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!
May Crowning
Calendar
May 3rd – Kindergarten Trip to Elmwood Park Zoo
May 4th – Scholastic Book orders due
May 9th – SSM Spring Luncheon
(Meet at 9:30 a.m. in classroom.)
May 16th - May Crowning for Montessori Unit
May 18th - Montessori prayer service for Raphaela Mary
May 25th & May 28th – Memorial Day Holidays
June 1st – 11:30 am dismissal for full school
(No extended day due to graduation.)
June 4th – Last day at school for Montessori Unit
June 5th- Picnic at Alverthorpe Park for Montessori Unit
(9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.)
Teacher's Favorite Books
Try one of these recommendations for some spring reading!
Are You My Mother? P.D. Eastman
Backyard Birdwatch by Stephen W. Kress
The Day The Crayons Came Home by D. Daywalt and O. Jeffers
Egg by Kevin Henkes
The Lion Inside by Rachael Bright
Are We Still Friends? By Ruth Horowitz
Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley
Resources
Announcements
Scholastic Book orders are due on Friday, May 4th. On-line orders can be made through Friday, May 11th. This is our last order before our summer break- a great time to pick up some summer reading activities. Please use code GMDDQ when ordering. Thank you for your orders that have earned us many bonus points throughout the year to purchase books and classroom activities.
On May 16th, the Montessori unit will have a May Crowning. The children will walk from the Sacred Heart Center to the statue of Mary to the left of the main entrance. Children are invited to bring in flowers to add to our baskets to decorate around the statue.
Mark your calendars to join us for our celebration of this year! The Montessori unit will meet at Alverthorpe Park on Tuesday, June 5th. Children are asked to wear their Kite t-shirts. Kindergarten t-shirts will be made and sent home this month.
Pass It On
Energy
At school, we pass on energy by: jumping in to help others, holding the door as others pass, smiling and saying hello, saying “Yes” to invitations to learn new things, asking “What’s next?”, playing games at recess with friends...
At home, you can pass on energy by: cleaning up toys without being asked, helping family with jobs around the house, by getting outside with family to exercise, creating a gift to give a neighbor (picture, cooking)...
Montessori Inspiration
“The unknown energy that can help humanity is that which lies hidden in the child.”
Maria Montessori
Class Pages
SSM
May
In the Classroom
Monthly Themes, Topics & Concepts: Ladybugs, Flowers, Summer Safety, Bugs, Butterflies
Season: Spring
Color: Review all colors
Shape: Review all shapes
Letter: A-Z review
Art Medium: Color Dots
Prayer and Religion: God's Gifts of Spring
Science: Metamorphosis and Life Cycles
Songs, Books, Prayers
Songs: If All the Raindrops
Books: Goodnight Sweet Butterflies
Felt Board: Flowers
Happy Birthday!
Butterfly Fun
Students painted their own butterflies and watched as we released our real butterflies outside!
Schedule Info
Spanish: Tuesday
Music: Wednesday
Gym: Thursday
Dates to Remember
Spring Luncheon - May 9th
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
Preschool
May
Welcome
Themes: Life cycles, insects, plants and flowers, rocks, families, homes, outdoor nature walks, seasons
Everyone was excited by the arrival of our caterpillars. We will observe the life cycle of the butterfly first hand as we watch these caterpillars grow and form a chrysalis. Then we will wait patiently for the butterflies to emerge. Many new choices will teach us the parts of an insect. We will work on symmetry as we look at the many types of butterflies and their wing patterns.
This month we will visit the statues on our property as we honor Mary with our May crowning and St. Raphaela Mary on her feast day, and celebrate our year together near the statue of Jesus.
Check out the different areas of our learning environment for a glimpse of the exciting work happening in our room!
Culture
We are learning about our planet and how to care for it.
Language
Language work extends into all areas of the room. Here a child labels the parts of a flower.
Science
Children enjoy exploring with magnets.
Practical Life
Children enjoy polishing shoes as we move into activities that have many steps to accomplish.
Our Teams
PSB - Blue Team
Clare Brown cbrown@ancillae.org ext. 339
Karla Russek krussek@ancillae.org ext. 385
Jeanne Fleming jfleming@ancillae.org ext.342
PSW - White Team
Marianne Egner megner@ancillae.org ext.341
Marybeth Scher mscher@ancillae.org ext.346
Marilyn McCombes mmccombes@ancillae.org ext.344
Aleah Sullivan asullivan@ancillae.org ext.331
PS Extended
Shanel Easter, Nicole Giorgione,
Aleah Sullivan, Sr. Dona ext.200
Specials
Gym - Aleah Sullivan
Mondays
Art - Brittany Flannigan
Tuesday (PSW) Wednesday (PSB)
Music - Gen Black
Thursday ( PSB) Friday (PSW)
Spanish - Dena Brown
Tuesday (PSB) Wednesday (PSW)
Artist of the Month
Preschool will be studying George Seurat during the month of May. Seurat was born in Paris, France in 1859. He created a method called pointillism. Pointillism uses dots instead of brush strokes to create a painting.
Show and Tell
May 4th - Reminds me of Mom
May 11th - Reminds me of Dad
May 18th - Sign of Summer
Math
Matching coins
Sensorial
Children extend their work by building mazes and brick walls with the red rod, pink tower, and brown stair materials.
Kindergarten
May
Monthly Message
What a wonderful time we had on our field trip. Thank you for making this a great day for our children! We look forward to more nature walks now that spring has finally arrived. Life cycles of animals and plants are just a few discoveries for this month. The bird feeder on the porch of the culture room is providing time for observation, We are making our kite t-shirts to wear at our end of year picnic.
KA Highlight
Continent Identification
KB Highlight
KB enjoyed gym class with friends in 5th grade!
KC Highlight
Wrapping up Spanish this year with "Adios Amigos."
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 last continent to visit this year is South America. The children will locate it on the map and discover the largest country in South America is Brazil. The rainforest provides a canopy to many interesting animals and plants to add to our continent studies. It has been fun to travel the world across our Kindergarten curriculum this year.
Creature Feature
Our creature feature this month is the Butterfly. We are so excited that our caterpillars arrived. We are having fun watching them grow. We will learn about the lifecycle of the butterfly and watch it happen before our eyes. At the end of the month, our butterflies will be released into nature.
Prayer
Hail Mary, full of grace
The lord is with you
Blessed are you among women
And blessed is the fruit of your Womb
JESUS.
Holy Mary
Mother of GOD
Pray for us sinners now
And at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Work Choice Spotlight
Students work on learning the first one hundred sight words in kindergarten. These words are grouped in tens. Each group is a different color such as red, green, yellow. The words are also printed in shapes like hearts, shamrocks, and flowers. Students read their words, record them, and then make a book of their words. Students are able to keep practicing their words month to month as the shapes change, but it's still the same 100 words.
Specials
Specials teachers:
Gym- Aleah Sullivan
Art- Alexia Perrine and Leanne Rich
Music- Gen Black
Library- Karen Sabatino
Spanish- Dena Brown
Religion- Jane Diorio
KA- Mon- ART Tues- MUSIC Thurs-RELIGION & SPANISH Fri - GYM & LIBRARY
KB- Mon- GYM. Tues- MUSIC & ART Thurs- RELIGION & SPANISH Fri- LIBRARY
KC- Mon- GYM Tues- LIBRARY & MUSIC Wed- RELIGION & SPANISH Thurs- ART
On Wednesdays, Kindergarten rotates through afternoon enrichment classes taught by each Kindergarten teacher: Sign/Spanish (Bodnar), Religion (Ragg), and Yoga (Farrell).