August/September Newsletter 2024
Dear Parents,
It is the start of a new school year and we hope you all enjoyed your summer holidays. A big welcome to our newcomers: Carla, Alexander, Mads, Julius, Yuven and to our “oldies”: Aarushi, Alisa, Emilia, Rayén, Sreenidhi, Zuri and Anuda, Arik, Cosmo, Eddy, Jakob, Jos, Jungwook, Levi, Nikias and Oskar, and to you all!
In August our monthly topic will be “The Seaside” . Maybe some of you have just returned from a beach and the children can share their holiday experiences with us – show us a shell or two or even a crab’s leg .
We shall create a large mural in the hall, talk about creatures that live at the beach, what we can do at the beach, what we can find on a beach etc.
As the weather forecast is really good, we shall spend a lot of time outside and a paddling pool will be set up.
Should your child have an extra bathing suit or bathing trunks, please send them in. If not, underwear will also be sufficient. Please also remember to put on sunscreen in the morning before preschool.
As our new children won’t all start on the first day of the new term we regard September as the settling-in-month for our newcomers, the month in which the children get to know each other and routines are established. A lot of time is spent working individually with the children, showing them how the materials are used.
The topics in September will be “sunflowers” and “apples”.
The first theme involves the drawing of sunflowers, tracing and cutting them out, handprint sunflowers and sunflower collages.
We shall talk about what you can make out of sunflowers and taste some sunflower seeds and – bread at circle time.
The second theme will also involve drawing, tracing and cutting out.
Lucy, the music teacher, will teach apple songs in her lessons (Tuesdays 10:00-11:00) as shall we at circle time.
Annie, our sports teacher, has some heavily laden apple trees in her garden and would like to invite us all around to help pick the apples.
As a cooking project we plan to make apple sauce – lots of hand/eye co-ordination is involved in the chopping and fine motor skills are strengthened.
The first parent evening will be on Tuesday September 17th at 8p.m at the preschool. We hope many of you can make it as it will be the first parent evening of the new school term and it is always nice to meet and introduce the old and new parents.
There will not be a field trip in August, but we shall have a “teddy bears’ picnic either in our garden, or in the woods close by, with each child bringing his or her favourite bear friend.
As it is quite some time before the parent evening and some families are planning their holidays, I have attached the holiday dates for this term.
We look forward to a busy, warm September, during which we can spend lots of time out- doors in our atrium garden and to a happy new school year.
Your Montessori team
July Newsletter 2024
Dear parents,
June got off to a nice hot start, so that we could spend lots of time outdoors in our garden and on the playground enjoying the wonderful weather. The children have been gardening and watering the flowers and have been playing in the sand/mud making squishy mud cakes. We also spent a lot of time practising the play and playing football.
We were all very pleased that so many parents were present at the parent evening so that the two next special events –our summer party and the overnighting – could be discussed.
Apropos SUMMER PARTY! , let’s get to the most exciting topic for everyone.
On Friday, July 12th there will be no preschool in the morning. We look forward to welcoming you all at 4:00 p.m. At approximately 4:30p.m. the play will start. After the play there will be a small snack (juice and biscuits) and then there will be free time, a surprise visitor with a special show and a few games.
At 6:00 p.m. we shall start our barbecue. We shall supply the meats and cheeses for the bbq and there will be a list hanging up for salads, bread, juice or whatever else you may like to contribute. After dinner (approximately 8:00 p.m.) we shall say our good byes to the parents and children who will not be overnighting and then proceed to go on our scavenger hunt. When we return we shall prepare our sleeping quarters and get ready for bed.
We invite all parents of the overnighting children to come next morning at 8:30a.m. for breakfast.
The overnighting children will need: a sleeping-bag or blanket, an “Isomatte” or mattress of one kind or another, night wear, and their cuddly toy.
Please remember to bring your purses along. The entrance fee for the families with a voucher will be 5 Euro. Without a voucher each person will need to pay 5 Euro. Popcorn during the break will cost 2 Euro, as will special pictures. We probably shall have difficulties with change, so please make sure you have lots of coins on you.
July’s theme will be “transportation” as many families will be travelling during the holidays.
The last day of the school term will be Wednesday, July 26th.
