A Peek at Our Week in the Cherry Blossom Classroom!
We continued our classroom study of Fall and the change of seasons, with a focus this week on trees. We discussed the parts of a tree, as well as its life cycle. We even practiced being a tree as we practiced yoga and mindfulness.
This week was also our very first Wildlife Wednesday! On Wildlife Wednesdays we will travel outdoors, weather permitting, to explore all that nature can teach us. This week our focus was on the change of seasons and how that was effecting the trees. We were scientists using our five senses! We observed, took notes, and had a wonderful discussion about all of the changes we noticed!
We also had a new Enrichment begin this week! Our after school instructor Miss Emily will be visiting our class on Fridays to teach us American Sign Language! We practiced our letters and were introduced to the signs for colors. We already use some ASL signs during our day so we are very excited to learn more from Miss Emily this year!
The Cherry Blossom Class has been loving this warm fall weather!
Even firefighters have some learning to do! We were lucky enough to watch the firefighters practice using their hoses in our parking lot this week!
Peek Into Next Week!
We will continue to learn about Fall/Autumn, as well as study the Parts of a Leaf. We will be discussing why leaves are so important to trees and why they change colors in the fall.
Line Time: Reptiles- This week we learned about reptiles and what makes a reptile a reptile. Reptiles are vertebrates, cold blooded (body temperature changes to the temperature around them), they are born from hard shelled eggs and their skin is dry, with scales. Some examples of reptiles are snakes, turtles, and lizards. Below was my childhood Saturday TV entertainment (notice how it is in black and white?).
Who Is Afraid Of Snakes? I Ain’t Of No Snakes (tune of Ghost Busters)
Did You Know? Does hot water freeze faster than cold water? This is known as the Mpemba effect. Evaporation is the strongest candidate to explain the Mpemba effect. As hot water is placed in an open container the water begins to cool, the overall mass decreases as some of the water evaporates. With less water to freeze, the process can take less time. My thoughts is that it is a misnomer due to less ice is produced. But who am I to say?
October Birthdays: A Montessori classroom prides itself on a mixed aged classroom of ages between 2 1/2 and 6. Here is our newest 5 year old student.
A Message From Mr. John (How We Start Our day):
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 10 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic in the Lebanese Dialect, Italian).
Know Your Languages (Italian):
Peek In The Classroom:
This girl is working on the Ten Board which is a math material. These full size Séguin tens boards teach the child the number names, symbols and sequence from 10 to 99 and further strengthens the relationship between quantity and symbol.
A group of children are working on puzzle maps. The aim of the Puzzle Maps allow the child to physically see, hold, and trace sections of the world in order to identify each continent, country, and state that is represented in the puzzles. The knobs on each piece help strengthen fine motor skills.
She is working on a math material called The Nine Tray. The 9 Tray is an important lesson in the sequence of the golden bead work. It entails an elaborate set up, as well as mastery of building numbers, using unit beads, ten bars, hundred squares and thousand cubes. Allowing the children to concretely see the growth of numbers through the hierarchy of the decimal system it is a wonderful introduction to place value and organization of the ‘Golden Bead’ materials.
He was so proud.
Peek Into Next Week: Line Time- Amphibians
Letter Of The Week- H h
Rhyming Word Of The Week- bit
Next Language is Russian
Academic Enrichment: Weekly Theme: We looked at ten different land forms. We looked at the pairings of islands and lakes, bays and capes, peninsulas and gulfs, and chain of lakes and archipelago.
Kinders with their favorite landforms.
Handwriting: We practiced writing in cursive Vv, Ww, Xx
Next Week: Weekly Theme: Parts Of Animals
Synonym Of The Week: CALM, peaceful, quiet, inactive, serene, slow
Sight Words Of The Week: for with
Upcoming Events: Halloween Party- Friday, October 29, 2021 (details to follow)
Friends, Frolic, and Fun:
Cutey Patutey with earrings and fancy hair which stayed in place all day.
Two buddies missing A LOT of teeth.
I thought this was a Rorschach Test. She says it is a kitty. I see an scary clown. Everyone sees an scary clown, right? RIGHT?
Another one who knows what a camera is for.
Your Children Say The Darndest Things (My Sister Lily)
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).
Helping a friend with the Fall Classification activity!
Using tongs to transfer pumpkins into a pumpkin shaped ice tray.
