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The Young Children's Community is a place that supports both individual development and learning how to live harmoniously in our community. Our days will be filled with opportunities for baking, exploring, developing independence, acquiring new language and challenging motor abilities, just to name a few. I am happy to welcome your child to our sweet community and I look forward to the year ahead. "Joy, feeling one's own value, being appreciated and loved by others, feeling useful and capable of production are all factors of enormous value for the human soul." Annie@traversechildrenshouse.org Emily Kolassa
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Classroom Highlights
April 15, 2025
Hello Trillium families!
I hope you all have been able to soak up the recent moments of spring. It has been such a joy galivanting outside without snow clothes on. I tell ya, you don’t truly appreciate it until you’ve dressed twelve toddlers in multiple layers for 6ish months. ...
The children have been busy at work since returning from spring break. Our days are filled with bracelet making, watercolor painting, chair scrubbing, plant watering, flower arranging, laundry collecting, orange juicing, and bread baking among many other things. There is no shortage of help in our classroom as everyone is eager to jump in and contribute. That is one of the many brilliant qualities of The Young Child; they are so enthusiastic about life and excited to be a part of what is around them. Lean into this stage – it doesn’t last for very long.
It is so fun to witness the cyclical nature of our community; the youngest become the oldest and take initiative to help their juniors. With the influx of smaller friends this semester, the oldest in our group have been so caring, helpful and encouraging. We could not ask for better role models. When the older children step up to be leaders, they not only help support the development of those younger, their own understanding and confidence is reinforced. This is the rationale for having such large age ranges in Montessori environments. We witness the benefit to this structure on a daily basis.
Just this week, we welcomed a new young friend into our community – William (featured on the most recent roster) is officially a member of the Trillium Class! The children have been anticipating his move-in for quite some time and we are thrilled to have him. As we welcomed William, we celebrated our buddy Marcus who joined Trillium alum Willow and Declan in the Thistle primary classroom. We are delighted for Marcus as he embarks on this next chapter. With this transition, we are officially a set class for the remainder of the school year. Whew! What an exciting and busy year full of changes!
I am sending you off today with a little bit of homework. ™ Two requests:
- If you could please email me a photo and short description of any grandparent or special person in your child’s life, that would be very appreciated. To be fully transparent, I am having a hard time keeping track of all the fun names used for grandparents these days, and would love some background information before Grandparent’s Day next month. We love the people that love your child and want to get to know them a little better!
- The Trillium Room is currently accepting bow returns! As many of you know, the children have been really into hair care recently. Our once endless supply of bows and clips is somehow reaching its end. If you have stray hair accessories laying around, we will gladly take them!
Thank you for your continued involvement as we come out of our winter hibernation and brace for the final months of the school year. We appreciate you!
-Annie and the Trillium Team
March 17, 2025
Happy Monday, Trillium families! I hope you are all feeling lucky in green today.
Speaking of green (wow - what a transition!), we got to experience grass on our playground again! With the snow melt last week, your children enjoyed riding bikes, making “muffins” in the sandbox, and walking around without toppling over. Hurray for even terrain! While we embraced the return of snow today, it is safe to say that the crew is excited for spring.
With the change of season, we plan to send home all extra clothing and winter gear at the end of the week. Please wash and send back winter clothing as needed after spring break.
Now onto the fun part…
Thank you all for sitting down with me last week. It is hard to put into words how much I enjoyed exchanging stories about your wonderful little humans and taking a moment to catch up. I wrapped conferences on Friday feeling grateful and inspired. I truly have the best job.
The fact that parts of the Montessori philosophy do not align with parts of our current culture was brought up during conferences. This had me deep in thought over the weekend. Focusing on social media in particular, it is easy to be bombarded with all the things you should be doing for your child and convinced of all the reasons you should be concerned about their development. With a big disclaimer: sometimes there is merit to these messages; often there is not! All of this outside information makes it difficult to trust your child, allow them to make mistakes, learn, change course, and gain confidence in themselves. Basically, I wanted to celebrate you for swimming against the current and seeing the value in letting your child be who they are meant to be. In a society that encourages the opposite (do more, be more, have more), I appreciate your strength in giving them the time and space they need to figure things out. It can be really hard to sit on our hands and watch things unfold, but your children surprise me everyday when I resist interjecting and just observe. They might not do things the way they were shown or the way you and I would do it, but they are able to work out so much on their own. Your children are incredibly capable and this message is being instilled every time we allow them to do things for themselves.
Every one of you is doing an amazing job. Thank you for trusting us.
February 18, 2025
Happy February, Trillium families! I hope you all had an exciting long weekend in this crazy snow globe.
