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2018/10/26 by Natalie

Educational Technology Preparing Students for the Future

According to S. Kert of educationaltechnology.net educational technology (ed-tech) is “a field of study that investigates the process of analyzing, designing, developing, implementing and evaluating the instructional environment and learning materials in order to improve teaching and learning. The overall purpose of ed-tech is to improve education.” At Rowntree Montessori Schools, ed-tech can be seen in our 21st-century classrooms when students are learning from the use of large interactive Epson projector whiteboards, to the use of desktop computers and Google Chromebooks, plus a variety of tools such as tablets and Dash and Dot robots with all of the accessories. For example, Dash allows students to learn about how to use block coding to control their robots.

We at RMS understand the need to ensure that students are prepared for jobs of the future, and so robotics is taught form Pre-Kindergarten Montessori onwards. Robotics is also taught in the computer lab, where students not only work on research, projects and typing practice, but they also take coding lessons. Our coding and technology teachers certainly see the benefit of this type of technology in the classroom, when students are able to problem-solve and complete coding challenges in their first year of joining RMS.

Students from grade 1 using dash and dot robots in the library at Rowntree Montessori Schools — Grade 1 students holding Dash and Dot robots in the library at the Academy Campus

The impact that ed-tech has on a lesson taught to a student is significant. When students are exploring games and applications on the tablets, it allows them to learn at their own pace. Children can play learning games according to their own abilities, and enjoy learning because technology in the classroom tends to be engaging. With the right combination of technology in the classroom, students can now access information instantly, be inspired for their next art project, or research solutions to real-life problems. Here at Rowntree Montessori Schools, we encourage 21st-century thinkers and learners, and continue to invest in technology to support our students.

To learn more about Rowntree Montessori Schools (RMS), continue browsing our website and ideally drop by any of our welcoming, friendly and family oriented campuses for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm. If you prefer, call to book an appointment for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm.

More details about Rowntree Montessori Schools‘ approach to education can be seen by clicking here .

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2018/10/18 by Natalie

Vote for RMS as the BEST Private School in Brampton

We are pleased to announce that Rowntree Montessori Schools has once again been nominated for the BEST Private School in Brampton Award by the Brampton Guardian 24th Annual Readers’ Choice Awards. We are honoured by this nomination, and would like to ask that you take a few quick moments to VOTE for Rowntree Montessori Schools in the PRIVATE SCHOOL category by October 28th by clicking here! Entering its 24th year, the Brampton Guardian Readers’ Choice Awards is the longest running program of its kind in Peel region, and we are proud to once again be considered for this presigous award. Thank you in advance for your support! Remember, please VOTE for Rowntree Montessori Schools as the BEST PRIVATE SCHOOL in Brampton today!

To learn more about Rowntree Montessori Schools (RMS), continue browsing our website and ideally drop by any of our welcoming, friendly and family oriented campuses for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm. If you prefer, call to book an appointment for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm.

More details about Rowntree Montessori Schools‘ approach to education can be seen by clicking here .

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2018/10/16 by Natalie

Creating a Love for Reading

This is an exciting week because students have the opportunity to enjoy the yearly Scholastic book fair! Over the three days of the book fair, students have the opportunity to make a wish list, which they can share with parents, who can either send money in or attend the school to purchase the books. We offer an excellent selection of books and related items for all age groups, and even get students excited by having random book giveaways each day. Plus the proceeds help us earn books for the school library!

Students at RMS book fair at private school in Brampton — Students looking through a selection of books together at the RMS yearly Scholastic book fair

We love seeing students get excited to read! Experts tell us that reading is an important part of a child’s overall health and well-being. In fact, Canadian paediatricians suggest that children who do not learn to read well, may have problems later in life. According to an article posted by caringforkids.cps.ca, you can help your child to develop good reading skills in many ways. Here are just a few of the many suggestions outlined in the article Promoting reading in school-aged children:

Make reading part of your routine every day. Even just a few minutes each day will make a difference. It is also a great way to create a special bond with your child. Plus, continue to read out loud to your child even when he or she can read alone. Experts also suggest that you read books that are a bit above your child’s reading level, as long as they are books that he or she can still understand and enjoy.
Be a role model and let your children see you read. If he or she sees you and other family members reading books, newspapers and magazines, he or she will learn that reading is important, fun and valuable.
Consider creating a special reading space in your home that is quiet and cozy. Keep books close to this area.
Use rhymes, games and songs. Singing traditional songs and telling stories can all enhance your child’s learning opportunities. This can also be a great way to expose your child to other languages.
Practice writing. Reading and writing go together. Children can practice their writing skills by making lists, keeping a journal, making a catalogue of their collections, or writing to friends, family, or favourite authors (many have websites with an address for fan mail).

