Many thanks to the parents who were able to observe our classrooms this week! We hope you enjoyed the opportunity to observe the overall dynamic of the classroom as well as how your child/ren interacted in our prepared environments. Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher should you have any questions or concerns from your observation. Our upcoming Round Table Group Discussion is next week – we look forward to discussing further questions you may have about Montessori and beyond!
As always, don’t forget to check out our new Full Monte and Facebook posts!
Wishing everyone a safe Halloween weekend,
The Staff at Lions Gate Montessori
GENERAL NOTICES
Upcoming Dates to Remember
Tuesday, November 1st │ North Creek Photo Day (Students grade 1 and up will be walked to NC for photos with their preschool siblings)
Wednesday, November 2nd │ Anchor Point Photo Day (Includes extended-day and elementary sibling photos)
Thursday, November 3rd │Upper Elementary WeDay Outing; Round Table Group Discussion 4:30pm at North Creek
Thursday, November 10th │ Bake Sale
Friday, November 11th │ Remembrance Day (no school for students)
Friday, November 18th │Curriculum Implementation PD Day (no school for students)
Citywide Flu Shot Clinics:
October 31
1pm to 4pm: Pacific Spirit Community Health Centre (2110 West 43rd Ave)
November 1st
1pm to 4pm: The Cedars at Beulah Gardens (3350 East 5th Ave.)
9:30am to 12pm: Strathcona Community Centre (604 Keefer St.)
11:30am to 1pm: St. Mary’s (2490 West 37th Ave.)
November 2nd
1pm to 4pm: West End Community Centre (870 Denman St.)
2:30pm to 4:30pm: Robert & Lily Lee Family Community Health Centre (1669 East Broadway)
9am to 12:30pm: Kensington Community Centre (5175 Dumfries St.)
Poppies Fundraiser│Starting Tuesday, November 1: Our North Creek and Anchor Point students have been creating and sewing beautiful felt poppies for Remembrance Day. This is a keepsake that can be worn over and over again and will be available for purchase by donation at your child/ren campuses at drop off and pick times. Proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards our Students’ Enrichment Funds.
Round Table Group Discussion│Thursday, November 3: We invite all members of the community to join us for a Group Discussion on the overview of Montessori Pedagogy. This provides us with a great opportunity to answer any questions you may have after your special experiences during the Parent/Child Workshop and Parent Observation Week. It is scheduled for Thursday, November 3rd, 4:30 to 5:30 pm at North Creek. Limited childcare is available for children over 5 years old. Please RSVP us if you’d like to attend. Kindly specify any need for child care.
Winter Party 2016│Wednesday, December 14th: Our Winter Party is scheduled for Wednesday, December 14th at the Roundhouse Community Centre. There are no regular classes scheduled for students that day. There is no fee for attending the Winter Party. The slip attached should be submitted for our records due to limited seating capacity in the venue. Initially, we are reserving 2 seats per family. On Monday, December 12, the week of the performance, we will know if there are additional seats available. Feel free to email us if you are interested in more seats.
Grinch Trees Fundraiser: The HOLIDAY SEASON is fast approaching!! This year the PSG is will again offer Grinch Trees as an adorable way to raise funds for our Upper Elementary MMUN trip! The Grinch Trees (10”) will come fully dressed and make a great centerpiece, a greeting for your front door or a hostess gift. Keep your eyes open for the pre-order form. Trees will be handed out during the Craft Fair at the Winter Party on December 14th.
Hot Lunch Update: Please note that the last day of school is Friday, December 16th. Therefore, kindly order only through Thursday, December 15th. Please submit the payment for your child’s November orders at your earliest convenience if you haven’t done so already.
Reading Buddies: We are excited to announce the return of our “Reading Buddies” program on Tuesday, November 1st. Every Tuesday, a small group from Lower Elementary will visit Ms. Janice and Ms. Julia’s Kindergarten and Extended-day classes to read to them. This allows the Casa children to get to know the elementary students while the elementary students exercise their mentoring and reading skills.
CASA COMMUNITY (PRE-SCHOOL & EXTENDED-DAY)
Halloween Celebration │Monday, October 31: North Creek will celebrate Halloween but will not be supporting the commercial and consumerist values of the festival that are promoted in the marketing world. The Casa students will not be dressing up in the classroom environment. It is a regular school day with activities and lessons on animals, classified cards and cultural dressings, including stories and discussions in geography and history. We respectfully ask families to kindly refrain from bringing candy treats, as we would like to focus on the subjects of people, land, and their stories that bring us together. We deeply appreciate your attention to this request. Please do not hesitate to email northcreek@lionsgatemontessori .org if you have any questions about this.