With spring right around the corner (we can dream ...), flower arranging has been brought back into our environment. The children absolutely love enhancing the classroom with bright, funky floral arrangements. Please consider signing up to bring in a bouquet – I have created a document that stretches until the end of the school year. Thank you in advance for your contribution!
Last week, we celebrated Valentine’s Day in our classroom. While we do not hand out Valentines in the YCC, we do use beets to make pink, heart-shaped pancakes! This is something I look forward to every year – although everyday feels like Valentine's Day when spent with these affectionate little people. In addition to our fun snack (see photos below), we have Valentine’s Day language cards and books about love on the shelf. I also put out heart shaped stickers and gluing work to reflect the holiday.
In general, we try to expose the children to as many holidays as possible. Our classroom has a large collection of holiday language card sets which not only help prepare the children for what they might see, but also expand their understanding of the world. It is never too early to pass along this knowledge and show respect/appreciation for the many different things people believe in. All that said, if your family has a particular belief or tradition that you would like to share, please let me know. We want you and your child to be well represented in our classroom. For further information on Incorporating Holidays into the Classroom, I encourage you to read this blogpost written by Nido Guide, Jeanette Kania.
Lastly, we will be sending home an updated roster in the next few weeks. You will notice one new face, sweet Nell, who will be joining us at the beginning of March. Also since the last Classroom Highlights, our gal Willow transitioned into her new classroom. She is absolutely crushing it in Primary and we are so proud!
Keep an eye on your inbox for the link to March conferences!
January 15, 2025
- Snow pants (or snowsuit)
- Boots
- Coat
- Hat
- Mittens (for younger children that tend to pull them off, we help put mittens on before their coat)
December 17, 2024
Happy final Classroom Highlights of the year, Trillium families!
To start off today's Highlights, I want to thank you all for a wonderful 2024. It has been a pleasure partnering with you this year. I have watched your children face obstacles, work together, grow physically and cognitively, and experience moments of great joy and pride. Thank you for your continued support along the way! Team Trillium wouldn't be able to do it without you. I look forward to more collective growth in the coming year.
A few things to wrap up…
- I am sending home all extra clothing (outdoor gear included) at the end of the week. Please take stock of your child’s things over break and send back what you wish upon our return.
- A reminder that Friday is an abbreviated day followed by the Seasonal Sing at 11:00am. Please park and pick up your child from our classroom between 10:40 and 10:50 – then head down to the gym for some adorable, festive singing!
- Here is the link to the Guy Family Meal Train! In case you missed it, Emma’s family welcomed a sweet baby girl, Madison, last week. ™
With all that out of the way, I want to wish you a lovely winter break. Regardless of how your family spends the coming weeks, I hope your days are filled with love and joy. Please reach out if you have any questions or updates while we are away; I will be checking my email periodically.
Lots of hugs to your kiddos!! We will miss them all!!
The Trillium Team
November 20, 2024
Hello Trillium families!
To start off today's classroom highlights, I want to thank you all for attending conferences. I wrapped them up on Friday feeling more grateful than ever that I get to be a part of this community. It has been such a beautiful fall semester, and I loved the opportunity to sit down and reflect with each of you.
In exciting news, we welcomed Grace back into the Trillium Room last week! The children are delighted to have her around, and her sweet baby, Ollie, too! With Grace's return, Madison ventured across the hall to the Nido, but thankfully we still get to see her throughout the day.
Our buddy, Emmett, has also made a transition and is now in the Lily Primary class! Aberdeen will be following him shortly, as she makes this big, exciting move right after Thanksgiving Break. Watching our friends join Primary is such a bittersweet experience, but overall, we feel so thrilled for this next step in their journey.
In the absence of our older pals, we will be welcoming many new faces in the coming months. The first of these move-ins will be sweet Quinn, who is moving up from the Nido after the short break next week. Quinn has been visiting our classroom, so your child may have already mentioned our new friend. Given all these changes, I will be sending out an updated roster at the start of the new year.
As you know, next week is a short one. Before we part ways for the holiday, we will be joining for a final feast in the Trillium Room. Linked here is the sign-up for our Harvest Feast. Please bring your contribution in a labeled container on Tuesday morning. We are always grateful for you but love this opportunity to be especially thankful.
To conclude this lengthy email, I am linking a goofy song that comes up in our classroom on a fairly regular basis. As I'm sure many of you have experienced, it is common for the children to go "shopping" in our extra clothing bins and leave at the end of the day wearing some nice, "tight pants". It always makes us chuckle. Hopefully this puts a smile on your face, too.
The Trillium Room is thankful for you!
Warmly,
October 18, 2024
Happy Friday Trillium families!
