Julia's Garden Newsletter ☘️: Spring Break Week, ToteBags & SongBooks!, Building a Library, Parent Ed Talk Coming Up, Enrollment Forms Due March 29th and More!

Greetings, Friends!


In the Classroom 📖
It’s the last week of school before Spring Break, a turning point in our semester.  You may have noticed your child is more accustomed now to the routines of pick-up and drop-off and looks forward to a morning ritual of coming to class. Traditionally this time of year work periods become heartier and learning peaks.  8 weeks into a semester means that transitional behaviors melt away and children feel confident, embracing their experiences at school and enjoying a feeling of ownership.  It is this time of year that we open our doors to parent observations. Parent observations for Casa and Hay House start March 26th on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9:30 - 10:00 AM; observations for the YCC are after Spring Break upon request.  If you would like to make a reservation to observe in one of these communities, please email administration directly and will get you on the books! The children look forward to showing you their classrooms and all they have achieved so far this year.

In the Garden 🥗
March 25th is Garden Day! Please be sure to contact Garden Committee Head, Megan Kendrick, to participate in upcoming meetings on planning and plotting.  Garden Committee members can expect to donate about an hour of their time to meetings and about 2 hours the day before Garden Day.  It’s super fun and you will learn about what it takes to create a successful garden.  BONUS: tons of greens are up now and Garden Committee gets first dibs on crops.  Don’t miss out!!

Garden Committee 🍅
Ist Meeting: Thursday, March 8th @ 11:15 AM 
in the Casetta
Megan Kendrick, Garden Committee Head 
(mama to William & James Murphy)
mekendrick@GMAIL.COM

🌱Garden Day, March 25th 🌱
10-NOON
Bring the family and let’s GROW something GREAT together!!

BOOK DRIVE 📚
We are building a library in the Casetta and we need your help to make it amazing! April is BOOK MONTH at Julia’s Garden: we are holding a contest from April 1st - April 30th between our 3 Communities: YCC+Hay House, Main House & Casa.  Teachers will compile a comprehensive wish list of literature they would like to see in our inventory and each house will then have four weeks to donate books on the list from whichever source they desire. Books donated can be used as long as they are in good condition.  

We are also teaming up with The Book People on South Lamar that will have many of our titles available to purchase online and at our Book Fair which will take place on Friday, April 13th.  If parents wish to show additional support for our school they can purchase books under our account and The Book People will donate 20% of all purchases to the Julia’s Garden Fund.  At the end of the Drive, we will announce the winner and that house will be rewarded with a party at El Mercado on S. 1st Street.  Woohoo!!🍹

Administration 📝
The March calendar is up!

http://www.juliasgardenmontessori.com/calendar.html

Please take note of important dates below
March 8th: Last Day of School before Spring Break
March 12th - 15th: Spring Break, School is Closed
Contact Ms. Elisabeth or Ms. Teri for childcare opps on campus!
March 25th: Garden Day, 10-NOON
March 29th: Fall 2018 Re-Enrollment Deposits and Paperwork Due
April 13th: Book Fair at The Book People
April 26th: Tuition Due for Fall Semester 2018
April 30th: Book Drive Ends

Birthdays 🎈
March birthdays are a-plenty!  In the Hay House, Violet turns 2 years old on March 11th, Liam will celebrate his 2nd bday on March 25th and Penelope hers on March 27th. In Casa, Max’s birthday is Wednesday, March 7th, Ollie’s turning 3 on the 13th and Juno will be 3 on March 23rd. In Main, Ellis turns 5 on March 15th.  Happy birthday to all of our March birthday friends, we couldn’t be prouder of you!

Notes n’ Totes 🎼
We have a Spring Break parting gift for everyone: Julia’s Garden Tote Bags!  These bags are for carrying our water bottles, wet bags, clothing and any parent-teacher communication to and from school each day.  A tote and a lunchbox are all that is needed for class and we know our children will embrace the school spirit and ownership these bags offer.  The first bag is a gift; additional bags may be purchased from administration for $10 each.  Inside of these totes your child will find the Julia’s Garden Community Song Book so that everyone can practice singing garden tunes over the break!

Enjoy these awesome candids and I hope everyone has a fantastic break next week!

Sincerely,

Katherine Parlette
Founder, Director
Julia's Garden Montessori 🌸
(512) 790-4094
juliasgarden@me.com
www.juliasgardenmontessori.com
“I did not invent a method of education.  I simply gave some little children a chance to live.” - Maria Montessori

Elijah enjoys petting a bunny as Varenna tries make friends with another 4 legged companion.  The whole gang is together doing art then, it’s time for music with Ms. Natalie!

Oscar explores bristle block building on the Hay House porch while Indie checks out the swing.  Some lucky chicken got a mealworm meal out of this garden visit!

Orion works to get our table ready for some good, scrubby fun with the YCC class last week.  Working with shaving cream is a favorite outdoor sensorial activity!

Fine motor work is taking off in the Hay House: Harvey and Violet engage successfully and independently in paper cutting and bead stringing work.  Musical mayhem abounds as the children get ready for SXSW: Liam checks out how he looks holding a guitar (nice!) as the other boys participate in an impromptu Drum Circle. Are these Austin Kids or what??

Senna helps mix our daily baking concoction while Sloane whips up some eggs.  Elijah exercises his hand strength during Hand Washing and Liam and Harvey share a secret outside, admiring the garden’s greens.

Butterscotch tastes the morning dew on rainbow kale; it look like the bulbs Ms. Phoebe’s class planted before Christmas have started to sprout!  Hay House children form a line to visit the Casetta for Community Sing Along.

Elisabeth gives Ella a lesson on the Number Rods; Ollie matches cards with words successfully, a great pre-reading activity.  Anders enjoys play dough work while Ethan manages Cutting Work with great success.
Juno, Zahra, Sam and Hazel all enjoyed watercolor work last week; Findlay works on refining small motor skills as he chooses bead stringing work.  Zahra finds joy in spice grinding during the Work Period.

Sam enjoys cutting work, Violet gets a lesson on the Trinomial Cube and Zahra helps roll towels for hand-washing work.

All of the children are enjoying the new animal puzzles on the shelf - thanks so much, Community, for donating to the Fund Drive that helped us purchase these great materials!

Findlay and Ella show off their dinosaur-sorting abilities and, later, Findlay and William collaborate on the map of Europe.  Aspen gains mastery of pouring precision and Theodora shows us she is truly in the Sensitive Period for Tactile Exploration as she traces a “h” with Ms. Lindsay.

Bodhi engages in watercoloring, Lion and William work with Number Rods, Ms. Lindsay supports Lana’s dressing Frame efforts.  The children enjoyed meeting Maestra Courtney last week - her Spanish Class is a hit!

Here, Main House children walk into Casetta for our monthly Community Sing Along.  We hope you enjoy practicing school songs over the break with you children!

Don’t forget to volunteer for Garden Committee!  We can’t wait to share the harvest with you.