Our Academic Enrichment time is daily from 12:00-1:00pm. This time is specifically designed for our Kindergarten students to join together as a group to work and progress through the advanced materials and lessons in the Montessori primary curriculum. Throughout the school day in their classroom they are still working individually with their classroom teacher on these and other materials at their level.
09/28: Biggest (Solar System) to Smallest (your home)
Review hemispheres
Introduction to solar system and planets
Our continent, our country, state and county
City, street, address and phone numbers
10/05: Landforms
Island/Lake, Isthmus/Straight
Bay/Cape, Peninsula/Gulf
Archipelago/Chain of Lakes
Use of landform cards, and water trays
10/12: Telling Time
Parts of the clock
Telling time to the hour
Telling time to the half hour
Flashcards, Clock & Worksheets
10/19: Telling Time
Telling time to the quarter hour (quarter past/ quarter till)
Flashcards, Clock & Worksheets
10/26: Telling Time
Review telling time to the hour, half and quarter hours
Telling time to the minute
Flashcards, Clock & Worksheets
Sight Words of the Week:
09/28: from he
10/05: you his
10/12: for with
10/19: she were
10/26: use your
Synonyms of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
Practice telling time on the clock at home. When you sit down to dinner, ask them to tell you what time it is, when they go to bed, have them check the clock. Have fun with Time!
Mr. John will be sending homework home to reinforce these lessons. Please turn homework into the orange box outside of Mr. John’s classroom. Please email him if you have any questions: jkotradi@thesmarterkids.com.
By the start of the second week lessons were in full swing. Several students are enjoying learning new materials like the “Racks and Tubes” that teaches long division, the “Checkerboard”, which teaches multiplication of numbers into the millions by up to a 4-digit multiplier, new science experiments in our “lab”, and the “Box of Sticks”, which introduces the children to concepts of Geometry, such as types and parts of triangles, lines, angles, and polygons. We have even ventured into the theorem of Pythagoras with the right-angle scalene triangle.
Reading groups began this week as well. Students have been divided into three groups. One group is reading classic children’s literature, another is reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the third is reading the biography of Jackie Robinson. This week began our first Art, Music, piano, Latin, and Gym classes. Students were learning how to greet one another in Latin, how to shake hands like the Romans, and what countries made up the Roman Empire. They played scooter soccer and hockey in Gym class.
To end the second week, students had their first Student-Teacher Conference with Ms. Brandy. This is where they must present all of the work they have completed during the week, and the things that are still being worked on. Together, Ms. Brandy and the students, plan the following week so they can stay on track, know what to expect, what is expected, and be accountable for their efforts. This is a time to check and adjust any plans that have been made so the students are successful in their work. This also gives the child a feeling of personal responsibility for their education, and teaches them that the work they do matters.
The first week brought lots of excitement as old friend were reunited after the summer break. We also enjoyed seeing our new friends who have joined our class this year. We would like to welcome Ainsley, Scarlett, Trevor, Harrison, Maddex, Kasey, Nick and David to the world of Elementary! We promise an exciting adventure.
Over the course of the first few days we spent time touring our classroom, reviewing general ground rules, discussing our daily schedules, and setting the stage for a year of incredible growth and learning.
The idea of discussing rules and going over things the kids should already know may sound like a waste of time. However, as with everything in Montessori, there is a reason. This is such an important exercise because the first two or three weeks prepare the students to work productively in the classroom environment. We want the children to be focused on their work and progress through the curriculum. Since we teach so much more than academics, there must be time spent training the children in the ways of work, time management, respect and manners, as well as how to be a good citizen and contributing member of our classroom family. We must be consistent in every aspect during this critical time. Find out more information in this link https://www.apprenticeshipcommunity.com.au/.
We did find time to bring a little fun into this first week with several new games and team building activities. The favorite game was Australian Dodge-ball where the teachers took on the students. This round, the students won the title, but I foresee a rematch in the near future! One of the favorite team activities was building a bridge to cross the yard as a group, where students used a scooter, pool noodle, hula-hoop, and carpet square. They all had to cross together by using the items to stand on/in. I think everyone learned a thing or two about working together and how to be part of a team.
Everyone enjoyed learning about each other and sharing their own Brown Bag Biography. We saw several pictures of fun family vacations, trophies and medals from sport competitions will engraved by Sheridans Badges & Engraving with the kids name. It was wonderful to see the things that make each of us unique, and the things that we all have in common. What a wonderful group we are, and what a wonderful year we are going to have together!
