Ted DiRenzo Montessori School

You better watch out! You better not cry! Better not pout I'm telling you why! Santa Claus is coming to town..... Yeah! Santa stopped by to see the students today.  We know how busy he is, and the children loved seeing him.  He heard all of the wishes of what they are hoping will be under the tree Christmas morning.  The children serenaded Santa with songs and wished him a merry Christmas. We also had a special treat.  Ms. Connie DiRenzo's son played Charlie Brown Christmas songs on the piano, and Ms. Marla spread holiday cheer with her dancing hat.  Happy Holidays to all, and to all....see you next year!

 Our Los Posadas celebration is finally here!  This is one of those special events that the whole school looks forward to.  In Spanish the children have been learning about Los Posadas.  This is a Mexican Christmas holiday that recreates Joseph and Mary's search for a room to stay in Bethlehem.  In Mexico the nine days before Christmas are called the posada.  During the posada, people from the neighborhood dress in  biblical costumes and go from house to house looking for shelter.  For 8 nights they are turned away, but on the 24th of December the neighbors are granted shelter in a home, and a huge feast and celebration takes place.  This celebration reminds one and all of that special time long ago.  Today our children celebrated Los Posadas by traveling from class to class ringing their special handmade bells and  singing "Felix Navidad"

  Did you ever wonder how other countries celebrate Christmas?  Well, our students can tell you!  Each class has been learning about a specific country this month.  Our E3 class learned about Sweden, our P1 class learned about India, our P2 class learned about Ireland, and our P3 class learned about Germany.  Today all of the classes came together in our Multicultural Room to tell what they had learned.  We saw how the girls dress in India and Sweden at Christmastime, and learned many wonderful facts about how each country celebrates. Did you know that Germany was the first country to bring a Christmas tree into their homes for Christmas? We also learned that Sweden celebrates a special holiday called St. Lucia.  This holiday takes place on the shortest day of light.  The girls make special treats for their parent's and the boys, called Star boys, bring their parents' coffee.  The children really liked learning about Ireland, because they celebrate Christmas from December 24th to January 6th!  Wow! These are just a few of the many facts that we learned! It was great see how Christmas is celebrated around the world.

  A few Primary students and teachers went to spread holiday cheer to our local neighbors.  The children joyfully sang Christmas carols for the enjoyment of all present, and then left a handmade holiday card as a reminder of the wonderful time had by all

We welcomed parents to school today!  It was Parents' Day for the Primary Classes, and mommies and daddies got to see what their children do during the school day.  They even got to do some class work themselves.  A great time was had by all and the children enjoyed showing their parents how busy their school day is.