Activities

At Montessori Pointe Claire we offer various programs given by specialists. Some programs are included in the school fees and other programs require a separate registration which takes places with the child’s monthly calendar. All programs are selected to offer your child an excellent variety of interesting and fun activities.

Programs included in the school fees:

Optional programs available at a very reasonable cost:

music

Tou Can-Tou Wee Music Program

Daryl Breckman-Germani is our music teacher. Daryl's program is called 'Tou Can-Tou Wee Music Program' and touches on all aspects of music, including singing, dancing and instruments. Each of the music classes has a special theme. The date of Daryl's classes appears on the calendars.

Your children's musical experience should be fun. We want the children to enjoy the time they spend with us and if they are enjoying themselves they will be open to music. Music then becomes a happy learning experience in which they can express themselves.

Music is beneficial in many different areas of a child's development:

Music class activities include:

The format is simple and consistent:

Daryl gives you the following summary to present her philosophy and program:

Children's Sports/Aerobics with Stephanie Sohan

Stephanie is the fitness instructor for the Montessori School of Pointe-Claire. She has taught group fitness, yoga and pilates for the past 6 years in various gyms and community centers, as well as athletic training for a children’s soccer skills program. As a mother of 3 boys, she realizes how important physical activity is to the well-being of children. Stephanie's program will help the children build motor skills, learn about physical fitness and lay the groundwork for an active, healthy lifestyle through organized movement in a fun, stimulating environment.

Hops, skips, and jumps are not simply child’s play. Preschoolers are ready to acquire and practice new motor skills at this stage of rapid development. Regular physical activity will increase awareness of the body in space, enhance language and social skills, encourage expressive, imaginative thought and build self-esteem.

The children’s aerobics program at Montessori includes a combination of games, sports, dance, and exercises that will promote cardio-respiratory endurance, muscular strength and endurance and flexibility. Incorporating props such as beanbags, balls, hula hoops, jump rope as well as lively music that keeps the children engaged and permits them to progress at their own level.

Parents are invited to come in during the year and observe our classes. If you have any questions, or concerns regarding your child Stephanie is happy to arrange a time to meet with you.

For summer camp Stephanie offers a special summer camp sports program. The goal of the sports program is to involve the children in games that will be fun to play and will improve their gross motor coordination and their cooperative skills. Throughout the summer the children will learn new games, play outdoors as much as possible, and enjoy being active and keeping fit. All games are played in a cooperative spirit and are age-appropriate.

Swimming Lessons

Swimming lessons are available as an optional program for children aged 3 and up who are fully toilet trained. The cost of this program includes transportation by school bus and additional supervision.

Lessons are at the warm (indoor) pool at the Pointe Claire Aquatic Centre, corner of Douglas Shand and Maywood Roads. The children learn swimming techniques from the pool’s certified instructors, with a maximum of 6 children per instructor. Emphasis is on feeling comfortable in the water, learning to float, kick and learning basic swimming strokes. The children have a half-hour lesson and also play for a half-hour (approximately) in the wading pool. There are lifeguards on duty during lessons, and at the wading pool. Children are at all times supervised carefully by the teachers, the swimming instructors and the lifeguards. Our swimming lessons are a very enjoyable activity for young children.

Park Playtime

Playing in the park is one of the childhood joys of summertime. We are fortunate to have our own spacious playground and also be directly beside Pointe Claire's Northview Park, which has two play areas, a toddler play area, and a playground for older children.

As well as playing games and sports in the park we will also enjoy having picnic lunches or snack at the park.

yoga

The Yoga Program

Yoga is taught by a is a certified yoga teacher. Children's yoga involves playful yoga poses, animated breathing exercises and imaginative relaxation techniques. The children laugh, sing and roar like lions! Much fun is had by all! The yoga classes take place to music. The children enjoy the routines, the music, the singing, and the stories that their instructor tells them as they do their half-hour yoga class.

Why children should do yoga:

ballet

Ballet with Nina

Our girls at Montessori love the ballet program with Nina Menon. Nina teaches ballet at a Dance Academy as well as at several child care centres in Montreal. Nina very much enjoys her little ballerinas at Montessori.

Nina is a classical ballerina herself with many years of experience in dance. Nina joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet after graduating from The Royal Conservatory of The Hague and The Royal Winnipeg Ballet Professional Division. As a member of the corps de ballet she danced numerous soloist roles. Nina has also choreographed several professional ballets and has coached for The Professional Division students and taught dance at The Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s General Division.