Photo Day │Tuesday, November 1st: It is a regular school day. A professional photographer will be coming to the North Creek campus to set up a small area to take individual, sibling, and class photographs for our Casa community. Photos will be made ready for order if you are interested. The photos will also be used in the 206-2017 school yearbook.
Physical Activity Policy: A written policy is posted (please find a copy attached) for all Casa parents to review. Please do not hesitate to let us know if you have any questions. Thank you.
Montessori Practicum Student: Ms. Betty Cao, a student from the Montessori Training Centre of BC, will be training in the AM classroom under the supervision of Ms. Julia for Observation and Practicum:
Observation: October 31 to November 4, 2016
Practicum: December 5 to December 9, 2016
Practicum: February 27 to March 10, 2017
We welcome Ms. Betty to her initial Observation and Practicum, which is part of her training to become a Montessori Primary Guide. Her bio will be displayed by the door when her practicum schedule commences.
Labeling: Please label your child’s clothing, shoes, food containers, water bottles, and bags. Because many children have identical items, it is very helpful for the children (and staff) to be able to identify the objects quickly. This is especially important as the children become capable of identifying their own items. Thank you!
Help Needed: A family in the PM Preschool class is looking for help in picking up their child from the North Creek campus at 3:45pm. Please email us to if you can help. The school will help you to connect with the family. Thank you!
ELEMENTARY & ADOLESCENT COMMUNITY
Upper Elementary students look forward to Ms. Frances returning on Halloween!
New Elementary Parents: Did you notice the difference between the elementary environment versus the casa? Join our Roundtable Discussion Group to find out why!
Halloween Celebration │Monday, October 31: We look forward to holding our Halloween celebration at the school. The children are invited to dress up in costumes that represent either a historical or a fictional character. They are encouraged to make their own costumes so as to help them develop their creativity and imagination. Costumes of Disney characters or superheroes are not good choices. Kindly help you child choose a character, who can be seen as a role model to young children. It would be great if the child could briefly talk about their costume: why they chose it and what it means to them. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to connect with your child and their interests.
All students are encouraged to contribute a small, homemade Halloween themed snack such as fruit spiders or mini pumpkin muffins. It doesn’t have to be enough for the whole class, but something that can be easily shared. Take the time to help your child research and choose the recipe, make a grocery list, shop and pay for those ingredients, measure and combine the ingredients, and present the final product. This teaches them vital life skills while providing them with the opportunity to apply their math, language (new vocabulary) and reading abilities to real life situations.
Photo Day │Wednesday, November 2nd: It is a regular school day. A professional photographer will be coming to the Anchor Point campus to set up a small area to take individual, sibling, and class photographs for the Anchor Point community including Extended-day students. Photos will be made ready for order if you are interested. The photos will also be used in the 206-2017 school yearbook. Students with preschool siblings at the North Creek will be walked there to take a sibling picture on Tuesday, November 1st.
Dress for the Weather Reminder: Kindly to bring your child to school dressed for both, indoor and outdoor activities every day. Clothes and shoes should be washable, practical, and comfortable. We expect parents to provide children with appropriate clothing for safe and active indoor and outdoor activities during all seasons. As Winter approaches, please make sure your child/ren has warm waterproof boots, warm waterproof jacket with a hood, gloves, scarf, (soon enough a hat also), possibly rain pants (always a good option to have, depending on the child) as well as a change of clothes and indoor shoes.
Drop off Reminder: This is friendly reminder that drop off is between 8:45am and 9am. We start lessons as sharply as 9am. Please make an effort to be on time as lessons start promptly at 9am. Late arrivals will be marked and noted on your child’s progress report.
Upper Elementary – WE Day │Thursday, November 3rd: Permission slips for this outing is now overdue. Please let us know at your earliest convenience if you child it NOT participating or submit the permission slip as soon as possible. Thanks!
Bake Sale│ Thursday, November 10th: We’re looking forward to our Remembrance Day Bake Sale!All families are invited to contribute baked goods. If you are interested in contributing or volunteering, please let us know by email no later than Tuesday, November 8th with “Bake Sale” on the subject line. Kindly note that we respectfully request that you drop off your contributions by 8:30am on the day of the Bake Sale (November 10th). Funds raised in our general bake sales have been used to reduced fees and pay for full admissions to programs and events. This term, we will also set aside some of the money raised towards our MMUN trip!
Photo Day │Wednesday, November 2nd: A professional photographer will be coming to the Anchor Point campus to set up a small area to take individual, sibling, and class photographs for our Elementary community. Photos will be made ready for order if you are interested. The photos will also be used in the 2016-2017 school yearbook. Please note that if your child has a sibling attending the North Creek campus, the sibling photo day will be on Tuesday, November 1st while your child’s individual photo will be taken on Wednesday, November 2nd.
Farm Update: Students will be spending Halloween at Anchor Point, so please pick your child up at school as per the regular schedule.
