August 2023

Oh, my where did July go?? I had plans of having this done sooner but time has slipped away this month.

It’s August which means half of our summer is gone and we are looking at September sneaking in right around the corner. Time to get organized!!

Here are the few things we need to fill you in on for August:

-August e-transfers need to be sent for the month.

-We are closed Monday August 7, 2023, to observe Heritage Day-enjoy your long weekend.

-We are closed August 8-11, 2023, to have the remainder of the floor installed and the backyard trees cut.

-Please remember hats and water bottles for your child and please have them sun screened as well so they are ready for outside in this heat. When we return in August, we will monitor the heat. If it is too hot. then we will re-arrange our day to be sun safe. It worked very well in July so I anticipate August being the same.

-First day for Montessori Kindergarten is Tuesday Sept. 5^th, 2023 at 8:30am.

-Please check with your school boards (calendars are on-line) to confirm when your child returns to school for school age children. Kindergarten parents need to be aware that kindergarten at big school likely does not start until later in September. We are full each day to our license capacity so we will not have availability for extra days during staggered entry at big school. Please do not assume we have space for your child on their big school days.

-We will be saying good-bye to many of our children this month as they prepare for big school. It has been an honor to watch your child grow, to get to know each family over the years and we hope you keep in touch! There will also be some new faces joining us in August for trial days and then starting regularly in September.

-We will also be saying good-bye to Miss Mckenna and Miss Riddell. They are both headed to Medicine Hat College to pursue their Bachelor of Education. We thank them for their contributions to our program and dedication to the children.

-We are happy to welcome Miss Rory Schneider to the team. Rory will be in the main classroom, working alongside Miss Garrecht, Miss Cook and Miss Hayley. She is working on learning names so if she asks who you are here to pick up, please introduce yourself to her.

-The yearly family supply fee is due on September 1st. It is $60.00 and can be e-transferred or paid in cash or by cheque. It is 1 payment per family not per child.

-We will be having Kim Bratvold taking the school pictures. The dates are being worked out as we speak!

-Music will be returning in mid/late September. We are working on details with a new music teacher.

-Social Thinkers will be returning in October.

-SACA Kickboxing will return in mid September.

-Melissa at Flag 5 worked her creative magic and created a logo for the school. With any luck we will be able to get the website up and running among other things. We will be letting you know when we have things up and running.

Have a great August! Please watch the blog and Instagram in August as more information about the coming year will be added as they develop such as testing days, or other information you will need to know to get the year going.

July Is Here Already!

We would like to extend an enormous thank you to the families for the treats, flowers, gift cards and beautiful cards you have dropped off in the last few days of June. We greatly appreciate them and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Congratulations to our preschool and kindergarten graduates. Our little celebration was perfect. We look forward to hearing about your big school adventures!

Over the next 8 weeks you will be seeing more of some staff and less of others!

Mrs. O is away for the summer. You may see her here and there covering holidays for others but for the most part she will be enjoying the summer at her trailer. As of this minute Mrs. Muryn’s contract with MH Catholic Board has been renewed and she will return in September.

All other staff will be at the school on their regular days except for their holidays.

The children will try to beat the heat and be in the playground early in the morning and inside during the heat of the day. This hot spell does not look like it is breaking anytime soon so this will be our best course of action for the next 2 weeks. There will likely not be any walks happening anytime soon.

However, the walks are for everyone. We do not have the staffing manpower to leave 1 child behind for one reason or another. Please make sure they are dressed appropriately: hat, footwear (no flip-flops) and a water bottle. These items will aid in the success of a walk on any day. Please send a hoodie or sweater for your child as there are certain areas in the classroom that do get chillier than others and the children are cooler when they are sitting doing their lessons.

The exception to the rule may be the toddler group. We have 5 new toddlers joining the mix over the summer and the playground may be used in lieu of walks.

Our routine does vary a little bit in the summer; however, we do like the children to be at school as close to 9 as possible. Please call if you are running late or if your daily plans have changed.

Providing us with an attendance calendar is equally helpful if your child will not be attending every day in the month.

Please apply sunscreen prior to coming to school. This task takes an hour and is not as fun as you would think! We will re-apply after lunch if we are going back outside.

Hats and water bottles are your responsibility. Please label and bring these items for your child so they can enjoy the summer fun.

The girls will be working on some themes and activities for the summer-we will keep you posted of upcoming events both on the blog, Instagram, and the white board in the front entrance.

