Mr. John’s Corner – March 2014

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Cuyahoga Falls School

Line Time Lessons

Ms. Dana and Ms. Kathleen have never missed a beat and are a great support to me in the classroom; we can’t believe we are heading into the home stretch! It has been a great year together and with your children!

To begin this month, we visited the Ancient Romans and found they wore the toga, built the coliseum, and their most famous person was Julius Caesar.   Our students had fun one afternoon building their own Roman Arches from sugar cubes. Our students were very fascinated by Roman Mythology. We learned the Greeks Gods had Roman counterparts.

Jupiter was the king of all Gods. The God of the sea was named Neptune and the God of the Underworld was known as Pluto. The God of War was named Mars. Goddesses existed as well. Juno was the queen of all Goddesses. Venus was the Goddess of Love. Minerva was the Goddess of Wisdom. Many students noticed that many of the Gods were named after planets or the planets were named after the Gods. Mythical creatures existed such as the faun. The faun was a creature that was half man/ half goat. The griffin was the most interesting to the students. It was a creature that had a head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. It was known to guard treasures and built their nests out of gold.

We then learned a little about pollution. Pollution is something that is harmful to our environment. Some students used the word “toxic” to the environment. We learned that “ground pollution” was known as litter. We know not just to toss a plastic bottle or a candy wrapper on the ground but instead put it in a trash can or recycle. Water pollution can come from oil spills or factories dumping their toxic waste into the water. Fish and other water creatures such as ducks do not like this. Air pollution is caused by factories and cars. We all agreed any kind of pollution is gross, disgusting, and probably smells. And no one thought noise pollution was good for the environment.


Students have also been talking about what it means to be a friend with Ms. Dana and Ms. Kathleen in the afternoon and enjoyed working together to build a friendship web. This is a group activity that teaches our students how to communicate their feelings, and pick out positive characteristics in people.We then dove into the ocean and found the oceans are all salt water and have some pretty cool animals. We all knew there were water mammals such as dolphins, and whales. There are also some invertebrates such as the octopus, squid and seahorse. We know that the oceans and any water forms are very important to the Earth. We get our water, food and oxygen from our water forms.

We also took a field trip to the Art Museum this month!  Thank you to all of our parents who volunteered to drive and help us at our visit.  It was a great trip!

 

Our classroom was visited this month by some very mischievous leprechauns. We were greeted by tipped tables, stacked chairs, and paper strewn across the room. Although the room was a mess the cheeky little leprechauns did leave gold coin candy for the children to take home!
Cultural Subjects

The class has been counting to 10 in twenty-eight different languages, English (that is our native language), Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Japanese, Greek, Arabic w/Lebanese dialect, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Hebrew, Swedish, Korean, Polish, Hungarian, Tagalog, Hebrew, Korean, Polish, Irish, Kiswahili, Welsh, Dutch/Flemish, Serbo-Croatian, Cebuano, Malay, and Hindi.Kindergarten Lesson
We ended our math unit by learning more shapes such as the quatrefoil, oval, and ellipse. We looked at some three dimensional shapes such as the ovoid, ellipsoid, rectangular and triangular prisms, square and triangle based pyramids.We began our grammar unit by learning our five vowels and what isn’t a vowel is a consonant. Then we looked at the noun and verb. Nouns are people, places, and things. Verbs are action words or something you can do. Even if you sleep….. Sleep is a verb!

The Kindergartners now can count to 10 in twenty-eight languages…English (that is our native language), Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Japanese, Greek, Arabic w/Lebanese dialect, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Hebrew, Swedish, Korean, Polish, Hungarian, Tagalog, Hebrew, Korean, Hungarian, Polish, Irish, Kiswahili, Welsh, Dutch/Flemish, Serbo-Croatian, Cebuano, Malay, Hindi.

Ms. Kristen’s Corner – March 2014

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Cuyahoga Falls School

This month was a busy month in our classroom! We have been learning a lot (myself included) and the children are working very hard!

