Up and coming year

As my maternity leave is coming to an end I am busy getting things ready for my classroom and enjoying my little guy before he spends more time with grandma!
I have all my themes picked out (my school has a monthly theme), which I am very excited about and can not wait to share with all of you once school gets under way :)
Every three years I like to start the year with the theme, "All About Me". Since Montessori children are in the same classroom for three years, this ensures that my oldest children do not repeat any themes throughout their schooling. Starting with "All About Me" is a great way to get to know the new students and know the older children better. The students love learning new things about each other, as do the teachers. By getting to know my students on a more personal level it helps me when giving lessons, especially those that a child is having problems with mastering. I can gear the lesson towards something they are interested in. The best way to interact and learn about each child is to go around the circle and discuss with them events, their likes and dislikes that are currently going on in their lives.
As for material on the shelves, I have a fair bit for this theme, and every three years the homemade materials increase. I always get the older children to make a little book about themselves. The younger ones make a house out of construction paper and place the people in their family on the windows of the house. It is funny because some of them make up people in their family. Even though I know a new baby does not exist I still let them place them on their house. It is always fun to see the parent's expression :)
In the current school I am teaching at, we try and put materials on the shelf that are theme related each month in each curriculum area. All About Me is a little challenging, however, I make it work. For September we do not really put out a lot of materials on the shelves because we like to discuss and practice classroom basics, for example, tucking in chairs, folding mats, washing hands, ect.
Once school starts I will post pictures of the materials I have created. I will be going into the school in August to set up and get all the materials for each theme being done for the whole year ready. Each month I will share what my students are doing with each theme.
Now it is time to go for a swim (39 degrees out there, it is hot!!!)

New ideas are always welcome, please share your thoughts!