Montessori Unit
Welcome
This Montessori Page and the pages dedicated to each level, SSM, PS, and K, feature classroom highlights and previews, school reminders and dates, and home connections. Pages are updated regularly, so check back frequently for new information!
Don't miss that classes pages are now directly below on this page. Just find the tab for your level and see what's happening!
Calendar
Thursday, January 10th- Montessori Pajama day
Monday, January 21st- Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday & day of service 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
Thursday, January 24th- Absentee picture day
Friday, January 25th- Sneak Up on Hunger- send a canned good into school in your child's schoolbag
Monday, February 4th 6:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. & Tuesday, February 5th 9:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.- Parent Teacher Conferences - no school on Tuesday the 5th.
Teachers' Favorite Books
JANUARY
The Trouble with Trolls by Jan Brett
Snow by Uri Shulevitz
Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
I Slide Into the White of Winter by Charlotte Agell
Snowmen at Night by Carolyn Buehner
The Wild Toboggan Ride by Suzan Reid
One Winter’s Day by M. Christina Butler
The Mitten by Jan Brett
Wake Up World by Beatrice Hollyer
The Snow Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Snow Party by Harriet Ziefort
Winter Eyes by Douglas Florian
Winter Woes by Marty Kelley
Resources
December Highlights
Announcements
Pajama Day in the Sacred Heart Center- Thursday January 10th Children are invited to wear pajamas to school fo pj day. Please see your level for more specifics. Children will enjoy a special snack, many bedtime stories, and cozy winter fun.
Progress reports were emailed on Wednesday, December 19th.
Montessori Mittens Project:
Thank you for making this service experience such a success. 168 pairs of mittens were collected and the Montessori unit faculty matched this with a monetary gift to Cradles to Crayons.
At school we will journey together in hope by: using morning circle to talk about our goals for the day, encouraging children to accept a challenge and practice helps us meet our goals, learning about Dr. Martin Luther King's work in promoting hope, utilizing our social skills discussions to teach our individual and group part in change in our classroom, our homes, and our world by our actions
At home, we can journey together in hope by: taking time at dinner to about new year resolutions for your family, making a plan for a family outing a few weeks away, being part of giving hope by donating used toys and clothes to a charity, making cards to send to our troops or a local hospital or nursing home.
Montessori Inspiration
"The greatest gifts we can give our children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence." Maria Montessori
Class Pages
SSM
Stepping Stones-January
In the Classroom
Monthly Themes: Martin Luther King, Kindness, Ocean Animals, Shells, Equality, Lullabies, Night and Day, Winter Animals, Pairs
Season: Winter
Color: Blue
Shape: Diamond
Letter: L, M, N, O, P
Art Medium: Water Colors
Science: Snowflakes
Religion: Kindness and Equality
Songs, Books, Prayers
Songs: "If All the Snowflakes"
Books: Snow, Winter is the Warmest Season
Felt Board: Three Billy Goats Gruff
Happy Birthday!
Schedule Info
Tuesday- Music
Wednesday- Spanish
Thursday- Gym
Special Dates & Events
Contact Us
Mrs. Beth Mahan
Ext: 200 VM: 351
bmahan@ancillae.org
Mrs. Nicole Giorgione
Ext: 390
ngiorgione@ancillae.org
Mrs. Barbara Caffey
Ext: 340
bcaffey@ancillae.org
PJ Day
January
Preschool
Preschool - January
Monthly Message
January brings such joy of learning. We look forward to bringing winter into our room.
Themes: snowflakes, snowmen, hibernation, animal tracks, peace & hope, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. , dental care, temperature
Skills: color mixing, fine motor, counting, shapes, patterns, rhymes
Our area boxes will highlight work choices in each area of our classroom.
Practical Life
" The essence of independence is to be able to do something for one's self." ~ Maria Montessori
Sensorial Area
“The senses, being explorers of our world, open the way to knowledge.” ~ Maria Montessori
Math Area
“Children display a universal love of mathematics, which is par excellence the science of precision, order, and intelligence. “ ~ Maria Montessori
Culture Area
“Within the child lies the fate of the future.” ~ Maria Montessori
Language Area
“Our aim therefore is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as the enthuse him to his inmost core.” ~Maria Montessori
Science Area
"We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry." ~ Maria Montessori
Preschool Sing-A-Long
PAJAMA DAY
On Thursday January 10th, Preschool will have a pajama day at school. Please wear your most comfortable pajamas to school & bring your favorite stuffed animal or bedtime story. Children should have sneakers for recess.