During the day, if you come to the school and find the door locked you will be able to access the children and the playground at the side of the building. It leads to the playground, and we can let you into the school to pick up lunchboxes. Now that we have developed the side yard and the children will have access to these activities it is VERY important that the gate is always latched tightly.

Please do not allow your child to climb or swing on the gate, it is starting to get sprung and is not always latching securely.

If you are using the subsidy system, it is your responsibility to maintain your hours or you will have to pay the unpaid portion to us. The government prorates the fees and hours if full time is not achieved and will (in some cases) cut families off because they continually underutilized the program. Please contact them directly with any questions as I am not privy to much information in this department.

Hardly anyone has spare clothing. If you could replenish those bags that would be great. The children do have water activities outside and often get soaked.

We will assess the weather closer to the Stampede parade and decide if we will go watch it or stream it for the children. Last year, it was too hot to walk over. This will be decided shortly (1-2 days) beforehand.

Fee sheets have been sent home to everyone (except a few who left for early holidays or have subsidy amounts pending). Please be sure to send you e-transfers or cheques to school this week.

Have a happy and healthy summer!!

I Can’t Believe It’s June Already

June is upon us.

The 2nd busiest month of the school year!!

-Each graduate will be having their cap and gown sent home with instructions for their front porch ceremony, date, and time. These worked very well the last 3 years and were well received by everyone. It is a much more personalized ceremony, and the children are generally less nervous about being on stage.

-Please make sure your child has a sun hat at school. We are hoping to get outside everyday this month. It is important that your child is protected from the sun and is wearing proper footwear. Runners and socks are the best for tiny feet: it is more comfortable, less smelly and a safer option to avoid blisters when we are out and about.

-We did not have any issues with the sunglasses during walks so this is something that I would like to continue with through the next few months.

-The older children will begin taking their water bottles on walks in the afternoons now that the weather is warmer. It is extremely helpful if the children have smaller water bottles with handles that they can independently use and carry. We have found that the bigger water bottles get too heavy for them and often get dropped and broken. As always please label them for easy identification.

-I will be sending home notices to each family to reflect the fees for the summer and fall as many of you are adjusting days of attendance. If there are any errors with days, please let me know and I will fix it. Families using the subsidy system are still reminded to maintain hours through the summer to have full coverage; it is your responsibility to pay the difference

-Make sure your child has a full and healthy lunch. They have been working up an appetite on their morning walks and when they return at lunch they are famished!!

-With the warmer days the lunches need to have an ice pack put inside to keep them cold and maintain freshness of the food.

-We aim to leave for walks by 10:30, please come on time to school if you want your child to participate. Most days there will not be staff remaining at the school and the doors will be locked. We will leave a phone number to reach the group. Please call the number to the appropriate age group. For privacy reasons we don’t want to put the staff names beside their numbers. Please let the staff know if you are coming early to get your child in the afternoon. This way we can plan our walks or leave your child with the afternoon group at the school, so you do not have to track us down.

-If the weather gets hotter early in the day we will have the children in the yard first thing (on arrival) and inside during the heat of the day and back outside in the afternoon when the yard shades over.

-Please continue to apply sunscreen before school, it was a huge time saver for staff on those few sunny days. We will reapply it at lunchtime.

-We will also monitor the mosquitos on our walks, so far it has been fine but we will keep this in mind as we head out,

-We will be sending clothing bags home soon to be restocked with season clothing. Please refill and return as soon as possible.

-The white bags on your child’s hooks need to be gone through as well, they only need 1 pair of shoes/slippers in there and a sun hat. All mittens and toques can go home as can artwork, rocks and other treasures that have been collected. We have noticed that they are bursting with miscellaneous items that are unneeded at school.

-If your child is going to be taking additional holidays, please let us know so we can mark it down for reference.

-Last day of school for the EA’s for the school boards is June 23^rd.

-Last day for kindergarten is Friday June 23^rd, after that day we will be joining the main class for all activities.

-This is the last month for some of our older children to be attending Montessori. Some have been with us for a short time of 1-2 years and others have been here since their siblings came, 6+ years. We are excited for these children to go onto elementary school, but they will be missed dearly. Each is part of our Montessori family, and we know our paths will cross again within our community. We encourage drop-in visits if you’re in the neighborhood!

-To our families who are taking the summer off, going part-time or leaving for good, we appreciate your kindness and support over the past 10 months. It’s been another year of learning and growing and we are grateful that you have trusted your child(ren) to us and stuck with us through times of uncertainty and change. Thank you for everything!!

Happy June everyone!

Welcome May!

