Line Time:
Food Groups, This week we had fun learning about the food groups in our class. Grains and Cereals (pasta, rice, bread, cereal, crackers), Fruit (apples, grapes, kiwi, mango which is my favorite), Vegetables (cucumbers, carrots, potato, broccoli, eggplant, which is my favorite) Dairy (my favorite… milk, cheese, yogurt), meats (beef, pork, chicken), and proteins, fats and sugars and how many servings we should have per day.
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 8 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese)
Fun Fact: Did you know Fruit Loops are all the same flavor? No need eating one color before the others. I guess I was misled my whole life and I am bitter! Toucan Sam you disappoint me. hehe
Peek In The Classroom:
This is not a pained look on this child’s face but actually an expression of enjoyment. He is doing one of our new Practical Life works of scrubbing apples. Children at this age like to do real work and this work accommodates this need. In doing so he learns to focus his mind for the purpose of mastering a new skill. This is the start of a child’s attachment to the many Montessori materials, which build in complexity to help build concentration. To develop fine and gross-motor skills.
These two girls are working on their cursive writing skills. The uninterrupted movements of the hand may make cursive letters easier for children to form, and for this reason, Montessori primary classrooms introduce children to cursive writing first.
These children are working on the sand tray which is a pre-cursive handwriting material. The Montessori sand tray is simply a tray filled with sand. Its purpose is to help a child learn how to trace letters and numbers on his own, while allowing for the same tactile and sensorial experience as the sandpaper letters and numerals.
This student is using the Trinomial Cube which is a staple work found in the sensorial area of the Montessori classroom. The blocks are color coded and are different sizes to represent the algebraic Binomial and Trinomial formulas. The purpose is not to teach math but to challenge the child to find patterns and spatial relationships. In further issues I will reveal the algebraic formula.
Peek Into Next Week: Line Time- Living and Non-Living Things
Letter Of The Week- E e
Rhyming Word Of The Week- bad
Next Language is Arabic with the Lebanese Dialect
Person bringing snack for week of 9/23/2018 is Amelia
Upcoming Events:
Picture Day- Wednesday October, 16th
********New Parent Conferences. Follow the link below. *********
This week we were excited to receive our new biome material for the classroom! Our class was excited to go into our backyard biome! We walked into the woods and collected samples of water, plants, animals, energy, soil, and air. We brought everything except our energy jar back into the classroom to observe throughout the week. Our energy jar is outside collecting energy to power the light bulbs inside the jar! We then introduced our “Backyard Biome Mat” which you can read about below! In a few weeks, when we begin studying continents, we will begin using our new biome maps! Look for those in a future post.
Lower Elementary by Ms. Marlee
All of our returning 2nd and 3rd graders complete the Word of the Day. This exposes them to new words and hones their developing research abilities. 1st graders are welcome to work with an older friend to learn more about using the dictionary but we also offer a list of morning work choices for our younger students. We caught sight of these siblings working together this week to define the word and log it in their Language notebooks. We love seeing strong sibling bonds like this one in our classroom.We have a new work in our classroom! Here you can see a 3rd and 1st grader working together to label nouns on the area in which they could be found in a specific biome. Learning about biomes helps our students explore a variety of habitats and learn about the countless organisms that coexist within them. Ask your child about the outdoor biome experiment they participated in this week to find out more about their exploration of biomes.
Upper Elementary by Ms. Ashley
These fifth year students are working on classifying animals in the Animal Kingdom. They are adding photos to a table in Google Docs to represent each phylum or class in the Animal Kingdom. We will continue studying animals before we move on to the study of internal systems of mammals and humans.Our fourth year students are working to complete a “Word of the Week.” Each week, the Upper Elementary students choose a word that they think no one will know. They illustrate a picture that can demonstrate the meaning of their word, then perform a skit while their peers guess what the definition of the word may be.
Enrichments by Ms. Erica
Each child sat patiently while Ms. Dayna outlined their profile. The students will fill their profiles in with magazine cut-outs and other pictures that they feel represent them.
REMINDERS:
For information on what your child is doing daily, please check in on Transparent Classroom!