We started off the month of March by learning about Dr. Seuss and his life. We learned that his real name was Theodore Seuss Giesel. We also learned that he became good at rhyming because he and his mother played rhyming games and made up silly words together when he was a child. We also read some of his famous stories such as “The Cat In The Hat”, “And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street”, “The Lorax”, and “The Sneeches”.  We even had fun in class making our own “Dr. Seuss” book. Ms. Kim brought in some “rhyming words” cards with different pictures on them. I then asked the children one by one to come up and find two cards with pictures of objects that rhymed. Next, the children came up with a rhyming sentence using those two words. We then turned those sentences into a book and drew pictures to illustrate the sentences. The children had so much fun making their own book!

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The second week in March, we began discussing our world. Going from biggest to smallest, we discussed how we all live on the planet Earth, on the continent of North America, and how we all live in the United States. Next, we all live in Ohio, and then many of us live in Cuyahoga Falls (or in the surrounding cities), and how all of us go to Absorbent Minds Montessori School! We then learned about the continent of North America. I started the week off by introducing the North American puzzle map to the children during our morning line time. We put each country back in place one at a time and went over the names of the countries. We also 1074discussed that English and Spanish are the main languages spoken in North America, the exceptions being Haiti, where they speak Creole, and parts of Canada, where they speak French. Also, in learning about North America, we learned about Ohio and that it is the state where we live. We learned that the Cardinal is our state bird. Ms. Kim also did a fun craft with the children where we made Cardinals out of paper plates. Next, we learned 1073there are many people who farm or who work in factories in Ohio as well. We also learned that the Buckeye Tree is our state tree. We also found out that there is also a famous astronaut from Ohio, John Glenn! We then “traveled” to Mexico. We learned that people in Mexico speak Spanish and often eat rice and beans and beef and vegetables. We also learned that flour tortillas are often place on the table at meal times in Mexico. Students enjoyed eating tortilla chips and salsa while listening to authentic Mariachi music!  We also enjoyed reading about the ancient Aztec and Mayan peoples, who were the ancient native people of Mexico. We also learned that they built pyramids in Mexico. Students were taught a pyramid is a square based triangle.

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During the third week of March, we focused on the continent of South America. We learned about the countries of Peru and Brazil. We discussed how Brazilians speak Portuguese, which is a language similar to Spanish and how they celebrate “Carnival.” This is where the Brazilian people wear brightly colored costumes and decorate beautiful, colorful parade floats. We also learned about the Amazon Rainforest and the different kinds of animals that live there, such as the tapirs, the jaguar, and the spider monkey. We also learned that the Llama lives in the Andes Mountains in Peru, and people in Peru often raise them as livestock!

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I encourage you as parents to take time with your child this month and ask them about what they have learned about the countries and continents. Maybe take time and cook a traditional Mexican dish as a family. Go to the library and find books to read with your child about animals that live in the Amazon, or go to the Zoo now that the weather is becoming warmer and find animals from the continents we have learned about.

As always, it is a pleasure and a joy teaching your children! We have fun every day learning from each other in our classroom!

 

Ms. Kate’s Corner – March 2014

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Cuyahoga Falls School

March was a busy month for us. The children had fun talking about Dr. Seuss, learning about different artists, and exploring the Rain Forest. We also had fun celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day.

The first week was all about Dr. Seuss. Throughout the week the children came to school dressed in crazy & mismatched socks, hats and backwards clothes! The first few days we concentrated on rhyming activities; the first activity was a rhyming ball game. I placed different words onto a ball and the children had to throw the ball to one another. When a friend caught the ball they were able to pick out a word and identify another word that rhymes with it. 1070The children loved this activity! During the second activity, I wrote out a number of sentences from The Cat in the Hat and placed note cards at the end of every other sentence. The children had to guess what word was under the note card that rhymed with the last word of the sentence. I was super impressed at how well they knew the rhyming word!  We also played a noun game this month.  Students were introduced to the symbol used to label a noun (black triangle). We would begin the game by pulling out our large black triangle. I would ask them to, “find me pencil.”  They then went to explore the room for that noun to place on our black triangle.  Throughout that week we went down in the kitchen and cooked green eggs and ham and then had a taste test. We then graphed who liked what better. For the last activity we focused on four sight words, “I, and, the, & that.” Four students came up at a time. As I was reading The Cat in the Hat my four friends had to keep a tally on the sight words that we were looking for. At the end of the book we counted up the tally marks to see which sight words were used most in the story. At the end of the week the children made a Cat in the Hat hat to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday. It was a very fun week!

