WAUWATOSA MONTESSORI SCHOOL

Hello Montessori families!

It finally feels like fall!! We've had several cold kids this week! Please make sure to send your child with cold weather apparel! Our school rule is kids need a sweatshirt or coat if it's below 50 degrees.

I hope to see many of you TONIGHT for a fan favorite event - Trunk or Treat! I am blown away by the creativity of the trunks and the kids have an absolute blast. Please plan to stop by, even if you're not doing a trunk. All are welcome!

Thanks and have a great weekend!

Elizabeth

If you are interested in doing individual fundraising through Collectivo or City tins orders please make sure to submit them by the end of next week! 1 week left!

We are doing a school-wide fundraiser for NCI costs through the Village Passport! Anyone can sell Village Passports if you want to support NCI!

https://wauwatosavillage.myshopify.com/products/village-passport-wauwatosa-montessori

Trunk or Treat: TONIGHT! 5:30-7 p.m. 🎃

Come trick or treat in the WMS parking lot at this FREE family-friendly event! Over 20 families will have their trunks decorated with candy and non-candy treats. AP Inc. will have a cash-only $5 meal deal (slice of pizza, carrots, apples and pretzels) available. There's still time to sign up to volunteer!

The Anxious Generation Book Study: Thurs. Nov. 6, 6-8 p.m. 📖

Join the school community for a discussion on the NYT best-seller The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. This book covers themes around cell-phones, social media, and the need to come together as a community to ensure that our kids grow into resilient adults.

We will meet as a group to discuss the book and any possible next steps we can take as a school community to promote having a play-based childhood.

Save the Date: Montessori Marketplace - Saturday, Nov. 15 🛍️

How it works: families bring gently used items to donate — and browse for new-to-you treasures to take home. More details to come, but start setting items aside to donate! Items to consider:

👉 Kid and teen clothing (no adult clothing, please)

👉 Sporting goods and outdoor gear

👉 Sports team apparel

👉 Books and art supplies

👉 Toys & games

👉 Housewares

Interested in volunteering for this event? Email tosamontessori.ptsa@gmail.com!

Get Your Goodies!

Girls on the Run is hosting a Bake & Craft Sale for their Community Impact Project after school on Wed, Oct 29.

Almost Home Cat Rescue Bake Sale

Thank you to our amazing school community for supporting our bake sale for Almost Home Cat Rescue. The bake sale raised $521.50!

IMPORTANT DATES!

October 24th - Trunk or Treat
October 31st - All School Dress like a book character day
November 6th - PTSA Book Study - The Anxious Generation
November 10th-14th - Upper Elementary Students at NCI!

As previously shared, we are happy to offer a STEM elective to our AP and UE classes this year! This mirrors the Discovery Lab offered at other elementary schools and the STEM elective options at the middle schools. We are grateful to have Ms. Devins join our team! Learn more about her below!

STEM Class Donations Needed

Upper Elementary and AP STEM Classes are in need of some donations to use for class projects and activities. Please begin to collect the following items and send them into school no later than Nov. 7th. Thanks for your help!

Cardboard Pieces and Boxes (all sizes and shapes)
Paper Towel/Toilet Paper Rolls
Bubble Wrap or other packing materials
Bottle Caps/ Plastic Lids
Small Recyclable Containers (cleaned and safe. examples: yogurt containers, other single serve containers)

Gardeners Needed

Our school is working on becoming a certified wildlife sanctuary.

We have already had a donation of a bat box from the Berka family. Thank you!!!

We are also looking for a few gardeners to help with seasonal weeding/ summer watering/ planting/ turning and prepping raised beds.

Currently we are looking for a water source that we can place into the rain garden in the form of a gently used bird bath. If you have one to donate please reach out to Shannon at Kobinssh@wauwatosa.k12.wi.us.

Other items that will help are:

bird seed for our feeders
mulch
potting soil (6 bags needed)

Thank you,

Shannon Kobinsky
Children's House Directress

Raiderette Mini Cheer Camp

We will celebrate our love for literacy on October 31st by allowing students (and staff) to dress up like their favorite book character. Please be mindful that we are a K-8 school, so all book characters must be appropriate for a 4 year old to witness. Students may not wear a mask or bring any (real or fake) weapons. Please make sure there are no offensive symbols, attire is not revealing or violent. If there are any issues, students will be asked to change. We look forward to seeing everyone's favorite character!

Please note, we will share more details about how our school celebrates/acknowledges holidays next week, as it is slightly different than some other schools!

Digital Citizenship Week is October 20-24th!

Our students will be learning about the role they play as a citizen of our digital world this week and throughout the school year in our libraries. Families are invited to partner and extend these discussions at home by visiting the Neptune Navigate: Continue the Conversation modules. LINK HERE

Fresh Hot Popcorn every Tuesday

We will once again have the opportunity to order popcorn on Tuesdays. The price is $.75 per bag. Students order it on Tuesday morning and the Next Steps crew make the popcorn and deliver it same day. So yummy!

Popcorn Order Form

The Five Great Lessons

The Great Lessons are an important and unique part of the Montessori curriculum. These lessons are bold, exciting, and are designed to awaken a child's imagination and curiosity. The child should be struck with the wonder of creation, thrilled with new ideas, and awed by the inventiveness and innovation that is part of the human spirit.

The Five Great Lessons are traditionally presented in lower elementary (grades 1-3), and are presented every year so that children see them more than one time. Unlike the 3-6 environment, where the child is introduced first to "small" ideas that gradually widen into larger concepts, the elementary child is introduced right away to large concepts - the largest of all being the beginning of the universe. Then they can be shown how all the smaller ideas fit into the larger framework.

Traditionally, there are Five Great Lessons that are used to paint a broad picture before moving to more specific study. They consist of: