Welcome!
Education is not the
filling of a pail, but rather
the lighting of a fire.
-William Butler Yeats
September Calendar/Orange Shirt Day 2
School Council & Fundraising Guild 3
Casa dei Bambini & ELMO 1-3 4/5
ELMO 4-6 News/Terry Fox Run 6
GPPSD Annual Elementary Fun Run 7
Math Corner/Food in Classroom 8
Inside this issue:
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Volume 3, Issue 1
September 10, 2018
Welcome back to Parkside Montessori! It
is refreshing to hear the sounds and see
the sights of children in our building. We
miss them during the summer months!
Thank you to everyone who has popped
into the office to ask if there are any
tasks that we need help with! We are
grateful for your on-going support. Par-
ent volunteer packages are available at
the office and if you are able to volun-
teer this year, please pick one up. We
would love to have you in. Information
about our upcoming Trickster Theatre
residency has been sent out in the week-
ly teacher emails. If you are able to as-
sist, please use the Sign-Up Genius link
provided! Thank you to Rebecca Ryan
and Bev MacDonnell for being our par-
ent volunteer coordinators. If you have-
n’t had a chance to check out the Trick-
ster website, take a minute to watch
some of the videos of the work that they
have done in other schools. We are ea-
gerly anticipating this residency in our
school and are grateful for the grant fund-
ing from Alberta Foundation for the Arts
which will fund most of this opportunity for
our students.
To ensure that you are up to date on our
school events and activities, like our Face-
book page and make sure to sign up for
our newsletters. You should be receiving
an email with weekly reminders and infor-
mation by the end of day each Monday
from your child’s teacher. If you have
feedback for us on the style of communi-
cation you prefer as parents, please let us
know. It is important to us that you feel
informed about events, activities and your
child’s progress at our school.
We are looking forward to all that the
2018-2019 school year will hold and are
glad to be walking this journey with you!
-Miss Corrine & Miss Terra
Page 2
On the Calendar...
M ONT ESS ORI NE WS
Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission
(SIM) residential school commemoration event held
in Williams Lake, BC, Canada, in the spring of 2013. It
grew out of Phyllis Webstad’s account of having her
shiny new orange shirt taken away on her first day of
school at the Mission, and it has become an oppor-
tunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residen-
tial schools happening annually.
The date was chosen because it is the time of year in
which children were taken from their homes to resi-
dential schools, and because it is an opportunity to
set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies
for the coming school year.
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1
2 3
Labour Day
4 First Day of
School,
Casa Staggered
Entry Begins
5 6 7
Fire/Evacuation
Drill
8
9 10
Regular Casa
Classes begin
11 12 Fire/Evacuation
Drill
13 Fire/Evacuation
Drill
14
Family Dance
15
16
Terry Fox Run
17
Trickster Theatre
Residency
18
19 20 21Int’l Day of
Peace
22
District Fun Run
23 24 School
Council AGM
25 26
Hot Lunch: BP
27 Orange
Shirt Day
28 Profes-
sional Learning
Day, NO
SCHOOL
29
30
September 2018
Orange Shirt Day is also an opportunity for First
Nations, local governments, schools and commu-
nities to come together in the spirit of reconcilia-
tion and hope for generations of children to
come.
This year Orange Shirt Day falls on a Sunday. In
the Grande Prairie Public School District, we en-
courage everyone to wear their orange shirts to
school on Thursday, September 27th to show sup-
port of this important event.
V OLU ME 3 , IS SU E 1 Page 3
School Council & Fundraising Guild
The Fundraising Guild of Parkside Mon-
tessori is excited to be partnering with
MunchaLunch online ordering this year
for our Hot Lunches. The system is set up
and accepting orders for the first session
(September through December) of hot
lunches. The first hot lunch is on SEPTEMBER 26th!
Place your hot lunch orders online using
MunchaLunch!
https://munchalunch.com/schools/Park
sideMontessori
Accepted methods of payment are: Vi-
sa or Mastercard; Visa/Mastercard Deb-
it and Prepaid cards only.
Mark Your Calendars!
The Fundraising Guild of Parkside Mon-
tessori Annual General Meeting will
take place on Monday, October 1st at
7:15 pm at the school.
Our School Council Annual General
Meeting will take place on Monday,
September 24th at 6:00 p.m.
This will be an opportunity to hear the
Council report from the previous year
and elect any executive positions that
have terms coming to an end.
Welcome back Parkside Montessori!
Let’s start the year off with a fundraising event
brought to you by the Parkside Montessori,
School Council.
Join us in the gym on Friday, September 14th
starting at 6 pm for a FAMILY FUN DANCE!
Everyone is welcome as we celebrate the start
of a new year with our returning students, new
friends and their families. Come & meet your
school council too!
For more information about the dance and the
council please email:
Casa dei Bambini, Preschool & Kindergarten
Page 4 M ONT ESS ORI NE WS
Welcome to our first month of school! The
children are beginning to settle in and are
starting to learn the routines and procedures
of the classroom. Some highlights from the
first week of school included: meeting new
friends, playing on the playground, and
learning more about the classroom.
This month we will focus on normalization.
Normalization does not refer to a process of
being forced to conform. Instead, Maria
Montessori used the terms “normal” and
“normalization” to describe a unique process
she observed in child development. Dr.