1068Some of our students began to take off with our grammar farm this month.  The grammar farm is used to teach parts of speech. Students build a sentence (noun, verb, adjective, article etc) using the objects on the farm. They have really enjoyed working with this new material in the classroom.

The theme for our second week was, Art Appreciation. This week we focused on different artists and their works. The children were able to create their own works from the artists they learned about. The first day we learned all about Claude Monet. We discussed landscapes and why he chose to only draw them. We also learned about oil pastels and how to blend them. The children then created their own landscape while using oil pastels. On the second day, we discussed Pablo Picasso and his different Periods. The children learned about his Blue period and how he was very sad. We also talked about his Rose period where he fell in love and became very happy and all of his paintings were a rosy hue. We then went over his angry period, where all of his paintings were a bit scary. I showed them how he would drew faces in a different way and how all of his drawings were different. The children1067 then drew self-portraits, cut their pictures up and created their own Picasso. The next thing we learned about was Mosaic art. The children learned the history behind the art, why they did art this why, and the different materials people used to make a mosaic. The children then made a mosaic heart out of little colored paper squares. They turned out fantastic! The children also had a lot of fun learning, exploring, and doing different types of Art with Ms. Ashley!

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The last week we explored the Rain Forest. The children learned about the four layers of the rain forest which are The Forest Floor, The Understory Layer, The canopy Layer, and the Emergent Layer. The children learned about which animals and creatures lived in which layer. We also went over the insects and animals they would find and why they are becoming extinct. Throughout this lesson we also talked about things that we use that come from the rain forest such as wood for our furniture, fruits, coffee beans, and rubber to make rubber bands. For the preschool lesson, Ms. Ashley did awesome rain forest Art projects! We also had a very special leprechaun visit our room. The children had so much fun going on a shamrock hunt and finding all of his gold coins he left for them!
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Ms. Brandy’s Corner – March 2014

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Tallmadge School

The month of March began with a flurry of art activities. Students added the beautiful finishing touches to their paper mache globes and imaginary islands we had been working on in our geography studies. We also placed the last of our human organs on each student’s body tracing project. Origami was a very popular activity as students designed patterns made from.
1084 origami boats, butterflies, and birds. These patterns were framed and part of our auction. Along with several masterpieces constructed in Art class with Ms. Michele, the students proudly displayed their handiwork at our annual Art Extravaganza.

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We completed the book Robinson Crusoe in February. Each student chose a final project about the story.

Many of them built Crusoe’s island or his house, while others wrote their own adventure stories. Crusoe at the end of

Each student then presented their project to the class, explaining each detail of their design. It was a great project!

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Geometry has continued to be focus for all of us. Typically geometry is not thought of as a subject of study for children in grades 1-3, but Dr. Montessori wanted to open up the child’s mind to the world of mathematics. Along with arithmetic, geometry and algebra are all expressions of the same “mathematical mind” Dr. Montessori desired each child to develop. Geometry is the link in the child’s mind between thinking arithmetically (specific quantities) and thinking in algebraic formulae (generalized ideas/rules of solving algebraic problems).

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This is why geometry is so important in our classroom: geometry made specific becomes arithmetic; geometry made general becomes algebra. This month we focused on the study of lines and angles. Students learned that a line is not just a line, but can go on forever, unless cut, then it is a ray, with a distinct origin. We labeled several parts of lines and built them using our Box of Sticks. Next we discovered relationships between lines that are parallel, convergent and divergent. We made up stories about two friends who were walking on these lines to help us remember that convergent lines come together and divergent lines separate. We even drew little stick people to place on the lines we built.

