Cuyahoga Falls Preschool

It is so quiet in here. It is so calm. This is what I have been hearing from past teachers, parents, and current teachers about my room. Usually it takes a good 3-4 months for my room to become normalized but this year it is on its way to being normalized in about a month. I credit those around me for the earlier than usual success. Miss Kathleen and Miss Dana are wonderful teachers andwork well with the students. They are fun yet firm and know how to handle difficult situations well. When I mentioned “those around me” I didn’t only mean the teachers but I want to give credit to the older students, the leaders of the room. They are showing the newer/younger students how to work with materials and are guiding them through the classroom. Ms. Kelly has been spending a lot more time in the classroom to fulfill her requirement s to complete her Montessori training/certification. It is great to have her in my room.

Children love animals and I enjoy teaching the children about different types of animals. This month we started discussing mammals. I chose mammals because we are mammals. We learned that mammals have hair or fur, are born alive, and drink mother’s milk when first born. We learned that mammals are warm blooded (their body temperature remains constant) and that they are vertebrates (have spines). We learned that dolphins and whales are mammals and that the bat is the only mammal that can fly.

Then we slithered our way into discussing reptiles. We came to the conclusion that the snake is the most popular reptile. We learned reptiles are cold blooded, vertebrates, lay hard shelled eggs, and have dry scales. The children enjoyed feeling our own corn snake. The geckos were just as appreciated.

   
We hopped into our discussion of amphibians. We all agreed that the frog was the most popular amphibian and that amphibians are cold blooded and vertebrates. We also learned that their skin is moist and soft and that they can live on BOTH land and water. Amphibians lay eggs but the eggs have no shell but are like jelly. The children were encouraged to look for our Pac Man Frog and our Eastern Toads in our nature center.
We swam to our friends called fish. We learned that fish are cold blooded (their body temperature changes to the temperature in their environment) and are vertebrates. We learned that most fish have scales, gills and fins, and some fish lay eggs and some fish are liver bearers (babies are born alive). We introduced a new word, “habitat”. This is where something lives and the fish’s habitat is the water. The children were thrilled to learn that the shark is a fish.
We then flew with the animals called birds. Birds have feathers, are warm blooded, and are vertebrates. All birds lay hard shelled eggs and have wings. All birds have wings but some birds are flightless (cannot fly) such as the penguin, ostrich, and emu.
At circle time we count to ten in different languages. We now know how to count to 10 in English, Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, and Russia.

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Kindergarten:
The kindergarten class started the month by learning a little more about the world around us. We learned the vastness of the galaxy in which we live, the Milky Way, the solar system, our planet, Earth, the hemisphere, nothrthwestern, the continent, North America, the country,USA, state, Ohio, county,Summit/Portage city,Cuyahoga Falls, Akron, Tallmadge, and Kent, and finally our address. Then my kindergarten students learned about landforms. Ask them what the definition of a lake, island, bay, peninsula, gulf (not the game), harbor, cape, isthmus, straight, chain of lakes, and archipelago. We went over telling time to the hour, half past, quarter after, and quarter til. Time waits for no one, hehe. Your kindergarteners now know how to count to ten in, English, Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Greek, Japanese, and Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, and Tagalog.

Music:
Ms. Lisa had several new friends join us in music class this month, Jerry giraffe, Freda the frog, and Mike the monkey. The children had a great time welcoming Autumn with Ms. Lisa and her friends. They sang songs and were transformed into autumn leaves with colorful scarves. Freda the frog helped us to use our listening ears when we danced the freeze dance song and used Ms Lisa’s colorful castanets. Another new song and dance combo that was introduced was the jack in the box, and the hokey pokey. Can’t wait to see what great songs are coming for November!

Science:
In science class, Mr. John taught the concept of density. students learned that oil and water do not mix because oil is less dense than water. It didn’t matter how may times they shook the  bottle with oil and water every time the oil floated to the top! We knew that the oil and water did not mix because the oil was a lighter color than the water with food coloring. To explore more about the concept of density, the students tried to get a ketchup packet to sink. When the bottle was squeezed an air bubble in the ketchup packet got smaller. This made the ketchup packet more dense so it sank.Students loved this experiment with the “ketchup submarine” floating up and down the bottle.  Lastly, Mr. John taught another lesson on the strength of a cylinder. Cylinders are the most structurally sound, strongest geometrical shape.  It disperses stress throughout the entire shape.  We learned alot in Science Class and had a ton of Fun!

