This week we are talking Turkey! Where do turkeys live? What do they eat? Can they fly? We learned the answers to these questions and more! In fact, we also learned what a group of turkey’s is called, then we labeled the parts of a turkey, and listened to turkey calls. Did you know that a group of turkeys is called a flock or a rafter? Ms. Taylor also found an amazing video called Turkey Facts on youtube for us to watch during afternoon line time! Ask your child about what they learned about turkeys this week. They are now turkey experts! The class also watched/listened to read aloud books called Turkey Trouble and How To Catch A Turkey. They were hilarious books full of Thanksgiving fun!
Kindergartners have been working on their addition and multiplication skills as well as learning to tell time on an Analog Clock and also observed the differences between an analog clock and a digital clock.
Next week we will be talking about Table Manners and will also talk about the Pilgrims and why we celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States.
Exploring media from our art shelf! Concentrating on creating a turkey using pieces of construction paper, googly eyes, and tracing our hand for the tail feathers.
Transfering water using a baster! We have been learning the names of kitchen utensils that you see during the Thanksgiving holiday. We then use these utensils to create practical life activities like this one.
Line Time: Native Americans/Thanksgiving- We talked about Native Americans and how Indians were named Indians. On student informed us that Christopher Columbus landed in North America but thought he was in India. Hence, the name. We talked about how Native Americans were indigenous. Then the Pilgrims came over from Europe on a ship called the Mayflower. The pilgrims had a rough go of it at the beginning because they didn’t have enough blankets or food. They could not just go to Target or Giant Eagle to get supplies because at that time there were just woods and wild life.
A Message From Mr. John (The info/stories that come home):
What’s The Diff?: What is the difference between seeing a concert and seeing a show? I am thinking when you use the term “show” it is a small, intimate venue with about 200 of your closest friends (Musica, Peobody’s Down Under). A concert most likely will be held in a venue about 2,000+ people (Blossom, The Q). As you can tell I like “shows”. These are some pics where I was leaning onto the stage of the last two “shows” I attended. Lol. What was the last thing are you saw, a show or a concert?
Musica located downtown Akron.
Some old, really cool, small hall in Columbus Ohio
Know Your Languages (Hebrew):
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 14 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagalog)
Peek In The Classroom:
The ever so popular Montessori material called the Color Bead Bars. This is a Math material enforces the relationship between number/symbols and the appropriate quantity.
She is working on the Stamp Game which is a Math material. She is working on multiplication equations that “carry over more than once” for example (7×5).
This student is working on the Trinomial Cube. As with all Montessori sensorial materials, the Trinomial Cube has both a direct and an indirect purpose. The direct purpose of the Trinomial Cube is for the child to practice the steps to properly disassemble and build the cube, while refining dexterity and visual acuity.
This student is working on a sorting work which can be found in the Practical Life or Sensorial area. Maria Montessori’s sensorial work uses “sorting” in specific ways that work to use all of the child’s senses, one at a time, in order to refine them. The goal is to train the brain to create more organized thoughts and ways of retrieving information.
Peek Into Next Week: Line Time- Thanksgiving
Letter Of The Week- M m
Rhyming Word Of The Week- bop
Next Language is Hebrew
**Did you noticed that the letter of the week and rhyming word of the week are Mm Bop!**
I couldn’t resist, lol
Upcoming Events: Thanksgiving Break: We are off Wednesday November 25th and returning Monday November 30.
Academic Enrichment: Weekly Theme: We learned how to multiple to the thousand static/column without carryovers with manipulatives. I told the students that multiplication is merely adding multiple times. We learned what the multiplicand and multiplier are.
Strike a pose.
Handwriting: We practiced writing sentences in cursive.
Next Week: Weekly Theme: Multiplication with manipulatives
Synonym Of The Week:
Sight Words Of The Week:
Friends, Frolic, and Fun:
I told them they need flat heads to balance the books on their head.
Matching lanyards
I heard “I have a bear on my butt” and this is what I see.