“Bring Your Parents to Work Time” begins on October 8 and 10! Sign up here!
Hello, Hello!! I hope all of you are having a fantastic week like we are!! This week’s theme was all about kindness and respect. I really love both of these lessons, because all of our discussions, crafts, books, and lessons, really makes an impact on your kiddos. Kindness is a key ingredient that enhances positivity and helps children feel good about themselves…Children with a positive outlook have a greater attention spans, more willingness to learn, and better creative thinking to improve results at school!
Our new friend is working on the spindle box.The spindle boxes have important purposes of reinforcing the idea that the symbols represent certain quantities of separate objects, introducing the concept zero and it’s symbol, and reinforcing the sequence of the numerals.The direct purpose of the sandpaper letters is to teach the child the sounds of the alphabet by means of muscular and visual memory.One of our kindergarten students is working on the Vowel tree. This work is a tactile, and engaging way to teach and practice decoding words.
REMINDERS: Don’t forget our school field trip is tomorrow! Please make sure all lunches are bagged lunches. Also, please make sure your child is wearing appropriate shoes for the farm!
Please make sure your child leaves ALL toys at home or in the car. Thank you!!!
For the first two weeks of reading group, the students listened to a Mo Willems book, A Big Guy Took My Ball. The group followed along with me while I read aloud and liked to repeat after me. After each reading, the students completed an activity such as writing about what they were wondering during the story, drawing a scene from the story, and discussing how they would feel if they were the characters.
The group is drawing the characters all playing together in the end of the story.
Weekly Theme: Hemispheres- We learned a few weeks ago the Earth is the shape of a sphere. We are going beyond that and learning the Earth is divided into hemispheres. Hemi means half or divided and sphere states the obvious. We have an imaginary line that runs east/west called the equator and an imaginary line the runs north/south called the Prime Meridian. These lines divide the Earth into Hemispheres (northern hemisphere, eastern hemisphere, southern hemisphere, and western hemisphere). we went further and identified the N.W. hemisphere, S.W. hemisphere, N.E. hemisphere, and N.W. hemisphere.
This student is being quized on the hemisperes.
Handwriting: We practiced writing in cursive H h, I i, J j, K k.
Cultural Subjects: We now can count to ten in 5 languages (English, Sign Language, Latin, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect).
Next Week: Weekly Theme: North America, countries and bodies of water
Synonym Of The Week: Slow: unhurried, gradual, sluggish, stagnant, lethargic
Line Time: Healthy Habits! We discussed how important our personal hygiene is. It is important that we wash hands, brush teeth, and take showers or baths. When I say wash our hands I mean with soap and for at least thirty seconds (you could sing the alphabet song). The same amount of time is needed to brush your teeth at least twice a day. When taking a shower actually get wet, soap up, and rinse off. Do not be like my youngest who just sticks his head under the water and tries to convince me he is clean. To remain healthy we must also exercise (walking, running, climbing, riding a bike, swimming…), eating healthy foods, and getting plenty enough sleep. with the right bed and mattress for this, which is easy to get at Mattress Factory. if I ever catch anyone of my students smoking I will bop them!
Cultural Subjects:
Your children can now count to ten in 5 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek)
Doctor Jimmy and Mr. John: If you are a music lover you will appreciate this message. Have you ever had that one song or album that seems like it was just written for you? It hits you in the face and goes deep into your soul. For me I have two albums that changed me in many ways. I am going to talk about the first album that made me feel this way. It is The Who’s Quadrophenia. is the sixth studio album by the English rock band The Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973. Set in London and Brighton in 1965, the story follows a young mod named Jimmy and his search for self-worth and importance. As an adolescent there were similarities between Jimmy and I and I begged my parents to get me a scooter but it never happened. I had a gigantic poster of the album cover, played the album until the grooves were worn (I am talking about an album/vinyl/ old school that was played on a record player purchased at Gold Circle in 1976. For me this album was a big deal! I was fortunate enough to see The Who last week and they performed many song from this iconic album with the Cleveland Orchestra supporting the show. Needless to say, I was very excited and have a few stories about this concert that became one of the milestones of my life.
