Classroom News:
The month of April was fill with international fun! Our classroom represented Africa in the International Festival. The children really enjoyed diving in and learning all sorts of details about the countries and cultures of Africa! The children also enjoyed learning about Spring and how to recognize the signs of Spring.
During the first week, we learned the Montessori Continent Song in order learn the names of all the continents of the world. The children also began to dive in to the map puzzles in more detail and began to learn more about each continent. We also discussed how far Africa is from the United States and how if we wanted to travel there, we would have to take an airplane or a boat. The children also enjoyed making African animal puppets with Ms. Caroline. We also began working on our African drums for the festival as well!
We continued our study of Africa during week two. The children learned all about how in Ancient Egypt, the pyramids were built as tombs and that the Ancient Egyptians believed they could take their belongings with them to the afterlife, so they packed their pyramids full of their belongings. Ms. Caroline brought in some stuffed animals and toilet paper and the children enjoyed wrapping up their own mummies. We also learned real mummies that are in museums are not scary. The children also learned about Morocco and learned that Moroccans love to drink mint tea!
During our final week of study of Africa, the children learned about Zimbabwe. We learned that Zimbabwe does not have it’s own currency. We also learned that many people in Zimbabwe believe Mermaids exist. The children enjoyed designing their own ideas of what a new Zimbabwe currency might be during Afternoon Group Time as well. The children also enjoyed making African masks with Ms. Caroline during Afternoon Group Time!
During the final week of April, we learned all about Spring. We learned that Spring is a time for new life and that many animals are born in the Spring such as geese and lambs. The children also enjoyed watching a video clip of a real baby chick hatching from and egg! We also learning some songs about Spring as we sang along with my ukulele.
Some things you can do with your child in the coming months to reinforce our themes would be going to the Zoo and seeing how many animals your family can find that are from Africa. Try making an African dish for dinner one evening. Pull out a world map and review the names of the Continents together. Discuss with your child their favorite country from Africa.
Maria Montessori stated that, “It is true that we cannot make a genius. We can only give to teach child the chance to fulfil his potential possibilities.” Remember, every child is unique and develops different skills and abilities at their own pace. I love all off the individual personalities and abilities that make up our amazing and unique classroom, and I considerate a joy and a privilege to be their teacher!
Academic Enrichment Group Time | Kindergarten
with Mr. John
We started out the month by looking at the pronoun. We learned the pronoun takes the place of the noun and at times makes our lives a bit easier. I stressed NEVER call a person “it” because it is rude. Moving forward we discovered the adjective. The adjective describes nouns but we did not leave out the verb(what describes the verb?) an adverb of course. That is it’s main job but it can also describe adjectives and other adverbs. We closed out April with learning about the conjunction. It serves as a bridge for two separate sentences bringing together these two sentences as one.
Ask our Kindergarten Students about adjectives and adverbs!
Handwriting Enrichment
with Ms. Kristen
This month in handwriting, we have continued to focus on forming complete sentences. The Kindergarten students also enjoyed correcting my capitalization “mistakes” in example sentences. We continued journaling together. Our kindergarten students continue to impress me with their handwriting and creativity!
Reading Group | Kindergarten
with Ms. Kate
For the month of April we focused on a poem called Seashell. This poem came from Spain and is spoken by someone who has been given a seashell. We had fun talking about what happens if you hold up a huge seashell… you can hear the light sounds of the ocean. We first read the poem in English and then lead a short discussion on what they think it meant to them. We also went over any vocabulary words they weren’t sure of the meaning. Next, I read the poem in Spanish. Seashell in Spanish is “ Caracola” After the poem was read, the children then drew a picture of themselves walking on the bottom of the sea and what they think it would look like. The children then stood up and shared their drawings with one another. I can see such a difference in their confidence with standing up and sharing in front of their peers. We then had such a fun time acting out our drawings! It was such a fun poem!
Science Enrichment
by Ms. Kathleen
Our favorite science experiment from the month of April was the Tea Bag Hot Air Balloon! These are some of the questions Mr. John and the scientists asked themselves: What will happen when you set an empty, unused teabag on fire?
We had many hypothesis given by our students! Mr. John cut open the unused tea bag and dumped out the tea. Then he made the tea bag into a cylinder. Next, he put the cylinder shaped tea bag on a kitchen plate and set fire to it. As the tea bag burns, it floats up into the air. WHY? When the tea bag burns down it gets lighter and the air around the flame gets hotter. Hot air rises and once the burnt tea bag is light enough it gets carried up with the hot air. All the children giggled with delight during this experiment and asked Mr. John to do it again. This is one of our most favorite experiments of the school year!
Music Enrichment
by Ms. Faith
In April, Ms. Lisa focused on singing songs about our character. The students sang and did motions to songs about telling the truth, about cooperating, saying please and thank you, and about being kind. The students participated in partner dances, and even learned a new song from Africa called Roll and Rock. Ms. Lisa always incorporates gross motor movement into her lessons. She sang Have You Ever Seen a Lassy, and the students picked a movement, such as skipping, galloping, and hoping to move around during the song. Another activity Ms. Lisa had for the students was to review what Staccato and Legato mean. Staccato notes are short and jumpy, whereas Legato notes are smooth and long. The students were given a castanet and a scarf to walk around in a circle while listening to a song. When the music played Staccato notes, the students played their castanet and ran on their tiptoes. When the music played Legato notes, the students moved in slow flowing motions with their scarves. Thank you Ms. Lisa for sharing all of your instruments for us to learn!
Art Enrichment
by Ms. Faith
Ms. Michele had students finish their wooden frames that they painted one color, or monochromatic. To finish their frames, they picked out objects and painted them the complimentary color of the color they chose for their frames. Once the paint was dry, the students glued it on the frame to create an abstract piece of art.
The next week, Ms. Michele introduced Pablo Picasso to the students. Pablo Picasso is known for his Cubism art works. He wanted to draw facial features from different angles and that is why the features on his people look different. To create their own Cubism inspired art works, Ms. Michele printed out pictures of facial features for the students to cut out and glue onto faces. Some of them had two noses, an eye looking sideways, and an eye looking forward. The students let their creativity flow, and created some great Picasso style faces.
To close up the month of April, Ms. Michele reviewed the color wheel with the class. They reviewed warm and cool colors, primary colors, secondary colors, and complimentary colors. The young artists drew an owl using different shapes, and they had to use primary and secondary colors to fill in the shapes. After the owls were finished, the students drew details on their pages like a branch for the owl to sit on, or the moon in the background. We always look forward to what Ms. Michele has planned for art each month. Thank you for your hard work Ms. Michele!