This week in Aspen we revisited our lesson on trees focusing on conifers or trees that stay green all year long!  We learned that these types of trees remain green all year and they keep their leaves through the winter. During group lesson we learned that these leaves are called needles and conifers bear cones that contain seeds.  At the same time, we also learned how to identify and name different types of conifers and evergreens. We also got to observe and touch differnt types of conifer branches that our classmates brought in for our botany tray. We then watched a very interesting Scikids video about conifers and watched another video that taught us how to determine if a tree is a Spruce, Pine, or Fir tree.  The Aspen kids were then given a mission to investigate, observe, and report to the class if they had a conifer or evergreen in their home or yard.  Many of us realized we had one in our living room to celebrate the holiday season!

This week in Aspen we were also busy practicing our songs for the upcoming AMMS Christmas Show! We practiced singing our songs, how to stand on the stage carefully , respectfully, and  practiced saying our lines (for those students that have them).  If your child has lines for the program have them practice at home as well.  This week during group lesson we will be practicing for the Christmas program.

BOOK SHARE WILL BE ON FRIDAY THIS WEEK!!!

                 

Fun with the Moveable Alphabet!  Working on beginning sounds and building words that match the objects in our phonetic object basket!

This week in the Aspen Room we learned all about the Pilgrims, Native Americans, and the origins of Thanksgiving.  We learned all about the Pilgrim’s journey to the New World, what they found upon arriving at the coastline of Massachusetts, and how they survived (lived).  As we researched the life of a Pilgrim we discovered that they were given some much needed assistance from the Native Americans.  Living in a new unknown environment held many obstacles and without the help from a Native American Tribe called the Wampanoag the Pilgrims may not have survived or established our tradition of Thanksgiving! The Wampanoag showed the Pilgrims the best places to fish and hunt, what foods were safe to eat (berries, plants, and fruit), and a very unique and new way to plant corn ensuring a fertilized and healthy harvest.  Ask your child about this special way of planting that the Wampanoag taught the Pilgrims!  Because the Pilgrims were so grateful for the help and assistance from their Native American neighbors they held a huge feast or a “Thanksgiving” for all that they had.  The Pilgrims invited the Wampanoag to join in their celebration of Thankfulness thus establishing the tradition of Thanksgiving!  After learning all of the above information, and exploring the lives of the Pilgrims and Native Americans, we took our turn sharing what we are thankful for during group lesson.  All the children had many kind and thoughtful things to share and expressed their love and appreciation for their families, friends, and pets!  It was such a heartwarming experience listening to all the things that the Aspen children were thankful for!

It was also a very busy week in the Practical Life area as well!  This week the Aspen students explored a variety of transferring, mixing, and fine motor exercises using utensils they see family members using  during the holidays.  We learned how to measure with a measuring scoop, mix with a wire whisk, and use measuring spoons.

In Kindergarten with Mr. John the kindergarten students explored U.S currency learning all about coins (change) and dollars!  They learned how to identify a variety of coins while learning the corresponding amounts they equal.  In Reading Group we reviewed past phonograms (letter teams), practiced fluency (learned the definition of fluency), practiced comprehension skills finding information in a text, and challenged ourselves with a new phonogram!  We also reviewed our rhyme, “when two vowels go walking the first one does the talking!”

Next week our topic is Table Manners and Place Settings

BOOK SHARE WILL BE TUESDAY NEXT WEEK!!!

This week the Aspen class learned all about Living and Non-Living things!  Aspen spent the week examining the characteristics of Living and Non-Living things and then used our knowledge to make classifications.   We classified objects within our environment into these two groups. Some of the characteristics we learned about Living things are; living things grow, living things are made of cells, living things have some form of movement,  living things respond to the environment, and living things reproduce. Throughout our week we took a look at a variety of living things and got to observe some of their charicteristics.   The children observed Oreo moving and reacting to the environment around him. To our amazement Mr. John brought in Charlotte the Tarantula for us to observe and ask questions about spiders. Finally, we took a look at plants and how they fit into the classification of being living organisms.

This week in Kindergarten the children learned all about Insects and Arachnids.  They learned how to classify them and label the parts of each. Mr. John also enlisted the help of Charlotte the Tarantula to illustrate charicteristics of Arachnids! In Reading  Group, we practiced our Sound Detective skills utilizing our previous knowledge from past Reading Group lessons. Thus, reviewing the phonograms (letter teams) and sight words that we have already learned.  At the same time, we practiced the lowercase cursive letter u paying particular attention to the lines on the paper.

Next week our topics include; bats, spiders, and all things Halloween!! We will be learning some Halloween words or phrases in Spanish!

         

Charlotte stopped by the Aspen room to say hello!!

Ms. Tonya had a Spider plant that reproduced and grew baby spider plants. A young spider plant is called a spiderette or a pup! The Aspen class had the opportunity to take a look at this amazing plant up- close and observe the roots beginning to grow on the baby plant.

A better look at one of the Spiderettes!

