9/13 Enrichment Spotlight: Music & Taekwondo Demo

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Our class experienced their first music lesson with Miss Lisa this week. We learned that music can be forte  (loud) and piano (soft), plus we made our own music with tambourines!

 

The children also attended the Taekwondo Demo on Monday with Master Barnick. We ran from a bear and practiced our punches and high kicks. So much fun!

Take A Peek Into Our Week/September 13,2019/Ms.Kate

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Happy Friday everyone!!

What a great week we had!! Our theme for the week was all about Community Helpers! We had fun learning about Doctors, dentists, librarians, mail carriers, construction workers, and teacher’s! We also had fun making some really cool crafts with Ms. Amanda. This week we have been continuing working on our Grace and Courtesy lessons. TGIF!!!

Our different Continent map puzzles have been a big hit in our class this year so far!! When using our different map puzzles your child will gain fine motor skills, and recognition of the different countries.
One of our new friends is working on our Go Together cards. This material explores the concepts of association and recognizing things that go together.
Why teach about syllables? Dividing words into parts, or ” chunks” helps speed the process of decoding. Knowing the rules for syllable division can teach students read words more accurately and fluently. Understand syllables can also help students learn to spell words correctly.

 

REMINDERS:

Next week is our field trip!! Don’t forget to turn in your field trip forms!!!

Please make sure your child is wearing appropriate shoes. That means no open toe, and that they are able to put their shoes on and off by themselves!

Have a super weekend!

Enrichment Spotlight

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Week of September 9th-13th

    This was our first week of music, and we had a great time! Ms. Lisa taught us about loud and quiet music as well as smooth and jumpy music. We can’t wait for next week!

A Peek at Our Week | Ms. Courtney’s Classroom | Week of September 9th

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Classroom: Family

This past week we learned that we are all part of a family and that families are configured in different ways with many factors affecting them like marriage, divorce, adoption, remarriage, grandparents as primary care givers, single parents, foster care, etc. We read many books and the student’s shared a lot about their families. Through this they discovered that there are different kinds of families, but most importantly all types of families love and care for each other!

A peek into next week: Feelings and Emotions

Kindergarten: Equator and Hemispheres

This past week the kindergartners learned what hemispheres are and how to identify  where each continent is located Northern/Southern/Eastern or Western hemisphere. The students also learned where the equator and prime meridian are located on a globe.

This week we customized a special table for the kids to make their science and chemical projects, learn more about it. Finding quality metal finishing services can make or break your project.

A peek into next week: North America

Reminders:

9/2o Ramseyer Farms Field Trip

9/27 Bring Your Parent to Work Time

10/17 Picture Day

Enrichment Highlight:

This week in music class, the students sang John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt to learn about the musical terms piano (soft) and forte (loud).

Work Time:

Clothespins: this child is developing his fine motor skills, focus and sense of order to successfully place the clothespins around the rim of the cup.
Tracing Turtle Puzzle: this child is tracing and coloring the turtle puzzle by doing this he is learning how to correctly grip and hold a pencil. He is also refining his hand control to steady the pencil and he is learning the characteristics of a turtle.
Snack: this child is independently slicing apples to prepare a morning snack for his friends.

A Peek at Our Week | Elementary | Week of September 9

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“The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.” – Maria Montessori

At “Back to School Night,” parents had the opportunity to write down questions they had about the Montessori Philosophy or about our Elementary program. One of the questions asked was, “What materials made by Montessori are still being used today?” Surprisingly, the answer is almost all of them. While Montessori companies have continued to improve upon her designs, most of the Elementary Montessori works were invented by Dr. Montessori and her son, Mario, in the early 1910s. Below you will find photos from Montessori’s book, The Montessori Elementary Material, which you can read for free through the Gutenburg Project here, and explanations of how we use those materials!

This is a Grammar Box, which we still use daily! The Grammar Box helps students recognize different parts of speech and their functions in a sentence. Understanding parts of speech leads to greater comprehension and better writing skills. Recent studies have proven that learning grammar using color coded material and symbols is the most effective method and Montessori had this idea a century ago!
Here you will see our Bead Bars and Multiplication Bead Board. Both materials encourage students to notice relationships between numbers to memorize their number facts while fully understanding what the equation really means. Coming to a realization about number families, instead of being told their relationship, leads to deeper understanding and confidence.
Here a student is using the “Racks and Tubes” or “Test Tube Division.” This material allows students to understand the process of long division with manipulatives before seeing how to complete it on paper. As with the previous math work, physically manipulating numbers gives students a deeper understanding of how the process of division works. Students work with this material first, then with this material and paper, then moving towards paper only when they are ready.

