Kindergarten Montessori – Rowntree Montessori Schools

2019/08/23 by R.M.S.

Supporting Mental Health in Kindergarten

According to experts on mental health, there are multiple factors which can impact the positive well-being and mental health of children in Kindergarten. Below is a description of these factors, and how we at Rowntree Montessori Schools (RMS) make an effort to offer each child the most positive mental health experience while at school.

Positive Regard Builds Self-Esteem:

The safety and well-being of children should always be of the utmost importance for educators. At RMS, we know that small children need to feel that they are welcome, enjoyed, and valued among the people in their world and environment. A child entering the classroom with a high-five or pleasant “Good morning” from his or her teacher will have a positive morning experience and joyous reaction. We believe that positive regard is more than being nice. It is wholehearted acceptance that helps children feel that they matter.

Emotional-Regulation:

The small everyday things that teachers do to encourage self-regulation can instill mental health skills that children can use throughout their lives. The occasional overreaction or meltdown and having negative reactions in unfamiliar situations is common in a Kindergarten classroom. Therefore, preparing young children for what is to come next helps build emotional-regulation. Giving children time to solve problems or giving them advanced notice before needing to tidy up can help students by offering them sufficient time to respond, as opposed to being impulsive which can cause fear or overreaction. We also know that teaching children to wait their turn when sharing toys or materials in class, helps them learn patience.

Creating Awareness for Mental Health:

Having a Mental Awareness week at school and integrating it as part of the curriculum helps children understand their varied emotions. The children in this age group generally have a difficult time communicating their feelings at the beginning of the year. Oral communication techniques, such as asking “How do I feel?” – happy or sad – can help a child become aware of how to act in any given moment. At RMS, we offer activities such as reading books about feelings and conduct puppet plays, among many other things to build an awareness of emotions. This enhances each student’s ability to comprehend his or her own feelings, as well as those of their peers and teachers.

For more helpful information about how to have a conversation with your children about Mental Health Issues, click here.

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 .

Trophy for Rowntree Montessori Schools who was Voted as the Top Choice for Private School in Brampton for 4 Consecutive Years

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2019/07/26 by R.M.S.

Collaboration has No Age Limit

At Rowntree Montessori Schools, our students are very familiar with the art of collaboration. Walk into any classroom, and you will see the children working together to accomplish a common goal. This does not only happen during regular school day work time, where our children can be found making wonderful things together, but it also occurs in our before and after school activities. In the Kindergarten rooms, there are many different hands-on resources to work with and explore. These resources may look like ordinary toys to a passer-by, but when someone takes the time to sit and observe children working and playing with them, they will soon realize that they are so much more than that!

Kindergarten and Grade 1 student at Rowntree Montessori Schools collaboarating on a STEM project bridge. — Kindergarten and Grade 1 student collaborating.

A very exciting example (as seen above), of a collaborative creation between a Kindergarten Montessori student and a Grade 1 student happened recently during an after school activity. Two students began building their own connecting structures, and then soon began to take their thinking one step further. Our Kindergarten student started to talk about his plan to make something that could span from one table to the other. The Grade 1 student then followed along with the idea, and soon after their collaboration began. Their goal was to build a bridge that could connect their two tables. The Grade 1 student was able to offer many valuable insights as an older child, such as helping build supports to keep the bridge up in the middle space between the two tables. Their conversations were full of rich ideas and kind words, and the two were able to work together to accomplish their goal. It was truly an amazing situation to witness!

Older students teaching a younger student how to read at Rowntree Montessori Schools in Brampton. — Older student helping a younger student learn how to read.

This particular situation shows the value of having hands-on manipulatives in the Kindergarten classrooms, and in allowing students of various age ranges to work together. It also highlights the wonderful STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programme that we have at RMS, starting in our youngest classrooms, which carries forward from learning to everyday life, as children integrate the skills that they have learned into their imaginative play. Lastly, it helps shine a light on the great sense of community that Rowntree Montessori Schools helps to foster. It does not matter what the age difference between the students is, they all get along and can make wonderful, creative, insightful things together, when given the opportunity. Collaboration has no age limit!

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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2019/05/06 by R.M.S.

Science in Kindergarten

Children start to become more aware of the functions of the human body in Kindergarten. At Rowntree Montessori Schools, Prep-ONE (SK) students are taught about four systems of the human body in science class: the nervous system, the digestive system, the respiratory system and the circulatory system. Our Prep-ONE students recently learned that these four systems not only work really well on their own, but work well together. The students were introduced to many new functions of the body over the course of a month, as they learned through various hands on activities, videos, class discussion, and by using Montessori charts, diagrams and the interactive whiteboards.

Our students thoroughly enjoyed learning about these systems of the human body. When learning about the circulatory system, students were introduced to white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets and plasma. The video below is a great representation of how excited the students were to explain what they learned during our class discussions on the circulatory system.

Prep-ONE (SK) student explaining what she has learned in science class.

