The Lake Fern Montessorian
Volume 34 Issue 6
Aug/Sept. 2015
Thoughts from Tyka
Mrs. Price’s Class News
News for all LFMA families!
Although it is always nice to have a little bit of a
summer break, I am so excited to be starting a
new school year! I miss my students when they
are gone during the summer and always look
forward to their return and to meeting new friends
as well when the school year starts. I am sure
this year will prove to be an exciting one and I
can’t wait to get started!
Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful
summer and are ready to get back into the swing
of things.
One of the first things you may notice is the
absence of Mrs. Manley in the 3rd-5th grade
classroom. After an extremely difficult decision
making process, she has decided to homeschool
her son, Wyatt this year. I know we will all miss
her terribly, but don’t fret! Mrs. Manley plans to
attend some of our field trips and school activities
this year and she intends to do some volunteering
at the school as well.
I am thrilled to say that we have hired a wonderful
teacher, Mrs. Jessica Pittman for the 3rd-5th grade
classroom. Many of you have already seen her
because her daughter Jaylee attended our VPK
program last year. She was so helpful with our
program last year and we were thrilled to find out
that she had the necessary background and
experience we were looking for as we began our
search for a new teacher. I know she will make a
welcome addition to our teaching staff and that the
students will have a great time learning with her.
To make sure that we have a smooth transition
back, please have all of the necessary supplies
(backpack, lunchbox, napping material for pre-k,
etc.) with your child each day. Please check your
family files located in the foyer daily for various
pieces of information and literature. We will also
post important information on the front door and in
the foyer, so please make sure to read all signs.
Class Dojo will be the primary method of
communication, so please sign up quickly so you
won’t miss anything.
We will be placing another uniform order this
month. Checks can be made out to Jennifer Ward
and forms are due by September 1st.
During the first six weeks of school, the students
will be very busy getting back into the routine,
reviewing previous material, and learning all
kinds of new things. I will be conducting an
assessment of all of our kindergarten students as
required by the VPK program. I was very
impressed with their exit scores from VPK and
know they will do exceptionally well on this
assessment also.
Each month, students will have the opportunity to
learn about all kinds of wonderful topics. Not only
will the children work on reading, math, writing,
spelling, and the like, but they will delve into
many themes from social studies, science, and
humanities. They will also explore many different
languages as we study different continents and
cultures. Our specials this year will include
Performing Arts, Spanish, Physical Education,
Sign Language, Cooking, and Art.
During the first six weeks, students will begin our
unit on earth and space science. They will
conduct experiments related to some physical
science principals and begin to learn a little bit
about the world around them. In Geography, we
will be focusing on the United States, with
emphasis on Florida, New York, and Hawaii.
Students will even get to learn the hula and have
a luau! In humanities, we will learn a little bit
about the composer George Frederic Handel and
the artist Wassily Kandinsky. Students will listen
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In an attempt to modernize and streamline things,
our monthly newsletter will now be e-mailed to
you. It will also be posted on our website. A few
copies will available in the foyer, but are also
available upon request.
Please
check
out
our
website
www.lakefernmontessori.com.
It has been
updated with important information, including our
handbook (under parent resources) which we ask
each parent to read. Each class has included
topics related to their individual classes
specifically, so please visit your child’s teacher’s
page as well.
I look forward to an amazing year as we all learn
and grow together! Thanks for choosing to be a
part of our LFMA family!
Mrs. Jennifer’s Class News
Welcome back! We are looking forward to a great
return to the school year and can’t wait to get our
new students into the swing of things! We hope
that everyone had a fantastic summer! The first
two weeks we will be working on acclimating
students to our classroom, teacher, and routines.
We will be going over grace and courtesy lessons
as well as talking about germs, proper
handwashing and eating nutritious foods to keep
our bodies from getting sick. Please make sure
to pack your child fresh fruits and vegetables
every day to help build up their immune systems!
During the month of September we will work on
identifying the letters B, M, and T and their
sounds. We will also learn about Beethoven,
Degas, Oceans, and North America.
We will be placing another uniform order this
month! We will not be placing another for quite
some time, so please make sure to order now! Tshirts, long sleeve t-shirts, short sleeve polos, and
hooded sweatshirts are on the form. Forms can
be found in the foyer, but payments must be made
at the time of order with a teacher. Cash is
preferred but checks can be made out to Jennifer
Ward if needed. The hooded sweatshirts are so
comfy and a great way to show support for our school!
All orders must be turned in by close of business
Tuesday, September 1st!
Scholastic Book Club flyers will be available to
order from this week! Scholastic offers a vast
selection of great books for all age readers. The
to some of Handel’s music and complete activities
related to it. They will also create their own
Kandinsky trees in art class. Students will begin
our Author of the Month series studying Stan and
Jan Berenstain and those adorable Berenstain
Bears.
