Absorbent Minds Montessori School |

Peek In Our Week | Mr. John’s Classroom | Week Of November 5, 2018

Posted on November 1, 2018 at 11:43 am.

Line Time:
Insects, arachnids, and Invertebrates- Creepy Crawly, creepy crawly creepy creep creepy crawly (reminds me of The Who song, Boris The Spider). When we went over the five animals all of them were vertebrates (having a backbone and spine) but looking at Insects and arachnids they were invertebrates (no back bone or spine). Most had what we call an exoskeleton which is the skeleton is on the outside. This gives the creature support and protection. We learned insects have a head, thorax, and abdomen, six legs, and two antennae. We sang the characteristics of an insect to the tune of Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. Some insects are ants, bees, and butterflies. Arachnids have a head and abdomen, and eight legs. Some examples of arachnids are spiders, scorpions, ticks and mites.

Cultural Subjects:
Your children can now count to ten in 10 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Greek, Arabic with the Lebanese Dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, and Swedish).

This alumnus came back to read to her old classroom. The alumnus is the girl in the chair. The gentleman sitting on the floor is the grandfather. Hehe

Birthday:
A Montessori Classroom is comprised of multi-aged students. Here is our newest November 3, 4, 5 year olds.

Peek In Our Classroom:

The Pink Tower is arguably the most popular work in the classroom. This boy found different way to stack the blocks. The different ways to do things is called an extension.

Rolling a mat is one of the first things taught to new students. When students work on the floor the mat is their personal work area.

These girls are working on the Africa Puzzle Map. The obvious purpose is to place and identify countries in the continent. Also, the puzzle maps showcase the difference between land and water, and help to develop an appreciation for spatial awareness. The pegged puzzle pieces, which are used in most Montessori classrooms, have a secondary purpose as well. When a child grips the pegs, it’s actually preparing his or her hand to use a pencil. The pegs help to refine a child’s fine motor control, and will make the transition to holding a pencil that much smoother.

Remember this girl who was part of my blog for the last two weeks? She is still in that Sensitive Period of handwriting. Remember a Sensitive Period is a time frame where the child has a thirst for learning a certain skill in a certain area.

This child is working on the red rods found in the Sensorial Area. The direct aim is visual discrimination of difference in dimensions (length) and muscular memory of length. The indirect aim is preparation for mathematics. This child discovered that each rod is the exact length longer of the shortest rod. She is measuring all of the rods in this pic. ***** Notice how she is creating interest with other children ? ******

Next Week:
Line Time- Dinosaurs

Letter Of The Week- L l

Rhyming Word Of The Week- bot

Next Language will be Tagolog

Snack will be brought to you by August

Upcoming Events:
11/15/2018 Thursday— Operation Christmas Child Packing

11/16/2018 Friday— Parent Teacher Conferences <<< NO SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN >>>

Follow The Link–

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090b48a8a92da6f94-2018

11/20/2018 Tuesday— Harvest Party

^^^^^ Still time to observe my classroom ^^^^^

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090b48a8a92da6f94-mrjohns5

Look! I am as big as the longest Red Rod.

A Peek Into Art Class

Posted on October 31, 2018 at 12:38 pm.

Written by Faith Weihe

With Ms. Kathleen

We have been studying Pop Art and the artist Andy Warhol. They learned how to shade objects on one side to create a three-dimensional look. We made a series of the same object in four colors on bright colored backgrounds like the artwork of Andy Warhol. Look for their Pop Art to be hung in the hallways soon!

We also studied the artist Wassily Kandinsky and his painting of eccentric circles. I had the students draw several circles in two rows. I then had them draw circles inside the main circles. We then used markers to color each of the circles and inner circles different colors as like Kandinsky did in his painting. The students really enjoyed choosing their own colors and making it unique to them.

Academic Enrichment | Cuyahoga Falls Campus | Week Of 11/05/2018

Posted on October 30, 2018 at 11:44 am.

Written by John Kotradi

Lesson:
Telling time to the minute- Since we conquered telling time to the hour, half past, and quarter past, and quarter to/ :45, we looked at telling time to the minute. Tick Tock Tick, do do do do (Steve Miller Band Fly Like An Eagle)

Handwriting:
We practiced our cursive letters upper and lower case at, al, as, ic, ir blends.

Next Week:

Lesson- currency/coins

Sight Words Of The Week- said by

Synonym Of The Week- big

The next language will be- Korean

Academic Enrichment | Cuyahoga Falls Campus | Week Of 10/29/2018

Posted on October 29, 2018 at 6:18 pm.

Written by John Kotradi

Lesson:
Telling time 1/4 ’til- Since we conquered telling time to the hour, half past, and quarter past, we looked at quarter to/ :45

Handwriting:
We practiced our cursive letters upper and lower case y, z, ee, ea, et blends

Next Week:

Lesson- Telling time to the minute

Sight Words Of The Week- how each

Synonym Of The Week- old

The next language will be- Hebrew

Take A Peek Into Our Week/Ms.Kate/October 26, 2018

Posted on October 29, 2018 at 12:52 pm.