Wimgym - Children's Gymnastics

Wimgym takes place on Friday mornings from September to December and from March to June. The Wimgym program is very popular as it is a fun physical activity that helps the child to develop his/her concentration, gross motor coordination and strength. The program is called 'Kindergym' and is for children 3 to 5 years old. Children from classrooms 1, 2 and 4 (fully toilet trained) are welcome to register for these classes. The classes start with a 10-minute aerobic warm up (movement and stretching to music). Children are then divided into groups of 4 to 6 per instructor and take turns using the various gymnastics equipment (beam, parallel bars, trampoline, foam pit, etc.) All equipment is very safe and the supervision and instruction is excellent. The instructors are trained gymnastics coaches. Each class is 45 minutes long, and the program runs for 10 weeks each session.

Transportation to and from the gym is by school bus. Wimgym is located in the Beaconsfield Shopping Centre, at the intersection of Highway 20 and St. Charles Blvd.

Maximum registration for Wimgym is two groups of 24 children each. The first group has Wimgym class from 9:15 to 10:00 a.m. and the second group from 10:15 to 11:00 a.m. Children will be divided by classroom. If your child is in the first group he/she must arrive at school at 8:45 a.m. to be on time for the bus. If your child misses the bus you may drive him/her directly to Wimgym, however, children who are in the first group cannot make up their class by participating with the second group. A list will be posted on the classroom door to confirm which group your child will be in.

Parents are invited to the Gym to attend a demonstration Wimgym class (at the regular class time for your child) on the final Friday of each session.

Skating Program at Pointe-Claire Arena
for 3 1/2 to 5 year-olds

The Montessori Canskate program is for children aged 3 ½ (toilet trained) to 5 years. This program takes place indoors at the Pointe Claire Bob Birnie arena on the main ice surface, which is heated to a comfortable temperature. The arena is located at the corner of Douglas Shand and Maywood Roads.

Skating is on Friday mornings, 10:00 to 10:50 a.m. on the ice and takes place from January to March. Parents are invited to come and watch our last skating session. Our skating program is run and coordinated by heather Nicholson who is the head Canskate and preschool skating instructor for the cities of Pointe Claire and Pierrefonds. Heather has taught skating to children and adults for over 20 years. She loves working with young children and her skating program is excellent. In addition to Heather, we have 4 more Canskate instructors on the ice, and the children are divided into groups according to ability. Our teachers are also on the ice to provide additional supervision.

Children do not require any previous skating experience to participate in this program. The purpose of the skating sessions is to allow each child to improve his/her skating skills, and have fun on the ice! The skating program includes a warm up to music, “Canskate” skating instruction, and playing games on the ice to keep the children moving and having fun. Children need skates, a helmet, and mittens or gloves (no “hockey equipment” and no hockey sticks please). If you are purchasing skates for your child it is preferable to buy skates with laces (instead of the hard plastic boots with buckles). The skate needs to fit tightly on the child’s foot, and this is much easier to accomplish with lace-up skates. Also, unless you are planning to have your daughter start actual figure skating lessons, we recommend having the girls start in black skates (without the picks).

The cost of the Canskate program includes transportation by school bus, the ice time and our Canskate instructors

Children’s Spanish Classes with Veronica

We are very happy to offer a children’s Spanish program at Montessori. Veronica Mendez has been teaching Spanish at Montessori for several years. Veronica is originally from Mexico and has worked both with adults and children teaching Spanish. We are very enthusiastic about Veronica’s approach to teaching children and are happy to offer a regular Spanish program.

Veronica’s program focuses on teaching the children words that they are already familiar with in English or French, and use on an everyday basis. For example, the children learn the parts of the body, colours, fruit, objects in the kitchen, etc. Each class has a theme; for example sports, transportation, etc. Where possible the theme for Spanish class goes with the weekly class theme. Veronica’s classes are interactive: the children move, dance, play, sing, act, etc while learning their new Spanish words. As an example, while teaching the names of clothing, the children play dress up.

Veronica’s personal goal is to be able to capture the children’s attention in a fun way, give them information in a way that they will retain what they have learned, and build on to this in later classes. Veronica says that learning Spanish is easier than people might think; being Latin based, it shares roots of many words used in English and French. She says it is an exciting experience for children to realize that they can learn a “different language”.

XYLOPHONE FUN with Daryl

Our Xylophone program is a music program that is offered to our 4 to 5 year olds. This is a fun-filled introduction to percussion and rhythm.

Daryl, our music teacher, has developed a program for our 4 and 5 year olds that will allow them to start learning music theory. Each child has his own xylophone and class size is limited to 10 children only.