For all of you who will be leaving ( Leon, Milan, Max, Elias, Clara, Freddy and Lilo) we wish all the very best. Thank you parents for trusting us with your wonderful children. We shall surely miss them and you.
We hope you all have a wonderful relaxing holiday in Berlin or elsewhere.
Postcards are appreciated!
For all of you who will returning, the preschool will reopen on Wednesday, August 21st and we look forward to a happy new term together.
Your Montessori team
May Newsletter 2024
Dear parents,
Oops I really don’t know what happened to the April Newsletter – it must have got lost during the Easter break. Sorry!
In May our main topics will be: Amphibians, Parents and Insects.
Luckily I was able to get some frogspawn from a friend and each day the children take a good look the tadpoles, which are slowly developing, to see whether they are already growing arms and legs. It is really so exciting to observe the metamorphosis which takes place from spawn to frog. The young frogs will later be returned to the pond.
We have talked about frogs and their metamorphosis, traced and cut out paper frogs and made toilet-roll-frogs. To finish the frog theme we shall continue with origami frogs and finger paint frogs. Our fieldtrip to the botanical Gardens where we had planned to listen and look at frogs (and flowers) was ruined because they were repairing the paths and therefor closed the Gardens. We had a nice walk to the nearby park, where we had a picnic and then enjoyed the musician a neighbouring old people’s home had hired to play in the park for the elderly (and us J ).
For our second topic we shall talk all about what wonderful things parents do for us and why we are so happy we have them.
And last but not least we shall make lots of lovely insects.
We hope for some more nice warm days so we can go for small walks through the forest in search of insects hidden under leaves or between the bark of trees. Naturally we shall take our insect glasses along so that we can bring back and identify the more interesting specimens.
Now is the time for planting the seeds of summer flowers, so we shall spend more time in our garden, sowing seeds, watering them and enjoying the good weather. We won’t only be gardening in our little garden, but shall also take out other working materials from the “Montessori room”.
A quick reminder that the preschool will be closed for Ascension Day 9th and 10th of May and Pentecost 20st of May.
Have a lovely May and don’t let the May bugs bite!
Your Montessori team
March Newsletter 2024
Dear Parents,
Our exciting topic “Solar System” has finally come to an end. Most of the children were very interested and the topic went on for a long time.
In March we shall start our plant theme. We shall talk about various spring flowers such as snowdrops, hyacinths and tulips. In the art room the children will have the opportunity to trace, cut out and glue many beautiful spring flowers which I am sure you will admire on the hall wall.
We shall also talk about Shaun the leprechaun who always comes to visit us on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th). He likes to play tricks on us and maybe we will catch him this year. If not I’m sure we will find his pot of gold which will either be at the end of a rainbow or hidden under an old oak tree. We shall see what we can find. This year – due to the leap year – we shall celebrate one day later, on Monday, March 18th.
During the week we shall listen to Irish music and make lots of shamrock- and snake art.
The cooking project of the month will be shamrock shaped waffles.
On Saturday, March 16th our landlords are throwing a Pot-luck- St Patrick’s Day- Party and have invited us all to join. It will start at 18:00 hours and you are asked to bring a small something delicious to share. I know we were the main party guys last year so let’s turn up in bulk and show the others how to celebrate appropriately. Because of my complaints about the rather depressing atmosphere last year, a live band has been hired to bring in more joy and merriment – so please come.
In March we shall also be busy with the topic “Easter”. We’ll start off with a visit to the Bali cinema in Zehlendorf to watch the film “Lottas Osterüberraschung” on Tuesday, March 5th
The children will have to be at the preschool by 9:00 a.m.
On March 8th it is International Women’s Day and the preschool will be closed.
As we haven’t been on a fieldtrip for ages, we have also decided to go to the Stern Center to take part in the Easter art crafts offered there. Our appointment is on Monday, March 18th at 10:00a.m. Details on what time you need to bring your child/children will follow. As we are also celebrating St. Patrick’s day on that day, please don’t forget to dress your child in green, even if you are a little stressed out because we shall be meeting early.
Maundy (Holy) Thursday March 28th) we shall have a small Easter egg hunt in our garden.
The Preschool will then be closed for the Easter break and will reopen on April 8th.
Daniel, a scholar from the John F. Kennedy School, will be doing an internship from March 4th – 15th.
