Spirit of Hope Montessori School

School check-in time! 🎉

We’re now 4 months into the school year so we thought it would be a good time to check in with all of our students and their parents.

Comment below what your child’s favorite thing about school is so far!

Have you been wondering what subjects the students at Spirit of Hope are learning?

Here is a list of enrichment activities we implement in our school. Through learning about geography, zoology, botany, science, and history, we are providing a deeper understanding of the world around us.

Comment down below what your child’s favorite enrichment activities are!

The Montessori method encourages student-led education, developing children to be confident learners. Our caring teachers are always there to guide, lend a helping hand and assist with any questions a student may have.

Share this post with a teacher you’re grateful for! ❤️

Drum roll please 🥁… Introducing Monty the giraffe! 🦒

Monty is here to bring your kids fun and educational facts. Today’s fact is about a certain fuzzy white bear that lives in the Arctic. 🐻‍❄️

Did you know that polar bears are left-handed?

Big heart and a happy smile from one of our students! ❤️

Happy Monday! It's time for an afternoon quiz for your child! 🐊🦁🐒🦈

Can they match the picture to the correct animal?

Comment ✅ down below if your child got any right!

It’s circle time!

This routine gives our students a chance to practice movement, music, conversations, learning, and more.

Are you interested in learning more about our methods? Give us a call or visit our website today!
https://www.spiritofhopemontessori.com/
(623) 334-9171

Parents of Peoria! Are you looking for something fun to do with your kids this weekend?

The Peoria Spooktacular Halloween Party in the Park is this Saturday, October 7th at Centennial Plaza Park, from 4-9PM. 🎃

This fun event features a food truck picnic, dance party, costume contest, face painting, princess appearances, and various games. 👑🥧🍎🧡

Like this post if you’re ready to get in the mood for Halloween! 👻

Your kiddos will have a couple days off school in October! Make sure to save this post to remember the dates. 📅

While learning to say please and thank you are important manners, it's just as vital that kids learn from a young age how to set healthy boundaries. Not only do these help them as they grow up, but they will become more secure, well-adjusted adults.

What other important boundaries are you teaching your children?

Your child is an active learner! Our lessons are designed to offer experiences that enhance and deepen their learning. The activities are hands-on and designed to use your child’s imagination and natural curiosity to foster a lifelong love of learning. In traditional schools, children are often passive learners. Listening to lectures, memorizing information, and taking tests can reduce a child’s love for learning as they grow.

Kids need time to learn!

In our classroom, your child can work on their lesson as long as they need to in order to understand and feel confident about the material. In a traditional school, learning has time limitations and your child may not be given the opportunity to fully explore an activity or subject.

Outdoor play is a fundamental part of Montessori education. Playing outdoors helps strengthens kids’ physical, cognitive, and emotional development. Playing outside, little ones develop large muscle groups by running, jumping, and stretching. The outdoors allows little ones to experience new environments. Learning to get back up after falling down or problem-solving with other children will help develop your child’s self-confidence.

What are a few of your child’s favorite outdoor activities?

Education starts at home! It's important to build a healthy foundation with your child by helping them begin learning from a young age. Teaching doesn't come naturally to all students and that's OK! Here are 5 tips for Montessori parents.

Make sure to mark down these important dates for the next couple of months.

Happy Labor Day! Enjoy the extra day spending time with your little ones. We will see you tomorrow for another great day of learning.

How do you know if your child is a visual, auditory, verbal, or kinesthetic learner?

Visual: absorb information through pictures instead of words. They learn best with charts, graphs, and other visual aids.
Auditory: absorb information that they hear. Listening to books, podcasts, or lectures is how they learn best.
Verbal: absorb information best through spoken words. Verbal learners tend to enjoy reading and writing, they often have a vast vocabulary, are great at recalling spoken information, and enjoy reading out loud to themselves and others.
Kinesthetic: absorb information through doing and hands-on activities. Touching, building, drawing, and testing the subject matter helps them learn. Kinesthetic learners are often athletic and coordinated.

How does your child learn best?

We love this quote by Dr. Maria Montessori! It's the perfect illustration of our belief that nurturing a child's natural curiosity is the best way to learn.