“The xylophone is usually the first instrument that a child explores. It helps children discover the magic of music and is a wonderful learning tool which combines many aspects of music fundamentals.

Discovering the xylophone can help your child develop listening skills and concentration. As well, your child gains in self confidence and experiences the joy of achievement with the ease of playing this musical instrument.

We will learn about percussion instruments and musical elements such as: melody, pitch, tone, dynamics, rhythm and beat. We will use the xylophone as a teaching tool for note names and sounds, and our xylophone will accompany us as we enjoy singing and playing our songs.

My goal is to help your child discover the joy and magic of music in a fun-filled way with the aid of a bright and colourful instrument that is easy to learn and easy to play.“--Daryl Breckman Germani

Theatre and Movement Classes with Barbara

We offer a dramatic movement program for the children with teacher Barbara Diabo. Barbara has been teaching theatre at Montessori for many years and we are always thrilled by how much the children enjoy and learn from this activity. Barbara has a BFA in Theatre from Concordia University and has worked as a professional actor and dancer. Barbara has been teaching pre-school age children in Montreal since 1989 and her aspiration is to teach children the love of movement. Her program combines theatre and creative movement for a unique combination. Each of her classes has a theme (and during each school year the themes will not repeat); for example

theatre

In each class the children will act out various scenarios according to the theme. The objective is to have the children learn acting skills while getting plenty of exercise and learning about the theme. Barbara’s mission is to “inspire the children to get up and move while they improve their locomotive skills, balance, co-ordination, creativity, memory and team work”. This program is excellent for all age groups including our youngest students!

Kid’s Zumba exercise-dance classes

Our Zumba instructor, Xochilt Mendez is an amazing, lively and enthusiastic educator. Xochilt has her certification as a Zumba instructor and teaches Zumba classes on the West Island and loves teaching our children’s Zumba sessions at Montessori. Zumba is a very popular form of exercise for both girls and boys, with good reason, it really is fun!

Your child will appreciate our “getting fit in a very fun way” Zumba program. Children are divided into small groups and enjoy moving to some fun Latin music. Each Zumba class is 30 minutes long.

Working with Wood

We are happy offer a series of workshops with Florent Antona, graphic artist and cabinetmaker from France The following is a short biography:

Florent Antona est né et a vécu dans le sud de la France jusqu'en 2006, diplômé comme dessinateur d'exécution en publicité, graphiste, décorateur et peintre en lettre, il a exercé son métier dans sa région, pour des agences publicitaires, des livres pour enfants et des évènements culturels. Plus tard, il a obtenu le diplôme professionnel d’ébéniste et menuisier en agencement résidentiel et commercial dans l'optique de devenir créateur ébéniste. A la naissance de son fils, Florent Antona eu l'envie de fabriquer des objets qui donneraient une ambiance visuellement accueillante, chaleureuse et attrayante à la chambre de son bout de choux. Un nouveau projet venait de naître! Arrivé au Québec et à Pierrefonds-Roxboro en 2007, il a travaillé dans des ébénisteries afin de connaître les pratiques du métier au Canada, puis en Août 2009, il crée son atelier, proposant son savoir faire à travers toutes sortes d’objets (prochainement des meubles), décoratifs, utiles, personnalisés et sur mesures, pour les chambres de tous les enfants. Il crée ses propres modèles à partir du dessin papier et réalise la fabrication sur machine jusqu’à la finition peinture et vernis.
Uniques, originaux, fait à la main et au Québec, ses produits sont fabriqués en bois et dérivés, dans le respect de l’art, de la tradition et de l’environnement. Petit fils d'artiste, on lui a enseigné le plaisir de l'art quand il était enfant. Aujourd'hui, il propose de transmettre, à son tour, sa passion et son savoir faire artistique à vos enfants. Grâce aux ateliers organisés dans cette école, ils auront une approche théorique du métier du bois afin d'en connaître les bases et pourront apprendre à développer leur propre fibre artistique et leur habileté manuelle.

The purpose of these workshops is to allow the children to learn about a craft (woodworking) that can be both practical and artistic, and is also quite different from the type of craft our teachers do in class. Mr Antona wants the children to understand some of the basics of woodworking and will be including demonstrations on the use of hand tools (planes, chisels) during his classes.

The working-with-wood workshops are about 45 minutes each and introduce the children to building a project with wood and also how we can decorate wooden objects. Projects vary depending on the age group. Projects that the children have done in the past include: A wooden string puppet, a wall decoration, a birdhouse, and a wooden picture frame.