I asked her to get the book titled “Red Hen” and she comes back with this. She thought it was sooooooo funny!
Your kids Say The Darndest Things (Why I Like Cats): Follow the link to get to a child talking about cats. Maybe you do not have to follow the link, lol.
Line Time: Dinosaurs- We traveled back in time and discovered some fascinating things about certain dinosaurs. We learned that dinosaurs no longer exist and that they are extinct. We know dinosaurs exist because scientist found their bones or fossils. From these fossil we saw that some teeth were long and sharp to tear flesh from it’s prey which belonged to meat eaters or carnivores (T Rex). Some teeth were flat for grinding plants, leaves, and branches and belonged to plant eaters or herbivores (Brachiosauras).
Who remembers Dinosaurs? Not the Momma!
Did You Know: Catsup and Ketchup are two different spellings of the same condiment. These words have the same meanings and are simply alternate spellings. Therefore, both are correct. Catsup is a condiment and is the less popular spelling. Ketchup is also a condiment and is the more popular spelling, which, today, is a westernized version of a condiment first introduced to European traders in the late 17th century. Ketchupwas originally a paste made from fermented fish guts (yes, it’s come a long way).
Message From Mr. John (your children are cute):
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 13 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish).
Know Your Languages (Tagalog):
Peek In The Classroom:
This student is working on the Leaf Puzzle. The purpose of Montessori Botany puzzle is to increase their power of observation and knowledge in nature, also illustrates the component parts of a plant. It helps the child to learn basic anatomy of a leaf. Its wooden knob on each component of the leaf puzzle makes it easy to hold and can be used with many activities such as tracing or matching with cards. The knobs also strengthen her pinscher grip/fine motor skills.
She is working on the Movable Alphabet. The key purpose of the Moveable Alphabet is to prepare children for writing, reading, and spelling. The child’s use of the material progresses from single words, to phrases, and eventually to stories. In this way, the Moveable Alphabet teaches children how to symbolize their own thoughts, and begin to write creatively.
This student is working on the Nine Tray and composing numbers. She will learn to compose numbers from 1 to 9,999. This, yet again, supports the correlation between the quantity and symbol of numbers.
This girl is working on her phonics work book to support her reading and understanding of pronunciation of words.
Peek Into Next Week: Line Time- Pilgrims, Thanksgiving
Letter Of The Week- M m
Rhyming Word Of The Week- bop
Next Language is Tagalog
Academic Enrichment:
One uncooperative kindergarten student. Wouldn’t this be a great album cover?
Weekly Theme: This week the kindergarten students did addition with carry overs (dynamic)/carry overs in multiple columns/with empty columns using the manipulatives of the Golden Beads and Stamp Game.
Handwriting: We practiced writing full sentences in cursive.
Next Week: Weekly Theme: Multiplication with Golden Beads
Synonym Of The Week: SMALL, tiny, miniature, minute, little, petite
Sight Words Of The Week:been down
Upcoming Events: Thanksgiving Break: We are off Wednesday November 25th and returning Monday November 30.
Friends, Frolic, and Fun:
The mysterious medical condition of Raspberry Fingers.
Eating cheese like a champ!
Sing of the times. A student helping take temperatures.
Line Time: This week we learned about insects and arachnids. Creepy Crawly, creepy crawly creepy creep creepy crawly (reminds me of The Who song, Boris The Spider). When we went over the five animals all of them were vertebrates (having a backbone and spine) but looking at Insects and arachnids they were invertebrates (no back bone or spine). Most had what we call an exoskeleton which is the skeleton is on the outside. This gives the creature support and protection. We learned insects have a head, thorax, and abdomen, six legs, and two antennae. We sang the characteristics of an insect to the tune of Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. Some insects are ants, bees, and butterflies. Arachnids have a head and abdomen, and eight legs. Some examples of arachnids are spiders, scorpions, ticks and mites.
Who is afraid of a little spider?:
NOT THIS GIRL!