Have you noticed when you’re feeling stressed, angry, or anxious, your child often experiences the same emotions?

Little ones are very aware of the emotions around them! When you’re stressed about work in the morning or anxious in the evening, your child will also feel these emotions. These interactions can carry over into school if your child has had a stressful morning or poor night of sleep due to anxiety.

Be present with your child and keep an open dialogue about emotions and feelings. This will help your child to feel more secure and teach them to understand their emotions!

One of our favorite tools is the Montessori sandpaper letters. The letters teach children the alphabet and prepare them for writing by connecting tactile, auditory, and visual senses. Students will trace the shape of the letters while saying the letter out loud. Repetition helps students learn the sound of the letter (auditory), how to create the shape of the letter (tactile), and what the letter looks like (visual).

These are great learning tools to have at home to teach your child the alphabet!

We believe in preparing your child for their life, not to pass a standardized test. At Spirit of Hope, your child will not be tested in the traditional sense. Our teachers watch and observe your child as they complete lessons. We use repetition and exploration to ensure your little one has a deep understanding of the subject before moving on to the next level.

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! We can't wait to learn and grow with your kiddos this year. Check out the next 3 months of our school calendar and be sure to mark the important dates on your calendar!

What will your child be learning this year?

In addition to the basics like math, reading, and writing your child will have plenty of opportunities to develop gross motor skills and explore their creativity through music classes, art workshops, and weekly yoga. It’s also important to us that students get to explore the world outside of our classroom through activities that teach geography, zoology, botany, history, and science.

What is your little one’s favorite topic to explore?

Happy first day of school! We are excited to welcome the new and returning students joining us this year.

Is your child joining our class for the first time? Let us know any questions you have about our classroom below ⬇️

The new school year is a great time to review the 4 learning styles!
Your child's learning style can reveal the ways they learn, process, and remember the information. The main learning styles are:

Visual (spatial): Learning through seeing.
Aural (auditory): Learning through hearing.
Verbal (linguistic): Learning through words, speech, and writing.
Kinesthetic (physical): Learning through touch.

Keep an eye out for new content as we dive deep into each of the different learning styles! We will also explore three additional learning styles that are less frequently discussed (Logical, Social, and Solitary)

Two more weeks until school starts! We are so excited to see our students' smiling faces.

Like this post if your kiddo is excited 💛

Will it sink, or will it float?

Teach your little one with this easy at-home experiment! Grab a bowl or a dish and some objects from around the house. Let your kiddo predict if the object will sink or float, and drop it in the water!

Let us know if you try this fun experiment! 💧

Why should my child go to kindergarten or pre-k?

The earlier your little one gets exposed to a Montessori learning style, the stronger their foundation of learning is for the future. We recommend that parents start their children at Spirit of Hope at 3 years old to foster their curiosity and love for learning while growing their confidence.

Share this post with a fellow parent ➡️

Teach your kiddo about the kitchen by making healthy snacks together this summer!

Click the link below to see more healthy snack ideas.
https://www.eatingwell.com/gallery/7823696/healthy-kid-friendly-summer-snacks/

Which snack are you making?

Stick to a routine over the summer!

A regular daily routine makes mornings and evenings run smoothly for you and comforts your little one. When your child knows what to expect during the day, it makes them feel secure, and they're less likely to challenge things like meal or bedtimes. When your child feels comfortable, their emotional, social, and cognitive development thrive.

What is your summer routine?

Keep your kiddo entertained during the summer with this easy ice explorer experiment!

All you need are a couple of objects from around the house, a few bowls, and your freezer! Freeze the objects overnight and sit with your child while they use different tools like tongs, hairdryers, water, and other tools to retrieve the objects.

Comment with how your child solved this problem!

How to introduce new words:

1. Naming: tell your child the name of the object you’re introducing them to. For example: Show them fruits and tell them which is an apple, grape, etc.
2. Recognition: After telling your child the name, see if they can recognize it. For example: Lay out the fruits and ask your child where the apple is.
3. Recall: When you are confident your child has learned the proper name and how to recognize the object, point and ask your child to identify it. For example: Without saying the name, point to the apple and ask your child to tell you what it is.

What's the newest word your little one learned?

Happy 4th of July to all of our students and families! 🎇