Lower Elementary by Ms. Marlee

Our Elementary students complete a journal every Monday about any topic of their choosing. One third grade student asked another third grader if she could interview her this week. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to get to know one another while working on their communication and listening skills.
This second grader is working on the Division Bead Board. While practicing this work, students become familiar with the ways in which numbers can be divided. Some dividends are evenly divisible while others are not. This work also helps them come to understand the relationship between multiplication and division. This work is closely related to the Multiplication Bead Board shown above!

Upper Elementary by Ms. Ashley

This fifth year student is researching the multiples of nine to find the rule for divisibility of nine. This student caught on to the rule that the units place in the multiple was going down one, while the tens place in the multiple was going up one! Another student noticed that if you add the digits of the multiples together, you will get a sum of 9!
These students built “The Table of Pythagoras” using a lot of communication and teamwork! “The Table of Pythagoras” is a geometric representation of a multiplication table. If you are as interested as I was, here is a very brief history of the multiplication table (scroll to “History” section).

Enrichments by Ms. Erica

Upper Elementary had a lot of fun singing popular pop songs in music class. They are excited to show off their new tunes at Grandparents Day.

REMINDERS:

  • For information on what your child is doing daily, please check in on Transparent Classroom!
  • Ramseyer Field Trip Forms are due TODAY, September 13.
  • Ramseyer Trip for First and Second Year students – September 20
  • Typing lessons begin Friday, September 27. We could use more parent volunteers to continue to make typing classes possible. Please sign up here if you are interested in supervising!

Peek In Our Week *** Mr. John’s Classroom *** Week Of September 2nd, 2019

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Line Time:
Ground Rules redux (I think that is a French term. hehe)….   Not really redux because we added more things such as RESPECT! and social responsibility.  Your children are catching on very quickly which makes Ms. Tonya, Ms. Kelley, and Mr. John very happy people.  We are pleasantly surprised how your children are sitting nicely on line time for over 30 minutes and how the were engaged in work throughout the morning.  Our classroom is “peaceful and productive.”  That says a lot for only being the second week of school.  I just want reiterate the teachers have some part in this behavior but it is your children that are “catching on”.  This is a good start, to a good year with GREAT children!

September Birthdays:
A Montessori classroom is comprised of students aging from 2.5 years to 6 years of age.  Here are the two newest four year old students. 

   

 

Cultural Subjects:
Your children can now count to ten in 5 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German)

Mr. John’s musing:
It is my theory that the world’s problems do not stem from the right, the left, or apathy but instead the decline of the use in “bar soap”.  It just seems to me when liquid soap gained popularity and has taken over every household this world has gotten worse. Coincidence?  I think not!  Have your children even seen “bar soap”?   I’ve been longing for the pungent scent of Irish Spring and the mild scent of Lever 2000. So, I marched to the dollar store and purchased my favorite scents of “bar soap”.  Unfortunately,   My children were not as excited as I was and a bit confused how to use this archaic way of cleansing. In any event, I urge all of you to bring back the use of “bar soap” and make the world a better place. 

 

    

 

 

 Peek In Our Classroom:

This student is working on an animal puzzle. This material helps identify the parts of the animal. In this case it is the horse. Also, the tiny white knobs help with fine motor skills. More importantly, notice the focus he has working on this material.

 

Continue reading…

Take A Peek Into Our Week/Ms.Kate/September 5,2019

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Welcome back everyone!! I can’t believe how fast our first two weeks went by!! Our first week was all about Grace and Courtesy. We learned how to roll and unroll our mats, carry a tray, how to sit in a chair correctly while sitting at the table, opening and closing the door the right way, and lots lots more!! Together we also made our own classroom rules!! This week our theme was Apple’s. Together we learned about the life cycle of the Apple, the different parts of the Apple, different foods you can make with apples, and lots of fun crafts with Ms. Amanda!!!

The Metal Insets are used to help with pencil control, to refine hand movements in preparation for writing.
Our different animal puzzles are designed to stimulate the child’s interest in the natural world and help them identify the animals represented and is a hands on opportunity to learn the anatomical parts of each animal.
The Dressing Frames primary purpose is to teach children how to dress themselves through mastering different clothing fasteners. This process also test’ s a child’s hand eye coordination and fine motor skills, as they work with each material.

Ms.Amanda’s Enrichment Corner!