Did You Know: Since it is the season… Did you know there is a difference between apple juice and apple cider? Here is the explanation. Apple cider is made from apples that are washed, cut and ground into an “apple mash” similar to applesauce. The mash is then wrapped in cloth and pressed into fresh juice. On the other hand, apple juice undergoes filtration to remove pulp and is then pasteurized to extend the shelf life. I am not sure how hard apple cider is made.
Message From Mr. John (Spunk):
November Birthdays: A Montessori classroom consists of students ranging in age from three years to six years. Here are our newest four and five year old students.
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 12 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian).
Know Your Languages (Swedish):
Peek In The Classroom:
My newest reader!!!!! There is no better feeling for a teacher than to experience a child reading for the first time.
These bead bars with their characteristic colors are used to learn countless math concepts from basic counting and identifying the correlation between symbol and quantity to skip counting, to addition, to multiplication, and even to the squaring and cubing of numbers. This boy is now working on counting and finding the correct number for the corresponding Color Bead Bar.
Remember my explanation of extensions in the Montessori Classroom? No? here it is again…The Montessori extension lessons help the child to have further experience with the concepts of the materials. Often times the extension activity draws the child towards a more abstracted view of the original concrete concept that was introduced. This boy found he can stagger the blocks and keep the original aim by stacking from biggest to smallest. He discovered this all on his own.
These girls are working with Color Box 4 and the aim is to grade the colors from darkest to lightest. The child is learning precise refinement. There are subtle differences between some of the shades and tint and even between colors at the lightest or darkest levels. These differences matter and reinforces visual discrimination which helps in identifying and distinguishing symbols such as 6/9, 3/8, b/d, q/p…
Thanksgiving Break: We are off Wednesday November 25th and returning Monday November 30.
Academic Enrichment: Weekly Theme: This week the K-kids did addition with carry overs (Dynamic) using the manipulatives of the Golden Beads. Did you know the two numbers added together are called addends and the answer is called the sum?
I did ask for goofy!
Handwriting: We practiced writing in cursive words: cat, bed, wig, mop, tub
Next Week: Weekly Theme: Addition with other materials
Synonym Of The Week: BIG, vast, gigantic, huge, large, enormous, colossal
Sight Words Of The Week:said by
More tracking the growth of roots. We did discover that five more roots sprouted and the existing roots grew longer. No more leaves appeared but we are confident that new leaves will grow.
Friends, Frolic, and Fun:
S squared
Boy Buddies!
Posing for the camera.
Geez, Mr. John let me get back to work.
Your Children say The Darndest Things (Gone Fishin): Follow the link….
Last week we took a peek into our skeletal system. The students were amazed that we all have a skeleton inside of us! We made skulls to decorate our classroom for the upcoming Halloween Party and some made skull bracelets. It was a great week of learning and progress. Our students were very interested in the facts we learned about our bones! For example, we have 206 bones in our body and without them, we would be like a bowl of Jell-O! We learned that the skull is inside our head and protects our brain. We also talked about the ribcage and how it moves when we breathe and protects our heart and lungs and how our pelvis is the bone we use to dance and sit. Lastly, we discussed how our backbone supports our body and helps us to stand up straight. The children loved dancing to the skeleton song!
Building the biggest to smallest using many materials. This activity builds fine motor skills, focus,and visual discrimination of size.
Tracing the skeleton puzzle. Working on pincer grasp, fine motor skills, and focus, as well as remembering where bones belong.
Our skull protects our brain. It also houses the smallest bone in our body the scapes or stirrup in our ear!
So exciting to learn how a clock works! Can’t wait till we learn half past, quarter past, and quarter till!
We have all been diving deep into learning new things throughout our classroom. We built the pink tower and brown stairs in new ways and started using the movable alphabet! Many friends were fascinated by the landform trays and saw the difference between island and lake. We started journal copy writing this week. Some friends are tracing over highlighter letters while others are copying the words on their own. We are all learning sign language and beginning to use it I our classroom. It is so nice to be able to communicate nonverbally across the classroom. Wow what an amazing start to our school year and progress in learning and growing together!