Written by Kate Case

Happy Friday!!!

What a SPOOKY good time we had this week! Our theme was all about Halloween! Everyday we read a Halloween book, and a craft that followed. We also had fun learning about how Halloween first got started. The kids had a blast decorating our classroom for the party!!!

Our friends working on some Halloween crafts for our party!

Our friend is working on the Four Seasons cards. With this work not only are they learning the different seasons they are learning how to sort and categorize.

The Addition Snake game is such a fun way for children to begin memorizing addition facts. The goal of this work is to turn the colorful snake into a golden snake by counting to ten.

The Addition Strip board is one method used by students to assist them in their abstract memorization of addition facts up to 18.

We placed a new work on our shelves last week! We drew our form drawings on black paper and the children were able to place beans on the lines that form the form drawing. This work gains their fine motor skills, and helps to develop their pincher grip.

I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all of my wonderful parents for helping and contributing to the Halloween party. It was a success!!

A Peek into Elementary Enrichments | October 2018

Posted on October 26, 2018 at 5:36 pm.

Written by Marlee Messner

Elementary Enrichments are in full swing now that October is nearing its end.The students are enjoying learning the hand bells in music class, trying new games in gym, and being intoduced to creative art techniques. Latin began the 15th and the students are fascinated by it! Mr. Matt will be with us on Monday mornings to work with small groups of students on Latin history, vocabulary, and language skills.

Lower Elementary just completed their pumpkin paintings. They learned how to shade using darker colors to create a three-dimensional look. They also learned about shadows and how to use them to add dimension in the artwork. They are continuing to learn how to shade and create light with their pumpkin still life projects in watercolor.

Upper Elementary just completed their projects studying Modern Abstract Artists, Mondrian and Kandinsky. They were allowed to choose which artist they wanted to reference and create their own design reflecting the artist’s style but with their own twist of imagination. Their artwork is impressive! Check out the hallway at the front of the building to see their designs!

Above: Ms. Kathleen providing background information about the painters.

The first two weeks of Latin lessons were successful. The students learned how to translate basic phrases from Latin to English and from English into Latin. If you spend a lot of time watching American sitcoms and studying your English slang. If you are a non-native speaker and come across these words, you may take them all literally. Slang words spotlight the cultural experience of a generation.

Below are a few examples of words and phrases they have been learning over the past two weeks. Ask them about their lessons to hear what they have been learning!

Translate from English to Latin:

The boy is good.

The dog is big.

Translate from Latin to English:

Puella-

Familia-

Puer-

Another fun way for our students to explore their creative sides is in music class with Ms. Lisa.

This month, the Elementary students are learning to read notes from the treble clef. They are using this knowledge as well as rhythmic studies to learn to play Christmas songs on the bells. They are also working on proper singing and breathing and using these skills to enjoy singing Christmas songs. We hope to share some of these songs with parents and other guests at the Christmas show. Can you believe we are already thinking about Christmas??!! It is right around the corner! All of these skills, especially playing the bells require great concentration and self control. We have also learned that singing properly requires more concentration than some might think. All of our students are working so hard!

Above: These first graders are learning to play Christmas inspired songs. Tis the season!

Friday mornings are always a blast for the students. Our gym teacher, Mr. Warner, keeps them entertained with all kinds of fun games and activities. Some of their favorites are hockey, scooter dodgeball, kickball, and capture the flag. The students stretch before every class and we make sure to send them with water to keep them hydrated.

We are so thankful for our Enrichment instructors at Absorbent Minds. Our students are learning many skills that will help them focus, collaborate with their peers, and relieve any frustrations they feel throughout their day. Most importantly, they are having fun!!!

Check back next month for another Elementary Enrichment update.

A Peek at Our Week | Elementary | Week of October 22

Posted on October 26, 2018 at 5:31 pm.

Written by Ashley Steurer

“Let the teacher not lose sight of the fact that the goal sought is not an immediate one, but rather to make the spiritual being which she is educating capable of finding his way by himself.” -Maria Montessori

This week was full of exciting lessons and events. We completed lessons with taste tests, challenging math works, and continued our exploration of the history of Earth. We were thrilled to perform “Caps for Sale” for our families and all the Primary Classrooms. We decorated for the Halloween party, prepared the food, and played games together. Putting on all student performances and planning student only parties, gives children the opportunity to learn how to work and collaborate with others. This also gives them real life experience about what happens when a team or group doesn’t work well together or communicate! Thank you to all the parents that helped us sew and that provided the materials we needed for our Halloween party!

This student is practicing forming and reading decimal numbers into the millionths. After mastery of forming and reading decimals, she will add, subtract, multiply, and divide them using our materials. The Montessori Decimal Material allows students to physically build and manipulate decimal numbers to understand their relationship to whole numbers.

This week we discussed the Clock of Eras. This material is another representation of the Timeline of Life. It shows students different eras of the Earth’s existence broken down into a 12 hour clock. We discussed different changes in each era and the etymology of the era names. Students are recreating the clock for their follow-up work.