We hope for many lovely spring days. Have a happy month, and a wonderful relaxing Easter break!
Your Montessori team
February Newsletter 2024
Dear Parents,
January was a quiet month. Unfortunately we were not really able to go for a nice nature walk with magnifying glasses to look at snowflakes, but we were able to have the lovely warm cacao after being on the playground. The children made beautiful snowy pictures and some children also made snow globes. Towards the middle of the month we all got really involved in our second topic – “Solar System”. We talked about the planets, traced them and cut them out. We made rockets and Milky Ways. I was a little disappointed that we could not go to the planetarium as planned, because all the shows for January were booked out in December. As the children are still showing a lot of interest we shall continue with space-stations and aliens.
In February we have two major topics: Valentine’s Day and ‘Fasching’ (Carnival).
The ‘Fasching-Party’ will take place on Tuesday, February 13th. Originally we thought the carnival theme ought to be “Outer Space” and we were looking forward to Aliens, Astronauts/Cosmonauts, planets, solar systems, rockets, milky-ways, etc. But as we told the children that Halloween was a spooky party and they could dress up as princesses and cow-boys at Fasching it didn’t seem fair, that we wouldn’t stick to our word. So now we look forward to seeing many lovely and originally dressed up happy children and should there be a space-topic-creature among them – hurray!
On the following Wednesday (a day too late) we shall make the traditional Shrove Tuesday pancakes for our cooking project.
February is also the month of hearts. We will soon start to trace out hearts, decorate hearts, make heart people, heart mobiles, make ‘window-colour’ hearts and talk about Valentine’s Day.
Unfortunately Luna New Year (10th of February) Carnival (12th and 13th of February) and Valentine’s Day (14th of February) are so very close this year. We shall not celebrate Luna New Year in a big way – only mention which year (the year of the dragon) it is and talk a little about traditions at circle time. Valentine and Carnival art will all take place at the beginning of the month and then we shall continue with “Space”.
We wish you all a very hearty February!
Your Montessori team
January Newsletter 2024
Dear Parents,
We wish you a happy and healthy new year and hope you had an enjoyable holiday season.
January is the cosy month. The Christmas excitement is over, but there is lots of “telling” to do – everyone is anxious to share their holiday experiences – as well as show their Christmas presents. “Talk time” becomes extended.
Outside, it is cold and often uninviting, but we still try to spend time outdoors daily and bundle up well for playground time. The trees look so different, all full of snow. Walks in gently falling snow can be particularly enjoyable and we won’t forget to take the magnifying glass along, so that we can observe those snowflakes on our coats more closely. It is especially nice to return to the Preschool and enjoy cacao or a warm apple drink after a winter walk. So let’s hope for a little more snow!
The “Winter” theme dominates January. Cutting out paper snowflakes to decorate the windows can give the children valuable cutting practice. Snowmen figure largely in art activities, as does white paint in all art work. A winter mural can be an enjoyable community effort.
Another larger theme we shall be starting this month is “Planets and our Universe”. We shall talk about the planets’ names, shapes and sizes and try to construct our solar system. Then of course we shall make rockets and spaceships and talk about the possibility of life on other planets.
Parent-teacher conferences will be held Monday-Thursday between 9:00a.m. and 11:00p.m., so please sign up should you be interested in a little chat.
We are happy to welcome family Schwabe with their twins Arik and Alisa, who joined us at the beginning of the year and have already settled in very nicely.
Happy January!
Your Montessori team
December Newsletter 2023
Dear parents,
With great leaps and bounds the end of the year 2023 has arrived.
In November we celebrated St. Martin’s Day by making lanterns, talking about St. Martin and going for our traditional lantern walk. Luckily the weather was so nice that we were able to enjoy the walk, the songs, the sausages, the cacao, the ‘Glühwein’, the bonfire and chatting.
December is the month that is not long enough. There is so much to do before the holiday starts that it can be a month of stress as well as fun! The children become increasingly excited as the month progresses. We shall be busy decorating our room for the festive season and making little surprises, so please don’t stay around too long when you bring your child as we can’t start when you are around and the mornings simply seem to be over before we can turn around twice.