I am hoping that May will bring some much-needed sunshine and warmth so the children can get outside on a consistent basis, get rid of the pesky winter clothes and winter germs and have fun!! I know these are on everyone’s wish list for May. The children have been patiently awaiting getting outside everyday. They did well with the on again, off again days of being inside and out.

Just a few notes:

-All summer and fall registration forms are returned and I may have a question here or there for parents regarding days this fall, but it all looks good. I will be getting registration packages ready shortly for siblings joining the program.

-Families are still able to apply for subsidy. There is no closing date for this. If your family status or work status changes you can apply whenever you like.

-We are closed for Victoria Day on Monday May 22^nd, 2023.

-Developmental screenings are being finished up this month for many of the children. If you have any further questions, we will try our best to answer them. At this point, it is my understanding that anyone who has a summer birthday or September birthday will be screened when the school boards return in the fall.

-The graduation is being worked on. It will be the week of June 12^th-15^th.

-Please ask a staff member for your extra clothing bag, it may need to be restocked with /spring summer clothes. Many of the bags are empty at this point.

-The white bags on your child’s hooks need to be gone through as well, they only need 1 pair of shoes/slippers and a sun hat.

-With us being out and about more in May and the summer months it is VERY important for your child to wear socks and running shoes. Fancy shoes, crocs and open sandals all end up with rocks in them and can cause blisters as well as sore legs.

-Please make sure your child has a labelled hat at school and a bottle of sunscreen. There are some full bottles from last summer in the front entrance so we can check and see if you need some.

-Families using the subsidy system are still reminded to maintain hours through the summer to have full coverage; it is your responsibility to pay the difference.

-The school is closed August 7^th-11^th this year. We will be open the rest of the summer.

-Kickboxing will continue each Monday in May. We are looking into continuing this activity through the summer.

-Make sure your child has a full and healthy lunch. They have been working up an appetite on their morning walks and when they return at lunch they are famished!!

-We aim to leave for walks by 10:30am, please come on time to school if you want your child to participate. Most days there will NOT BE staff remaining at the school and the doors will be locked. We will leave a phone number to reach the group. Likewise, when we walk in the afternoon the groups return around 2pm. If you need to come earlier to get your child, please let the staff know in the morning so we can keep your child at the school. This will avoid hunting the groups down if they are in a park and save you time in collecting them.

-The older children will be going on the Sunshine Trolley on May 17^th. Permission slips will follow. There is a capacity for 34 on the bus; therefore, we will not be taking parent volunteers so as many children as possible can join us.

Please keep checking back as any additional information will be added as needed for the month of May.

Have a wonderful month!

April Is Coming

-We will be closed on Friday April 7^th and Monday April 10^th for the Easter holidays. If your child is going to be away over the Easter week please let staff know;

-I am hoping that we will be outside on these spring days. It’s been hard to guess how to dress because the mornings are quite cool, and it has been such a mixed bag of weather. Please have a coat for morning walks that is warm. Many times when we venture out it is still only a few degrees and chilly. Your child needs a coat, toque and mittens still, as well as boots for a few more days at least. We are tempting fate and sending all snow pants home. There will (hopefully) be no more need for them anymore!

-As the weather steadily warms up (fingers crossed) it is important that the children have good footwear for their daily outings. Many cute sandals and boots are not practical to walk in and cause blisters, socks and runners are best for everyone.

-I have all the registration forms back now (thank you) and will begin to input the information into our computer system. I will do my best to adjust all day changes and sibling requests. Families will be given registration packages once this is complete.

-Graduation will be the week of June 12^th-15^th. We have 10 graduates this year. Once graduation is arranged, we will be sending home all the wonderful details.

-We will be having some staffing changes coming up in April. Mrs. Wilcox has made the decision to step away from the program to be at home with her family. In her absence, Miss Cook and Miss Hayley have changed up their days at the school. We have also interviewed new staff as replacements for Mrs. Wilcox. Once we have made a hiring decision, we will introduce you to our new team members. If you have and questions or concerns about the change in staff, Mrs. Cook or Mrs. Weimer will be happy to discuss them with you.

Have a great month everyone!!

School Board Screenings

As part of our preparations for the upcoming school year we will have a representative from both Medicine Hat Catholic and School District 76 come into the classroom and listen to the children’s speech and language. From there she may make suggestions for further screening. This screening is done at the school on a day that your child attends and it gives her a more formal 1-1 listen to your child as well as review other language skills with them.