These fourth year students are using our blank timeline to recreate the Timeline of Life. This blank timeline is used throughout the Upper Elementary curriculum and can be adapted to measure any length of time. These students calculated where to place labels for each era from 4.5 billion years ago until now!

The first year students had a lesson about nutrition. They discussed which foods are healthy and how often to eat all their favorite foods. While they discussed nutrition, they sampled different foods from each food group. Here, they are sampling grapefruit! This student was not impressed!

When we start a new short story in our “Rocket Rollers” Reading Group, I read the story first and we talk about unknown vocabulary or different spelling rules they will see in the story. This second year student heard we were beginning a new story and asked to lead reading group! He read “Jack and the Beanstalk” to these first graders and discussed the story with them!

We had such a blast preparing for and performing “Caps for Sale.” Each student had a chance to use the sewing machine to make their own cap! So many students had their very first sewing machine experience this week! They were so proud and had a lot of fun. Thank you to our parent volunteers that helped make this possible!

“A Peek at Next Week”

Next week our blog will be written by two students! You can look for a student written blog at the end of each month! Our first year students will be creating a noun family chart, will continue their study of the constructive triangles, and will complete their continent study of North America. Our second year students will discuss the four types of sentences (exclamatory, interrogative, imperative, and declarative), will review the Detective Triangle Game, and will finish their research of a country in North America. Our third year students will learn to measure in grams and milliliters, will discuss adjective suffixes, and will begin studying equivalence with our metal insets. Our fourth year students will change mixed fractions to improper fractions and improper fractions to mixed fractions, will review homonyms and indirect objects, and will discuss the creation of the universe. Fifth year students with begin plotting points on a graph, will review homonyms, and will study adverbials. Upper Elementary students will also take their first note taking quiz which will show them if they are taking notes effectively or not. This will give students an opportunity to learn which information is vital at lessons and prepares them for middle school and beyond! All students will begin typing lessons next week!

REMINDERS:

Book Fair next week!
Parent-Teacher Conferences – Friday, November 16 – No School Day for students. I will send out a sign-up genius for conferences in next week’s blog!

A Peek at Our Week | Ms. Courtney’s Classroom | Week of October 15th

Posted on October 21, 2018 at 6:07 pm.

Written by Courtney Owens

This week we learned all about pumpkins and the different parts like: flesh, pulp, stem, seeds and rind. The children were able to explore the inside of a pumpkin by digging out the insides and touching the seeds and pulp. The children also created a venn diagram of apples and pumpkins.

Work Time

**Cursive:** This student worked really hard to successfully write the first two letters of her name on the chalkboard.

**Additio**n: This child is using the golden beads to discover that when you put two small numbers together you get a larger number and that this process is called addition.

**Composing Quantities:** This child is practicing the sequence of numbers in the decimal system units, tens, hundreds, and thousands and recognizing what different quantities look like.

**Pyramid Puzzle:** This child is matching the different colors together in order to create the pyramid shape. This puzzle involves not only the ability to concentrate but the ability problem solve.

**Spindle Box:** This child is matching the correct quantity of spindles to each numeral symbol. He is also being introduced to the concept of zero and what its symbol looks like, while also seeing the natural sequence of the numerals.

Bring Your Parent to Work Time

Reminders:

October 26 | Halloween Party

October 30 – November 2 | Book Fair Week

November 16 | Parent / Teacher Conferences | NO SCHOOL for Students

A peak into next week: Bats

Academic Enrichment | Week of October 15th | Tallmadge

Posted on October 21, 2018 at 5:51 pm.

Written by Courtney Owens

The children learned the characteristics and parts of trees, flowers, leaves, insects and arachnids by using and working with the puzzles and control charts in the classroom.

Cursive Handwriting: The students learned and practiced the correct stokes to successfully make a lowercase a and lowercase d. To make a lowercase a they learned to curve up to the midline, roll back around to the baseline, swing up to the midline and down to the baseline. To make a lowercase d they learned to curve up to the midline, roll back around to the baseline, swing tall to the top line and slide down to the baseline.

A peak into next week: Introduction to 9 Tray/ 45 layout/composing numbers using the golden beads

Peek In Our Week | Mr. John’s Class | Week Of October 29, 2018

Posted on October 21, 2018 at 5:35 pm.

Written by John Kotradi

Line Time:
Birds- We ended our journey of studying animals with the bird. We learned birds are vertebrates and are warm-blooded, which means that they can make their own body heat even when it is cold outside. Whether it is sunny and hot outside or there is a snowstorm and it is very cold, warm-blooded animals have body temperatures that usually stay the same. They are born from hard shelled eggs and have feathers. A lot of birds fly but some do not. The flightless birds are the ostrich and penguin. We are not sure if chickens fly.

Peek In Our Classroom:

This student was featured in last week’s blog practicing handwriting. Here she is a week later working on handwriting. This student is in what Maria Montessori called a Sensitive Period. Montessori sensitive periods refer to a period of time when a child’s interests are focused on developing a particular skill or knowledge area. These periods come and go. When one window of opportunity closes another opens.