COMMUNITY NOTICES Wondering what to do with your family over the weekend? Check these out!
Diwali Fest│Now until November 30th: Diwali Fest is an annual South asian arts & cultural festival that marks its 13th year in Vancouver. The festival showcases the best & brightest South Asian talent, through FREE (or very reasonably priced) performances across the city.
Zoom Into Nano│Explore the Invisible at Science World: Now until January 2, 2017: Zoom into Nano at Science World Snow until January 2, 2017explores the world of nanoscience—a world that is too small to see with the naked eye. Nanoscience and engineering explore methods of manipulating materials on the molecular scale to create very, very small structures and devices. The exhibition lets you zoom into tiny structures and devices to see the amazing beauty of natural and manmade objects. Immerse yourself in models of atoms and molecules that are enlarged to 100 million times their actual size and check out the full body interactives!
East Vancouver Apple Press Fest│ Sunday, October 26th, 2016 (World Food Day!) from 11 am – 3 pm: The East Vancouver Apple Press Fest is an apple pressing extravaganza. Join your neighbours in celebrating the harvest. Try your hand at pressing local apples into sweet cider and take some home! There will be live music, games, a pie contest, and a seemingly endless supply of apples. Where: Vancouver Technical Secondary School Farm (Slocan and Broadway).
Rocky’s Family Halloween Party│October 30, 2016 5pm – 7pm: Rocky Mountain Flatbread is holding their annual Family Halloween Party at both of our Vancouver locations! The Halloween fun includes: face painting, Creepy Crawly Candy Bar, drinks & potion bar, monster-face pizza making ($8.50 per child). Costumes are encouraged. Children under 2 & adults are FREE! $5 per child admission. Reservations are recommended.
VanDusen Garden’s Glow in the Garden│October 24 to 31, 2016: Experience an unforgettable Halloween walk in the woods at VanDusen Botanical Garden The Garden comes to life with spellbinding lights, ghoulish music, and glowing pumpkin characters created by award-winning carvers, Clive Cooper and Bruce Waugh. After the walk, costumed kids will enjoy creating fun Halloween crafts inside. Parents can pick up a pumpkin and hot apple cider at the Taves Family Farms pop-up shop on the plaza. Don’t miss Clive’s live carving demos on October 24, 27, and 30. Come in costume and share your photos with #VanDusenGlow for a chance to win a grand prize!
Time: 5pm to 8pm (open late until 9pm from Oct 28 to 31)
Where: VanDusen Botanical Garden
Address: 5251 Oak Street, Vancouver
Stanley Park Ecology Society: The Stanley Park Ecology Society hosts ongoing events exploring the beauty of Stanley Park. Admission is either by donation or a nominal amount. The programs promoted on Family Fun Vancouver are open to participants of all ages. As with any event, we do our best to provide our readers with the most current information but it is a good idea to give the Stanley Park Ecology Society a call prior to heading out. Events can be changed due to weather or they can fill up. Enjoy exploring & learning about Vancouver’s largest park.
Birds of a Feather: Though we dread the coming weather, many seabirds from the north embrace it upon touching down in our relatively warmer waters. Join us for this two-hour easy walking exploration to learn about migratory bird identification and behaviour.
When: October 30, 2016
Time: 9am – 11am
Where: Stanley Park Nature House
Address: Foot of Alberni St, Vancouver
Phone: 604-718-6522
Cost: admission by donation
Carousel Theatre for Young People│Sultans of the Street: October 29 & 30, November 5, 6, 11, 12 & 13, 2016: Carousel Theatre for Young People productions introduce children to the wonderful world of theatre. The hour-long performances, full of bright colours, lots of action, sometimes singing, and engaging stories, mesmerize children for the entire performance. The first production in the 2016/17 season is the Sultans of the Street. The play tells the tale of 4 children: 2 of whom want new kites and 2 of whom merely want the privilege of attending school. The children desiring an education are trapped in a world of begging on the streets of Kolkata, India. Wearing the clothing of gods, the 2 children bless the generous and threaten to curse those who do not give them something. The four children work together to escape servitude and set a course for a new life. The Sultans of the Street is presented in association with Diwali Fest. While most Carousel Theatre for Young People productions are intended for children aged 3 & up, the Sultans of the Street is best suited for children aged 6 & up.
Other shows in the Carousel Theatre for Young People’s 2016/17 season are: Goodnight Moon and the Runaway Bunny (November 19 – 26), A Charlie Brown Christmas (November 25 – December 24), Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat (February 24 – March 19), and Good Day and Good Night (June 6 – 18).
Sultans of the Street:
Time: 2pm & 7pm performances (see performance calendar for further details)
Where:The Waterfront Theatre
Address: 1412 Cartwright Street, Granville Island, Vancouver