Art:
We began our October in Art with a project using recyclables from home! During the first week, the students glued down their miscellaneous items to popsicle sticks. Then, the second week the students painted these works of art one primary color. To learn the complimentary colors, the students then added objects that were the complimentary color to the color they originally painted with. This was a great way to learn primary and complimentary colors at the same time! Ms. Michelle also focused on artist Georgia O’Keeffe. Georgia O’Keeffe is known for painting close ups of flowers. The students drew and painted flowers using oil pastels, markers, and water. Lastly, Ms. Michele introduced the students to still life art. The students brought in their favorite toys or objects and set them together in the middle of the room, some even brought the best hoverboards for kids, they had so much fun. The students sat around these toys and were told to draw what they saw. Not only did they draw their own personal toys but other toys as well!  It was another fun month of Art!

Themes of the Week
(in addition to Montessori Work time)

11/03:    Insects / Arachnids

• Characteristics of insects, examples of insects (invertebrates)
• Antennae, head, thorax, abdomen, six legs (some have wings)
• Characteristics of arachnids, examples of arachnids, 8 legs (invertebrates)
• Afternoon Group Lesson: Fire Safety

11/10: Dinosaurs

• Monday, November 11th  NO SCHOOL  (Teacher In Service Day for Parent//Teacher Conferences All Day 8am-7pm) Don’t forget to sign up for a conference!
• Naming and Identifying Dinosaurs
• Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Pterodactyl, Brachiosaurus
• Plant eaters(herbivores), Meat eaters (carnivores)
• Where the Dinosaurs lived and how long ago they lived
• Fossils and Extinction
• Afternoon Group Lesson: On the Farm

11/17: Thanksgiving/ Native Americans

• Mayflower, Native Americans
• When the Pilgrims came to America
• Who the Pilgrims were and why they came
• The Mayflower
• Native American shelters, nomadic, settlers
• Afternoon Group Lesson: Pilgrims/The First thanksgiving

11/24: Family

• Members of a family, family traditions and holidays
• Family birthdays, vacations
• Family pets
• Afternoon Group Lesson: Thanksgiving Crafts

Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.

11/03: Kk
11/10: Ll
11/17: Mm

Rhyming Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
11/03: OX, box, fox, lox, pox, sox
11/10: BOT, cot, dot, got, hot, lot, not, pot, tot
11/17: BOP, cop, hop, mop, pop, top

Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:

• Look for our words of the week when reading a story, cut out pictures beginning with the letters of the week.
• Play “I Spy” with items beginning with the letter of the week, or find things around your home that begin with the letter of the week.
• Explore your neighborhood. See if you can find any fossil plant prints on rocks in your yard or neighborhood.
• Make fall crafts together to help decorate your family Thanksgiving table.
• Look through family photo albums together and talk about your family. What does each family member do for a job?  Where did you grow up?  What unique traditions does your family have?