Our Academic Enrichment time is daily from 12:00-1:00pm. This time is specifically designed for our Kindergarten students to join together as a group to work and progress through the advanced materials and lessons in the Montessori primary curriculum. Throughout the school day in their classroom they are still working individually with their classroom teacher on these and other materials at their level.
8/25: Continent globe & map
Intro to globe & maps
Characteristics of globe & maps
Identify Continents
Review of three countries in each Continent and fun facts!
8/31: Directions
Recap of Continents/Review of three countries in each Continent and fun facts!
North, South, East & West
Work on the directions using Continent Map
9/8: Hemisphere / Equator
What are hemispheres? North/South/East/West hemispheres
West Virginia (nickname, abbreviation) Indiana (nickname, abbreviation) Michigan (nickname, abbreviation)
Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
8/25: go, has
8/31: will, him
9/8: up, so
9/14: see, her
9/21: are, was
Synonyms of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
8/25: FUN, amusing, entertaining, enjoyable, merry, pleasant
8/31: FAST, hurried, speedy, brisk, quick, swift,
9/8: SAD, miserable, gloomy, depressing, downtrodden, glum, unhappy
9/14: SLOW, unhurried, gradual, sluggish, stagnant, lethargic
9/21: BORING, drab, dull, lifeless, mundane, monotonous
Things to do at Home this Month:
Ms. Courtney will be sending homework home to reinforce these lessons. Please turn homework in each morning. Please email her if you have any questions: cowens@thesmarterkids.com.
Themes of the week for the months of August and September
8/25 and 8/31: Ground Rules
Learning to greet others.
Learning to have conservations.
Learning to speak to others.
Learning to listen to others.
Learning to respond to others.
Learning to say please and thank you to others.
Learning to observe others.
Learning to respectfully interrupt.
Learning from others.
Learning to open door for someone else.
Learning to recognize situations in which to help others.
Passing in front of another respectfully.
Learning how to say excuse me.
9/8: Community Helpers
The students will learn about police officers, fire fighters, mail carriers, soldiers, bakers, farmers, doctors, and teachers throughout the week. They will not only learn about these community helpers; they will also be able to explain in detail why each one is very important to our lives.
9/14: My Family
The students will illustrate a picture of their family.
The students will have a discussion on the importance of families to each of us and the students will be able to identify one reason why their family is important to them.
Create a family tree together (Due Friday September 12th)
9/21: Feelings/Emotions
The students learn how to identify, handle, and understand the things they may feel and how to act about them.
Letters of the week
8/25 and 8/31: None
9/8: Aa
9/14: Bb
9/21: Cc
Sight word of the week
8/25 and 8/31: None
9/8: the
9/14: of
9/21: an
Things to do at home this month to reinforce our themes:
Try to find objects that begin with the letter of the week wherever you go with your child.
Encourage grace and courtesy when you see your child displaying it to another or you.
Talk about the importance of 911 and when you should call and practice dialing it.
Practice dialing your telephone number with your child.
Start a family tradition by setting a night a week aside for a family movie or game night.
If your child displays an emotion they are unfamiliar with talk about it and how to handle it together.
Themes of the Week (in addition to Montessori Work time)
8/26‐ 09/04 Rules of the Classroom/Respect
We respect each other
We try our best/we learn from our mistakes
We are a team/we celebrate each other’s success
Tour of the classroom and introductions of materials
Using the words “please, thank you, excuse me, I’m sorry.” Write a class poem to emphasize the use of polite words.
Create a kindness quilt to help students think about and how to show acts of kindness.
9/07: Friendship
Work on social skills/ how to develop friendship
What are good qualities in a friend?
How do friends build community?
Create together a class web of friendship word
Second line time: Going over calendar, weather, and Spanish words and numbers. Friendship lessons and crafts!
9/14: All About Me!
Our similarities and differences
I’m special because…
Our Birthdays
Identifying our emotions
Starting on Monday Ms. Kate will be sending home a paper bag with each of your children. Please have your child decorate their bag and fill it with three of their favorite things. Please bring back on Friday.
Second Line Time: Going over calendar, weather, Spanish weather and words. Having fun doing all about me activities and games!