Line Time: Mammals-This past week we learned about Mammals. Mammals are vertebrates (have a spine or backbone), warm blooded (their body temperature does not change), have hair or fur, live bearers, and eat/drink mother’s milk when young. Some mammals live in the water such as dolphins and whales. The only mammal that can fly is the bat! Cats, dogs, elephants, and rats are mammals. Oh, and people are mammals as well. “Are we not men? We are MAMMALS………. ”
I have to do this every year…. If you want to play Six Degrees Of Separation for DEVO, Mark Mothersbaugh’s (front man for DEVO) brother does the confirmation classes for my church. Also, I do childcare at the church and I have cared for his niece’s children. I know useless but interesting information. Bonus trivia: Mark Mothersbaugh went to Woodridge High School.
Did you know? Since football season is upon us it would be apropos to share this knowledge of the defensive term of “Blitz”. The term “Blitz” comes from the German word blitzkrieg, which means, “lightning war.” In World War II, the Germans employed this tactic which emphasized mobile forces attacking with speed and surprise.
A Message From Mr. John (Music Fills My Soul):
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 10 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic in the Lebanese Dialect).
Know Your Languages (Arabic With The Lebanese Dialect):
Peek In The Classroom:
This girl is working on the Number Rods that is found in the Math area. The Number Rods help children learn the names of numbers and their sequence and learn to correctly associate between the spoken number and its quantity. Children grow to understand that each rod represents a unique quantity and that each number is represented by a single object as a whole, separate from others.
She is working on the Table top Number Rods which is exactly the same as the above mentioned Number Rods but smaller.
This boy is working on the Introduction To The Decimal System. In the Decimal System, the children first explore the golden bead materials sensorially. They learn from concrete to abstract, combining the golden beads with the abstract color coded numerals, building their association of quantity and symbol. Notice how this boy has an very interested observer.
This boy is working on the Knobless Cylinders with the corresponding work named the Knobbed Cylinders. Do you notice how he is finding the relationship between the two works?
Peek Into Next Week: Line Time- Reptiles
Letter Of The Week- G g
Rhyming Word Of The Week- bid
Next Language is Italian
Academic Enrichment aka kindergarten: Biggest to smallest where we live- We discovered we live in the vast galaxy of the Milky Way (not the candy bar), then we are still in space and live in a group of planets called The Solar System. Then the planet we live is the planet Earth. Once we touched down we found we live in the Northwestern Hemisphere and live on the continent of North America. Once we found land we live in the country of The United States Of America and live in the great state of Ohio (Go Buckeyes). We all live in Summit County but live in different cities and have different addresses and phone numbers. What a journey it was!
Two students are missing and where did they go? They don’t know.
Handwriting: We practiced writing in cursive Ss, Tt, Uu
Next Week: Weekly Theme: Landforms
Synonym Of The Week: ACTIVE: lively, energetic, dynamic, vigorous
Sight Words Of The Week: you his
Upcoming Events: Picture Day- Tuesday, October 5, 2021
Halloween Party- Friday, October 29, 2021 (details to follow)
Frolic, Friends, and Fun:
I am not sure what is being discussed but I am afraid there is going to be a coup.
Friends!
Oh she knows when a camera is pointing her way.
Yah shoulda seen the other guy (her arm).
Your Kids Say The Darndest Things (I Like School):
A Peek at Our Week in the Cherry Blossom Classroom!
This week was all about Fall. We talked about all of the things we will notice as summer changes to fall. The temperature outside will become cooler, the leaves will change colors and fall from the trees. We talked about what different animals, like squirrels and birds, are doing to prepare for the change in seasons.
We also discussed the 4 Seasons this week. This is a topic we will return to several times this school year as we take the time to observe the world around us as it changes.
Also… Happy Birthday Ms. Sam! We hope you enjoy your special day!
Your Children Worked HARD This Week!
We saw our first signs of normalization within our classroom this week. “Normalization is the foundation upon which ‘spontaneous discipline, continuous and happy work, social sentiments of help and sympathy for others.…’ (The Absorbent Mind) arise. It is a time where children learn to focus and concentrate their energies for long periods of time, while taking personal satisfaction in their work.”
While the plan may have been to study the seasons, your children had other interests in mind. For them, this week was all about letter sounds, sand trays, and the continents! So we followed their lead, introduced them to some new work activities, and watched as the amount of time they are able to focus on a work grew and grew. Ms. Sam and Ms. Tonya are so proud of our Cherry Blossoms!
This child is using the Sand Tray with the Sandpaper Numbers to practice writing the numerals with her finger.