Today was our first week in art!!! Ms.Dana went over the classrooms expectations and then we got to decorate our name tags. It was super fun!!
This week in science class we each got to help out Mr. John! We added baking soda to a balloon, and then shook it into a bottle full of vinegar. When the vinegar mixed with the baking soda, it blew up the balloon! It was so cool!!

A Peek at Our Week | Ms. Courtney’s Classroom | Week of September 2nd

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Classroom: Community Helpers

This past week we focused on community helpers in honor of Labor Day. The students not only  learned about firefighters, police officers, doctors, nurses, dentists, teachers, veterinarians, construction workers, paramedics, farmers, mail carriers, chefs etc. They also had the opportunity to meet and get to know some of them.

The students and I greatly appreciate those that volunteered their time to come in and speak to us about their careers!

A peek into next week: Family

Kindergarten: Cardinal Directions

This past week the kindergartners learned that the cardinal directions (North, South, East and West) are the most commonly used form of directions. They discovered how to use a compass to find their way and learned that their are also primary inter-cardinal directions (Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and Northwest).

A peek into next week: Equator and Hemispheres

Reminders:

9/2o Ramseyer Farms Field Trip

9/27 Bring Your Parent to Work Time

10/17 Picture Day

Work Time:

Shoe Tying: This child is learning how to care for himself while developing a sense of independence and refining his fine motor skills and coordination of movements to successfully tie a shoe.

Trinomial Cube: This child is learning how to build the trinomial cube, while also getting an introduction into algebra and preparation for the formula a3+3a2b+3a2c+6abc+b3+3ab2+3b2c+3ac2+3bc2+c3.

Snap Frame: This child is learning how to care for herself while developing a sense of independence and refining her fine motor skills and coordination of movements to successfully snap a button.
Brown Stairs: These children are developing their ability to visually discriminate different dimensions to successfully build the brown stairs from largest to smallest.

 

A Peek at Our Week | Elementary | Week of September 3

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Lower Elementary by Ms. Marlee

This first year student is completing the space puzzle from our Geography area. This work introduces students to the names of the planets and helps prepare them for further exploration of our solar system.
This second year student is completing one of the Laws of the Universe experiments. Here, he is experimenting with centrifugal force by swinging a bucket with water in it around his body. As the bucket revolves in a circle, it is pulled away from the center showing centrifugal force in action. Learning the Laws of the Universe helps students to understand their surroundings.

Upper Elementary by Ms. Ashley

This fourth year student practiced adding, subtracting, and multiplying fractions with like denominators. At our Morning Meeting this day we discussed some upcoming lessons and which previous lessons would be great to practice to start out the year on the right foot. This student got right to the works we discussed after our meeting. It is so exciting to see students take ownership over their learning.
One of our team building games this week was a challenge to rotate your members around a circle of pool noodles with only being able to hold onto one pool noodle at a time. The fastest team was the winner. Here you will see an Upper Elementary student walking his team through a game plan. Our Upper Elementary students have had many years of practice leading and participating in discussions. They are often great role models and allow all to have their voice heard.

Enrichments by Ms. Erica

Our students enjoyed creating their name tags in Art Class. They were able to choose from a number of materials to work with when decorating. These name tags will be used in Art Class throughout the year.

REMINDERS:

  • For information on what your child is doing daily, please check in on Transparent Classroom!
  • First and Second Year Parents – please turn in your Ramseyer Permission Slip to the office!
  • Friday, September 20 – Ramseyer Field Trip for first and second years. Dissection at school for third through sixth (no permission slip required)

Academic Enrichment, Cuyahoga Falls Campus, Week Of 9/2/2019

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Weekly Theme:
The Kindergarten Students learned about the Cardinal Directions.  We learned north is always on top, south is always on the bottom, east is always to the right, and west is always to the left.  We went into a bit more detail when using the Cardinal Directions.  In between north and east is called northeast and so on…  We traveled from continent to continent asking what direction we needed to go to get to the appointed continent.

 

 

 

 

 

Meet the 2019/2020 Cuyahoga Falls Kindergarten class.

 

Handwriting:
We practiced writing D d, E e, F f, G g in cursive.

Cultural Subjects:
We now can count to ten in 5 languages (English, Sign Language, Latin, Spanish, German, French, Greek).

Next Week:
Weekly Theme: Hemispheres, Equator, Prime Meridian

Synonym Of The Week:  sad: miserable, gloomy, depressing, downtrodden, glum, unhappy

Sight Words Of The Week: up so

Adding Japanese to the languages