Research is a wonderful way for children to explore and discover. Children are full of questions and they ask them almost constantly. In our classroom, students are encouraged to look up the answers to their questions, first in a book J, then online. It is rare that I just answer their questions. If I answer them, I become the resource, but if the child discovers the answer themselves, not only will they remember it, but they will become resourceful themselves.

This month we began a research project on the Natural Wonders of the World. Each student chose a natural wonder to research and, with a partner, wrote a research paper and skit, as well as designed a display board showcasing their discoveries. The Natural Wonders selected were The Grand Canyon, The Amazon Rainforest, Djavolja Varos (unique rock formations in Serbia), Victoria Falls, Mount Everest, The Great Barrier Reef, and The Aurora Australis (southern lights). The students will present their research skits at our International Festival on April 25th.

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Ms. Kristen’s Corner – February 2014

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Cuyahoga Falls School

by Ms. Kristen Minnich

The month of February was a busy month in our classroom. The children worked very hard, and we learned a lot in just a month!During the first week of February, we talked about Groundhog Day! The children enjoyed learning about groundhogs and making their own groundhog puppet to take home. The children also enjoyed watching the video coverage from the previous day to see if the groundhog saw his shadow. We were sad to learn that he did see his shadow, but we know spring will be here soon enough!

We also talked about dental health in our classroom since it was National Children’s Dental Health Month. We discussed the different ways we can take care of our teeth by brushing, flossing, and eating healthy food. The children also had fun brushing pretend teeth!

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We also talked about our pets and how to best care for specific pets. The children loved Ms. Kim’s guessing game where she described a pet and the children had to guess which animal she was referring to. We also graphed how many of the children had dogs, cats, and fish.

A big topic of conversation this month in our classroom was the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The children enjoyed discussing the different sports they watched with their families on television. Many of the children expressed that they would love to learn to ice skate or ski so they could one day go to the Olympics. We also kept track of many gold, silver, and bronze medals the United States won. In total, we won nine gold medals, seven silver medals, and twelve bronze medals! We even watched a video of a medal ceremony and talked about how important that moment is for an athlete.

1044During the second week, we learned all about Abraham Lincoln and his life. We explained that Abraham Lincoln was our president and that he wanted everyone to be free. We discussed that because Abraham Lincoln was such a wonderful president, his picture is on our penny and the Lincoln Memorial was built in his honor.

We also discussed penguins and penguin facts with the children. We discussed how penguins are black and white in order to protect them from predators in the ocean, such as whales and seals. We also learned that not all penguins live in cold climates and that some actually live where it is hot! The children also had lots of fun making a penguin craft with Ms. Kim!

During the third week, we discussed the job of the President of The United States and where he lives, and he is only able to be elected president twice. The children were amazed to find out that the White House has one-hundred and thirty-two rooms! We also learned that our current president’s name is Barack Obama.

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We also learned what it means to be patriotic and reviewed some of our national symbols, such as the bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty, etc. We then learned about the Pledge of Allegiance and what the words in the pledge mean.

1047We then celebrated George Washington’s birthday by learning about his life. We learned that he was the first president of our country and that his picture is on the quarter and the one-dollar bill. Also, we learned about the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. That was built in his honor.

The last week of the month was we focused on fairy tales. We read Goldilocks and The Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, The Gingerbread Man, and The Tortoise and The Hare and talked about the morals and values we can take away from each story. We then wrote our own fairy tale, which was very fun!

As a closing thought, I would encourage you to take time with your child this month to review what they have learned in the classroom. Continue to discuss more with them what it means to be patriotic. Include them in the taking care of your pet. Maybe walk the dog, feed the cat, or clean out the fish bowl together. Read fairy tales with your child. Reading to your child will also foster their love for reading!

Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your child’s education and development! It is truly a joy to teach them!

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Ms. Courtney’s Corner – February 2014

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Tallmadge School

The first week in February we had a blast talking about all the different types of farm animals and what each farm animal provides for us. We talked about where milk comes from and the children got to practice milking a cow. The children discovered how a chick hatches from an egg. On science day we took four raw eggs and placed them into different liquids (vinegar, tea, water, and kool-aid,) we left the eggs in the liquid over the weekend for a couple of days and then looked at the different effects the substances had on the egg.