This child is using the Sand Tray with the Cursive Sandpaper Letters to prepare for handwriting.
This child is reviewing the letters and letter sounds that we have been working on in the classroom. He is using his knowledge of letter sounds to place the picture under the sound that the word begins with.
Ms. Tonya introducing a child to the Moveable Alphabet. This child is using her knowledge of letter sounds to sound out the words “cat”, “car”, and “rat” using pictures as a guide.
This child is being introduced to the names of the continents using the Continent Globe and the World Map Puzzle.
Ms. Tonya introducing a child to an extension with the World Map Puzzle. Now that this child is comfortable with the map of the continents, he can trace them to create his own map.
Check out that map! Do I also spy the word “World” written on the top in cursive?!?
Work Plans are still going well in our classroom with our older students! Some of the children have begun to write their own work choices onto their work plan!
Peek Into Next Week!
We will continue to learn about about Fall/Autumn, as well as study the Parts of a Tree. We will spend some extra time outside this week as we observe some of the trees around our school building.
Letter: Ee
Number: 5
Sight Word: is
PICTURE DAY is on Tuesday, October 5th!
For Parents that signed up to be a party helper – look for the Halloween Party Sign Up in your email soon! Halloween Party with be on Friday, October 29th!
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.
Having fun counting apples on an apple tree! (Equating Numbers with their corresponding symbols)
Exploring the linear sequence of numbers.
Fun with the phonetic sounds (letters)! Moveable Alphabet work.
Using the dropper to transfer water!Cylinder Block extension activity and memory training activity! Grading knobbed cylinders from a distance.
A Peek at Our Week in the Cherry Blossom Classroom!
This week was all about PUMPKINS. We held them, danced around them, read about them, and discussed their life cycle all week long. But the best part about learning about pumpkins is getting to visit a real life pumpkin patch at Ramseyer Farms!
A new enrichment for us this week – Library with Ms. Cat! We will visit the library here at Absorbent Minds every 3 weeks. Ms. Cat talked to us about the library, introduced us to the vocabulary words: cover, spine, and author. We even went on a bear hunt and practiced mindfulness by pretending to be a tree.
In the classroom, we introduced work plans to our older students. Work plans are an important organization tool for students in the Montessori classroom. We have listed the different academic areas of the classroom on the work plan, with pictures that match the labels on our shelves. The students use their work plan to help them choose a work from each area of the classroom. They then place a checkmark on their work plan and periodically check in with a teacher who assists with writing down the name of the work. Students will be using work plans daily in Kindergarten and the Elementary classroom, and the work plans we use in our classroom are a wonderful, age appropriate, introduction!
Peek Into Next Week!
We will be learning all about Fall/Autumn and the Seasons. We are very excited to watch the leaves change colors and fall from the trees.
Line Time: Living and Non-Living- This week we talked about living and non-living things. Your children now know what makes a living thing. All living things reproduce, grow, eat or take in nutrients, breathe or exchange gases, and need water. We are all in agreement that plants, animals, trees, grass, are living things! My shoe is not a living thing nor am I at 5:00 am. Some of the parents are not living until they have had their coffee. My youngest son’s shoes may or may not be living. I do not get close enough to tell due to the smell and I may have seen them move on their own…. Boys that are 15 1/2 years old, SMH.
Fun Fact: No Mosquitos In Iceland? Iceland is one of the few habitable places on the planet that is mosquito free and nobody really seems to know why. It’s not nearly as cold as Antarctica, which is so frigid that mosquitoes (and people, for that matter) could never survive exposure to the elements there for long. There is only ONE mosquito in Iceland and is it the one that has lived in a jar of alcohol at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History ever since the 1980s, when a scientist captured it in an airplane.
A Message From Mr. John (My Conundrum):
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 8 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese)
Know Your Languages (Japanese):
Peek In The Classroom:
Ms. Angela observing/giving a lesson with a student on Sandpaper Numbers. The direct purpose of the Sandpaper Numbers is to teach children the symbols that represent each number, allowing them to visually identify any number from 0 – 9. In Montessori education this is specifically taught separately to counting from 0 – 9, where children often fall back on rote memorization.
She is working on the Sand Paper Letters. The direct purpose of the sandpaper letters is to teach the child the sounds of the alphabet by means of muscular and visual memory. The indirect purposes of the sandpaper letters are preparation for reading and writing. The sandpaper letters are an exciting and important material for the children to discover. Also, look at the concentration of the students in the background.