Christmas is of course the most exciting festival for most of our children, but November and December are the “dark months” and therefore there are many light festivals which we shall introduce the children to, such as in November the German festival St Martin (November 11th), and the Hindu festival of Diwali (Deepvali) (November 12th); then in December the Jewish festival of Chanukah (starting December 7th) and the Swedish festival of Santa Lucia December 13th. So you can see how extremely busy we shall be!
Our Christmas party to which all parents and siblings are invited will take place on Friday, December 15th. Preschool will start at 9.00a.m. and end at 2.00 p.m. on that day.
Last year’s nativity play had a lot to do with angels. This year the focus will be more on stars, as we shall perform a “Twinkly Nativity”.
The Play will begin at 9:30a.m. Please try to bring you child/children at 9:00 o’clock (not before) as they need to get into their costumes and get mentally prepared for the show. After the amazing performance we shall offer a small snack and then busy ourselves with artwork and baking Christmas cookies. At approximately 12:30a.m. we shall have lunch followed by joyful carol singing and a surprise visit. Should the children then want to take a breath of fresh air we shall go out to the playground.
After my November Newsletter, many distraught parents approached me because I wrote that Lisa is not working with us anymore. Of course we all miss her terribly, but – and here comes the happy news- by German law, she is not allowed to work any longer, as she is expecting a baby. Hurrah, grandchild number 5 !!!
The photographer fortunately did come on Monday and I hope you are satisfied with the pictures. I have to say he was kind and did his best (with a lot of help from Lisa). Please give me a feedback so that I know whether to take him again or not.
The Christmas holidays start on December 29th. We look forward to greeting you again on January 3rd, parents well-rested and children happy and eager to start the new year working, playing and learning with us.
Have a happy, peaceful festive season!
Your Montessori team
Newsletter November 2023
Dear Parents,
In October we were busy tracing and cutting out Jack-o-lanterns, cats, witches and ghosts, decorating our rooms and singing Halloween songs.
Our pumpkin-hunting-field trip was very nice and the weather was not as bad as expected.
The supposedly grand finale of the month, our Halloween party, went well and the costumes were a sight to be seen. Unfortunately there was a great lack of people – I must admit due to me saying the party is just for the preschool children. Times have changed and many parents need to work during the preschool hours. Therefore I thought it would be less stressful for parents to simply send their children as on every other weekday. Some parents were a little disappointed, whereas others were happy not to have to take a day off work. Let’s see what we can organise next year to make the party grand again.
November is the time of lantern walks in Germany. We shall learn some lantern walk songs and talk about the traditions. The children have already started to make their own lantern at preschool but unlike the previous year they will need a lantern stick.
The lantern parade will take place on Friday, November 10th. The preschool will end after lunch at 2p.m. and we ask you to bring the children back to the preschool at 5p.m on that day and to join us, with the siblings and grandparents on the walk. We will start our parade walking through the streets, swinging the lanterns we have made, singing the lantern songs we are presently practising and then have sausages and Glühwein/cacao at the entrance of our preschool, chatting around a bonfire after.
Unfortunately the children tend to get dangerously close to the fire, so please to look after them whilst having a delightful chat.
After celebrating St. Martins’s Day we shall move on to a new theme. In the previous years we have always talked about the American holiday “Thanksgiving”, but this year we thought we would like to try something else. So Mary looked into her calendar and saw that on November 17th it is World Peace Day.
We thought that this is such a perfect theme as an entrance into the holiday Season and with the World in its current state. World Peace Day encourages us to be kind to others and teach others to be peaceful. This November 17 holiday pursues the goal of peace everywhere. Throughout the history of the human race, long-lasting peace has been elusive. But we should never stop working towards this goal. Without peace, the consequences are tragic! The creator of this day (Don Morris of Miami Florida), encourages us as individuals, to play a role in making the world a better place. He believes it starts with us and suggests we teach our children and others, in ways to promote peace, and avoid war.
We wish you all a happy, peaceful November!
Your Montessori team
October Newsletter 2023
Dear Parents,
The new school year is just over a month old and the children have settled in very well. They have been learning the routine and making new friends and our new little friends Anuda and Cosmo will hopefully also soon feel comfortable and „at home“.
The September’s theme „Apples“ was rounded off with a lovely field trip to Annie’s garden where the children could pick gorgeous red apples. The following day we cooked the apples we had picked and made a delicious apple sauce with the children and luckily this time not one finger got wounded.