Student at RMS book fair at private school in Brampton — A student selecting her preferred book for her book fair wish list

To learn more about Rowntree Montessori Schools (RMS), continue browsing our website and ideally drop by any of our welcoming, friendly and family oriented campuses for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm. If you prefer, call to book an appointment for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm.

More details about Rowntree Montessori Schools‘ approach to education can be seen by clicking here .

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2018/10/16 by Natalie

A1: How to Open Click Here or Link in New Window

After the link add in: target=”_blank” >

Also note size for sliders is 1140x445px figured out by right clicking the site clicking inspect then scanning through the layers to find the slider when you click the code it shows you the dimensions on the screen above (or in the css window to the side). I believe it’s also in the slider settings.

2018/10/15 by Natalie

Why Collaborative Groups?

We understand the importance of cooperative learning and the need for students to learn skills for success in the twenty-first century, such as collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and innovation. Recently some of our Grade 4 students learned about biomes, ecosystems, habitats and communities in collaborative groups. In order to help these students explore these topics in more detail, guidelines from the teacher were given and students were asked to conduct research in small groups using Chromebooks. Their first task was to learn about the five most important biomes. Afterwards they needed to prepare slides to help present their findings together. Not only did this project allow students to work in collaborative groups, but it gave each student the chance to take responsibility for his or her piece of the larger project, plan for the outcome, and complete the plan.

Students in group work at RMS Private School in Brampton- — One of the groups working together on grassland biome research using Chromebooks

Experts suggest that all of the soft skills learned in groups are necessary for preparing students for the workplace in the future. “Studies of cooperative-learning strategies regularly report an increase in engagement and active participation in the learning process, which in turn increase student motivation, time on task, and improve cognitive reasoning and the ability to see from others’ perspectives” (Munro, O’Brien, Payton, 2006). Click here for more information about why it is essential to teach students to work together in groups from a young age.

To learn more about Rowntree Montessori Schools (RMS), continue browsing our website and ideally drop by any of our welcoming, friendly and family oriented campuses for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm. If you prefer, call to book an appointment for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm.

More details about Rowntree Montessori Schools‘ approach to education can be seen by clicking here .

Please kindly SHARE this post with others by clicking onto one or more of the icons below. We would appreciate it and thank you in advance.

2018/10/05 by Natalie

Learning Real World Mathematics

At RMS, we understand the importance of extending what is learned in the classroom to real world situations, especially when learning mathematics. Experts like S.Wuolle (2016) suggest that students who experience meaningful real world connections are better able to apply their mathematics knowledge and skills, and can adapt to new situations (Boaler, 1998). Additionally, the British Columbia Ministry of Education states that real world connections are necessary in order to build numeracy in students (2008). So what is real world connection? Simple analogies, analysis of real data, discussion of mathematics in society, hands-on representation of mathematics concepts, mathematical modeling of real phenomena, and even the classic word problem can be considered to be real world connections (Gainsburg, 2008). Therefore, our teachers at RMS do their best to bring real world examples into the classroom. Recently some of the Grade 3 students extended their learning experience of the mathematical concept of estimating sums and applied it to the real world situation of grocery shopping. Each group of students was given a grocery flyer and was assigned the task of preparing a grocery list and estimating the cost of the list. The students were very excited to see what is was like to walk in mom and dad’s shoes for a while, as they eagerly began picking out grocery items for a healthy, balanced grocery list and then rounding the amounts to add up the cost of their lists. Below is a video that shows our smart 21st century learners busy collaborating with their friends to stay on budget with groceries!

To learn more about Rowntree Montessori Schools (RMS), continue browsing our website and ideally drop by any of our welcoming, friendly and family oriented campuses for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm. If you prefer, call to book an appointment for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm.