This week in Aspen we learned all about the Skeletal System!  During group lessons we learned the names of the bones in our body and where they are located, discussed how bones help us and their functions, explored what bones are made of, practiced what we learned by working with the Skeleton  Puzzle, and learned some fun Skeletal System facts!  Do you know how many bones an adult human has?  Who has more bones an infant or an adult? Do you know where your longest and strongest bone is? What about the location of the smallest bone in your body? Your child knows the answers to these questions and more! Ask them about what they learned this week.

This week in Kindergarten they learned all about mammals, birds, reptiles,  and amphibians! They classified charicteristics of each group and learned all about the animal kingdom. The kindergarteners then practiced tracing, labeling, and naming the Zoology Puzzles! In Reading Group we continued to study the rules of our language, engaged in word play, discussed the CH phonogram, practiced the lowercase cursive letters  t and u, and practiced our Comprehension skills.

Next week our thematic topic in Aspen is Living and Non Living!

                                 

Painting a pumpkin with puffy paint and a popsicle stick!

Color is all around us and this week in Aspen we explored all things color! First, we learned all about Primary Colors and then experimented with them with our Color Mixing work! We discovered that when we mixed certain primary color combinations we got new colors!  These new colors are called the Secondary Colors.  After creating our color mixing combinations we then experimented mixing secondary color combinations! Ask your little artist/scientist what they discovered while color mixing this week! Many of the students figured out how to create various shades with their color mixing experimentation. As a result, we then discussed the color wheel and the concepts of warm and cool colors. We then applied the concepts we learned to create suncatchers for our windows.  Finally, we learned our color names in Spanish with Ms.Sandy and read a book Olivia brought in to share with us! It sure was a fun and colorful week in the Aspen Room.

In kindergarten it was all about landforms this week. They discussed lake, island, cape,  bay, peninsula,   and gulf with Mr. John during kindergarten lesson. We then explored these concepts further with our Land and Water forms activity! In reading group we continued to work on our confidence with a variety of Sound Detective games, phonograms (letter teams), and Fluency.  We also engaged in a Reading Comprehension  activity by reading a nonfiction informative paragraph.  The kindergarteners then took turns answering  questions pertaining to the paragraph. Therefore, exploring concepts such as finding information within a text selection,  recalling facts, and linking facts to practice reasoning skills.

Next week our topic is Skeletons!

Hello Aspen families!!  This week it was All About Pumpkins in the Aspen room. We learned how they grow, where they grow, studied the life cycle of a pumpkin, and watched a How They Grow: Pumpkins video on YouTube.   At the same time, we also practiced our fine motor skills with a variety of pumpkin themed activities from our Practical Life shelf! We practiced pumpkin patterns, pouring pumpkin seeds, spooning pumpkins, transferring pumpkins using tongs, and scrubbing pumpkins. We also discussed the parts of a pumpkin and cut open pumpkins and a squash to observe each part. Ask your child about our pumpkin botany tray.  Finally, the Aspen  class explored number concepts counting pumpkin seeds!

The Kindergarten  students have been discussing the vocabulary of location of where they live from largest to smallest.  For example,  Galaxy, Cluster of Planets, Hemisphere, Continent, County,  State, County,  City, and Street Address.  They have also been practicing writing their address.  Next week the kindergarten students will be learning all about land forms!

In reading group we continued to practice CVC words or consonant vowel consonant phonetic words! We first discussed what consonants and vowels were and then took turns sounding out phonetic words practicing being “Sound Detectives”. A Sound Detective uses sound(letter) clues when reading a word. They were all amazing detectives so to challenge them more we discussed how our language has many words that do not follow our phonetic rules! Therefore,  we discussed that sometimes being a good sound detective requires us to learn new sound rules like letter teams.   The kindergarten students then practiced sounding out words with letter teams like SH, FL, ST, and EE. In Montessori we call these letter teams phonograms. This week the kindergarteners also began work with their handwriting journal pages! We practiced forming each letter by sky writing with our hands and then practiced on lined paper. They learned the names of each line and where to form the lowercase i on the lines. The lowercase i is considered a swing letter because you have to swing up to the midline before returning to the baseline (bottom line).

This week in Aspen, it was All About Apples!  We learned how apples grow, classified different types of apples, and discussed the parts of an apple. We also took an apple taste test and tried different varieties of apples!  Ask your child what kind of apple was their favorite! After exploring these concepts we watched a video called How Does It Grow: Apples. We learned many interesting facts about apples. For example,  did you know… that apples are actually part of the rose family? Did you also know… that the apples we eat today were not native to North America?  Your child is now an apple expert, they can tell you all about these facts and more! We also explored various numerical concepts and fractions as we sliced the apples for our taste test. For fun thematic crafts, we created apple prints with the apples we sliced and made apple sun catchers. It sure was a fun week! Ask your child about their apple adventures in the Aspen room this week!

Kindergarten students continued their work with geography and hemispheres this week!  They also learned some interesting geographical facts.   Please make sure that your child is completing their homework and returning it the following day.