Well now to October!
Autumn has finally arrived. This is my favourite time of the year. Nature is showing itself from a most beautiful side. We often have fine weather in October and go on walks whenever we can. Finding chestnuts and acorns gives us the chance to do lots of sorting and counting activities and we look at the shapes of the leaves and learn their names. Leaves are everywhere. The time for collecting red, yellow and brown leaves and making autumn collages with interesting pieces of nature the nearby forest has to offer, has begun!
In keeping with the season we will be talking about hibernation of squirrels, hedgehogs and other animals and about the birds that prefer living in warmer climates during winter
The colours that will dominate the artwork will be orange, brown and yellow but will change into orange and black, the closer we get to Halloween. Towards the middle of the month we shall be busy making ghosts, bats, spiders and jack-o-lanterns. We shall draw them, trace them, cut them out etc.
On Thursday October 26th we will be going to the Elfi Wiese to find pumpkins. This is normally an exciting field trip for the children, as they always have great fun looking for the pumpkins in the fields. It is a little like an Easter egg hunt.
Our Halloween party will be on Tuesday October 31st
As this year the party will take place during the school autumn holidays and many children will not be at preschool, we have decided to celebrate on a smaller scale.
The party will be without families and will be during the normal preschool hours (8:00-16:00). The children need to come dressed up - preferably spooky – but not too spooky so as not to frighten the younger children.
A list for a special snack for the party will be hanging on the door.
From the beginning of November on, we shall have a new teacher joining us. Crystal will be taking Lisa’s place, as she is not a teacher with us anymore.
As the weather in autumn can also be quite nasty please remember that we will go out every day, may it be windy, cold or rainy, so please dress your children accordingly.
Unfortunately we needed to change our holiday dates once again. You will find the new version in the attachment.
During our ‚nature month‘ we look forward to beautiful walks in our neighbourhood, many projects with leaves, acorns, chestnuts, beechnuts and berries and a wonderful party.
Have a happy October!
Your Montessori team
April Newsletter 2023
Dear Parents,
We hope you had a wonderful Easter vacation and have returned well rested.
Easter was very early this year, which made March an extremely busy month. We continued the topic “Continents” (Australia and Europe) for the first two weeks. In the middle of the month Shaun the leprechaun put in an appearance. He played a few tricks on us, but we found his pot of gold hidden under the old oak tree.
Then we had to get prepared for Easter. The children made Easter wreaths, decorated the blown out eggs (thank you for sending in so many)and traced and cut out paper eggs.
The Easter-egg-hunt was the grand finale.
Now for April.
Flowers are beginning to bloom, buds are opening, leaves are appearing and fruit trees are coming into blossom. What better time can there be to talk about flowers? We shall talk about various kinds of plants, the different parts of a plant, what plants need for growth, etc.
In our little green house the children can sow seeds and hopefully we will be able to plant the seedlings in the garden a few weeks later. In keeping with this month’s theme we shall visit the botanical gardens on Thursday, April 27th.
As you may have noticed we still have one more continent we need to talk about. So apart from the topic “Spring flowers” we shall delve into the African continent and talk about the various countries there, the vegetation and animals.
On Tuesday, April 25th the dentist will be coming at 9:30 a.m.
A quick reminder that the preschool will be closed on Monday, May 1st.
We wish you all a wonderful April!
Your Montessori team
March Newsletter 2023
Dear Preschool Friends ,
This newsletter is really, really late and I don’t even know why. I would love to come up with a good excuse, but I think it was simply laziness – sorry!
In the short month of February lots of children were missing due to illness and our group shrunk to twelve children. We are happy to see the absentees have all returned back, some still a little pale, but all eager and excited to be back at preschool again.
For Valentine’s Day the children had fun tracing and cutting out hearts, getting the preschool all hearty and making their Valentines.
Towards the end of the month we all had a most enjoyable carnival party. Early in the morning the children busied themselves with carnival related artwork, which was followed by lots of party games. The children all had wonderful costumes on and really looked super for the day.
We then introduced the new continent – Australia. We have talked about marsupial, the vegetation, the Great Barrier Reef, digeridoos, Aborigines and Captain Cook.
At the beginning of the week we started to get our pre-school green.