Contact Us
PSB
Clare Brown cbrown@ancillae.org x 339
Karla Russek krussek@ancillae.org x 385
PSR
Megan St. John mstjohn@ancillae.org x 373
Karen Vizza kvizza@ancillae.org x 342
PSW
Marianne Egner megner@ancillae.org x 341
MaryBeth Scher mscher@ancillae.org x 346
Specials
Specials teachers:
Gym- Aleah Conlin
Art- Brittany Flanigan
Music- Gen Black
Spanish- Dena Brown
PSB - Mon- GYM Tues- ART Wed- ART Thurs- MUSIC Fri- SPANISH
PSR - Tues- MUSIC Wed- ART Fri- GYM & SPANISH
PSW - Mon- GYM Tues- ART Wed-ART & SPANISH Thurs-MUSIC
Show And Tell
We appreciate your assistance in making this a fun experience for your child. Make a game out of finding an item that fits into our weekly theme. Please talk with your child ahead of time about what could be shared about this item with his/her classmates.
January themes: Fridays
Jan. 11th. Blue or White
Jan. 18th. Begins with “S”
Jan. 25th. My favorite color
Prayers
To Start our day:
Spirit of Life, we thank you for our new school day.
St. Raphaela Mary, Pray for Us.
Before lunch:
Thank you dear Jesus. This day is for you.
We ask you to bless all we think, say, and do.
Amen.
Artist of the Month
Our January artist is Andy Warhol, an American artist. Warhol was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was a leader in the Pop Art movement. Warhol is most well known for his Campbell's soup cans, and other popular item paintings.
Kindergarten
Kindergarten - January
Monthly Message
Marry Christmas and a Happy New year to our Kindergarten families. It was wonderful to celebrate with you at our Christmas celebration. We are so proud of all your children as they shared the joy of Christmas on stage!
KA Highlight
KA celebrates Christmas with the retelling of the Nativity story.
KB Highlight
Lots of work with numbers and letters! KB is busy learning and challenging each other!
KC Highlight
A sun of color shades
Writing Lab
Kindergarten children visit the writing lab in ½ cluster groups three times a week. The Fundations program is incorporated into these sessions. Fundations is a reading program that uses a systematic and explicit approach to reading and spelling words with phonics. The skills taught through Fundations, are laying the necessary foundations for your child to become a fluent, independent reader.
Practicing our sight-words. The children are beginning the introduction to the green words in class. Children are reviewing the red list of words as they exit the writing lab.
Kindergarten Celebration
PAJAMA DAY
On Thursday January 10th, Kindergarten will have a pajama day at school. Please wear your most comfortable pajamas to school & bring your favorite stuffed animal or bedtime story. Children should have sneakers for recess.
Contact Us
KA
Bevin Bodnar bbodnar@ancillae.org ext. 396
KB
Chrissy Ragg cragg@ancillae.org ext. 395
KC
Marianna Farrell mfarrell@ancillae.org ext. 394
Writing Lab
Angela Olbrich aolbrich@ancillae.org ext. 345
World Travels
Our travels land us in Asia for the month of January. The children will be learning where Asia is located on the globe and what countries are makeup this largest continent. We will take a look at the culture, land and animals throughout the month. We would like to invite our parents to come in and share your travels or heritage during the month we are studying the continent. Children are welcome to bring in pictures, artifacts, and books that connect to our travels which will be displayed for the month on our windowsill display and shared at circle time.
Creature Feature
In January, we take a closer look at the feline family. We will enjoy learning more about jaguars, cheetahs, tigers, lions, and leopards. Each child will pick a favorite cat to add to our Kindergarten graph in the math room.
Prayer
Peace, peace, peace
Peace the whole world over
Building friendships
Sharing our worth
Take my hand
Let’s circle the earth
With peace, peace, peace.
Amen
Work Choice Spotlight
The Square (short) Chains
The bead cabinet contains a short chain and squares for each number from one through ten. Labels for the short chains of each number are appropriately marked. The purpose of the square chains is to give the child other means of counting 1 to 1 and to learn skip counting. The square chains also prepare the child from multiplication through labeling in multiples.
Specials
Specials teachers:
Gym- Aleah Conlin
Art- Alexia Perrine
Music- Gen Black
Library- Karen Sabatino
Spanish- Dena Brown
Religion- Jane Diorio
KA - Mon- GYM Tues- RELIGION & SPANISH Wed- MUSIC Thurs- ART & LIBRARY
KB - Mon- SPANISH & RELIGION Wed- MUSIC & ART Fri- LIBRARY & GYM
KC - Mon- GYM Tues- RELIGION & SPANISH Wed- MUSIC Thurs- ART & LIBRARY
On Wednesdays, Kindergarten rotates through afternoon enrichment classes taught by each Kindergarten teacher: Sign/Spanish (Bodnar), Religion (Ragg), and Yoga (Farrell).