Dear Parents,

It has been a wonderful start to the school year, and we are excited to share with you some overall classroom activity and progress. During these first weeks of school of educating your children and observing them in action, we have had the chance to learn more about each child, offering customized lessons and materials for their needs and interests. We hope that it has been helpful to receive our weekly list of lessons that we send out on Fridays to give you a window into your child’s schedule. In this post, we will elaborate on some focus areas and offer you some visuals to help build a better understanding of your child’s environment.  

Classroom Fundamentals & the Montessori Approach

We begin the school year with building a foundation around our classroom’s “Ground Rules,” and as we learn about our students on a social, emotional, intellectual, and behavioral level, we zoom in on particular topics that could benefit our current group of students in communication skills, work ethics, grace & courtesy, and more. While we have a variety of topics in the Montessori Method that we generally cover each year, there is flexibility in the order of presenting materials as well as around customizing lessons, including some new materials and lessons along the way as we “follow the child” in their needs, interests, readiness to be challenged, and more. 

Lessons & Work Materials

Care for Self / Care for Others / Care for the Environment

These three areas are classic Montessori focuses covered in a wide range of lessons, subject areas, and materials. 

“Care for self” or as we say to our students, “we take care of ourselves,” is a term explored especially in the works of the Practical Life Area in the classroom, where children focus on building fine motor skills to gain independence through handling tools and utensils, dressing one’s self, cleaning up after one’s self, coloring / drawing / writing practice, and more. We also give lessons around emotional support and self-help, offering vocabulary to express one’s self and use materials in the classroom to find “peace within,” self-control, help with recentering, and the list goes on as we pay attention to the current needs of the class. 

“Care for Others,” or as we say to our students, “we help each other,” is a reminder that “we work and play as a team.” We cover topics around grace & courtesy, empathy & encouraging children to consider the body language of their peers, giving personal space, using “gentle and kind words,” working through conflicts, recognizing tattling vs. telling, etc. We also “keep each other safe,” by practicing safety measures taught during morning presentations, such as scissor safety, handling glass and ceramics, and so on. 

Care for Environment. As we go through our Ground Rules, our students recite, “we care for our environment,” and offer ways to do so, such as keeping our classroom neat, beautiful, safe, and comfortable. Our students are learning that every material (or as we call, “work”) has a special place on a shelf, each work has a purpose, and the overall environment is thoughtfully designed to create a safe, peaceful, and constructive setting. We also go beyond our own environment as we talk about caring for our homes, for nature, the planet, and being part of a solar system. As children learn about the world around them, they have a better appreciation of their surroundings and others, learning that we each play an important role in the universe. 

Academics Integrated through the Senses. As for all of the old classic academic disciplines such as language, math, the sciences, etc., these are all incorporated into the Montessori focuses that we mentioned above, directly and indirectly. Our Montessori Materials teach through the senses, and our students learn pre-academics and academics in a hands-on way that doesn’t feel like tedious work. Children naturally learn academics through visual lessons, exploration of objects, and organizing materials. 

Your Children’s Teachers

Ms. Angelique is involved in weekly lessons, teacher trainings & meetings, and observing students & their needs in the Primary studio. As the Indigo Montessori Education Director, she ensures that the Montessori Philosophy and curriculum are applied in all classrooms, especially preparing all students for the Primary Studio. She has been on the Indigo team for nearly 13 years, with a background of working with children in Special Ed. classrooms and group homes. In addition to studying Montessori Education, Angelique received a BFA, with a focus in painting portraiture, photography, and music. She has offered art enrichment classes at Wonderland over the years, also incorporating the arts in the Indigo Primary Studio with customized activity pages, basic piano lessons, countless sing-a-longs, and more. 

Ms. Lexi is a Co-teacher in the Primary Studio this year, teaching a variety of lessons to our students on a daily basis. She began training with us last semester of our 2021-2022 schoolyear, coming from background as a preschool teacher, along with experience in working with children on meditation – a gift that she shares with our students regularly in the Primary Studio. Ms. Lexi has a nourishing Zen energy that compliments the Montessori Method, carrying a strong vocabulary in helping children on a social, emotional, and behavioral level. She also has a creative side to her, with many years of painting experience. On the side, Ms. Lexi shares her creativity as an enrichment arts teacher at Wonderland, offering crafty art activities with our older students.

We would also like to take a moment to introduce Ms. Tricia, a Primary Lead Teacher who has been working behind-the-scenes to help prepare our classroom this summer. Currently on maternity leave, she started the school year with us for the first weeks up until her due date. Ms. Tricia has been at home with her newborn, and looks forward to returning to the classroom in November. She has been supporting Indigo as a mother, with her first child enrolled since an infant and now in the twos class. With an interest in being involved in the school, she started helping us occasionally during the pandemic by assisting some classrooms, while her primary focus was in management in high-end restaurants. Since she had her first child, Ms. Tricia has been reflecting on her past teaching experience working with elementary students with behavior needs, and she has been gradually transitioning her career back into the classroom with us. She brings a lot to the table in the Montessori environment, including team building experience, encouraging good communication with students and teachers, strong teaching skills, and more. We are excited for Ms. Tricia to join us again soon, and everyone can’t wait to see the new baby, enrolling in the infants class upon her return.

We have also welcomed a new teacher this year, Ms. Chloe. She has been a supportive teacher in the Primary Studio, flexible to assist, teach, and fill in wherever help is needed. We appreciate her team spirit, positive energy, and willingness to dive in. Together, these teachers work strategically to ensure care and good quality education to your little ones.

In addition to these primary teachers, we have floater teachers from Wonderland who assist the classroom each day. Ms. Dajae and Ms. Suzette have also been in the rotation. These teachers are helping to keep students on task by assisting them, redirecting them, working through emotions, and more. They add a nourishing element to the classroom, providing one-to-one attention as needed, with the ability to jump in any role of the classroom to help with teaching and subbing.

Students in Action

 Our students are studious in the mornings, very attentive to all of the lessons while soaking up new information like sponges. We see their progress during work cycles as they practice respect for self/others/the environment, building stronger communication skills, concentration, a sense of order, creativity, independence, and confidence. On that note, the following photos will give you a sense for the focus and productivity of the student body, also capturing the interests and activities of your own child.

We hope this post gives you a better understanding of your child’s days at Indigo. Please share the photos with your little one to get them talking about their peers, the works, and lessons. There are a lot of photos, so you may want to periodically share them in sections, encouraging discussion around lessons, work materials, and peers. Thank you all for trusting in us to educate and support your children during this crucial time of development. We look forward to sharing more with you during our upcoming conferences!