On March 17th each year, the Irish and Irish-Americans celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by the “wearin’ of the green” and the Irish in New York City hold a huge parade. We have started make lots of shamrock art for the school and it would be nice if the children could wear green on Friday, March 17th (day after tomorrow).
The holiday commemorates St. Patrick who, legend tells us, went about Ireland as a missionary, preaching and using the shamrock as an illustration of the Trinity. St. Patrick was also credited with ridding Ireland of snakes.
During the week we shall listen to Irish music, dance to it and on the 17th we shall go in search of the pot of gold that Shaun the leprechaun will surely have hidden under an old oak tree.(The weather forecast predicts a cloudy, warm Spring day 15°C J )
On Saturday, March 18th our landlords are throwing a Pot luck- St Patrick’s Day- Party and have invited us all to join. It will start at 18:00 hours and you are asked to bring a small something delicious to share.
The cooking project at preschool this month will be the making of shamrock shaped waffles.
After St. Patrick’s Day we will continue with the continents (Europe) and slowly start with Easter preparations - rabbit-, rooster- and egg art.
This year I haven’t started blowing out eggs in time, so I would be very grateful if you would feel like sending in a few blown out eggs for the children to decorate.
And now last but definitely not least, THANK YOU!!! For the lovely birthday present. It was so beautifully presented. It makes all the difference receiving a present given with love J.
Your Montessori team
February Newsletter 2023
Dear Friends,
In January the children spent a lot of time making, penguins and seals, whales and snow petrels and learning about life in Antarctica.
As expected we moved on to the next continent, Asia, fairly quickly as we celebrated Chinese New Year on January 23rd. The children cut out lanterns to decorate the entrance hall and we had a wonderful Dragon dance. Due to illness we unfortunately had to put off our visit to the zoo, but we shall do that at a later date and then spend all day there, as we shall then not only have the Penguins to look at, but also animals from Asia and South America.
Now to February:
In February we also have two major topics we need to fit in: Valentine’s Day and ‘Fasching’ (Carnival).
We shall soon start to trace out hearts, decorate hearts, make heart people, heart mobiles, make ‘window-colour’ hearts and talk about Valentine’s Day.
The ‘Faschings-party’ will take place on Monday, February 20th and we look forward to seeing wonderfully dressed up children. Maybe our continent topic could be inspiring for an exquisite costume?
The previous parties (Christmas and Halloween) in the large community hall have been with sibling and parent participation. The “Fasching party” is normally celebrated on a smaller scale and only in the Montessori rooms.
We wish you all a hearty and healthy February
Your Montessori team
January Newsletter 2023
Dear Parents,
We wish you all a happy and healthy new year and hope you had an enjoyable holiday season. Thank you once again for all the wonderful Christmas presents you and the children gave us. They are greatly appreciated.
January is the relaxed month. The pressures of Christmas are over and everyone is free to do his or her own thing.
Our new big topic will be “continents” and we shall start with Antarctica.
Antarctica is the world’s fifth largest continent. It is also the highest, driest and coldest continent on Earth. It is a frozen, windswept continent, so hostile and remote that it has no permanent inhabitants. Never-the-less more than 100 million birds nest and breed there. Emperor penguins are the biggest of all the penguins. Penguins are the most common birds in the Antarctic and it is no wonder that penguins are seen as the emblem of that continent. They will figure largely in our art activities and our field trip this month will be to the zoo to see lots of them.
Towards the end of the month, depending on the children’s interest, we shall move on to “Asia” and also talk about “Chinese New Year”. Chinese New Year 2023 falls on Sunday, January 22nd, and celebrations culminate with the ‘Lantern Festival’ on February 5th, 2023.
As Celebrations last up to 16 days, it doesn’t really matter if we celebrate on Monday 23rd.
Towards the end of the year, the back room had turned into a rough and tumble room. Due to a lot of wild play in there, children had frequently been injuring themselves. In future that room will be closed until ~10:00 o’clock, leaving the children time to work and play in a more constructive way.
Most of the children have been with us for at least four months and we are now insisting a little more on speaking English Tuesdays – Fridays. We hope you will notice a difference in their language skills.
This month we shall have two 10th graders doing an internship.
Parent-teacher conferences will be held Wednesday-Fridays from 9.30- 11.00 so please sign up should you be interested in a little chat.
Happy January!
Your Montessori team