The Children's Montessori & Preparatory School
186 Romaine Street K9J 2C4 Peterborough, ON, Canada

Taking a moment to honour here at CMS, we would like share with this adorable example of a Montessori Practical Life activity. Maria Montessori designed Practical Life activities to be purposeful and meaningful. These prepared lessons develop motor control and coordination, as well as independence, concentration, and a sense of responsibility. Practical Life activities help teach children how to take care of both themselves and the environment arou...nd them. We love watching our kiddos take such pride in the work they have accomplished! Thank you to Maria Montessori for inspiring us and for the contributions she made to early childhood education And an extra special thanks to our fantastic Casa Montessori staff for all they do to guide the learning of our CMS Casa students! #montessorieducationweek #mariamontessori #CMStogether

Our CMS students from Casa One to Upper Elementary recently created ice suncatchers utilizing elements from nature, and then we placed them in the trees surrounding our school. These sculptures created a visual reminder of the beauty of frozen water, sunlight and our natural outdoor surroundings in the winter time. We’ve even spotted our neighbours enjoying these beautiful works of art. What a great way for our students to get creative and get outside! #suncatchers #beautyofwinter #CMStogether

We love celebrating #CMSTogether! Happy Valentine’s Day from CMS! Please visit our album - Valentine's 2021 @ CMS for more fun photos!

Happy Family Day the CMS Family! Last week Preschool One asked their students what they love about their families. Their answers were so sweet, and reminded us how simple love can be. Playing together, giving hugs and being there when they need you. What a wonderful testament to our awesome families.... We wish you and your loved ones a wonderful day - filled with love, laughter and memories. #HappyFamilyDay

As we continue to enjoy this beautiful fall weather, we wanted to share some highlights of our CMS students exploring, celebrating and learning about the beauty of fall, harvest and gratitude over the past few months.

A big thank you to the wonderful Trent University nursing students for their virtual guest lecture sessions yesterday. Our older CMS students, from grade 5-8, benefitted from their scientific expertise on human development and maturation. We're always grateful to make another local community partnership. #ptbocommunity #ittakesavillage

We hope your family had a Halloween - the students and staff at CMS sure did! With all the festive decorations, fun games and activities in their classrooms, sweet treats and pizza day, and our distanced costume parade featuring a teacher costume contest, we were certainly able to ‘scare’ up a few smiles and laughs! Thank you to everyone who helped to make this day so memorable for our students - despite some changes to our traditional celebrations. We appreciate everyone's efforts!

In our Lower Elementary class we finish off the week on Friday afternoons with a few children participating in monthly-themed show & share. The theme for September was a keepsake/souvenir, and we enjoyed sharing numerous items with special memories from all over the world, including Barbados, Mexico, Turks and Caicos, Prince Edward Island, Chicago, Cuba, Iceland, India, the Toronto Zoo, Hudson Bay, a first round of golf ever fully played, and more! It is a great exercise for these students to begin public speaking skills - and a highlight to our week!

We would like to extend our gratitude to the CMS community for their fundraising efforts and generosity towards our annual CMS Terry Fox Run. We are thrilled to announce that we raised $5,795 - $400 more than our previous record. Throughout our years of support, CMS has helped to contribute nearly $40,000 towards cancer research. Congratulations to everyone!

Thank you everyone who ordered this week! We sold over 40 meals! Next Week - Thursday October 22 We will be serving Chicken Fajitas... (Vegetarian Option Available) Both individual and family portions available as well. Pick up only, delivery not available). Pick up your meal between 4pm - 6pm. Orders due by Wednesday at 1pm. Limited quantities available. If interested, please email your order by email to [email protected] Thank you and we look forward to your orders. #supportlocal #makingyourweekalittleeasier #VivaMexico #syourewelcome

#fbf to Custodian Appreciation Day earlier in October. We are truly grateful for the work Siva does at CMS, which seems even more important this school year. Thank you for helping to provide us with safe and clean learning environment. Your kind and friendly manner is appreciated by the whole CMS community.

CMS Middles and Upper students were asked to help Peterborough Rotary create posters to mark World Polio Day. The group is helping with immunization efforts in Pakistan and Africa with the goal to End Polio Now. The students really seemed to enjoy helping to raise awareness, learning more about the fight against polio and creatively collaborating to make the posters. Well done! #endpolionow #myendpolio #worldpolioday

As we are celebrating this holiday weekend during this difficult time of uncertainty, it is perhaps even more important to remember the positive things for which we are grateful. Among other things, we are thankful for the hard work and creativity that our staff and students put into these gorgeous fall-themed crafts and cards. Happy Thanksgiving from our CMS family to yours.

Whether it's at work or play, our two Upper Elementary classes have been busy so far in October. Check out these highlights from their character analysis projects based on the novel The Refugee and some action shots while they played a game of COVID-friendly pool noodle tag. #workhardplayhard

This wonderful group of CMS pre-school students prepared beautiful flower arrangements to take home for Thanksgiving. You can see how they complete each step of the process with care and focus. We are grateful to have them as part of our CMS family.

We are now a month in and can't get enough of these smiling faces. Our Casa 2 class has been busy learning routines, completing work, supporting Orange Shirt Day and The Terry Run, and one was even caught bringing a Teacher appreciation gift for their teacher Mrs. Dass. Ms. Parris and Mrs. Dass are proud of each of these wonderful kindergarteners! Way to go!