       

 

 

 

           

         

This week the Aspen Room began the first of many botany lessons, we explored the Parts Of A Tree and their functions!  We discovered that each part of a tree has a special job that helps it grow and develop.  The Aspen class also learned that trees are vital for our survival and that we depend on them for the air that we breathe. As a class we then discussed how trees depend on us for carbon dioxide and we depend on them for oxygen. Therefore, creating a symbiotic relationship.  Besides, exploring these concepts we also engaged in a few activities that allowed us to classify and identify species of trees.  While making classifications, we learned the terms deciduous and conifer. Ask your child about these terms!  On the playground we searched for examples of the parts of plants and trees for our botany tray. Did you know…. that a tree is just a really big plant???  The Aspen class discovered this and and more! Ask your child about what treasures they discovered outdoors for our botany tray.

This week our Music Enrichment class started and we had our first music class of the 2021-2022 school year with Ms. lisa. In music, Aspen learned how to sing a few songs and engaged in movement lessons practicing music line time etiquette.  We also had our first Taekwondo demo lesson! All of the children seemed to enjoy this as they practiced movement and self control.

Kindergarteners are contnuing their lessons with geography and cursive letter writing with Mr. john.  In reading group, we continued to practice fluency, sounding out words, and discussed the importance of being a letter detective by sounding out words while paying close attention to each sound! A Letter Detective doesn’t need to guess a word, they use their sound clues!  We also discovered that sometimes there are words that do not follow the phonetic rules. Therefore, we learned all about sight words, letter teams (phonograms and blends), and general word(sound) exceptions.  Each week we will look at a new word that does not follow these rules.

Next week our topic is  All About Apples!  We will learn about the Life Cycle of An Apple,  learn to classify different varieties of apples, taste test a few varieties of apples, and begin preliminary fraction work using apples.  See you next week!

Hello Aspen families!! It has been a very busy week for us in the Aspen Room. Your children have been so busy learning new and exciting things and have been working so hard within the classroom during the work period.  We are all settling into our routines and have become comfortable navigating the classroom with many of us establishing new friendships.  This week the Aspen class learned all about Seasons!!  During group lesson we learned why we have seasons, the names of each season, and discussed the many characteristics of each season.  As we discussed seasons we engaged in a really cool experiment with our Painted Globe and a flashlight!  We pretended that our flashlight was the sun and used our globe to illustrate why we have seasons.  As we explored this science experiment we also dicovered why we experience day and night.  Ask your child about what they learned with this activity.

This week we also learned a few new Spanish words!  We sang our days of the week song and then learned it in Spanish!  At the same time, we reviewed all of the Spanish words we learned last week. Lev and Kat also taught us The Good Morning Song in Russian! The Aspen Room also got to visit the AMMS School Library and had their very first library lesson with Ms. Cat!  We had so much fun learning about books and listening to stories. This week we also visited the AMMS Science Lab and had our very first science class with Mr. John!  In science we learned about what scientists do, what a hypothesis is, and then participated in an experiment with vinegar, baking soda, and a balloon.  It sure was a fun filled and busy week in the Aspen Room.

Next week our lessons will be the parts of the tree and their functions.  We will also learn to identify different types of trees.  Kindergarten students have been learning about globes, maps, hemispheres, and directions,  They have also learned the terms Equator and Prime Meridan.  They will continue to explore and expand upon these concepts next week.  See you next week!!

This week the Aspen class remains super busy practicing our daily routines while learning how to navigate the classroom environment.  As we learn to navigate the classroom,  we are also practicing many of the Montessori Social Relations activities.  We have learned how to be respectful of our classmates and their opportunties to learn during the work period.  Therefore, as a class we have been practicing not interrupting our friends while they are focusing on work and have learned how to interrupt or how to get a teachers/friends attention by placing our hand gently on their shoulder. At the same time, we learned how to shake hands when we are greeting someone. The Aspen class will now begin each morning with a hand shake upon entering the building to practice this and refine their social skills. As we have been discussing greetings and introductions, we also learned how to sing our line time Good Morning Song.  Your child is currently learning this song in both English and Spanish.  As a result, You may hear them singing it at home.  The children call it the Buenos Dias Song when we sing it in Spanish.  Besides, learning our Good Morning Song  your child has also learned a few words in Spanish. The new words we learned are bookbag, shoes, bottle, and lunchbox!

Kindergarten students have been working really hard with Mr. John learning all about our continents, oceans, and the cardinal directions. They have also been reviewing some of the basics they learned last year to refine handwriting skills and ease into their kindergarten curriculum.  In Reading Group the kindergarten students have been working with me to improve phonics, fluency, retention, and handwriting skills.  This week we played a game called Roll it, Sound It Out!  We took turns rolling a die and read words from columns in the corressponding number they rolled.  I have sent home a paper for them to play this at home with your family!  Have fun reading!!!

Next week we will be discussing the Seasons.  We will explore the characterisitcs of each season as well as the reason for seasons.  The class will also work on the days of the week by naming them and sequencing them. See you next week!