It is hard to believe that we are already over halfway through October. With the cooler weather, we have been embracing the change of seasons in our classroom. There are currently several fall-inspired books on our shelves, as well as some seasonal language cards, puzzles and manipulatives. In the next few weeks we will carve a pumpkin, bake pumpkin bread, roast pumpkin seeds and jump around in the leaves on our playground; there is so much to look forward to. I have included a few pictures of some favorite seasonal activities below.
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I find that seasonal materials lead to fun, relevant conversations with the children. Many have expressed that they have picked apples or pumpkins and a few have brought up the costumes they plan to wear for Halloween. The “spooky” decorations seen in yards and grocery stores this time of year can be really alarming for YCC aged children and repeated conversations about these things helps demystify them. One and two year olds live in a reality based world, and Halloween is a very abstract concept. I make a point to explain that the decor and costumes they see are just pretend.
A bit of housekeeping:
- Thank you for sending warm outdoor clothing as the temperature continues to drop. Here is a Winter Gear Guide with tips and recommendations for the upcoming season.
- If your child/family dresses up for Halloween, please email me a picture. I will send out a virtual Halloween parade shortly after the holiday.
- Next Monday, October 21st, is Picture Day. Our classroom is slated to go first thing in the morning, so feel free to send your child in their photo-ready outfit.
- Join us on Thursday, October 24th from 4:00 - 5:30 to discuss The Montessori Toddler, by Simone Davies. This book is a great jumping-off point, but you are more than welcome to come if you haven’t read it. Childcare is available and you can sign up for it here. Please register by Monday, 10/21.
- Horizon Books Day is Saturday, November 9th! This is our annual book fair and Horizon gives 10% of all sales that day directly to The Children’s House. The children love on our books so intensely that they often need replacing. Please stop by Horizon and stick a book in the “Trillium” basket. We (adults and children alike) so appreciate it.
- Lastly, a reminder that conferences are right around the corner! You will receive an email with the link to sign-up in the next few weeks. I treasure the opportunity to sit down with each of you.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Annie
September 16, 2024
Happy first Classroom Highlights of the year, Trillium families!
For those of you who are new here, I send out a monthly email containing sweet anecdotes, pertinent information, and perhaps a sprinkle of Montessori philosophy. While these highlights should give you a good look into your child's school day, please do not hesitate to email me at any time.
What a wonderful start to the school year it has been! Over the last few weeks, we have welcomed four new children into the Trillium Room. You may hear about Walker, Hank, Edgar and Sophie as they settle into our little community. You may also hear about Declan, Meave and Rafferty who moved up to Primary at the end of summer and often come say "hi" to us while we are outside or walking down the hall.
Our youngest kiddos have been enjoying the sink (lots of hand washing, pouring, and plant watering), reading books, singing songs and painting at the easel – to name a few things. Our older friends have been tending to the community by washing dishes, scrubbing dirty tables & chairs, preparing snack, and collecting/starting the laundry. It is so fun to watch your children grow and continue to challenge themselves physically and mentally as the months tick by. Those who were once glued to the sink are now independently baking bread—the coolest thing to witness.
Thank you to all that came to the Back-to-School Parent Meeting! A few takeaways from our conversation:
- I will be sending an email with links to the winter gear I have found to be successful. Keep an eye on your inbox.
- Please feel free to come observe! The best time to watch your kiddo is between 8:50 and 10:15. If possible, let me know you are coming ahead of time.
- You should start receiving weekly photos of your child through Transparent Classroom. If you do not receive any photos this week, please let me know.
- Here is the link to the name stamp that we have found holds up well on clothing. Big thanks to Erin, Marcus' mom, for sharing!
- Last but certainly not least, here is the link to the Meal Train for Grace and her family.
On a more somber note, I feel I must share the story of our classroom fish...
As many of you know, over the summer our room inherited a fish tank with four established goldfish. For many weeks, the children enjoyed feedin the fish and watching them joyfully swim around their tank. Two weeks ago, we welcomed another goldfish from a neighboring tank that was struggling. After this addition, our fish grew sick. Despite reading up on the matter and cleaning/treating the tank, we unfortunately lost all five fish. I mention this because your children may bring up our empty tank and the aforementioned saga. My current plan is to continue treating the water and introduce a few new fish to the environment several weeks from now. Fish ownership is new to me, and I will take any and all advice! Hopefully we will have a balanced tank and some healthy fishy friends later in the year. ...
With that tragic tale out of the way, I want to thank you again for sharing your little people with me; I feel so lucky that I get to spend my days with them and partner with you during this formative time in their lives. Here's to a wonderful 2024-2025 school year and no more fish tragedies!
Looking forward to seeing you all at our class picnic tomorrow,
Annie Botsford