As always, communication will be very important
to our class. If you haven’t signed up for Class
Dojo yet, please do so as soon as possible, as this
will be the primary method of communication for
our class. I know we will have an outstanding year
together and I look forward to working with you
and your child each day. If you ever have any
questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to
contact me through Class Dojo, my e-mail
[email protected], by phone (321) 268-3365 or
in person. You may also send in a note in your
child’s daily folder.
Thanks for entrusting your children to my care. I
know we will have a wonderful year together!
Mrs. Pittman’s Class News
Hello families and welcome to a new school year!
The school year is not the only thing new. So am
I! I am the new 3rd-5th grade teacher, Jessica
Pittman. You can read more about me on the
LFMA website. I am very excited for the school
year to start and cannot wait to welcome all the
students on the first day and I look forward to
getting to know everyone throughout the year! I
met many friendly faces at last Sunday’s open
house and I wanted to thank everyone that came.
If you didn’t get a chance to come, be on the
lookout for a welcome packet in your child’s daily
folder. A few of the items need to be reviewed,
signed and returned; these items are clearly
highlighted in the packet. Also, please feel free to
stop by and say hi before or after school if we
haven’t had a chance to meet yet!
We will be starting out the year focusing on
building community within our classroom; this will
be the base for the environment we want to create
that will foster creativity and problem solving.
Each student will be exploring how they learn
best, including some investigation into their
multiple intelligences. This will help our students
learn more about their strengths and weaknesses
and set up goals for the coming year.
We will also be focusing on several
procedural things at the beginning of the year. We
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best part is that they are very affordable!
Scholastic orders will be due on Thursday,
August 27th. Please see me or email me at
[email protected] with any questions!
We hope that you have a fantastic start to the
school year!
Mr. Price’s Class News
Here we go! A beginning to fresh starts and lofty
aspirations! I hope everyone had a great summer.
I’m excited to see so many new faces and can’t
wait to hear the stories from my returning
students! For those students new to my class, it
is important to get off to a fast start in regard to
setting study habits in the beginning of the year.
The middle school class material is much more
difficult than in previous grade levels. It is
important that students study throughout the
course of the week. There is too much complex
material to try to absorb the night before a test.
Students must also be prepared to take the extra
time and effort involved with doing higher level
math. From here on out, it is critical that students
show their math work, when applicable, using
written out steps, even in cases where the
problem might appear relatively simple on the
surface.
In Science, we are starting our yearly study of
biomes. This unit sets the backdrop for
understanding the variables that affect all biomes.
Students will be required to develop an
understanding as to the various adaptations that
animals have made to adapt to their
surroundings, environmental factors such as
water and sun that shape each biome, and how
cycles such as the water cycle work.
In Civics or Social Studies, we will start with a
couple of lessons leading us up to the current
historical period we are studying, which is that of
World War II. We have a thematic tie into this
historical period with our literature book
CODETALKER by Joseph Bruchac, which is a
historical fiction telling the story of how the Navajo
Indians’ language was used as a code to defeat
the Japanese during World War II.
Remember to sign up for class dojo if you haven’t
already. It will be used as a primary modality for
communication.
want to create good habits from the start so they
eventually become second nature. One of those
things is the daily folders that I mentioned earlier.
Every student will be responsible for copying the
day's agenda and noting any work, if any, that they
did not finish, which would be that night’s
homework. They will be asking their parent or
guardian to review their agenda nightly, whether
they have homework or not and sign in the
designated spot. They should return it each day
signed and will receive a dojo point. If it is
unsigned, they will lose a point. Another habit we
want to ensure becomes second nature is at least
20 minutes of daily reading. This is listed each day
on the daily agenda. This can include bedtime
stories or group reading at home. You might even
pick out a chapter book to read together. The
quickest way to improve reading skills is to
practice, practice, practice.
Speaking of practice, we will be doing a lot
of that in Math during August and September. We
will be reviewing multiplication and division facts
like nobody’s business! In my experience, the
students that excel in math in upper elementary
and into middle and high school are the students
that have memorized all their multiplication and
division facts. Besides all of the practice they will
be getting in school, you can help your child by
taking a few seconds to quiz them on a set of times
tables. Flashcards are an inexpensive and quick
way to review each day. You might have your child
make their own set on index cards!
In Language Arts we will start by reviewing
parts of speech. In Science, we will be starting out
with the scientific method and best practices. In
Social Studies we are looking at why we study
history and Ancient Civilizations. Our first
Literature book will be, The Egypt Game. I am
currently securing dates for our planned field trips
this year and will be sending a list home soon, be
on the lookout for that! We have so many exciting
and challenging things planned this year and I look
forward to helping your child along their
educational journey!
You’re off to great places!
Today is your day! Your mountain
is waiting, so get on your way!
Don’t forget that our first day off of school is
Monday, September 5TH (Labor Day).
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Dr. Seuss
Lake Fern Montessori Academy
August 2015
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September 2015
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