This week the Aspen Room learned all about the Skeletal System. We discussed the parts of the skeleton and learned the names of our bones, how bones help us, how to keep our bones healthy, and fun facts about our bones. Your children also explored the Skeletal System by putting together our skeleton puzzle, labeling the bones of our skeleton , working with the Skeletal Classification cards, and coloring skeletons! Your child also learned that the adult human body has 206 bones but an infant has about 300! We learned that this is because the bones in an infant are still developing/growing and as a result they have more bones than an adult. We also discovered that the Python has the most bones with 600 vertebrae which can equal 1,800 bones! Yet, the shark has the fewest amount of bones because it’s skeleton contains a lot of cartilage. It was definitely a “Skele-Fun” Week!
Putting the skeleton puzzle together!
The finished skeleton puzzle! The proud look of accomplishing a challenging work!
Tracing our skeleton puzzle!
The traced and decorated skeleton! All ready for Halloween!
Labeling the skeleton coloring paper.
Kindergarten students learned all about the parts of Trees, Plants, Arachnids, and Insects!
Mr. John brought Charlotte into our classroom to show our class! Some of our children were more thrilled than others about our eight legged visitor!
Next week we will be talking about Healthy Habits and Safety! We will discuss food groups briefly and making healthy choices, review washing hands, and safety rules (How to cross the street, Halloween safety…etc). We will have sorting activities, yoga cards, and more! Have a great weekend!
This week the Aspen Room learned all about pumpkins! We learned how they grow, sang pumpkin songs, sorted pumpkin seeds from the goop (pulp), explored number concepts with our sorted pumpkin seeds, scrubbed pumpkins, and worked with the many pumpkin themed practical life activities! Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins!!! Did you know that the Pilgrims survived the harsh winter by eating pumpkins? Yet, today the majority of pumpkins are grown and sold for decoration and carving purposes! This week’s homework assignment bake/eat something with pumpkin in it!
Kindergarten students learned all about the Animal Kingdom! They learned the many differences between the different Classes of animals! How animals are classified and the differences between each classified group. We also had fun labeling and tracing our animal puzzles in the classroom.
Next week we are exploring the Skeletal System and learning all about bones! Bones have many important jobs for our body. Do you know how many bones there are in the human body? Do you know which animal has the most bones? Next week we will learn these fun facts and more!
Matching and making patterns with pumpkins!
Pumpkin Scrubbing! Getting our pumpkin ready for carving fun!
Transferring pumpkins with tongs! A great exercise for fine motor skills , patience, and learning to focus.
Pouring pumpkins??? Another great example of our Practical Life curriculum.
Comparative discrimination and sequencing! Putting pumpkins in order from the largest to smallest.
Sorting seeds from the pumpkin pulp!
Kindergarten follow-up work! Tracing and labeling the animal puzzles.
Line Time: Birds- We ended our journey of studying animals with the bird. We learned birds are vertebrates and are warm-blooded, which means that they can make their own body heat even when it is cold outside. Whether it is sunny and hot outside or there is a snowstorm and it is very cold, warm-blooded animals have body temperatures that usually stay the same. They are born from hard shelled eggs and have feathers. A lot of birds fly but some do not. The flightless birds are the ostrich and penguin. We are not sure if chickens fly.
Below are Foghorn Leghorn and Eggburt Jr…. Iah say, Iah say that boy aint right.
Speaking Words Of Wisdom… (from Mr. John): Have you ever gone out and had toothpaste on your face and clothes? Of course you have. My advice is to brush your teeth right before hopping in the shower. No toothpaste on your face and certainly no toothpaste on your clothes. Problem solved!
Message From Mr. John (Short look at my philosophy in the classroom):
Know your Languages (Romanian):
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 11 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian).
Halloween Party:
Halloween Bingo!
Cookie decorating.