Cuyahoga Falls School

Summer flew by and this school year feels like it is flying by since September has come and gone. The beginning of the school year is always exciting. I love seeing old faces and welcoming new students and their families. This year’s starts with many new students and many young students but I am pleasantly surprised that the classroom is full of well behaved and eager learners. Line time is running smoothly. After the students walk the line and sit for line time I see “criss cross applesauce” (legs folded in a pretzel), doopas on the line, safe hands and bubbles (hands folded in laps and ready to listen). I usually say in a “fake” mean voice “What is wrong with this picture!” And the children delightfully reply “NOTHING!” What a joy to see that in the first month of school. I want to thank Dana and Kathleen for everything they do. The first two weeks we went over ground rules such as walking in the classroom, having listening ears, keeping our hands and bodies to ourselves and treating the classroom (children, teachers and materials) with respect. We then delved into healthy habits. We now know why it is important to wash our hands and body, brush our teeth, exercise, and get enough sleep, and, eat right.   Healthy eating was a good segway into the next week lesson which was food groups. We learned about grains and cereals, fruits and veggies, meat and protein, dairy and fats and sugars. We identified what foods were in each food group and how many servings to eat each day.   We capped the month with learning the characteristics of and determining what is living. All living things reproduce or have babies, eat or take in nourishment, breathe or exchange gas, and grow. The students determined that I am living but my shoe is non living. Also, Kathleen and Dana are living but their walky talkies were non living. Our student teacher from the University of Akron presented a lesson of living and non living which kept the children engaged and happy. We determined that plants were living things since they met all the criterion.   Cultural Subjects We now can count 1 to 10 in eight different languages (English, Sign Language, Latin, Spanish, German, French, German, and Greek). I wanted to add I do not make it to many concerts but I had the pleasure of seeing “Wilco” this month. A few reasons why I mention this is that the front man, Jeff Tweedy, lives across the street from my sister in Chicago. I talk to him every chance I get and he is a pretty cool guy. So if you ever want to play six degrees of separation from Jeff Tweedy I am your in. Also, he sent all of his children to Montessori school. Academic Enrichment Class: The elders of the school got a blast of geography this month. We learned what the seven continents were, where they are located, a few fun facts about each, and a few counties that are located in each continent. We moved on to the cardinal directions, identifying where the equator and prime meridian are located. The k-students learned the equator and prime meridian create sections called hemispheres. Of course we discovered what continents are in what hemispheres. Ending the month was learning what states are adjacent to our home state of Ohio. We learned where the states are located, what their nicknames are, and their abbreviation. We researched further the facts of Ohio. The “official” things. They are as follows The official Tree: buckeye, Bird: cardinal, Insect: lady bug, Flower: scarlet carnation, Fossil: trilobite, Drink: tomato juice, Rock and Roll song: Hang On Sloopy… O-H-I-O! We can count to ten in 10 different languages (English, Sign Language, Latin, Spanish, German, French, German, Greek, Japanese, and Arabic w/ Lebanese dialect) Enrichment Corner: Welcome back Ms. Lisa! The school year is officially in full swing and the children here are Absorbent Minds are so happy to be in music class again. Ms. Lisa brought her friend Wilma the whale to help us remember musical terms for fast and slow. Lots of our returning friends remembered right away and our new friends caught on quickly. We learned how to work as a team playing five little monkeys, the hokey pokey, and I’m a little tea pot. Looking forward to a year of great music and fun times.   In science class, we first learned that scientists ask questions all the time. They try to answer their questions by making hypotheses. A hypothesis is a guess of what will happen during an experiment. Sometimes scientists guess right but sometimes they are wrong. Our first science experiment included a bottle filled with vinegar and balloons filled with baking soda. We wanted to know what would happen if we mixed the baking soda and the vinegar. Many of the children thought that the bottle or the balloon would explode! Each child took a balloon filled with baking soda and put it on top of the bottle filled with vinegar. When the baking soda shook out of the balloon and mixed with the vinegar the balloon inflated. How did this happen? Mr. John explained that when the baking soda and vinegar mixed a gas called carbon dioxide was made. This gas filled up the balloon. Our next experiment included eggs, salt water, and fresh water. We wanted to find out what would happen to an egg put in salt water and an egg put in fresh water. Would the egg float or sink? Many of the children guessed that either the eggs would float or sink. The children took turns placing eggs into each water. Each time, the egg placed in salt water floated, and the egg placed in fresh water sank. Mr. John explained the concept of density. The salt water was more dense so the egg was pushed to the top. The fresh water was less dense so the egg sank. There was nothing to push the egg to the top. In art class, we first learned what an artist was and what they do. Ms. Michele asked if certain things in the classroom were types of art. Our first artist we learned about was Eric Carle. The children learned that Eric Carle is an author who illustrates his books by making tissue paper collages. What is a collage? A collage is a picture made up of other pieces of paper and other pictures. Ms. Michele showed the children different textures and how to rub them onto tissue paper to make different designs. Once the children had their textured tissue paper, they glued them down to make an animal like Eric Carle. We also learned all about primary colors. The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. If you mix two primary colors together you get a different color! The artist Piet Mondrian painted with primary colors to fill in different shapes. The children first glued down popsicle sticks to make shapes like rectangles, squares, and triangles. Then, they used primary colors to paint in their shapes like Mondrian. We are looking forward to the month ahead in Art class!