This morning we captured Ms. Cameron answering the questions of some of our youngest (and perhaps most inquisitive) piano students. They were taking a look inside our piano to find out how the sound is really made. It was once said, "Who questions much, shall learn much, and retain much." Now that's music to our ears!

Starting this week, every Thursday, Jack & Company Catering will be offering homemade individual/family ready-made dinners This week (based on popular reque...st) is Homemade Chicken Parmesan - both individual and family portions available. Pick up only, delivery not available). Pick up your meal between 4pm - 6pm. Orders due by Wednesday at 1pm. Limited quantities available. If interested, please email your order by email to [email protected] Thank you and we look forward to your orders. #supportlocal #makingyourweekalittleeasier #vivaitalia #yourewelcome

E s We have shared in two special events in the past weeks that mark the end of one chapter, and the beginning of the next. Just last night, we gathered virtually to honour our Graduating Class of 2020. We formally congratulated and celebrated the achievements and talents of this fantastic group through touching and humorous speeches and a moving photo slideshow presentation. It was so fantastic to 'see' the students as we wish them success in the ...newest chapter of their lives. Additionally, we recently congratulated and thanked Mrs. Howcroft as she began her retirement from teaching this summer. Mrs. Howcroft (and her family) will also be a part of ours. Congratulations and best wishes to all!

This week at CMS we have been discussing the story of residential schools in Canada. Students have been watching videos, creating art, viewing photographs and wearing Orange shirts to help honour the past, present and future of Indigenous peoples in Canada. #orangeshirtday #everychildmatters

We had a fantastic time last Friday at our 14th annual Terry Fox Run even though things had to be configured a bit different that our traditional runs. With each class running in separate zones, we still enjoyed coming together to practice perseverance, being active and having fun - all the while raising money and awareness for cancer research. Thanks so all those who have supported our students throughout the years. You may still support this year's even by visiting http://www.terryfox.ca/TheChildrensMontSchPeterborough.

We are now a month in and can't get enough of these smiling faces. Our Casa 2 class has been busy learning routines, completing work, supporting Orange Shirt Day and The Terry Run, and one was even caught bringing a Teacher appreciation gift for their teacher Mrs. Dass. Ms. Parris and Mrs. Dass are proud of each of these wonderful kindergarteners! Way to go!

Check out this video of our Casa Preschool and Early Learning students working deligently on their practical life activites. So sweet! It's sometimes hard to remember that they are all younger than four years old. Great work, Room 2!

On Friday our school aged students had a little extra something to smile about. We were all treated to a Tim Horton's Smile Cookie. What a great way to end our first 5-day week - supporting a local charity (YMCA of Central East Ontario's Strong Kids Campaign) AND eating a delicious cookie! Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Connelly!

E s We have shared in two special events in the past weeks that mark the end of one chapter, and the beginning of the next. Just last night, we gathered virtually to honour our Graduating Class of 2020. We formally congratulated and celebrated the achievements and talents of this fantastic group through touching and humorous speeches and a moving photo slideshow presentation. It was so fantastic to 'see' the students as we wish them success in the ...newest chapter of their lives. Additionally, we recently congratulated and thanked Mrs. Howcroft as she began her retirement from teaching this summer. Mrs. Howcroft (and her family) will also be a part of ours. Congratulations and best wishes to all!

! As we reflect upon our first week and head into the next, we would like to stop and thank everyone for their hard work, patience and effort in making CMS such a fantastic place for our children to be. This includes parents, guardians, students and staff. We would especially like to thank our staff who have been truly amazing - from teaching virtually in the spring through Distance Learning @ CMS, meeting to plan and prepare our environment this summer ...and all the way to our first week back. We are truly blessed to work along side these wonderful educators. To help show your appreciation for our dedicated staff, we would like to ask for you to vote online for The Children's Montessori & Preparatory School for Peterborough Examiner's 2020 Reader's Choice Awards by September 27th. Thank you! You can vote for CMS here: www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com//the-children-s-montessori

From preschool to grade 8, CMS students learned some new routines this week, all the while returning to the familiarity of school. For some, you wouldn’t have even known that they were absent from the classroom for more than 5 months. In our Casa Preschool and Early Learning Program, back to school is normally all about building relationships and routines. However, many of our returning students were able to jump right back into their work without skipping a beat. In our two... Upper Elementary classes, our oldest students had fun while stretching their brains through activities such as playing chess, discussing literature, creating art and a completing a mystery treasure hunt. Well done, CMS! We can't wait to see what week #2 brings.

This week at CMS we have been discussing the story of residential schools in Canada. Students have been watching videos, creating art, viewing photographs and wearing Orange shirts to help honour the past, present and future of Indigenous peoples in Canada. #orangeshirtday #everychildmatters

Take a glimpse at some our youngest CMS students enjoying our newly refreshed outdoor space today. We especially love the rock painting and plant cutting activities - what a fantastic way to blend practical life skills with our love of nature!

It's been a breath of fresh air having the school filled with the sounds and sights of children. Maybe it has something to do with the HEPA air filters we have operating to help keep our indoor air clean. Stay tuned for more updates!