More details about Rowntree Montessori Schools‘ approach to education can be seen by clicking here .

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2018/10/01 by Natalie

Supporting Students with Love

Stepping into a new class at the beginning of a new academic year if often challenging for both the teacher and student. For the student, a new grade brings a new teacher with new rules and new expectations. For our Grade 8 students at Rowntree Montessori Schools, the new academic year is the final step before high school. Every September, each student in the Grade 8 class at the RMS Academy campus is greeted with a gift bag, which we call “The Bag of Love.” Each item in this bag has a significant meaning, and is put in the bag to help the students adjust to the expectations of being in a leadership role at a top private school. For example, this year the bag included a water bottle for students to lead by example, drinking water throughout the day to stay hydrated. It also included an eraser, so that students could remember that it is ok to make mistakes, as long as they learn from them and move on to make improvements. It also included a piece of string, to remind students that at RMS they are tied together in friendship, and that they should support each other. A star was included in the bag to remind students to shoot for the stars and set goals on their academic journey and in life.

Many other items were included in the bag this year, each with a purpose of bettering the experience of our Grade 8 students as they complete their final year with us. The students were excited to receive the Bags of Love, appreciated the kind gesture and made a commitment to work together to be leaders in the school and in the community. With this simple gesture, we see that classroom rules are followed easily as students transition from Grade 7 to 8. Building a student’s character is a fundamental goal of staff at RMS, as we not only want our students to be academically prepared for their futures, but also good citizens of the world.

To learn more about Rowntree Montessori Schools (RMS), continue browsing our website and ideally drop by any of our welcoming, friendly and family oriented campuses for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm. If you prefer, call to book an appointment for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm.

More details about Rowntree Montessori Schools‘ approach to education can be seen by clicking here .

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2018/09/27 by Natalie

Want More For Your Child?

If you are looking for a better education for your child, consider Rowntree Montessori Schools (RMS). We offer a progressive, well-rounded curriculum, and have been voted the best Private School in Brampton by local residents for the last 6 years. One of the areas of focus that students at RMS excel at is robotics. Students love designing and controlling robots, which allows them to sharpen their motor skills and think creatively from a young age. In robotics, students can engage with other students socially, working and communicating together as a team. It also prepares students for the increasing use of artificial intelligence and promotes teamwork and collaboration. Our coding and robotics activities often involve the use of Dash and Dot robots along with wireless tablets. Not only do we teach robotics in the classroom, but we also have extra curricular robotics teams that students can choose to participate on.

This is just one example of how RMS ensures that the curriculum meets and surpasses the Ministry set guidelines. We offer robotics and French starting in Pre-Kindergarten Montessori, and have small classroom sizes, with low teacher to student ratios. At RMS we have a code of conduct that supports discipline and security, with positive reinforcement and praise. We accept children any time during the year, and even offer an award-winning Summer Learning Camp.

To learn more about Rowntree Montessori Schools (RMS), continue browsing our website and ideally drop by any of our welcoming, friendly and family oriented campuses for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm. If you prefer, call to book an appointment for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm.

More details about Rowntree Montessori Schools‘ approach to education can be seen by clicking here .

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2018/09/24 by Natalie

Why Choose RMS as the Private School for your Child?

At Rowntree Montessori Schools we offer a well-rounded academically-progressive private school education. We have four campuses in Brampton serving all areas of the city and surrounding vicinity. Each campus meets every criterion of being a top educational institution. From employing dedicated teachers who motivate students, teach them to think for themselves and offer individualized attention, to running a leading programme that emphasizes academic quality in a supportive, nurturing environment, we provide children with freedom in education and respect the fact that children as individuals are different from one another.

A STEM approach to learning is an element of the RMS curriculum that is based on the idea of educating students in 4 specific disciplines- science, technology, engineering and mathematics- in an interdisciplinary and applied manner. The subjects are taught as one cohesive approach, instead of teaching each separately. We use this approach in order to equip our students from an early age with the tools they need to solve real world problems that each student will inevitably face in their future careers. As educators, we constantly strive to prepare students with 21^st Century learning skills and computer programming/coding is just one of the many ways that we do that. At RMS we introduce Dash and Dot robots and the fundamentals of programming in Kindergarten Montessori (JK) classes. These robots can be easily programmed using tablets to complete a variety of tasks, while teaching children the basics of programming. By teaching students coding concepts from such an early age, we are instilling in them a curiosity and ability to problem solve and innovate that will benefit them in their future careers.

