A Peek into Science Class | Cuyahoga Falls Campus

Written by

by Ms. Mel

What a fun month in Science class!  Together we asked many questions and made new discoveries!

Magically Inflating Balloon- Chemical Reactions. The balloon filled with the carbon dioxide which resulted from a chemical reaction created by mixing vinegar and baking soda. We loved this experiment!
Density – The mass in a specified volume.  The egg in salt water floated! The egg in freshwater sank!
Cylinder Strength – Distribution of Weight. Look! The paper cylinder holds 8 books.
Density – The difference in the weight of two objects of the same size. Shake the bottle! The oil and water seperated. The oil rose to the top.

 

 

A Peek into Dance Class | Tallmadge Campus

Written by

We started off our dance class with some fun warm-up routines and stretches set to music (because music makes everything better) to get our bodies and our minds ready to dance. Once we were all warmed up, we tested our skills with several movement routines across the floor including skipping, galloping, and multistep combinations. After mastering the floor routines, we ended our class by practicing our jumping technique jumping over a foam block. There was so much growth seen in just this one class, that I can’t wait to see what has happened by the end of the year!

 

A Peek into Dance Class | Cuyahoga Falls Campus

Written by

We are having fun in dance class at our Cuyahoga Falls Campus!  In the pictures below the children warmed up with some jazzy music that had them dancing and clapping. Afterwards they practiced with the 4 walk step in groups of 3.  Dance classes are just beginning.  We are excited to see what our students learn accomplish this year!

 

 

A Peek into Tae Kwon Do | All Campuses

Written by

Students love to begin Taekwondo class with a warm up run through the jungle with Mr. Allen.  They also spend time in their class learning and practicing new forms before moving on to some Ninja kick boxing and Ninja Rocks. At the end of class we play some Fireball, which has always been a favorite among our friends!

 
 

Peek At Our Week | Mr. John’s Class | Week of October 2, 2017

Written by

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! Oh and people are mammals!

Cultural Subjects:
During line time we can count to ten in 7 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, and Japanese).

 

We had an alumnus visit our classroom and read. This special alumni student is in 4th grade and goes to Resnick Elementary School.

 

In the Math area you can find the Addition Charts. The purpose of this material is to practice with addition problems which will lead to memorization to facts.
This is a math work called the Exchange Game. This is the introduction to addition “carryovers” while still reinforcing the comprehension of quantities in the unit, ten, hundred, and thousand columns.
Cursive writing falls into the Language area. Research indicates that cursive trains the brain to have better hand-eye coordination and reading efficiency.
This material is the famed 9 tray. It connects the symbol(numbers) and quantity. This student is using this material to do addition equations. Students learn the operation of addition, visual representation of addition, and learn vocabulary of addition such as addends and sums.
Geography, YAY! We were focusing on the bodies of water that are adjacent to the continent in which we live, North America. To the north is Hudson Bay. To the South is Gulf of Mexico. To the East is the Atlantic Ocean. To the west is the Pacific Ocean. In our neck of the woods are the Great Lakes.

 

Peek into next week:
Reptiles! Their characteristics and example of reptiles.

Letter The Week:
G g

Rhyming Word Of The Week:
bid

Reminders

  • Parent Education Night Wednesday, October 25th at 6:30pm
    You can register to attend and for childcare by clicking this link
  • Halloween Party Friday, October 27, 2017

A Peek into our Week | Ms. Kate’s Class | Week of October 2nd

Written by

This week we had so much fun learning all about apples. We had fun  learning about the parts of an apple, the life cycle of an apple tree, painting with apples, graphing our favorite apple, and making homemade applesauce. We had such a blast!

Our friend is working hard on the Geometry Cabinet. The purpose of this work is for the child to gain visual and tactile knowledge of the geometric forms.
Our friend is working on our picture to picture match work. This work is a pre-reading skill . Picture to picture matching also brings in deep concentration which can be very calming for a child. It also provides an opportunity to master a skill, and helps to demonstrate their knowledge in the world around them.
This week we made homemade applesauce together. The children were able to cut the apples and place all of the ingredients  into the crock pot. It was super yummy!

A Peek into Next Week:

Next week our class will be jumping into Autumn! we will have fun exploring different types of leaves, why leaves change color, having fun with leaf rubbings, fun learning new fall songs and more!

Parents this weekend will be the perfect fall weekend for a hike. Go and explore a favorite trail. While you are there try to find some colorful leaves! You are more than welcome to bring in your leaves to share!

 

Reminders

  • Parent Education Night Wednesday, October 25th at 6:30pm
    You can register to attend and for childcare by clicking this link
  • Halloween Party Friday, October 27, 2017

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

Written by

Topic: Leaves

This week the students learned that a leaf is one of the most important parts of a plant. They discovered that leaves produce food for the plant through a process called photosynthesis, and that leaves of different plants vary widely in size, shape and color. Also, the children learned the life cycle of a leaf and why leaves change color in the fall. They discovered the different parts of a leaf like: veins, blade, midrib, petiole and stipule.