As teachers, we were very excited to see our students going home and applying what they learned in class to their daily lives. For example, when one of our Kindergarten students was away sick for the day, she told her mother that her white blood cells were working really hard to fight her bad bacteria, and that when they did, she would feel well enough to return back to school. When teaching about topics such as the human body, we want to ensure that students enjoy what they are learning. Making science exciting through hands-on projects, helps ensure that students stay engaged and retain what they learn. After learning about the human body, after a full month, our Kindergarten students still frequently discussed what they learned and how much they loved learning about their bodies.

Students having a discussion during science class.

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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2019/01/22 by R.M.S.

Apply for Kindergarten Today!

Now accepting NEW student applications for Pre-Kindergarten Montessori and Kindergarten Montessori (JK) for the 2019-2020 Academic Year starting in September 2019!

If you have a child who was born in 2016 or 2015 and would like to submit an application to Rowntree Montessori Schools for the 2019-2020 academic year (starting in September 2019), please do not wait until it is too late! We are now officially reviewing applications for acceptance to Pre-Kindergarten Montessori and Kindergarten Montessori (JK).

Students in Kindergarten Montessori at Rowntree Montessori Schools

Students in Kindergarten Montessori (JK) at Rowntree Montessori Schools

Click on the Apply Now button below to quickly and easily submit your application, and someone from our Admissions Office will be in touch with you shortly. If you would like to talk with someone from our Admissions Office, please click here to review the contact information for each campus.

To learn more about Rowntree Montessori Schools’ admission process, click here.

If you have not done so already, we also encourage you to visit one of our campuses. Discover the opportunity and possibilities for your child to love learning and excel.

We will gladly take the time with you and your family to:

Tour the facilities (typically takes 15-20 minutes)
Provide you the opportunity to meet teachers and administrators
Outline our enriched educational programmes – Pre-Kindergarten (2.8 yrs) to Grade 8
Discuss registration options

…and of course, children are most welcome.

Private school students in Kindergarten working on Montessori materials at RMS

Students in Kindergarten Montessori (JK) learning to count

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 .

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.

2018/11/26 by R.M.S.

Learning to Read in Kindergarten

At Rowntree Montessori Schools, our Kindergarten students have been hard at work learning to read! When you come visit our classroom, you can see the students using many different methods to help them in their reading journey. During our language time, we have been focusing on our beginning phonetic sounds. Phonics in our classrooms, is the practice of teaching children the sounds made by individual letter or letter groups (for example, the letter “c” makes a k sound), and teaching Kindergarten students how to merge separate sounds together to make one word (for example, blending the sounds c, a, t makes CAT).

Kindergarten Montessori schools learning about letter sounds at Rowntree Montessori Schools private school in Brampton

Kindergarten Montessori students learning about letter sounds while reading small words

We use many different methods to teach phonics, as we find the Kindergarten students learn the best when shown visually, with a manipulative and written resource. In order for a child to learn how to spell any word correctly, he or she must be able to recognize the sounds of the letters used in forming the words. At RMS, our teachers want to make sure all of our Kindergarten students feel confident and are well on their way to learning to read by the end of the school year. This is why learning to read is a daily focus that is utilized in all subject areas, not just language time!

Kindergarten student learning to read using worksheets

Student using workbook independently

When a Kindergarten student is taught phonics, the child will be able to recognize sounds in words, and will be able to spell the words correctly. We always start our language time with a circle that introduces the letter and phonetic sound. We use our Montessori moveable letters to build small words with the specific phonetic sound. We also look through text to find words that have the same beginning letters, which also helps increase a child’s fluency in reading. The students enjoy making a visual list of words that have the same beginning sound when they are learning to read. We then go over the proper way to print both the upper and lower case letters using the whiteboard. To cement any new reading concepts in the minds of our Kindergarten students, we finish with working in our workbooks on pages that connect with what was taught during circle time. It is amazing to see our students working so hard, and some of them are already reading small three letter words! Learning phonics is very important at Rowntree Montessori Schools in helping children to learn how to spell words.

Kindergarten students learning to read by using worksheets at private school in Brampton

Kindergarten students practising reading skills

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.

2018/02/09 by R.M.S.

Celebrate 100 Days of School!

At RMS our Kindergarten Montessori (Junior Kindergarten) and Prep-One (Senior Kindergarten) students enjoy learning through the use of multiple teaching techniques, including Montessori inspired methods. This prepares our students to learn more complex topics, as all of our subjects meet and exceed the Ministry set guidelines for learning by one to two grade levels. Today we celebrate the 100th day of school and we recognize the value of what we have learned so far this year! Every day starting at the first day of school Kindergarten Montessori and Prep-One students count the day, and when they reach the 100th day they celebrate! This year the Prep-One students came up with 100 reasons why they love school, including reasons like enjoying doing challenging work and loving their great teachers! Take a look at the video below of our Prep-One students using golden beads and large numbers to count over 100!

This afternoon we will have an assembly to celebrate the the achievements of our students, followed by Kindergarten students enjoying a 100th day cupcake celebration. Each day at Rowntree Montessori Schools we make sure to challenge our students to become the best versions of themselves and to learn something that will help them achieve success in their educational careers.

Students in Junior Kindergarten at RMS Private School Brampton celebrating the 100th day of school

Students in Prep-One celebrating the 100th Day of School

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 .