We invite parents to view their children in the classroom on our 2nd floor vestibule television monitors.

Starting the morning of Thursday, September 22, teachers will permit viewing shortly after classes begin.  We have two cameras each for the East and South classrooms, and a single camera for the Stepping Stones classroom.  All cameras allow for remote control to pan, tilt and zoom: you may view almost any part of the room and zoom in for a close-up picture. 

Please be gentle with the equipment (especially the pan/tilt controls) and understand that each camera has limits to its viewing area: please do not try to force the cameras beyond these limits. 

Finally, if other parents are waiting to control the camera, our informal rule asks that you cede control of the camera to the next waiting parent after five minutes.  You may continue to view your child’s class, but allow the next parent to choose the camera’s focus.

If you encounter problems with the equipment or have other questions, please let Anne Marie know.

Thanks to Daniel (Piano – Mondays), Carrie (Mandarin – Tuesdays), and Lisa (Violin – Wednesdays) for spending time with our families this afternoon to describe their instructional programs and answer parent questions. 

No doubt children will enjoy and learn in any one of these programs.  We’ve already received several enrollments in each program, but still have space for more students.  Remember, these classes start the first week of October.   However, After Care is available starting next week (Monday September 19) — please remember to fund your After Care account.  

If you’d like more information, look in the Parents section of the website, under Downloads (log-on required) — there you’ll find a description of all the after school programs, including enrollment forms.  (You can also pick up enrollment forms from the office).   Of course, if you have questions, please e-mail them to us at contact@themontessorihouse.com.

Correction:the enrollment form for Piano says there’s a limit of three (3) students in the program.  The limit is three (3) students per session, but we can accommodate 4 sessions, so a total of 12 students.

Phase-in for students starts next week.  Check your individual schedule for details.

Parents may want to put the following dates on their calendars for next week.

• Meet the Teachers Night
  Tuesday, September 13, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (parents only please)
  Refreshments provided
• After-School Programs Open House
  Wednesday, September 14, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
  Piano, Mandarin, Violin and After Care
  Email sent with all the details and enrollment forms
• Optional Information Meeting on Volunteer Committees
  Thursday, September 15, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
  Register on-line in the Parents section.
  On-line you’ll find details on all the committees. 
  Email sent with information and instructions for on-line registration.

The Montessori House will be open on its normal schedule, Tuesday, February 1, 2011. 

Local conditions vary; parents, please exercise caution planning your time and route to school today.  Feel free to keep your children at home, arrive late, or pick up early,  if that is your best, safest course of action.

Many parents interested in exploring Kindergarten/First Grade at The Montessori House have asked for one-on-one conversations instead of a group meeting. To meet the needs of all parents, we’ve decided to offer all parents the opportunity for a one-on-one meeting with Ms. Maria, and have canceled the group sessions scheduled for this Thursday, January 6th.

For those parents who RSVP’d for the group sessions, we’ll be in touch to schedule one-on-one conversations with Ms. Maria (possibly this Thursday after school or in the early evening, for parents who’ve already set aside the time on their schedule).

Thanks, The Montessori House

An interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about food allergies:

Fewer Children May Be Diagnosed as Doctors Told Not to Rely Solely on Standard Skin and Blood Tests

Parents who have eliminated foods from their children’s diets based on allergy tests alone may find that some are safe to eat after all.

The National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases issued the first clinical guidelines for diagnosing and treating food allergies Monday, saying that blood or skin tests aren’t sufficient when making a diagnosis.

An allergy should be suspected if someone has a reaction within minutes or hours of eating a food, according to the guidelines. Physicians should then take a detailed medical history, conduct a physical exam and confirm the allergy with a skin-prick test, in which tiny drops of the suspected allergen are pricked into the skin, usually in the forearm, to see if red wheals form. None of those steps is definitive by itself, the recommendations say, which will likely to lead to fewer diagnoses.

…

Medical history is the most important key to a diagnosis, experts say. “The major piece of the puzzle is what happened? What did they eat and when? How long was it between eating and having symptoms? What else was going on?” says A. Wesley Burks, chief of pediatric allergy and immunology at Duke University Medical Center and another author of the guidelines. In the real world, it’s often far from clear which of dozens of different foods a child eats during the day, or what unknown ingredient in a restaurant meal, may have set off a reaction. That’s why the guidelines also call for using a skin-prick test to verify that the patient does have an immune reaction to a suspected food.

In more than 50% of cases, the report notes, the presumed food allergy isn’t a real allergy. A different food could be responsible, or there could be some other cause entirely, particularly with gastrointestinal symptoms.

Several parents have asked if they should bring their child to their individual Parent-Teacher conference in November.

No, we do not allow children to attend Parent-Teacher conferences.  Based on experience, we know our approach promotes effective, informative meetings that respect every other parent’s schedule.

However, if you do not have convenient child care available, please call the office and we can share with you the parents who have conference appointments adjacent to yours on the schedule.  You may then contact these parents and suggest a barter: you watch their child(ren) during their conference in exchange for them watching your children during your scheduled time.

You may examine the photos in our office.  After examining the photos in our office, if you would like to purchase the package, you may do so by completing an order form and writing a check payable to MARTY HYMAN PHOTOGRAPHY, or you may pay by Visa or MasterCard.

In a recent WSJ article “Acing Parent-Teacher Conferences” you’ll find some tips for a productive parent-teacher conference:

Do Your Homework — How parents can get the most out of their 10 minutes:

• Ask your child to share concerns before you go.
• Bring written notes and questions.
• Tell the teacher about at-home issues that might be impacting your child’s academics.
• Don’t be antagonistic. View the teacher as your partner.
• If teacher uses jargon, ask for simple explanations and specifics about your child’s work.
• Keep the conversation focused on your child—not your childhood, the teacher’s workload or views on the curriculum.
• Discuss strategies you and the teacher can use to help your child. Write out common goals.
• Ask for follow-up emails and conversations.

We’re confident November conferences at The Montessori House will be informative and useful for parents and teachers.