Lunches, Work-of-the-Home, and Summer Ideas for Elementary Families

Dear New and Returning Elementary Families,  

As we move into summer holidays and you continue working with your children on their development and independence, we wanted to reach out to offer some guidance and suggestions. We also wanted to welcome our new and transitioning elementary families. We are thrilled to welcome you to the Loma Alta campus and community! What a special time for your children as they enter this new plane of development. We look forward to seeing you and your children in the Fall.

The elementary environment is quite different from the primary one and what is expected of the children grows. They were independent in primary, for example, with choosing their work and tidying up after themselves, and now they are independent in choosing how to follow-up on lessons and with whom. They may do huge and inspiring projects or do so many math problems that they stretch the whole length of the classroom. There is so much they can do and achieve at this age and their minds and bodies are ready for hard work. If they are prepared, they will flourish.

We ask that the work we do in the classroom is supported at home by both our new and returning families. Our partnership with you is essential in supporting the success of your child in the Montessori environment. Over the summer, think about building independence, sparking curiosity and inspiration, encouraging engagement with the environment, providing freedom with responsibility, helping the children resolve their own conflicts, and giving them your compassionate guidance as invaluable goals.

When a family follows Montessori principles at home, we can see the benefits in the classroom. Then what we ask of them at school is an extension of their life at home. If they are used to problem-solving, creative thinking, contributing to their community, natural consequences, and so on, they can dive right into the Big Work. These are lifelong skills that develop and mature, preparing our children to be caring and successful people of the world.

Here are three ways you can help prepare your child for school in the Fall and for ongoing success at Oak Knoll. As you and the children do this work over the summer, they will be better prepared to begin the school year well.

Packing Their Own Lunch

Elementary children should prepare (with support) and pack their own lunch. Initially, they might simply help plan and pack. As they become more capable, they can assist in preparing as well, and finally plan, prepare, and pack all on their own. Not being responsible for your child’s lunch will make your lives easier after the initial learning period!

Here you will find a Pack Your Lunch PDF you can print and fill out with your child each weekend. This will help them to know what is available in each category of food such as main, vegetable, fruit, grain, snack, and pick something from a prepared list. You will also find a document with healthy lunch/snack suggestions. Feel free to add/remove anything you wish to suit your family! 

TIPS to Get Started:

1. Establish Guidelines: Have your child post the food suggestions and the filled-in Pack Your Lunch PDF on the fridge. Let your child pack whatever combination appeals to them, as long as it includes one choice from each category.

2. Involve your Children: Talk to your children about the new lunch routine and get their input about how they want to set things up. Ask them if there are certain foods they want you to buy for the week, show them where you keep the storage containers and lunchboxes and talk to them about how best to pack their food so nothing spills and it stays cold/hot until lunchtime. If age-appropriate, show them basic knife skills, so they feel comfortable cutting up a bell pepper or slicing a pear. If it’s a new skill, make sure they practice under your supervision.

3. Schedule: Make sure you know how this will work logistically - do your children want to put together a meal plan for the week ahead of time or just wing it? Also consider what works best for you. Do they want to pack all their lunches on Sunday or put them together each night? (Note that packing lunches in the morning is not recommended and can lead to a difficult or tardy start to the day.

We look forward to hearing from your children in the Fall about how they learned to pack their lunches!

Work-of-the-Home
What is Work-of-the-Home? This is when we invite children to learn to take care of themselves and participate in family life by helping out and doing chores. It is an empowering opportunity for children to have purposeful work that benefits themselves AND their families. Children can contribute to family life and become more community-minded, feel more confident in their abilities, take ownership, develop problem-solving and decision-making skills, and feel more engaged with their environment and the people around them.

How do you do this? Attached you will find a Work-of-the-Home suggestions document. If Work-of-the-Home is new to your family, you and your child can simply pick one item for the first week you begin. Each week or two, you and your child can add one more thing to their responsibilities. In this way, they will be prepared as Fall approaches, to carry out their classroom contributions and activities in an independent and collaborative way.

Remember that although at first your child may need to be shown how to do something and have the environment prepared for them to do things themselves, quickly you will see that they take ownership and learn to do things independently. It may not always be the exact way you would do it, and it will be the beautifully independent and creative way that they do it. Enjoy their pride in what they do themselves!

Summer Ideas for Six- to Twelve-Year-Olds

Please see the attached document on some inspiring ideas for summer activities for your child!

Warmly,

Elementary Teachers