The second week of February the children learned about all the varieties of pets and how to care for them. We matched mother animals to their baby animal. The children made a tasty fish bowl snack using Jell-O and gummy fish. We set out different materials like feathers, macaroni, pipe cleaners etc. and watched the children create their very own pet to care for. To wrap the week up the children made Valentine’s Day picture frames for their moms and dads out of popsicle sticks and puzzle pieces.

 The third week of February the children learned how Washington was a great man, the father of our country, who led in war and peace. They discovered that Abraham Lincoln is on the penny with the help of field students from the University of Akron. The children talked about what they think life is like for the Obama family in the White House. For science we inflated balloons using lemon juice and baking soda and the children learned when you mix the two together it creates carbon dioxide and the gas rises up and escapes the bottle feeling the balloon.

The last week of February we started off by doing a sorting activity with different pictures of foods. We had a sad tooth full of
tooth decay from sweets and soda. Then we had a happy tooth that was shiny and bright from brushing and eating healthy foods. We talked about cavities and cut a hole in an apple to show us how a little hole in your teeth can get pretty yucky inside. I boiled an egg in tea and stained it brown then showed the kids a white egg and the brown egg. The children took turns brushing the dirty egg (like a dirty tooth) with real toothpaste and it turned white again. We did a science experiment with cardboard and water. We filled a glass up with water and then placed the cardboard over top and turned the cup upside down and even though the cup of water is was upside down the water stayed in place defying gravity!

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Mr. John’s Corner – February 2014

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Cuyahoga Falls School

February we started off studying Internal Organs.  We learned the brain is the control center of your body that sends and receives.  Our lungs help us breathe, the heart pumps our blood and the stomach begins to digest our food with acid.  The small intestines digest the food and send nutrients to the rest of our body and the large intestines push through the waste that creates our bowel movements. The children were fascinated that our kidneys process the body’s water and the liver filters toxins.  The children learned where the organs are located with the help of our Living Internal Organ T-shirt.  The shirt helped the children find the organs location by velcroing the organs to the corresponding spot on the t-shirt.

The following week we learned about George Washington and how he was our first president and how Abraham Lincoln came from a poor family and freed the slaves.  We were introduced to Franklin F. Roosevelt and how he was president during World War II and how John F. Kennedy fought for equal rights.  We then learned that Barack Obama was current president and the first African American president. The children were taught that the president’s wives are called the first lady and that the president lives in the white house in Washington DC, and flies on a jet called Air Force 1.  We discussed what responsibilities the President has.  The children came up with keeping us safe, keeping the world safe and running the country.  Many coloring pages were used as well as coloring pages to help identify which president is on what coin.
We went back in time to discover some ancient cultures.  First, we went to ancient Egypt and learned that their kings were called Pharaohs and when the Pharaohs died they used a process called mummification to preserve their bodies.  We saw that the mummies on Scooby Doo were not the same as the mummies of the ancient Egyptians!  The Pharaohs were sent to the after-world with gold, jewels and treasured personal items.  The ancient Egyptians built the pyramids and the sphinx and used hieroglyphics to write stories.
We visited Mt. Olympus and met some gods and goddesses.  We met Zeus the god of the sky and the heavens.  He rode a winged horse called Pegasus and if you angered Zeus he would throw a lightning bolt at you.  We went to the depths of the ocean and met Poseidon.  Poseidon was the god of the seas.  He rode a chariot pulled by horses and carried a trident.  Stay on the good side of him if you want to sail safely across the ocean.  Then we met Hades the god of the underworld and of the dead.  He liked when people died because he thought he would be stronger with more people to rule and he had a three headed dog on a leash.  We discovered there were some very interesting mythical creatures in ancient Greece, the Centaur that had the body of a horse and chest and head of a man.  The Cyclopes were giant one eyed creatures who fought for Zeus and made Zeus’s lightning bolts. Finally we learned the name of the three headed dog of Hades.  It was known as Cerberus and it guarded the gates of the underworld.