Peek In Our Classroom:
This scene depicts an older third year student giving a lesson to a new first year student. The beauty of the Montessori classroom is the classroom consists of multi age children and the older students take on the role of leaders who give lessons and enforce the rules.This student is demonstrating how to carry materials/works. She has four fingers under the works, thumb to keep it in place, and pressed against her stomach.
This boy is working on a math material called the Ten Board. This work strengthens the correlation between quantity and symbol.
This student is rolling a mat (the correct way). The mat designates the child’s work space while working on the floor. There is a correct way to unroll a mat and a correct way to roll the mat.
This math material is called the Spindle Box. Once again, the aim of this material is to develop the relation between quantity and symbol.
Next Week: Line Time- Food Groups
Letter Of The Week-D d
Rhyming Word Of The Week- bag
Next Language will be- Japanese
Snack will be brought to you by Adelina
Upcoming Events:
Ramseyer Farms- Friday September, 20th
Have you child wear appropriate shoes. Please no open toe shoes.
Picture Day- Wednesday October, 16th
—— When placing your children’s shoes/slippers on the carpeted mat in the hallway PLEASE have your child place them neatly, straight, and toes against the wall. ——
******* New parents sign up new parent conferences. Follow the link below ********
Our class experienced their first music lesson with Miss Lisa this week. We learned that music can be forte (loud) and piano (soft), plus we made our own music with tambourines!
The children also attended the Taekwondo Demo on Monday with Master Barnick. We ran from a bear and practiced our punches and high kicks. So much fun!
What a great week we had!! Our theme for the week was all about Community Helpers! We had fun learning about Doctors, dentists, librarians, mail carriers, construction workers, and teacher’s! We also had fun making some really cool crafts with Ms. Amanda. This week we have been continuing working on our Grace and Courtesy lessons. TGIF!!!
Our different Continent map puzzles have been a big hit in our class this year so far!! When using our different map puzzles your child will gain fine motor skills, and recognition of the different countries.One of our new friends is working on our Go Together cards. This material explores the concepts of association and recognizing things that go together.Why teach about syllables? Dividing words into parts, or ” chunks” helps speed the process of decoding. Knowing the rules for syllable division can teach students read words more accurately and fluently. Understand syllables can also help students learn to spell words correctly.
REMINDERS:
Next week is our field trip!! Don’t forget to turn in your field trip forms!!!
Please make sure your child is wearing appropriate shoes. That means no open toe, and that they are able to put their shoes on and off by themselves!
This was our first week of music, and we had a great time! Ms. Lisa taught us about loud and quiet music as well as smooth and jumpy music. We can’t wait for next week!
This past week we learned that we are all part of a family and that families are configured in different ways with many factors affecting them like marriage, divorce, adoption, remarriage, grandparents as primary care givers, single parents, foster care, etc. We read many books and the student’s shared a lot about their families. Through this they discovered that there are different kinds of families, but most importantly all types of families love and care for each other!
A peek into next week: Feelings and Emotions
Kindergarten: Equator and Hemispheres
This past week the kindergartners learned what hemispheres are and how to identify where each continent is located Northern/Southern/Eastern or Western hemisphere. The students also learned where the equator and prime meridian are located on a globe.
This week we customized a special table for the kids to make their science and chemical projects, learn more about it. Finding quality metal finishing services can make or break your project.
A peek into next week: North America
Reminders:
9/2o Ramseyer Farms Field Trip
9/27 Bring Your Parent to Work Time
10/17 Picture Day
Enrichment Highlight:
This week in music class, the students sang John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt to learn about the musical terms piano (soft) and forte (loud).
Work Time:
Clothespins: this child is developing his fine motor skills, focus and sense of order to successfully place the clothespins around the rim of the cup.Tracing Turtle Puzzle: this child is tracing and coloring the turtle puzzle by doing this he is learning how to correctly grip and hold a pencil. He is also refining his hand control to steady the pencil and he is learning the characteristics of a turtle.Snack: this child is independently slicing apples to prepare a morning snack for his friends.
