Oh, What a Night! ~ Our Concert and Graduation

We recently held our annual concert and graduation.  The evening marks the crowning glory of our time together and one that our school community looks forward to. 

There was much excitement as our concert venue began filling up with family and friends.  

The children were happy to see one another outside of our school. 

When everyone had arrived, the children took their places on the stage.  After a few words of encouragement, we were ready for our audience!

Backstage Before the Concert

  

Welcome Everyone!

Each year, the children are involved in the selection of the songs they would like to sing for their parents.  The show began with some of the songs we sing during Friday Kindermusik classes with Mrs. L.

The children sang some of their favourite French songs led by Madame D.

The children sang so beautifully!  We ended the concert portion of our evening with This Little Light of Mine.  This is a perennial favourite at our school. Did you know that this song was sung by the choir at the recent wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex?  Our little students knew!  It was sung at the end of the ceremony when the Duke and Duchess emerged from the church and boarded their carriage.  The students at our little yellow school were so taken with the wedding.  In the weeks following, it was not unusual for 'princesses' to be among us at school.

Some of our Little Princesses

The time had come to celebrate our graduates.

Getting Ready

Our 2018 graduates!

Seeing our lovely graduates on stage, it is hard to believe our time together is over.  Thank you to all of our wonderful families for allowing us to share in these precious early years.  Thinking back to the first day of school, the children (and some parents) experienced separation anxiety.  It was a time for the staff of our little yellow school to build trust with both the children and the parents.  Over time, we built a relationship with a united goal - to provide the children with what they needed to develop and grow.  Together we formed a community that enabled them to grow both personally and academically.  Now that we are at the end of our journey together, it is the teachers who have separation anxiety.  We don't want to let go of our graduates, yet we know they are ready to face all that lies ahead.  May they always let their lights shine!

After the concert, it was wonderful to see children and families celebrating together.    One of our families shared their snow cone machine with us.  The snow cones were a huge hit!

Yummy!

It was also nice to see some former graduates in the audience.

A. (left, 2017 graduate) with his little brother.

K. (left, graduate 2016) with her little sister.

l to r - E. (graduate 2015 ) and M. (graduate  2012)

Current Student M. (in centre) was very happy to reunite with two of last year's graduates.

Thank you to all of our families for their continuous support throughout the years.  We have truly enjoyed getting to know your children and your families.  We have so many beautiful memories of our time together which we will cherish for years to come.

Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.

~ Dr. Seuss

Hold Your Horses ~ Our Spring Field Trip

At the end of May, the children at our little yellow school went on a field trip to a local pony farm.  It was our first visit to this farm and we were excited!  We boarded the bus and away we went!

Boarding the Bus

When we arrived at the farm, we spent some time visiting with the animals.  They were very friendly and so happy to see us.

Hello!  It's great to see you!

M. and his family prepared little bags of food for the children to feed to the animals.  The bags consisted of baby carrots, bread and iceberg lettuce.   Thank you, M.!

M. With Bags of Food For the Animals

The animals thought the food was yummy!

We went on a wagon ride to see more of the farm.

This happy farm dog ran alongside the wagon.

Now for the best part of our trip, the pony rides!

The morning went so quickly!  Thank you to the parents, grandparents and family members who joined us on this trip.  It is the time spent together as a community that make our trips so special.  As many of the children said when we got back to the school, "It was our best trip ever!"

Postcards: A Memorial For Children

A few weeks ago, I came across an interesting article about Anne Frank and her American pen pal from Danville, Iowa.  
Like the students at our little yellow school, Anne Frank also attended a Montessori school.

Here is a link to the article.

 http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180415-anne-franks-american-pen-pal


I was particularly moved by the mention of Danville's eighth grade students and their inspiring Postcard Project.   Their goal is to collect 1.5 million postcards from around the world to help end intolerance and encourage the acceptance of all people.  Here are some excerpts about their project from their Facebook page.

Unfortunately, intolerance is shaping the world we live in.  Every day, at every level and every age, people face intolerance because they are different in some way.


To tolerate someone is not good enough.  If you are merely tolerating someone, you are still implying that something about them is "not good enough".  It is time to accept people for who they are.  Instead of rejecting differences, such as religion or race, accept those people for who they are.


https://www.facebook.com/PostcardsAMemorialForChildren/


When I read about their project, I knew that the students at our little school must help these eighth graders reach their goal.  While we did not go into great detail about the background of the project, the children were very eager to write postcards to remember children who died in the war. 

Our little preschoolers are not able to comprehend war, hate or intolerance.  They have such a huge capacity to love and to help one another.  Everyone who comes to visit our little yellow school is considered a friend.  All are welcomed into our school family. 

The children had such a fantastic time writing the postcards.  Many had never written a postcard before.  It was a great learning experience.  The older children wrote their own messages, while our youngest students dictated their messages or wrote their own names.

 

Here are some of their messages.

A Young Three Year Old

A Young Three Year Old

A Three Year Old - This postcard is for you.  My mom and dad say hi.

A Five Year Old - Dear Children,  My school is called Children's Montessori Academy.  I wish you get all the postcards you need!

A Five Year Old - I play the guitar.

A Three Year Old - This is my postcard for you.  I like the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A Five Year Old - I feel bad for the people who died.  I feel really sorry for some of the people that died.

A Five Year Old - I am sorry for the war.

Our postcards are now off to Danville, Iowa. A huge THANK YOU to Mrs. M.'s husband for finding us some lovely Toronto postcards to send.

If you would like to help the eighth graders of Danville, Iowa meet their goal, send them a postcard.  

Danville Postcard Project

419 South Main

Danville, Iowa  52623

USA

Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news.  The good news is that you don't know how great you can be!  How much you can love!  What you can accomplish!  And what your potential is.

                                       ~ Anne Frank