Dear Great Horned Owls Families -
We closed November with a lot of work completed and with a wonderful feast. Now we just have the challenge in keeping the children focused until the 15th. They are already getting excited about going on break. During our singing and dancing time on Fridays, requests for holiday songs have begun.
I failed to get out a November 1st update so I’m including some items below for both months. In addition, there will be many pictures down below for your enjoyment.
Cookie Exchange:
The children voted to exchange cookies this month. Please sit down with your child to see what favorite cookie recipe to make. I suggest making a minimum of 26 cookies so all the children will get one from each other child and the adults will only partake for quality control. They also need to bring a large enough Tupperware or plastic container to take their two dozen home. Please print out or email the recipe so the children with allergies can choose which ones they may take home. This will take place on December 11th during class. We purposely scheduled it to allow families to bake over the weekend.
Games:
During our conferences quite a few parents asked about how they can help their child at home and I recommended activities that will indirectly teach your child skills that will carry over to the classroom. Without them knowing, they can learn sequential thinking, mental math, word recollection, strategical thinking, learning to win or lose gracefully, perseverance, slowing down to think, and more importantly, spending time with family. When you go to the grocery store, challenge them to mentally add the items you are purchasing to see how close they guessed when compared to the register total (make sure to round the prices to the nearest dollar for them). Here is a short list of games I’m familiar with and would recommend:
Boggle, Scrabble, from the New York Times yearly game subscription - SpellingBee, Connections, Wordle, Crossword puzzle, etc., Rory’s Story Cubes, Headbanz, and Dixit.
Sequence, Yahtzee, MasterMind, chess, Rush Hour, backgammon, battleship, and card games.
Interpreting the large math sheets when they get home:
When your child has taken home math work they did with a partner, it’s important to look at it and ask them questions. To help you decipher some of the short hand symbols, the following will shed some light on what they mean:
When a pair of children have finished their math work, I will check it. If they made a mistake on a problem, I will make a little solid dark circle to indicate it needs to be corrected. If they bring it back for a second check and they still have not gotten the right answer, I’ll place a second round solid circle next to problem. Usually, errors occur if the two children are not paying attention to what their partner is doing and not that they are unable to do the math. If there is a “C” with a circled drawn around it, it means they forgot a comma. If there is an “S”, it means they forgot to show the operation sign. If there is a “L” they forgot the equals line. If there is a “DS” for fraction work, they forgot the division line. Hopefully this will help out.
Scholastic Books:
The last Scholastic book order of the year will be placed a week and half before going on break. I’ll send out a link under a different cover.
Drama, music, and dance:
An inexpensive way of exposing your child to the arts is through your local universities, junior colleges, and high schools. Below are links to venues you may want to explore:
Chandler Gilbert Community College -
https://www.cgc.edu/news/2023/fall-2023-performing-arts-events
Scottsdale Community College -
https://www.scottsdalecc.edu/calendars/fine-and-performing-arts-calendar
ASU
https://musicdancetheatre.asu.edu/ensembles/music-theatre-and-opera-program/season
https://herbergerinstitute.asu.edu/events#allevents
Phoenix in general free events:
https://www.visitphoenix.com/things-to-do/attractions/free-things-to-do/
Children bringing gifts or tokens of friendship:
Please ask your child not to bring any items to give away to classmates. Children will take note and may feel left out or excluded if they are not one of the recipients.
Garden:
We are still looking for gardening soil donations for our back environment garden. We are looking for about 10 bags. It was suggested to get Kellogg’s Organic Plus Raised Bed and Potting Mix by one of the Master Gardner parent. Thank you advance for any donations.
Ms. Bahareh and Mr. Jess
November birthdays we celebrated:
1st - Eden
3rd - Charlize
December Birthdays:
No children birthdays.
Important Upcoming events:
Saturday, December 2nd(3-6pm) - Austrian Christmas Cookie Party
Friday, December 8th - Great Horned Owls’ hike to South Mountain
Saturday, December 9th (2-6pm) - Tamales & Tequila
Monday, December 11th - Great Horned Owls Cookie Exchange (in class)
Thursday, December 14th (6-7pm) - AZ Eagles Childsplay performance in the gym
Friday, December 15th (11:40-12:00pm) - Early Release/Extended Care Provided
Monday, December 18th - Tuesday, January 2nd - Winter Break
Sunday, December 31st (11am-2pm) - Noon-Year’s Eve Roller Skating Party
Friendly Reminder:
Don’t forget to make your AZ School Tax Credit donation for Keystone Montessori- receive a dollar per dollar credit on your AZ tax return ($200 single or $400 for joint return on AZ form 321, please ask your tax advisor for details or https://azdor.gov/tax-credits/contributions-qcos-and-qfcos )