9/21: Family
What is a family
Graphing our families/ family celebrations
Create a family tree together (Due Friday 9/21/15)
Second line time: Going over calendar, weather, Spanish numbers and words. Having fun reading books on Families, creating a family portrait, and sining songs about families.
Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.
9/07: Aa
9/14: Bb
9/21: Cc
9/28: Dd
Rhyming words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
9/07: Cat
9/14: Pig
9/21: Ball
9/28: Bug
Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:
While reading a book have your child point to all of the A’s she/he can find. Have them do this with the sight word “the.” Play I‐Spy using things that only start with the letter A.
Make a collage with pictures and objects that start with the letter B.
Place words around the house and see if your child can find the word “to.” When your child has gathered all of his/her “to” cards count together how many cards they have found.
Make a kindness jar. Each day pick an act of kindness out of the jar and act on it:)
You and your child write a special letter to a friend.
Themes of the Week (in addition to Montessori Work time)
8/24-8/31: Ground Rules / Introduction of Materials
Ringing of the bell, circle walk, line time
Process of working with a materials, rolling mats, carrying trays & work areas
Respecting teachers, classmates and the materials
Daily demonstration of materials from all areas of the classroom
9/07: Healthy Habits
The importance of washing hands, bathing, brushing teeth (eliminate germs, prevent cavities)
The importance of sleep. Why we need sleep & sleep cycle
The importance of exercise (walking, running, swimming, etc)
The importance of eating well (“grow foods”)
9/14: Food Groups
Eating Healthy, Moderation
Focus on the different food groups, sorting foods belonging in each
Servings and examples of each
9/21: Living / Non Living
Living things (grow, reproduce, obtain and use energy, exchange gases) adapt to their environment
Non Living things, examples
Categorization of Living and Non Living
09/28: Mammals
Introduction to mammals, examples of mammals
All mammals have hair, warm blooded, eat mother’s milk
All mammals are vertebrates (spine), lungs to breathe, born alive
Bats are the ONLY mammal that can fly
Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.
8/24: Aa
8/31: Bb
9/07: Cc
9/14: Dd
9/21: Ee
9/28: Ff
Rhyming Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
8/24: BAT, cat, fat, hat, mat, pat, sat
8/31: BAN, can, dan, fan, man, pan, tan
9/07: BAP, map, cap, gap, lap, nap, sap
9/14: BAG, sag, jag, lag, nag, tag, rag wag
9/21: BAD, dad, fad, had, lad, mad, sad
9/28: BIG, dig, fig, jig, pig, rig, wig
Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:
Make a collage with pictures and objects that start with the letters of the week.
While eating together, categorize your meal into food groups with your child.
Follow this link to find a worksheet to complete together for living and non living things. (Circle the living things and color together)http://worksheetplace.com/index.php?function=DisplaySheet&sheet=Circle-the-living-things&links=2&id=&link1=241&link2=257
Read a book about your child’s favorite mammal together!
Our Academic Enrichment time is daily from 12:00-1:00pm. This time is specifically designed for our Kindergarten students to join together as a group to work and progress through the advanced materials and lessons in the Montessori primary curriculum. Throughout the school day in their classroom they are still working individually with their classroom teacher on these and other materials at their level.
8/24: Continent globe & map
-Intro to globe & maps
-Characteristics of globe & maps
-Identify Continents
-Review of three countries in each Continent and fun facts!
8/31: Directions
-Recap of Continents/Review of three countries in each Continent and fun facts!