Peek In The Classroom:
These two girls found the relationship between two materials found in the Sensorial area (Knobbed Cylinders and Knobbless Cylinders). They found the relationship of diameter and height. They were pretty proud of themselves by the looks of the high five that is about to happen.
These rods may seem familiar to you and they should if you’ve ever seen the Red Rods. They are exactly the same except for one feature: alternating blue and red segments. The child will typically work with the Number Rods after mastering the Red Rods. If you recall, the Red Rods help establish visual discrimination of length. The Number Rods are a natural progression, naming the quantity shown on each Number Rod with red and blue demarcations. The aim of the Number Rods is to associate the written symbol with the right quantity and to be able to build rods and/or numbers 1-10. Building up the different combinations to 10 gives an indirect preparation for addition. The taking away of rods gives the impression of subtraction.
These girls are working on the equations (The Stamp Game) I have assigned. The Montessori Math Stamp Game lesson comes at the end of place value and decimal system work. The goal is to reinforce the four operations introduced with the Golden Beads but in a more abstract way. The work is familiar to them, but different enough to keep it interesting and intriguing.
She is working on the Ten Board which is a Math material. Before she composed only “tens” but now she is adding “units”. This strengthens the correlation between quantity (colored beads) and symbols (numbers) from 11 to 99.
Peek Into Next Week: Line Time- Insects, Arachnids, Invertebrates
Letter Of The Week- K k
Rhyming Word Of The Week- ox
Next Language is Romanian
Academic Enrichment aka Kindergarten: This week we started our journey into MATH…. EEEEK! We started out by composing numbers with beads and symbols then worked our way into doing addition with manipulatives with the nine tray.
I don’t even know what to say about this picture. lol
Handwriting: We practiced writing in cursive vowel blends of Ua ua, Ue ue, Ui ui, Uo uo, Uu uu
Next Week: Weekly Theme: Addition manipulatives (Dynamic/Carry Overs)
Synonym Of The Week: OLD: ancient, elderly, used, seasoned, mature
Line Time: Fish- We learned fish are vertebrates or they have a backbone or a spine. They are cold blooded (their body temperature changes to the temperature around them) and have slimy and scaly skin. The unique thing about fish is that some fish are born alive and some fish are born with jelly eggs. Some examples of fish are Trout, Bass, Sharks, and Swordfish. And one more important point is that fish live in water.
Did you know? Since we are in the thick of things with COVID-19 let’s talk about sneezes. Sneezes travel at about 100 miles per hour and that a single sneeze can send 100,000 germs into the air. Also when a person sneezes you should tell them “You are sooo good lookin” Who knows this reference?
Message From Mr. John (Smilin’ John):
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 10 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian)
Know Your Languages (Russian):
Academic Enrichment aka Kindergarten: This week we talked about the parts of plants, arachnids, and insects.
I asked the boys to kneel and this is what I got.
Since we talked about Arachnids I decided to give an impromptu visit to the classrooms with Charlotte. The students loved it. The staff….. well not so much as I was confronted with “concerned” teachers, screaming and running down the hall (literally with both), and some salty language thrown at me. Its just like a hamster with 8 legs, right?
Handwriting: This week we practiced writing cursive vowel blends Oa oa, Oe oe, Oi oi, Oo oo, Ou ou
Next Week: Weekly Theme: MATH- GULP! Addition with beads
Synonym Of The Week: NEW, novel, fresh, original, unique, current, unused
Sight Words Of The Week: use your
Peek In The Classroom:
This girl is working on a pre reading work using three word/short vowel sounds exercise.
This boy is working on the 100 board which is a math activity. Around three or four years of age, depending on how quickly the child has grasped the concept of counting to 100 we introduce the 100 board. This work helps them to understand number order.
She is working on the 10 board which is found in the math area. This teaches a child to associate the quantities and symbols from 10 to 90 using the tens bead bars. The child explores the number names of the tens and then sequence of numbers 11–99.
This boy is working on the red rods found in the sensorial area. The direct purpose of the red rods is to develop the child’s visual and muscular perception of length and eventually using the math counter part the number rods.