Another look at the focus of the child rolling a mat. Rolling and unrolling the mat is one of the preliminary activities children learn in the class. The mats are used every day and they help to define a child’s work space. Rolling and unrolling the mat promotes co-ordination of movement, development of muscles and concentration. Look how straight this mat is.
This boy is working on his Kindergarten Binder. He is writing from 1 to 100. Then he will progress to writing 101 to 200 and so on.
Peek Into Next Week: Line Time- Mammals
Letter Of The Week- F f
Rhyming Word Of The Week- big
Next Language is Arabic with the Lebanese Dialect
Academic Enrichment aka kindergarten: Since we live in the great state of Ohio I felt it was needed to become familiar with the states that surround our home state. We started with Ohio which is the Buckeye State and the abbreviation is OH. We then looked at the state to the east of us named Pennsylvania (not Transylvania) which is called the Keystone State and the abbreviation is PA. We traveled south and discovered West Virginia which is the Mountain State and the abbreviation is WV. Moving to the west we ran into Kentucky which is the Blue Grass State and the abbreviation is KY. Moving more westward is Indiana or the Hoosier State (what is a Hoosier anyway?) and the abbreviation is IN. To my chagrin I introduced the students to TSUN. I can not bring myself to even say the name…. xichigan wolverine state.
Let us end not on a low note like the last sentence in the previous paragraph and present the “official” things for the state of Ohio…
Mammal: White Tail Deer Fossil: Trilobite Tree: Buckeye Bird: Cardinal Flower: Red Carnation Drink: Tomato Juice Rock Song: Hang On Sloopy
***** Notice how most of these things refer to Buckeye Football/ being red or scarlet. Also, why does Hang On Sloopy have importance to Buckeye Football? *****
The state of Ohio has one football team…. O-H!
Handwriting: We practiced writing in cursive Pp Qq Rr
Next Week: Weekly Theme: From biggest to smallest and smallest to biggest (Milky Way to your street address).
Synonym Of The Week: SAD: miserable, gloomy, depressing, downtrodden, glum, unhappy
Sight Words Of The Week: from he
Upcoming Events: Picture Day- Tuesday, October 5, 2021
Halloween Party- Friday, October 29, 2021 (details to follow)
Frolic, Friends, and Fun:
Cleveland Indians eye wear.
This picture was a hard sell but a great dancing photobomb.
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!
Learning to use an eye dropper to transfer water!
Comparing height with the Number Rods!
Working on the Cylinder Blocks!
Making new friends!!Geography work with the U.S.A, Puzzle Map!
Line Time:
Food Groups, This week we had fun learning about the food groups in our class. Grains and Cereals (pasta, rice, bread, cereal, crackers), Fruit (apples, grapes, kiwi, mango which is my favorite), Vegetables (cucumbers, carrots, potato, broccoli, eggplant, which is my favorite) Dairy (my favorite… milk, cheese {I love cheese/smoked gouda}, yogurt), meats (beef, pork, chicken), and proteins, fats and sugars and how many servings we should have per day.
Fun Fact: Sea otters hold hands while they sleep. This ridiculously cute behavior is an effort to avoid floating away from their partner while they sleep. Sometimes they hold hands in groups, producing a “raft.”
A Message From Mr. John:
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 7 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek)
Know Your Languages:
Peek In The Classroom:
Ms. Angela working on handwriting with pre school students.
SO proud of his work and it is taller than he is.
She is practicing writing her name with the help of the Movable Alphabet.
Our newest reader!
Peek Into Next Week: Line Time- Living and Non-Living Things
Letter Of The Week- D d
Rhyming Word Of The Week- bag
Next Language is Japanese
Upcoming Events: Ramseyer Farms- Friday, September 24, 2021. Check your child’s take home folder for the field trip permission forms and return promptly.
Academic Enrichment:
Kinder students showing off their favorite direction or body of water.
Weekly Theme: North America– Since we live on the continent of North America I thought it would be a great idea to identify some of the larger countries (Canada, Mexico) that border the U.S.A. Also, we identified bodies of water (Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Hudson Bay, Gulf Of Mexico, and The Great Lakes {H.O.M.E.S.}) that “touch” and are in our continent. We also reviewed the Cardinal Directions of North, East, South, West (Never Eat Soggy Worms).
Handwriting: We practiced writing in cursive M m, N n, O o,
Next Week: Weekly Theme: Ohio and surrounding states
Synonym Of The Week: HAPPY: cheerful, content, jovial, joyful, merry