Cultural Subjects
The class has been counting to 10 in twenty-six different languages, English (that is our native language), Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Japanese, Greek, Arabic w/Lebanese dialect, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Hebrew, Swedish, Korean, Polish, Hungarian, Tagalog, Hebrew, Korean, Hungarian, Polish, Irish, Kiswahili, Welsh, Dutch/Flemish, and Serbo-Croatian.


Kindergarten Lesson

We started out the month introducing addition using the golden beads.  The introduction of beads shows the kindergarteners a solid correspondence between the written symbol and physical quantity. We also discussed what tools could be used in their own classroom to help with addition, such as the table top rods, color bead bars and addition strip board.  We briefly touched upon dynamic addition with exchanges (carry overs).  We then introduced multiplication.  I explained multiplication is simply adding many times. We introduced fractions the last week of the month. We learned that we can divide anything as long as it can be divided into equal parts.  Even our kindergarten class can be divided!  We divided our class from girls/boys, Mr. John’s, Ms. Kate’s, and Ms. Sabrina’s class, and eye color.We then learned about different shapes.  We knew that a triangle has three sides but we learned that a triangle with three equal sides is called an equilateral triangle, with two equal sides is an isosceles, and with no equal sides it is called a scalene triangle. Any shape with four sides is a quadrilateral.  Some examples include a square, rectangle, rhombus, trapezoid, and a chevron.  We realized that the Greek language was very important when learning about the pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, nonagon, and decagon.

The Kindergarteners now can count to 10 in thirty different languages…English (that is our native language), Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Japanese, Greek, Arabic w/Lebanese dialect, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Hebrew, Swedish, Korean, Polish, Hungarian, Tagalog, Hebrew, Korean, Hungarian, Polish, Irish, Kiswahili, Welsh, Dutch/Flemish, Serbo-Croatian, Cebuano, Malay, and Hindi.

Ms. Kate’s Corner – February 2014

Written by

Cuyahoga Falls School

This month was super busy for our classroom. Throughout the month of February we learned all about community helpers! The children really enjoyed doing a variety of activities and having special guests visit our classroom. Some of our visitors included a nurse, geologist, dentist, a toy designer, business owner of WebDesign499 and a police officer!

During the first week we lead a discussion about what a community helper was and what they do for us. Next, we brainstormed all of the community helpers we could think of and jotted our answers down on chart paper. The following day we did an activity called, “Helping Hands Writing Chart.” Each child 
1032was given a paper hand and was able to write out a community helper and what they do for us. The children were then able to decorate their hand and hang it on the wall. Over the next couple of days we talked about Doctors and nurses and what they do for us, tools they use, the different places they can work and the clothes they have to wear. Also, during that time we had a special nurse visitor come in and show the children the different tools they use and the her job at the hospital. We also went over the similarities and differences between a veterinarian and doctor. During that week I presented how to address an envelope and we practiced together. 
1037The second week was all about police officers, fire fighters, stranger danger, and “stop, drop, and roll.” The first book I read was a special book about police officers and what they do for us. We then added onto our web about the things  we learned so far. Ainsley said, “They have to have a partner so that they can be safe when they go out on calls.” Riley said, “They have people that dress like us called detectives,” and Zachary called out, “If you need help and are lost you can go to them.” I loved hearing the children retain so much of the information!  The next day we had a special Police Officer visitor! He came in and talked to the children about his job, and the different tools that he uses. He then passed around all of the different items that he has to carry on a daily basis. He was very informative with the children. Throughout that week we learned how to “stop, drop, and roll” and played a game called “Below the Smoke.” With this game some of the children had to hold up a sheet and move it up and down like smoke and one child at a time had to crawl the proper way under the smoke. 
1048The last day we visited a fire station. The children were able to see all of the tools that they use on a fire truck, where they eat and sleep, their fire suits, and the different jobs that need to be done. It was a great field trip!! A fun activity for kids would be a trampoline and one should check the best 14 foot trampolines.

