First Week Back at School With New Renos Complete!

It was back to school last week and teachers and children alike are thrilled to be back at Manotick Montessori with all the new renovations complete!

Take a look at what we've done!

One of our Classrooms:

The Front Entrance:

Another Classroom of Ours:

And Another Classroom!

Come and Take Your Own Tour Today!

Manotick Montessori Currently Undergoing Renovations!

New renovations are currently being done at Manotick Montessori this August!

In order to accommodate more children at the school, we have had to break down our walls!!!!

Our new larger casa room for Miss Natasha and Madmoiselle Manon will be completed just in time for our “Open House” on September 2, 2010 from 7-8pm!

 We will also finish repainting ALL of our rooms  and add some beautiful additional touches.

Check out what we've been up to this month!

We can’t wait till it's all finished and to welcome all of you into the upcoming school year!!!!

Summer Camp at Manotick Montessori!

Come join us this summer at Manotick Montessori for our summer day camp program!

Haley (one of our summer camp teachers) with one of the toddlers enjoying the great weather outside at Manotick's playground.  

The summer camp at Manotick Montessori runs from July 2nd to August 20th. You can sign your children up on a weekly basis for half days or full days (Monday to Friday). A full day is 8:30 to 4:30 and a half day is 8:30 to 12 pm.

"The kids love being at the school," Veronika, one of the day camp teachers said. "We make sure there are new activities daily to keep the kids entertained."

Manotick Montessori’s Summer Camp offers the program for toddlers (18 months to 3 years old) and casa (3 to 6 years old).

The teachers ensure the students have a schedule that they go by daily so there is a form of routine throughout their day at the camp:

8:30 - 9:30 – drop off and indoor play
9:30 - 10:30 – activity of the day
10:30 - 11:00 – snack

11:00 - 11:45 – outside play

11:45 - 12:00 – story time

12:00 - 1:00 – lunch

1:00 - 3:00 – quiet time/nap

3:00 - 3:30 – snack

3:30 - 4:30 – outside play/dismissal

Activities children take part in vary from week to week but for the most part it goes as follows:

Monday – Free Day
Tuesday – Cooking Day
Wednesday – Craft Day
Thursday – Water Day
Friday – popcorn and movie Day

"We've been very lucky this summer," Haley said. "The weather's been fantastic! The children have been able to swim, play and we've been able to participate in tons of outdoor activities."

Students are Responsible to bring their own:

• Sunscreen

• Water

• Hat

• Change of clothes

• Bathing suit/towel

• Pillow and blanket (for children participating in full day camp)

• Snacks/lunch

And we take care of the rest!

If you're interested in having your child participate in Manotick Montessori's Summer Camp, please call 613.692.1969. Spaces are still available for the remainder of the summer!

AIM Program Facilitates Success at Manotick Montessori

AIM, which stands for Accelerative Integrated Method, is a relatively new program at Manotick Montessori that teaches the French language through gestures, literature, music and dance. Children learn how to speak and communicate first, then reading and writing follows.

Wendy Maxwell created the AIM program to teach French to her students when she realized that her students weren’t responding as well as she wanted them to in the way French is traditionally taught (students sitting in the class trying to memorize verb conjugation). After much success, the program meets the requirements of the Ministry of Education’s guidelines for a French 2nd language course.

“We decided to incorporate the AIM program because it’s an additional teaching tool for children between the ages of 18 months old to elementary levels,” Janine Marcotte, owner and principal of Manotick Montessori explains. “AIM’s methods help them grasp French quicker because of the relationship between the spoken word and the visual use of signing.”

Manotick Montessori has had the AIM program for over a year now and is taught by Julie Dupuis, who has over five years experience with the material.

 

“It’s such a powerful method of teaching,” Julie says. “It’s highly interactive and fun for the children; and when the program is enjoyable, children learn faster.”

Janine believes that the program is unique simply due to the fact that, “the children not only hear the spoken French word, they can also visually see it in the form signing- which is a more concrete form of teaching.”

The AIM program uses several techniques to help children remember. Julie uses the strategy of “sandwiching” at the beginning of the year, where you say a word in French, then say it in English, then in French again. Julie believes in its success because not only does the student associate the French word with the English word, but the French word ends up being the lasting impression.