-North, South, East & West
-Work on the directions using Continent Map
9/07: Hemisphere / Equator
-What are hemispheres? North/South/East/West hemispheres
-What is the equator? Location of equator
9/14: Bodies of water surrounding North America
-Review Hemispheres/ Equator
-Hudson Bay (N)
-Atlantic Ocean (E)
-Gulf of Mexico (S)
-Pacific Ocean (W)
Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
8/24: go, has
8/31: will, him
9/07: up, so
9/14: see, her
9/21: are, was
Synonyms of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child. 8/24: FUN, amusing, entertaining, enjoyable, merry, pleasant
8/31: FAST, hurried, speedy, brisk, quick, swift,
9/07: SAD, miserable, gloomy, depressing, downtrodden, glum, unhappy
9/14: SLOW, unhurried, gradual, sluggish, stagnant, lethargic
9/21: BORING, drab, dull, lifeless, mundane, monotonous
Things to do at Home this Month:
Mr. John will be sending homework home to reinforce these lessons. Please turn homework into the orange box outside of Mr. John’s classroom. Please email him if you have any questions: jkotradi@thesmarterkids.com
It is early June and I am, what Pink Floyd said, definitely, Comfortably Numb! Maybe not so much comfort but shell shocked or PTSD. During the Summer I will not miss waking up before the sun rises and will appreciate waking when restaurants start to serve off their lunch menus. Hmmm, should I not go to sleep until after midnight?? That is to be determined, sometimes it becomes even harder to sleep since I have sleep apnea, luckily I found the most comfortable Full Face CPAP Masks for my face and that helps. Catching up on movies, bike riding and hiking are on the agenda. But I do love teaching children and would NEVER have it any other way! I will miss all of the students! I am honored to teach your children and getting to know our families. Each one of my students have left a lasting impression. I just wonder if I leave as much of an impression with the students and their families? Let me know if I did by “friending me” on Facebook. I am not hard to find (their are only a few KOTRADIs in this world). Any alumni are welcome to come read to my class throughout the school year. So in ending…. Have a great Summer, a great life, be happy and stay sincere.
It seems this year was a bit more difficult saying good-bye to families. I am not sure why but it really felt that way. Maybe I had to say good-bye to a few families who have been part of the Absorbent Minds family for six years or on field day I had two alumni visit or I should say another crack at dousing Mr. John with water. These girls are so big now. As they were running around the playground I went through this wired, surreal flashback and I remembered them as they were in preschool. Then attending my daughter’s eighth grade graduation there were a handful of “kids” there that I taught when they were in preschool. Two are going to be juniors, three are going to be freshmen in high school. It just kind of put things in perspective on how time trudges on. Heavy sigh…
Line Time
The circle of life studied last week always involves food and eating to stay alive. This is where we looked at several food chains. We looked at a two part food chain involving a mouse and grains. We looked at several three part food chains such as snake/mouse/grains, hawk/snake/mouse, bear/big fish/small fish. We went so far to look at some four part food chains Hawk/snake/mouse/grain. We learned about being on the top of the food chain and the bottom of the food chain. We also learned the animal that “hunts” for the food is the predator and the animal that gets eaten is the prey.
The second week of May was a great time to talk about the seasons. We started with spring and talked about how it gets a bit warmer but we get a lot of rain and plants and flowers start to come out. Then we talked about summer and how it is hotter because the earth tilts closer to the sun and the days are longer. This is when plants grow tall and flowers are in full bloom. Autumn or fall comes next and the weather gets a bit chillier. The leaves turn beautiful colors then fall to the ground. The final season is winter and it is the coldest season of the year. The earth is tilted further away from the sun and the days are shorter. We end up getting snow in the winter.
Put on your space suit and get ready to explore our solar system. We started with discussing the planets nearer the sun them worked our way to the furthest reaches of our solar system. Mercury is our first planet and is the closest to the sun. Venus is the second planet. Even though it is further away from the sun it is the hottest planet in our solar system. The third planet is near and dear to our hearts. It is the planet earth. It is the only planet in our solar system that has life. The next planet is Mars and is known as the red planet. The next planet is the biggest planet in our solar system and has a big red storm that has been raging for centuries. That planet is Jupiter. Saturn is the next planet and has really cool ring around it that are pieces of rock and ice. Uranus is next and it spins up and down instead of side to side like all the other planets. Neptune is the last planet in our solar system. I did not forget about Pluto. Oh! Poor Pluto. Pluto was once a planet but now has been demoted to a dwarf planet.
We then talked a bit about what we want to be when we grow up. We discussed careers such as nursing, being a doctor, a veterinarian, and of course an exciting, lucrative, and fulfilling career in teaching. We had Jordyn’s mom come in and discuss what a surgical nurse does. The children walked away with a plethora of O.R. goodies.
The last week I talked about being safe. I reminded the children to always stay close to their safe side adult, always look both ways before crossing the street, never talk to stranger or go near wild or unfamiliar animals. I also reminded them that police officers and firefighters are our friends.
The last week of school I give the kindergarten students the honor of running line time. They do need a bit of help but they do believe they are the BMOC (big man on campus).
Cultural Subjects
We are holding at counting to ten in 26 different languages.