Montessori observed that when children are
allowed freedom in an environment suited to
their needs, they blossom. Normalization in-
cludes the ability to concentrate on an ac-
tivity, the ability to find joy in their work, self-
discipline, and respecting others. If you are
curious to learn more about Normalization,
this is a great article: https://
livingmontessorinow.com/what-does-the-
montessori-term-normalization-mean/
Our themes for this month will be pinecones
and the Harvest Moon. We can’t wait to ex-
plore nature with the children!
-Miss Trisha & Miss Laura
Lower Elementary, Gr. 1-3
V OLU ME 3 , IS SU E 1 Page 5
Welcome back to school! We are looking for-
ward to a great year ahead! It feels wonderful
to be back in the classroom with our excited
and curious students. During the first few weeks
of September there is a lot of time spent on es-
tablishing expectations and routines. We will al-
so be spending time reflecting on ourselves as
individuals, while also working to establish com-
munity within the classroom and within the
school as a whole.
In Health, we are discussing the importance of
making sure we are actively avoiding the
spread of germs by practicing good hygiene
habits such as washing our hands to stay
healthy. We will also be placing an emphasis on
growth mindset throughout the year. We will be
discussing the importance of challenging our-
selves and facing those challenges as opportu-
nities to learn and grow.
Needs of Plants and Animals will be our first top-
ic of study in Science. This is a fun unit where the
students will explore the differences and similari-
ties between plants and animals, discovering
what they need in order to thrive.
Mark your calendars! International Day of
Peace is on September 21. We are delighted to
welcome the Trickster Theater team to help pre-
pare us for a production embodying the day to
reflect on peace. Leading up to this, there will
be discussion around how each of us can be
peacemakers rather than peacebreakers.
September is a busy month but an exciting one,
as we look ahead to great things to come. We
look forward to an amazing year!
-Miss Megan, Miss Elise, Mr. Josh & Mr. Mark
Terry Fox Run, Sept. 16, 2018
Greetings from the Upper ELMO team!
We are so excited to see everyone back in our class-
rooms. The first little while we will be getting back into
routines and reinforcing the school and classroom
norms of safety, respect and kindness. This term in
Science, we will be beginning our Waste in Our
World Unit and in Social we will be learning about
the great province in which we live, Alberta! Miss De-
siree’s class will be walking over to the Grande Prairie
Care center to start our Grand Buddies program. This
is an opportunity to meet residents from a different
generation. Other classes will be doing this later in
the year. We are very excited to be welcoming Trick-
ster theatre company to our school for a weeklong
residency where students will be exploring drama
and theatre. We encourage you to start discussing
our Halloween activity for this year. Last year, our
students designed a Haunted Museum, made a
scary snack and organized gym activities for every-
one to enjoy. It will be fun to see what the students
can create this year! We look forward to having
many exciting learning activities and special events
this year.
-Miss Desiree & Miss Rebecca
Upper Elementary, Gr. 4-6
Parkside Montessori is once again proudly
supporting The Terry Fox Foundation in its
ongoing work to fund innovative and pro-
gressive cancer research programs by tak-
ing part in The Terry Fox Run on Sunday,
September 16, 2018. Please support our
team by joining, or sponsoring us. Your
kindness will impact the lives of so many
people living with cancer. This is a great
way to meet other families in our school
community as well! To join or sponsor
please visit our team page:
http://www.terryfox.ca/parkside
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Muskoseepi Park
Registration begins at 9:30. Run begins at 11 a.m.
Free BBQ
Parkside Montessori
Corrine Shmyruk, Principal
Terra Shewchuk, Vice Principal
PARKSID E MONTESSORI
Math Corner: Tips for Parents
9617 91A avenue
Grande Prairie, AB
T8V 0G7
Phone: 780-532-7429
Email:
Facebook:
@ParksideMontessori
Visit our school page:
www.gppsd.ab.ca/school/parksidemontessori
Food in the Classroom We have some students in our school with se-
vere allergies. Please check with your child’s teacher about specific allergy warnings.
Please note that we do not have microwave
ovens in our classrooms. Students are encour-
aged to bring warm food in a thermos.
Helpful tip! Heating the thermos up with hot
water before filling with food will keep items
warm until it’s time to eat.
Food Sharing– Due to the variety of food aller-
gies in our classrooms, we ask that you speak
to a teacher before sending any snack to
share. We will then let you know if this is
something that can be eaten by everyone.
We appreciate your help and support in
keeping everyone safe.
How can I support my child’s math learning?
You are an important partner in your child’s
mathematics education. When you find ways
to engage your child in thinking and talking
about mathematics, you are providing an im-
portant key for unlocking his/her future success.
Today, critical thinking, problem solving, reason-
ing ability and the ability to communicate
mathematically are essential skills and are the
foundation of mathematics education.
Kent Haines (see video link at the end of the
article) is both a math teacher and a dad. In
this short video, he shares some excellent tips
on how to help your children’s “math-
readiness”, expressing it with a modern term, or
we might just say, “how to help your children
understand their world with math.”
It’s aimed at parents of preschool to grade 2
children, but the ideas ring true for other ages
as well.
The three important guidelines he shares are:
1. Use math language.
2. Play.
3. Focus on questions, not answers.
https://youtu.be/OitL1ZI0azo