 

“Children aren’t sitting at a desk while I’m at a board,” Julie explains. “It’s very interactive; they sing, dance and act. Not so much textbook, more hands on. There are no grades...I have a check list instead to monitor their progress. We’re not focused on how much work is on paper, it’s about how much a student can learn.”

A perfect example of how successful this program has already been at Manotick Montessori is Kyla, who before taking this program was fully Anglophone.

“Her parents didn’t speak any French, nor did Kyla,” Julie explains. “By the end of the year, with only 45 minutes of French class a day, Kyla was fully bilingual. It got to the point where she could even make jokes in French; that’s a tell-tale sign of someone who fully understands the language they’re speaking.”

The AIM program is also beneficial for children who are on modified programs or who are developmentally delayed. “This is because it’s so visual,” Julie says. “They learn best through routine and memory, and that’s how we teach the AIM program.”

With elementary students, the program is designed with more reading, incorporating vocabulary to write their own stories, reading questions and answering them, using all correct spelling and grammar. The elementary students also memorize plays and act it out.

The AIM program has already made lasting impressions on the students and their parents alike at Manotick Montessori. But the most important thing about the program is continuing with it.

“Like any form of learning, it’s Important for parents to have their children  speak French, teach gestures to them and to keep them working creatively at home,” Julie says. “Parents need to keep their children’s minds active in what they learned at school or else it won’t stick.”

Manotick Montessori Congradulates Graduating Students!

This past Friday marked a very special, and bittersweet day for the students, their parents and teachers at Manotick Montessori.

Several students from both our Casa and Elementary programs graduated on Friday with their fellow students, proud parents and teachers joining them in celebration.

Adorned in their velvet capes, children receiving their diplomas were those returning to elementary classrooms at Manotick Montessori, while others were saying goodbye for good, moving onto new schools to further their education.

Among the students graduating, younger students from the classroom as well as friends graduating, each prepared small speeches about the graduates.

With each having something unique to say, the children all went around the room telling one another how they’ve touched each other’s lives and what they’ll miss. The graduates then gave their speeches about what they loved and will miss about the school and their friends.

Lastly, the teachers and principal, each shared their stories and memories and what they’ll miss about the graduating students.

Although many tears were shed, (mainly by the teachers) it was all smiles as students, parents and teachers congradulated the graduates with clapping and cheers as they were handed their diplomas.


At the end of both ceremonies, there was a piano recital with Miss Bonnie in the library. A few students played for others to watch and enjoy the music.

After the festivities finished indoors, the students were greeted by the

Gingerbread man outside, handing out cookies to all the students...

Another wonderful and memorable day in Manotick for all the students and teachers alike!

This past Friday, Father’s Day came early at Manotick Montessori!

With the sun on our side, we played, we laughed, we even sweat; all for a day of fun and memories with our dads.

To start the morning off, our casa class shared their excitement with directresses: Miss Anne, Miss Jeanette, Miss Robyn, Miss Randa, Miss Natasha, Miss Kathy, Miss Jennifer, Madmoiselle Dupuis, and Madmoiselle Manon, our friends and of course our dads.

After a brief explanation of how the games would play out, dad’s set out on a canoe race, with a total of three groups, all from different classes. The competitive nature was out in full force!

From there, dads and their children set out on the most challenging obstacle race of their lives…with hill terrain races, noodle relays and hoop jumps, they were in for a tough ride…

But they pushed on successfully, and moved to the next station… TUG OF WAR!

 

In teams of three, each group of men (divided again by classrooms) pulled and tugged their way to either victory or peril… it was a close call, but it was Miss Natasha’s classroom who prevailed the victors!

 

Next up was the most challenging match of all… a tri-nomial cube learning game that the children use in the classrooms… let’s just say the dad’s couldn’t figure it out without our kids there to help!

Lastly, the children surprised their dads with gifts, hugs and kisses, and a song they had been working on just for this special event.

Afterwards, our elementary students and their dads enjoyed an afternoon together… canoe racing, sumo wrestling matches, pizza and rootbeer!

All in all, a day to remember for all of us here at Manotick Montessori!

 

Stay Tuned for more events!