1035The third week we had two special visitors. The first day was all about nurses. One of our parents came in and talked about what a nurse does, the different places a nurse can work, and the different tools they use. She then shared her stethoscope and the children were all able to come up one by one and listen to their heartbeat! The second visitor we had during the week was a toy designer. This parent came in and talked to the children about how a toy is designed and where they are produced. It was interesting to see all of her sketches and then her final products. As you might guess, the children loved playing with her toys! 
1033The last week we focused on bakers, chefs, and what you need to have in order to own a restaurant. During this time the children learned that bakers have to be at work before the sun comes up so that people will have their breakfast. They also learned that bread, rolls, muffins, cakes, and cookies come from a bakery; the different tools they use and what kind of education they require. We also talked about the restaurant business and the different types of restaurants that are out there. Our last visitor was a geologist. During her visit she talked about rocks and how they are formed, where you can find rocks, and the many different kinds out there. She then read the children a book about the ten rules for picking out the perfect rock. She then gave each child a small pile of rocks and they were able to pick out two rocks that were their favorite. It was a really awesome visit and the children loved it!!!
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A big thanks to all of the parents that came in and talked to our class about their careers. It was very interesting and our students learned a lot!! 

Ms. Brandy’s Corner – February 2014

Written by

Tallmadge School

Our class on customer service training has been going on a wild and courageous adventure with the great Robinson Crusoe throughout the month of February. Before reading each student made a list of what they thought they would need if they were stranded on a deserted island. I was impressed with many of the items. Several students said they would bring weapons for hunting food, seeds to plant crops and a dog or cat for companionship. Other items that made the lists were an iPad, a game system and favorite stuffed animals. We then discussed that a deserted island most likely would not have electricity, which was extremely disappointing to our tech-savvy students.

1017As we journeyed around the globe with Crusoe, students were asked if they would make the same choices he did throughout the story. The class was split when deciding to leave their families or stay home at the beginning, but as the journey progressed, each child became more and more excited about the adventures. We finished the story last week and students are now working on building models of Crusoe’s island and home or writing their own adventure story. Stay tuned for photos of their projects next month!

We have also focused on human anatomy this past month in biology. Children were fascinated to learn about the inner workings of their bodies, especially their heart and brain. As we read books about each organ students asked questions and researched their answers. We learned the names of each lobe of the brain and their functions. We learned how to use a stethoscope and check our heart rates. Students loved checking their heart rate, doing an activity, and then re-checking their heart rate to see what happened.

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In our Geometry studies students have been focusing on types of triangles and angles. We read a story about how geometry came to be and have been using our infamous Box of Sticks to create the seven different triangles (right-angled isosceles, right-angled scalene, acute-angled isosceles, acute-angled scalene, obtuse-angled isosceles, obtuse-angled scalene, and equilateral equiangular.)

1050Excitement overflows each Monday afternoon as students prepare for their Latin class with Magister Tom (Mr. Tom McCaffrey). I have been so proud of each child as they answer Magister Tom’s questions about English words derived from Latin and their ability to remember, from week to week, their new Latin vocabulary. They have learned simple greetings, feminine and masculine forms of nouns and verbs, as well as plural forms. This past week, their favorite activity was answering questions in Latin. Magister Tom would ask, “Quis est?” and point to the table. Every hand shot up in excitement to answer “Est mensa.” They can say over 30 words after just a couple of lessons and their pronunciation is fantastic! We have made labels for our classroom in Latin and students enjoy reading the label and placing it in the correct spot.

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One goal of mine is to provide the children with several experiences outside of the classroom. This past month we went to Playhouse Square in Cleveland to see a show called Dino-Light. This was a show done without words, using only light and music to convey the emotions of the characters. The story was about a scientist who built a dinosaur, but the dinosaur was missing a heart. The scientist gave the dinosaur a heart in hopes he would became a kind and loving dinosaur. The scientist and his dinosaur were separated and they searched for each other throughout the play. In the end, the dinosaur defeated his foe to save the life of the scientist, thus showing his love. The play was fantastic, but my heart melted when we completed our “End of the Day Journal” entry and Annika said she had a lesson on friendship because the dinosaur in the play learned to love and care for another person, just like a true friend.

