Up to Soccer
We have set our days for our summer soccer
program. The schedule will be Wednesday or
Thursday mornings, starting June 10th, for 8
weeks. Your child will attend one of these days.
Registration materials are here! Look for them
on the front table!
rooms in it: La salle de bain (bathroom), la cuisine (kitchen),
le chambre â coucher (bedroom), et le salon (living room),
we will talk and learn about some items that we use in our
home. For ex: le lit (bed), le four (oven), l’espirateur
(vacuum cleaner), le savôn (soap), le lavabo (sink). Also
we will work on naming some clothes: pantalon (pants),
robe (dress), jupe (skirt) pull (shirt). Please keep asking
your child about what they have learned during French
class. We are finishing our “vert-violet et jaune” story.
We are singing “Savez-vous planter les choux (do you
know how to plant the cabbage?” Merci, Najat
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Each year we offer parent/teacher conferences in
October and again in April/May. This is a great
way to connect with your child’s teacher about
their progress and ask questions. Each teacher
will post a conference schedule soon, so you know
when they will offer them.
Paths to Peace Week
We are very excited about our upcoming
Peace Week. It will be from April 20th
through April 24th. Each day has a
theme with coordinating activities. The
events will be announced soon.
Monday: I Care About Others
Tuesday: I Care About the Earth
Wednesday: I Care About Myself
Thursday: I Care for My Community
Friday: I Care About My School
If there is anything you would like to be a
part of or would like to contribute in
anyway, you are welcome. Please let
us know.