Both divisions believe in early intervention and that if further services are needed it is best to set your child up with these services now to aid in their success in the coming years

If you receive a referral sheet from either of the School Districts, it means that they have been in and heard some sounds or articulation areas that she would like to follow up on. Quite often these tests reveal age-appropriate skills, and no further services are needed. However, there are cases that your child will need further speech services, all of which are done on site starting in September.

These tests also are dependant on your child’s birthday. They need to be 3 to be tested; therefore, some younger children with fall birthdays will not be screened until they turn 3 and they also depend how close they are to their birthdays. Sometimes they will opt to wait if your child has a summer/fall birthday. In other cases, they screen them now and formally assess once they turn 3 so they have markers for progress.

Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Weimer or Miss Garrecht for further information.

March is Coming In Like a Lamb!

February was relatively uneventful at the school, just the way I like it these days.

We have been trying to stay on top of the illness and we appreciate your help by keeping children at home when they are ill and giving them the rest, they need to get better. I am hopeful that the children will start to build up their immune systems as we get closer to spring!

March is a long and busy month with a great deal of work to do in it. I imagine it will fly past as quickly as January and February did and we will soon be staring April in the eye.

Here are some of the tidbits to pass along:

-A huge thank-you to everyone who donated to our Valentine’s community project to The Root Cellar. They were grateful for the 51 boxes of cereal that the children delivered to them and wanted to pass along a thank you for our thoughtful donations.

-Please make sure your child has proper outdoor wear. If you are missing mittens, please feel free to ask us because we have some singles of both mittens and gloves floating around. There are also a pair of snow pants who float from hook to hook as well.

-Please make sure your child does have extra clothing at the school, we hardly have anything for anyone but toddlers and if your child is out and gets wet, we will need you to come and bring them dry clothing. Be sure to send socks!!

-Children will need warm waterproof boots for walks. The sidewalks may still be snowy and icy/slushy/wet, and runners are not the suitable just yet.

-If your child is sick, there is a 48-hour symptom free policy that they must abide by. Also, siblings must stay home as well as they are carriers if there is an illness in your household. We understand and appreciate this may be an inconvenience; however, we need to keep everyone healthy.

-All school divisions are registering new students entering kindergarten and grade 1. Please make sure to contact your school for further information. If you need any information regarding school, please ask and we can help as best we can.

-Income Tax receipts have been emailed out. If you feel there is an error, please let me know and I can investigate it and get it corrected for you;

-Summer and Fall registration forms are to be returned by March 10^th. Please ask if you have any questions about changing days, adding siblings, summertime, or the kindergarten program. I will be happy to answer them.

Have a great month. Hopefully spring will surprise us shortly!!

February 2023

Due to the up/down weather in January we were able to get outside from time to time…and it was WONDERFUL!!! When the weather is frightful (aka windy and freezing cold), the children became accustomed to being inside and doing gross motor activities and movement cd’s to burn off some energy. The teachers have done a great job to come up with fun activities for the children to fill the void of being outside. I am hoping we can continue to sneak outside this month.

Please make sure that your child has extra clothes at the school in case we do go out and has a fall. Please ensure they have waterproof boots and a few pairs of extra socks.

Everyone needs to bring boots, coat, snow pants, toque and mittens each day. It’s better to have them for outings. We will not risk taking a child out who is not properly dressed.

We are closed on Monday February 20^th, 2023, for Family Day; however, we are open the remainder of the week as all schools are closed for Teacher’s Convention. Please let the staff know if your child will be absent as we need to keep track of everyone.

Thank you to all those families who kept their ill children at home. By allowing them the time to rest at home they recovered quicker and did not pass the germs around. It is greatly appreciated! Please be sure to familiarize yourself with the new health policies, they are in the best interest of the students and staff at the school and keeping everyone healthy.

Income Tax receipts will be issued shortly. They are emailed out from our system. If there is an error such as address or name of who is receiving the receipt, please let me know and I can change it and resend it to you.

There is not a great deal happening this month. Hope everyone stays healthy and warm. We will continue will kickboxing on Mondays (as the weather allows), Social Thinkers on Tuesday and Sunshine Circle on Wednesdays and Music on Thursdays. These activities make the week go by quickly.

Stay warm and enjoy February!

Summer/Fall Registration

I know the schools will be starting their registrations in the coming month and there are many children who are age eligible for kindergarten. I will be preparing a Montessori kindergarten package with some information for each family. I am just working with the MH SD#76 board to make sure all information is current to any changes that Alberta Education had made.

