The month of April was filled with lots of international fun! The children enjoyed learning about the seven continents, learning about North and South America in greater detail, and the children even enjoyed learning some words and songs in Spainish. During the month of April, the Map Puzzle work was very popular. Learning about the different continents and countries really peaked the children’s interest in learning about the world around them!
During the first week of April, we first delved into learning the names of all Seven Conitnents. We taught the children the Montessori Contenent Song. Ms. Kim also brought in continent books for the children to make and take home. We also reviewed our “ Cosmic Address”, and went over the names of our planet, continent, country, state, city, and school. It really helped set the tone for all we were going to learn about North and South America.
We learned all about the counries in North America durring week two. We learned that in Canada, they speak English, just as we do here in America. We learned that in Mexico, they speak Spanish. Through practicing using the Map of North America Puzzle, the children soon learned that Canada is to the north of the United States and that Mexico is south of the United States.
During the third week, we learned more about Mexico. The children also enjoyed making a Mexican Sombrero with Ms. Kim. We also learned how to do the Mexican Hat Dance! The children also enjoyed learning the names of the parts of the body in Spanish and the names of family members in Spanish. We also learned that “ Hola” means “Hello” and “ Adios” means “ Goodbye” in Spanish as well.
During week three, we also learned about the countries of South America and about the Amazon Rainforest. We learned that the Amazon Rainforest is home to many animals such as Capybara, the Blue Morpho Butterfly, and the Poison Dart Frog. The children also enjoyed making a Blue Morpho Butterfly craft and eating a “ Rainforest Parfait” with Ms. Kim. The parfait was just like the Rainforest in that it had for layers. We learned that the layers of the Rainforest are the Emergent Layer, the Canopy Layer, the Understory Layer, and the Forest Floor.
During week four, we enjoyed hearing from visitors about Turkey, Tanzania, and Nigeria. We also enjoyed learning about Brazil and Argentina. We learned that in Brazil, soccer is very popular and that the summer Olympic will be hosted their this summer and that people in Brazil speak Portugese. We also learned that in Argentina, their president lives in a pink house and that on a street called the Cominito in Buenos Aires all of the houses are painted with bright colors. We also learned that the current pope, Pope Francis, is from Argentina!
Academic Enrichment with Mr. John
In the afternoon lesson with kindergarten students we continued our work with grammar. We started by We looked at the adjective which describes nouns and pronouns, the adverb which describes the verb and usually ends in “ly”, the conjunction which connects two sentences or thoughts and acts like a bridge, and the preposition which is a “where” word not a werewolf.
Who said adverbs were difficult? Our kindergartners don’t think so!
My line time and the kindergarten class count to ten in 27 different languages (Some of them are: English, Sign Language, German, French, Greek, Spanish,Italian, Romanian, Russian, Tagalog, Polish, Irish, Welsh, Hebrew, Arabic w/the Lebanese dialect, Japanese, Hungarian, Swedish, Swahili, Korean, Serbo-Croation, Hindi, Flemish/Dutch, Malay, Cebuano, Turkish!
Enrichments ( Ms. Kim):
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 South America. Try making a Mexican dish together as a family. Pull up a world map and review the names of the Continents together. Discuss with your child their favorite country either from North America or South America.
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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!