Kindergarten
We started May by discussing the preposition. Where oh where can we find a preposition? Well, I told them a preposition was a “where word” NOT a “werewolf”. The kindergartners brushed up on their knowledge of the interjection. The interjection adds emotion to the sentence but we did find out that if we eliminate the interjection from the sentence, the meaning of the sentence really does not change. We learned what punctuation is used at the end of a sentence. We use a period (.) when we are stating something. We use a question mark (?) when we are asking a question and we use an exclamation mark (!) when we show excitement or a lot of emotion. I introduced the students to the rules of capitalization. We learned that words at the beginning of the sentence, the word I, and proper nouns need to be capitalized. We played “mad libs” and ended our lessons on grammar by watching Grammar Rock. For the last week we just reflected on our year, what we learned, and our favorite parts of kindergarten class. It was a GREAT year!
Music
This month Ms Lisa reviewed with the students all the skills they have learned since the beginning of the school year. She had the children sing John Jacob Jingle Hiemer Smith where they sang it real low and then loud this is one of the newest songs they had been learning. Then, she concentrated on all the other songs and dances that they have been practicing since the start of the school year, such as I Caught Myself a Baby Bumble Bee, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, The Mexican Hat Dance and classical music played while they danced and twirled colored scarves. Ms. Lisa also took requests from the children and they chose the Ball Game where they pass the ball around in a circle while music is playing and stop passing when the music stops, eventually more balls are thrown in during this activity.The other request the kids had was the Cat and Mouse game when Ms. Lisa plays High music all the children crawl around the floor and pretend to be mice, then when the Low music is played on her key board one person (child or teacher) sitting on the side lines hurries in and tries to tag the mice. If caught, those children become a mouse (this is their most favorite thing to do in music class). She also reviewed musical notes and the keyboard throughout the month.
Art
This month students enjoyed art lessons inspired by Vincent Vaughn. Children designed their own fancy bedrooms! They had to include in their bedrooms two patterns drawn on card stock then folded into a cube to make it look like a room and Ms Michele provided many different kinds of materials to make the furniture in their bedrooms, they also contacted The Century Guild’s custom woodworking to get some ideas, and for the living room and other areas of the house they went to different places like the fine furniture stores denver and find what’s necessary for this. For the next project they made three dimensional animals made out of pipe cleaners. Ms. Michele also brought to school this month potted flower plants put them on the tables in the class room. The children sat around the tables and painted the likeness of the flowers. Many beautiful flower pictures were drawn.
.
Science
This month Mr. John had many jaws drop in science class. In the 1st class this month he mashed up bran flakes with water(looked like a brown mud like substance) then put in a zip lock bag and put a magnet to the bag and the magnet stuck.Why? because of the iron in the cereal, iron is a metal so the magnet will stick.The next class, Mr. John took Metamucil, green food coloring and water mixed it all together and then heated up in the micro-wave. He then took it out and it looked like green slime! It’s texture completely changed! He then ate the slime surprising and grossed out all of the kids. What happens is the fiber in the Metamucil and water make an edible substance.The last class this month he took a tea bag cut it open and dumped the leaves in the trash,then set the empty bag on top of a glass plate then set it a flame with a lighter. First it burns down the tea bag then when it burns down to the very bottom it floats away high up into the air. Heat rises all that heat and smoke pushed the bag into the air.
On June 5th, field day, Mr. John did his annual experiment with candy mentos and 2 litter bottle of diet coke (this a favorite every year always lots of yelling and playful screaming). Aspartame and carbon dioxide in the diet soda mixed with gelatin and gum Arabic in the mentos cause it to foam and blast like a volcanic eruption!
Field Trip
We had a great field trip at the fire station where we toured the fire station, saw a fire fighter put on his gear, went through a fire engine and an ambulance. We learned that the fire fighter wash their trucks and can’t take them to a drive through car wash because they are too big.
all together and then heated up in the micro-wave. He then took it out and it looked like green slime! It’s texture completely changed! He then ate the slime surprising and grossed out all of the kids. What happens is the fiber in the Metamucil and water make an edible substance.The last class this month he took a tea bag cut it open and dumped the leaves in the trash,then set the empty bag on top of a glass plate then set it a flame with a lighter. First it burns down the tea bag then when it burns down to the very bottom it floats away high up into the air. Heat rises all that heat and smoke pushed the bag into the air.
