Please refrain from bringing snacks, tastings, and cold lunch items containing nuts.

Geography

Birthdays can be celebrated in the classroom by having the birthday child carry a globe and walk around a ‘sun’ once for each year of life. This reminds students that life is a cycle of seasons that occur because the earth turns on its axis as it revolves around the sun, and this complete cycle takes one year.

History

We encourage the child to bring photographs and a short story to share about their earlier years of life as they travel around the sun. This is a great opportunity for parents to share memories with their child.

Examples

“When I was a baby, I had a favorite blanket that was soft and green.”
“Here is a picture of me when I was three years old.”
“When I was one year old, my favorite food was…”

Language Arts

Students may prepare a “book of drawings and compliments” for classmates who are celebrating a birthday.

Nutrition/Health

Families are asked to support our nutrition program by sending a healthy snack to share – fruit cups, frozen yogurt, vegetable pizza.

Consistent with school policy, please do not send candy, cake, cookies, cupcakes, or other sugar-laden treats. Also, please do not send gifts for the children.

Other Considerations

If your child wants to have an at-home celebration and invite friends from school, please put the invitations in marked envelopes and give them to the classroom teacher to distribute so that classmates who are not invited will not feel left out.

Please reach out to Principal DiCarlo if you have any questions about the Montessori curriculum and philosophy or Maryland Avenue Montessori School policies.

Holidays and Children

Holidays can have a powerful effect on children, especially during the holiday season that stretches from early October to early January. Children often show increased signs of excitement and distractibility during these months, which can affect their learning during the school day.

Holidays can be fun and exciting for children, just as cultural holiday celebrations and parties are valuable family traditions. However, it’s equally important to help students maintain perspective and follow a routine that provides stability and consistency for all learners.

Maryland Avenue Montessori School faculty and staff emphasize the cultural and creative, historical and societal aspects of major holidays in these ways:

Keeping things as usual in the classroom. This means no elaborate holiday decorations that can distract students from their learning, no holiday parties, no costumes during Halloween, and no candy or cards on Valentine’s Day.

Acknowledging holidays in historically relevant and timely ways. Classroom teachers may host low-key activities that relate to the history of the holiday within one to two weeks of the holiday break, but no sooner. The long build-up of anticipation can be too much for the children. Holiday celebration and study includes:

• Discussing and supporting children’s research about holidays here and around the world.
• Reading stories to children that describe the diversity of our culture and how a variety of holidays are celebrated in our country.
• Asking children to share their own family traditions.
• Inviting parents to share artifacts and information about family celebrations with the children.
• Helping children understand that the holiday season is traditionally a time for helping the needy in our community.
• Analyzing advertising’s influence on how we celebrate, understand, and spend money during the holidays during lessons/discussions with older children.