Welcome to the 2020-21 school year. It is a pleasure to welcome all new and returning students and their families to University Heights Montessori [UHM] for the 2020-21 school year. We look forward to a year filled with inspiration, excitement and education with you and your children.

One of the keys to a successfully and a strong community for any school is communication between the school and the parents. Our newsletter is an important means of achieving this goal. Through the “UHM Monthly Newsletter”, parents are informed of important dates, school happenings, classroom news, enrichment themes, and other vital parent information.

September Curriculum at UHM

This month our enrichment theme is “All About Me” and nutrition. The children will explore the five senses and learn about the different food groups through many varied hands-on activities in the classroom. We will also talk about the season of Fall and Johnny “Appleseed” Chapman and learn how apples are important to us.

This month's themes are enriched with painting, drawing, puzzles, language and math, along with a strong emphasis on science related activities.

October Curriculum at UHM

October is a very busy and fun month with many wonderful activities that are being planned for the students. The classrooms will soon begin to take on the feel of Halloween and the Fall festivities. The materials on the shelves will also be changed to reflect the new theme of the month. Along with all the Halloween projects we will also be learning about our “skeletons” [learning some of the names of the bones in our body] and we will continue with learning “All About Me.”

We will also begin learning about Christopher Columbus, the continent of North America, and learn about geography, animals, and its inhabitants. As part of our Botany studies, we will study the life cycle of a pumpkin and do an experiment to see if a pumpkin floats or sinks.

Our studies will continue with a focus on the letters c, d, e and f. We will work on the sounds of each letter, tracing and writing the letters, while also matching objects that correlate to the appropriate sound of the letter.

UHM Back to School Night

Back to School Night will be on Thursday, October 1^st at 7:00 pm. 

Please note that school closes for all students at 4:30 pm on October 1^st for Back to School Night. 

This year we will be hosting our Back to School Night via Zoom. We will be emailing additional information and more specifics to our families about Back to School Night later this week. We look forward to having you join us for this important evening! You will have the opportunity to learn firsthand what your children will be experiencing this year in our Montessori Twos, Preschool and Pre K Enrichment/Kindergarten classrooms.

UHM Picture Day

UHM Picture Day is scheduled for Thursday, October 22^nd. "Come dressed to impress!" We will start taking pictures of the students by classroom, starting promptly at 9:00 am. We will start with our Montessori Twos classroom first.

Please make sure to arrive on time as it is essential that we start at 9:00 so we may finish in time for the students to have lunch during their normal time.

UHM Halloween Celebration

On Friday, October 30^th, we will have a “Halloween Celebration” with the students in their classrooms. There will be games, singing and treats. The students are encouraged and welcome to wear their costumes to school. Please make sure to bring a bag with a change of clothes for them to change into afterwards. More details to follow in October about our planned celebration at school for the students.

UHM Classroom Jobs/Materials

At UHM, it is important to us that our parents have an idea of what their children are doing and working on in the classroom each day, as we know your child may not be sharing this information with you. We want to help you discover what your children are doing by giving you a list of specific materials they may be working with on a daily basis. That way, you can ask your children more specific questions which should help you with getting more answers! Here’s a list of materials in the classrooms:

• Metal Insets
• Knob-less or knobbed cylinders
• Pink tower
• Red rods
• Brown stairs
• Sand letters (writing letters in a box of sand)
• Moveable alphabet
• Pouring jobs
• Spooning jobs
• Tweezing jobs
• Screwdriver job
• Beginning sounds job
• Parts of the apple job
• Land formation job
• Water jobs
• Life Cycle of Pumpkin job
• Puzzles

You can also ask your children the following questions:

• Who was the teacher helper today?
• Who did you sit next to at group?
• Did you work with anyone during work time?
• Did you go on the slide?
• Who did you sit next to at lunch?
• Did you work in the art room?
• Did you sit and have snack?

BookTree at UHM

We wanted to share with you an excellent Literacy Enrichment Program offered by BookTree who has partnered with us at UHM for 9 years. Please find below additional information about this amazing program.

Try BookTree’s Literacy Enrichment Program at UHM!

BookTree’s lending program is optimized to support reading aloud with a child, one of the most important activities you can do to stimulate brain development and establish the foundation for reading, writing, and school success.

Try out a complimentary personalized tote of ten extraordinary, age-appropriate illustrated books, carefully curated for your child, delivered right to UHM! 

Each monthly tote brims with outstanding artwork, rich vocabulary, a wealth of concepts, cultural diversity, and lifelong benefits. Winner of Bay Area Parent’s Best of the Best Award, BookTree delivers the highest quality literature available for your child, infant and up, in English or Spanish. 

BookTree adheres to strict CDC health and safety measures including book cleaning/disinfecting, 4-day quarantine for books and transport bins, and machine washed totes. 

To receive your child’s FREE complimentary tote of ten books with no contract or obligation to continue after the free month, visit www.booktree.us and click on “Start Your Free Trial Now”! Questions? Email info@booktree.us.

BookTree will also be joining us for our Back to School Night. They will be sharing additional information and answering any questions you may have. 

Quick Note: Parents, please remember to put your child's name on all jackets and sweaters they wear to school. - Thank You!