Brandy’s Corner – January 2014

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The Elementary Journey
When the child enters our elementary classroom, he will find himself in an environment full of knowledge waiting to be discovered. His academic studies will be challenged with the curriculum outlined below, and his life skills will be nurtured, allowing him to grow into the person he was created to be.

Life Skills
There is no tangible measurement of character, initiative or inner drive; yet these are the life skills your child will develop at Absorbent Minds Montessori School. Weekly and daily goal setting, encouraged and reinforced by the teacher, guides the work of the elementary student; thus creating a strong sense of ownership of their education. Responsibility has the power to educate through self-direction. Your child’s confidence and self-esteem will grow and flourish as he learns to challenge himself until he becomes proficient in a skill. This personal drive will catapult your child into a world of information where his work ethic will create the character he needs to become a truly great person.

Mathematics/Geometry
Every child uses the environment around him to learn, thus creating his Absorbent Mind. This, in conjunction with what we have discovered through current research of the hand constructing the neurological pathways of the brain, we can conclude, that mathematics is made easy if its roots can be implanted in the work of the hand that is developing the mind. Children are provided the opportunity to touch, feel and experience math. Every material takes the child on a tangible journey through operations, memorization, graphing, fractions, square and cube roots, the study of lines, angles, area, and equivalence. Through these experiences guided by the hand, each student discovers the process of how an answer is found, and gains an understanding of why an answer is correct.

Language
From birth, all children pass through a period in which they can only pronounce syllable; then in early childhood they pronounce whole words, and finally, as a young student they use to perfection all the rules of syntax and grammar. Our curriculum encompasses reading, print and cursive handwriting, spelling, grammar, creative writing, research, and oral presentation. Through stories, charts, timelines, purposefully created materials and carefully chosen books we enable the child to develop an understanding of language. Junior Great Books and studies of the Classics enrich each child’s reading experience. Discussions of life lessons learned from characters in stories such as Robinson Crusoe and Anne of Green Gables equips your child with creative thinking skills she will carry with her in all areas of life. “Learning to read and write becomes a delightful exercise, a loving guide to lead the child along pleasant pathways to the discovery of things he has actually performed. Yes, the child will suddenly find himself, one day, in possession of a little composition, a little ‘work of art,’ that has issued from his own pen!” (Maria Montessori. The Montessori Elementary Material.)

Biology/Physical Science
We believe curiosity is the foundation of all discovery. Our Montessori science curriculum seeks to cultivate the child’s natural curiosity and to allow children to discover the answers to all of their “why” questions. Through science we facilitate the child’s understanding and admiration for all living things and respect for our interconnectedness with nature. The universe and its parts are brought into your child’s hands through experimentation. Scientific study at Absorbent Minds Montessori School concentrates on the process of question, hypothesis, procedure, observation, data analysis and conclusion (the Scientific Method). This method teaches children to think before deciding, to use a logical method of discovery and testing, and to use data to evaluate results and arrive at a thoughtful conclusion. Along with the process, the science curriculum provides each child a basic knowledge of chemistry, matter, energy, simple machines, water, engineering, and magnetism.

Cultural Subjects (History/ Geography)
The imagination of the elementary child flourishes when information is presented in the form of a story. Historical stories have the power to awaken the child’s imagination and take him on a tour of creation. This introduction will grab the child’s attention and encourage him to research the areas he find most interesting. As children discover new places through history, their interest in Geography intensifies. They start asking “where,” “why,” and “how.” The natural thirst for knowledge drives the child’s cultural studies through the solar system, physical and economic geography, map reading, vexillology (study of flags), and the study of rocks, minerals and biomes.

“Education boils down to two things: the student putting in the work to educate himself, and the teacher getting the student’s attention long enough and deeply enough to get him started and help keep him going.” (Oliver DeMille. A Thomas Jefferson Education. 2009.) Absorbent Minds Montessori School believes the child creates his own mental muscles, using what he finds in the world around him to accomplish this task. We call this type of mentality “The Absorbent Mind.” Through our prepared environment and curriculum beginning in preschool continuing throughout 4th grade your child will be equipped to develop his mind, body and soul.