Please do not hesitate to ask questions or to arrange a meeting to discuss your kindergarten options. We are here to help you with this decision.

We are going to wait until March to do our preschool/toddler registration for summer and fall. There will be a form sent home at the end of February for you to look over and fill in.

As a reminder we are closed August 7-11, 2023.

New Health Policy

Effective February 1, 2023

If your child has had a fever, diarrhea or throwing up within the last 24 hours, he/she must be excluded from school until they are symptom free for 48 hours without the aid of over-the-counter medication.

This means that if the day prior to coming to school, he/she is experiencing any fever, diarrhea or throwing up, they cannot come to school for the next couple of days.

During the day, if your child develops any of those symptoms, you will be called to come and pick them up from school. Again, they cannot return to school until they are symptom free for 48 hours.

These protocols will be followed by our staff as well. If they are home sick, they too must be symptom free for 48 hours before they return to work.

We appreciate your cooperation in keeping the children and staff healthy by following this new protocol.

Fever policy: Typically, a temperature of 38C indicates that the body is fighting off an infection. Without medication, the fever must stay down on its own for 48 hours to be readmitted to school. AHS fever protocols state that a reading of 37.6C or higher taken under the child’s arm is considered a fever. This is the method we use to take a temperature. If your child develops a fever during the school day, they will have to be taken home to recover.

Vomiting policy: If the child has vomited within 24 hours, they must be kept out of daycare until they are symptom free for 48 hours. If your child starts vomiting during the school day, they will have to be taken home.

Diarrhea policy: If the child has had diarrhea in the past 24 hours, they should be kept home and remain home until they are symptom free for 48 hours. Children will be sent home if they have 2 or more loose bowel movements in a short amount of time (within an hour).  Before returning to school your child must be free from diarrhea for 48 hours with at least 1 regular bowel movement. If your child has one or more loose bowel movements on their first day back they will again be sent home.

Runny nose policy: Runny noses are commonplace in childcare. There are allergies and all kinds of reasons a child will have a runny nose. Children will be sent home if they appear to have any thick white, green, or yellow discharge. This is often indicative of an infection and they must stay home. As well, children who are continually sneezing and spraying materials/peers/food need to be removed from the school until they are symptom free for 48 hours.

Cough policy: Coughs spread illness quickly because it’s in the air. Children will be sent home if they have a persistent hacking cough and must stay home the for 48 hours for observation.

Conjunctivitis (pink eye): Children will be sent home if there appears to be an unusual amount of discharge from or irritation to their eye(s) and must stay home the next day for observation.
If the diagnosis is BACTERIAL CONJUNCTIVITIS children must have received at least 48 hours of treatment.
If the diagnosis is VIRAL CONJUNCTIVITIS your child may return AS LONG AS THERE IS NO DISCHARGE.

Common Cold Policy: Children suffering from a common cold will be assessed on an individual basis.Factors of consideration include the developmental level of your child in congruence with our ability to limit the spread of germs.The younger your child, the more difficult it is to keep the spread of germs down. For example: hand to face contact, mouthing of toys, uncontrolled nasal discharge, uncovered sneezing and coughing etc.

Sibling/Family Policy: If your child gets sick during the day and needs to leave the program, their sibling needs to go as well and remain out for the duration of the siblings illness. We understand that it is difficult to watch a healthy and sick child, but this is the best way to stop the germs from spreading back into the school. Even if they are not sick themselves, they could be a carrier for the germs the sibling has. Likewise, if anyone is sick in your household (mom, dad, older sibling etc.) a good rule of thumb is to keep your child home because they are going to get it and are coming and spreading the germs into the school. We are trying to keep everyone healthy. Your family needs to be symptom free for 48 hours to be considered recovered from illness.

Returning to School after Illness: In some instances, you will be asked to keep you child at home until we have written permission from your doctor saying your child is well enough to return to school. Please understand this is for your child’s well-being along with the well-being of the healthy children and staff at the school and their families.

If your child is too sick to run around outside or be involved in day-to-day activities, then they are too sick to return to school. If your child is too upset or lethargic to participate in the daily activities or keeps falling asleep, they need to stay home until their energy level returns.

Medicine Hat Montessori Preschool reserves the right to refuse care if your child has not been symptom free for the past 48 hours. Please do not put us on the spot by bringing a sick child in only to be told to take them back home. This makes us feel uncomfortable and can also spread unwanted germs.

If you are not sure, please call. We understand that all parents need to work, but your child’s health is important to us. Likewise, keeping our staff and all the other children free from illness is equally as important to us.