Our staff and management believe that a warm, loving, safe and welcoming school is the foundation for great academic and personal achievement and growth. With a focus on each individual student’s potential, we allow each child to explore, interact and collaborate with classmates for greater learning opportunities. Children in the Kindergarten Montessori programme are encouraged from a young age to express and develop their creativity. They are introduced to and guided towards mastering concepts in math, science, computers, language, robotics, geography, social studies, music, art and French. Each student is encouraged to achieve his or her goals, as our excellent teachers guide them in the right direction, doing so with positive reinforcement and praise. Building a strong foundation and exceptional character is the fundamental focus at RMS!

There could not be a better reason or time to enroll your child at Rowntree Montessori Schools!

Apply NOW! Click here to find out more.

Here’s a map which illustrates the locations of our welcoming, friendly and family oriented campuses.

We look forward to seeing you and sharing with you the private school community of which we are so proud!

To learn more about Rowntree Montessori Schools (RMS), continue browsing our website and ideally drop by any of our welcoming, friendly and family oriented campuses for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm. If you prefer, call to book an appointment for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm.

More details about Rowntree Montessori Schools‘ approach to education can be seen by clicking here .

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2018/09/13 by Natalie

Forecast Calls for 100% STEM

Our modern world is highly driven by the components of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). It is important that as a top private school in Brampton, that we develop learners that keep asking hard questions, develop creative solutions, formulate plans, conduct research and apply it to real world problems. This term the Grade 1 students at Rowntree Montessori Schools are learning all about weather and seasonal changes in Science. This week we focused on various types of weather, tracking it through daily observation to understand temperature changes throughout the seasons. While tracking the weather as a group, each day our class engages in daily discussions about the importance of recognizing temperature changes and weather patterns. This brought us to the discussion of who and what the weather impacts and why it is important to be aware of the weather patterns and changes.

Students at RMS private school holding a thermometer and learning about the weather — Grade 1 students at the Downtown Campus learning about the weather

Our students are naturally curious, and so the STEM approach to learning is a perfect fit for this curiosity of the real world. It encourages students to question, explore, and wonder about the world around them. Our students have been challenged to think of different ways to check and track the weather to help people like farmers track climate changes. This week they learned to use a thermometer for the temperature, a ruler and a cup to measure the accumulation of rainwater and explored online weather resources to identify various weather transitions and changes. After exploring various weather measuring instruments, the students challenged themselves to make their own weather measuring tools. After many models and diagrams were drawn up, it was decided that they wanted to create something to measure the speed of the wind. This presented the challenge of building their own version of a wind tracking machine that had to be able to move with the wind to determine whether the wind was moving fast or slow.

RMS private school Grade 1 students in Brampton building an instrument to measure the wind — Stuents building their own wind tracking machine

STEM promotes cooperative learning, collaboration, problem solving but also provides an environment where students learn to work together by listening and learning to the ideas of others. The students began by drawing out a model of what they wanted their machine to look like and then determined what materials they would need and where to place them. They were happy to create an overall plan for their instrument. After testing many different materials they came up with a final product. It is important that in the STEM approach to learning that the students focus on the learning and not just the outcome. Even though the goal was to create a solution to a weather problem, the questions, plus the critical and innovative thinking they used during the process, was the most important part in the learning process. STEM as an approach to learning, not only exposes children to many experiences but also fosters them to develop an innovative mindset that we hope they carry with them into their futures.

Grade 1 student in Brampton school testing out her invention to measure the wind — Student testing out her wind measuring instrument

“We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself” – Lloyd Alexander

To learn more about Rowntree Montessori Schools (RMS), continue browsing our website and ideally drop by any of our welcoming, friendly and family oriented campuses for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm. If you prefer, call to book an appointment for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm.

More details about Rowntree Montessori Schools‘ approach to education can be seen by clicking here .

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