Google ‘Maria Montessori quotes’ and you’ll get hundreds of thoughtful and thought-provoking observations made by an educator in the early 20th Century. Her comments are as relevant today as they were then……… and right now I find them to be a balm in an uncertain world. Take this one, for example:

We adults must see the real humanity in children, the humanity which will take our place one day, if we are to have social progress. Social progress means that the next generation is better than the one before.

Maria Montessori, The 1946 London Lectures

At Midtown we know we can work as adults to first observe and then guide children to be good citizens of the world and we believe this really can start at the age of 2!

Learning in a Montessori preschool sets children up with an understanding of community – from their little classroom all the way to the wider world. Small children are fascinated by what makes people the same and what makes them different. Here at Midtown we celebrate that by learning about the world around us on a micro and macro level, in an age-appropriate way.

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So here’s a little glimpse into what we’ve been doing at school over the past few months to facilitate this:

We have been studying the continent of Europe and families with European connections have come in to share food and fun facts about their countries.

The class learned about and celebrated Lunar New Year. We sang the song Gung Hay Fat Choy. We handed out red envelopes with snakes on them and 25 cents since it’s 2025.

We learned about the Year of the Snake and a parent came in to help make a wonderful paper snake art project which is now hanging in our classroom.

Spring is springing at school! We made the most of the sunshine (and rain!) to play outside and look after our garden.

In our garden we planted more sorrel plants as the class loves chewing on the leaves each day.

We hosted famliies for one of our regular Open Houses. The children got to share their classroom with their families.

In January, as a way to honor MLK and his message of non-violence, the class discussed the concept of peace. When asked what peace means they offered ideas like giving a heart to a friend or an animal, being gentle and calm, and being still or quiet.

We practiced using our peace rose. The peace rose is an object that children can hold when having a conflict with a friend, giving the person holding the rose the opportunity to speak before handing it over to the other person.

We have been singing the song Peace Like a River, and one of our meditations involved imagining floating peacefully down a calm river.

We also practiced feeling and listening to our breath and taking several slow, mindful breaths.

For Valentines Day the children made, wrote, stamped and posted their families Valentines cards.

The class has been learning all about bananas and where they grow. We looked at a clump of bananas on the stalk, a banana leaf, and a flower. We talked about how bananas grow, how they’ve been cultivated to have tiny seeds, how they’re harvested and shipped, and all the different types of banana varieties that exist around the world. We then tasted a ripe banana and a plantain chip.

Oh, and we also made green slime!

As I put together this newsletter I realise just how many wonderful activities the staff facilitate for the children at Midtown and how hard they work to give the children that come to our school so many different experiences. It makes my job easy!

Sarah

We are currently fully enrolled but if you or a family you know might be interested in enrolling for Fall 2025, we have spaces available for an August/September start.​
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sarah@midtownmontessori.com

A: 987 Bostwick Lane, Santa Cruz, CA

C: (858) 226 3107

CCL #444417036

Our website now has a booking form to enable you to book tours directly.

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Ps. You are receiving this newsletter because you scheduled a tour or contacted us through our website. It is a snapshot of the weekly emails that our headteacher Joe sends out to all parents at school, keeping them updated on life in the classroom. Previous month’s newsletters can be found on our website. If you wish to unsubscribe please click the link at the bottom of this email.