Montessori Buzz – Oct. 26, 2021
Dear MA Families & Friends,
Updated: Health Guidelines for non-COVID illness
The health unit is seeing a rise in illnesses that are not COVID-related, and has in turn increased the time away. Before returning to school, a child must be:
- 48 hours symptom-free for gastro illness (ie. vomiting/diarrhea)
- 24 hours of improvement for other non-COVID symptoms (ie. runny nose etc.)
Please help us keep our school community healthy and use discretion when determining your child’s appropriate return to school.
Our Halloween Boo-ling event is this Thursday!
It’s finally here! We cannot wait to celebrate Halloween with our families this Thursday. The party starts at 5pm and goes until 8pm, regardless of your bowling time. 
If you have purchased tickets, a confirmation email with your lane and bowling time will be sent to you on Wednesday. Watch for the email from Tonya! Don’t forget to wear your favourite costume!
SILENT AUCTION – Halloween Centrepieces
Are you having a spooky-themed weekend? These amazing centrepieces will be available for silent auction at the Halloween Boo-Ling Event. Take one home with you after Boo-ling!
London Knights Suite – RAFFLE ALERT!!
We have an AMAZING prize for hockey lovers and those who just love a fun night out!
We have a SUITE at the London Knights game on Friday, November 12th, for you +9 of your favourite people. (10 Tickets in total!!) This amazing prize is valued at $1,640.
Raffle tickets are $10 each. The winning ticket will be drawn at the Halloween Boo-Ling Event on Thursday, October 28th at 7:45pm. Don’t worry, if you missed out on Boo-Ling, you do not have to be there to win! We will contact the lucky winner directly on Friday!
Buy your tickets online here by the end of day this Wednesday, October 27th, or at the Front Desk in the Administrative office before noon on Thursday, October 28th.
Raffle Tickets will also be on sale at the Boo-Ling event on Thursday! There are 300 tickets for sale – and they will go quickly. Buy them online today if you don’t want to miss out on your chance to win!
All proceeds from the raffle will be used to purchase new technology for the school’s Elementary Library! https://montessori.on.ca/raffle/
Reminder: Photo Retakes Next Week Friday
Retakes will take place on November 5 – we’ll share the location in next week’s Buzz.
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If you wish your child/ren to retake photos, please fill out this Google sheet to reserve a spot: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11eB6R8fh_Do9FSuJiTNo1MnpoHa9GsLczakR-QN4Ilo/edit?usp=sharing
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Please register by this Friday, October 29.
Photos from this week!
Casa Movie Night
Thank you to all of the families who joined us at our Oxford location for Movie Night!
Westmount Toddler buddies: A morning routine
In the morning, after cubby and our bathroom routine, you can be sure to find these two nestled away reading and talking about their books to one another.
Waterloo Toddler 2’s Halloween preparation!
Halloween is almost here. Our Toddler 2 students have been busy scrubbing pumpkins, sticking shiny stickers and tonging pumpkins!
Acts of kindness in the Casa classrooms
When someone spills a jug of lentils in a Casa class you will often witness several other students rush over to help sweep and clean up the mess. We take great pride in our ability to help others. Being “bucket fillers” and doing acts of kindness makes everyone feel happy.
Kindness can be as small of an act as pulling a chair out for a friend.
There’s one more week in our 1000 Acts of Kindness month. Thank you to all the families who have donated goods for the charities we are supporting this year. Watch for an update next week.
Casa 1’s Friday fitness!
The Casa 1 students had a blast in an impromptu Friday Fitness class.
A peek inside Casa 2
In Casa 2, the children are learning and getting creative with the beautiful Montessori material, including using the Red Rods!
Oxford Casa 3’s new friend
There was a visitor at the Oxford outdoor learning environment last year who caused quite a stir. Can you see them?
Lower El magical music
LE 3’s Year 3 students are “on fire” in music class, according to Miss Marty. Here they are performing the “Hungarian Dance.” https://www.instagram.com/p/CVdfPMmDLvf/
Lower El laser dancing
The Lower El students perform a dance with light to “Gymnopedie No. 1.” https://www.instagram.com/p/CVTamuipLyw/
Upper El Home Alone course.
By Lana and Stella
The Home Alone course that Kristen taught us is for Year 5 students to learn about what to do if you are home alone and something goes wrong. Some of the things we learned were: what to do if there is a fire; what to do with big storms and if you are scared of them; what to do if you have lost your key or forgot your key code; and what to do if a stranger comes to the door or a prank call happens. We also learned when to call 911 or when not to; we learned some basic first aid like how to take care of scalds, burns, scrapes and nose bleeds, plus what important phone numbers we should know, i.e. parents cell and work phone numbers, the backup person’s phone numbers and our own address. Being home alone is a big responsibility so we are glad we learned it. It was very fun.
Junior High ALIVE sessions
On Friday, Junior High connected with our good friends from ALIVE OUTDOORS for a series of activities and team-building exercises.
From the Community
Poppy’s Haven – Equine Facilitated wellness and learning
Equine Facilitated Wellness and Equine Assisted Learning. One colleague is a social worker/mental health therapist, the other is a physician who has an interest in trauma. We have all also done training and certification in Equine Facilitated Wellness (EFW) and Equine Assisted Learning (EAL).
Using horses as facilitators, participants will work through mindfulness and body awareness exercises. , as well as proven objective based exercises with the hoses as teammates. They will develop valuable life skills, such as self awareness, communication, emotion regulation, and cooperation.
See flyer for details: Poppy’s Haven wellness school flyer.pdf