Work Time

Moveable Alphabet: This child is identifying and matching the symbol for each sound he hears while sounding out the name of the object in order to correctly label each object.
Hand Grasping: Initially the child will use his whole hand to transfer large items from one bowl to the next. Then they will start transferring smaller items like the child in this picture using their fingers. As the items for transferring become smaller the child is required to use their pincer grasp more and more strengthening their finger muscles needed to grasp a pencil.
Animals/Continent World Map: These children are learning the names of the animals and where they live, while also sorting the animal picture cards and the seven continent labels in the appropriate location on the world puzzle map.
Moveable Alphabet: This child is saying the word of the object and matching the symbol with the correct initial sound to the object.
We found a lion on the playground at recess!
Geometric Solids: This child is developing a sense of awareness of three-dimensional shapes to objects in his environment. He is able to identify and label shapes such as sphere, ovoid, ellipsoid, cone, cylinder, cube, triangular prism, square prism, triangular based pyramid and square based pyramid.
Linear Counting: These children are working on one of our cubed bead chains, they are identifying the names of the numbers and seeing the correspondence of the quantities with the written number on the cards.
Land/Air/Water: This child is sorting and naming objects that you would see in the sky, on the land or in the water.

 

Reminders

  • Parent Education Night Wednesday, October 25th at 6:30pm
    You can register to attend and for childcare by clicking this link
  • Halloween Party Friday, October 27, 2017

 

A Look into Next Week: Apples

  • The students will learn to describe an apple using all of their senses.
  • The students will discuss all the different shapes apples can be.
  • The students will taste test red, green, and yellow apples.
  • The students will explore the inside of an apple.

A Peek at Our Week | Elementary | Week of October 2nd

Written by

A Peek at Our Week | Elementary | Week of October 2nd

I can’t believe it’s already the first week of October! The students have accomplished so much in such a short time. All students discussed the differences between prehistory and history, made constellation tubes from your donated toilet paper and paper towel rolls, and practiced summarizing. This week first graders practiced math facts with the Addition Snake Game, had their first experience with Geometry Proofs, danced like molecules, and discussed density of objects on Earth. Our second graders began adding fractions with like denominators, added to their editing repertoire with inserting punctuation marks, and practiced finding good information for research. Third grade students measured using fractions and decimals, reviewed the use of the thesaurus, discovered equivalence of the constructive triangles, and found main characteristics of Porifera. The fourth grade students solved word problems about currency, learned about daffynitions (coffee – someone who is coughed upon), discovered relationships of angles in Euclid’s Theorem, and practiced proper adjectives. We spent time together this week practicing our play that we will perform for the Primary students at both campuses, trying papaya, and using a drill!

Elementary Montessori students do a lot of research throughout their six years with us, both independent and assigned. To help students feel successful, first year children are introduced to many research skills. These students learn how to use an index and table of contents, how to avoid plagiarism, how to determine if information is useful, and how to organize their information. This first grade student is recording research about Black Widows onto a research note card. This card must be labeled with the title, author, publisher, and copyright date for later use in a bibliography.
One of our Spelling choices this week was “Michelangelo Write.” Students that chose this activity had to tape their paper to the bottom of a table before writing their words three times each. It was quite a sight to see students working on and under tables!
Using a pumpkin from our Ramseyer Farm trip, students had their first chance to use the drill this year. Before using the drill independently, students had to learn how to insert the drill bit, how to put on and remove the battery pack, how to lock the drill, and how to drill forward and in reverse. Some students drew faces on the pumpkin before drilling out the shapes to make a jack-o-lantern.
This fourth year student and a third year student wanted to practice estimation by estimating the amount of books in the entire school. They counted books in our rooms, Ms. Courtney’s room, the office, and the storage room, which is a separate self storage from the storage companies in Leicester. Their estimation was 1,001 books and the final count was 1,091.
Thanks to your help collecting toilet paper and paper towel rolls, we were able to make constellation tubes. We began our work by defining the word “constellation” and sharing what we already knew. We looked at drawings of common constellations and then made our tubes. Students had to label their tubes with the name of their constellation and poke holes in the paper on top to form the constellation. You can see it if you look towards the light or shine a flashlight through the tube. We also have constellation cards on the shelf for students to practice their sewing skills!

A Peek into Next Week

Next week Lower Elementary students will discuss end punctuation, different types of measurement, indenting a paragraph, leaf veins and plant stamen, and will begin studying North America. Upper Elementary students will begin decimal studies, continue exploring Euclid’s Theorem, and work with the microscope. We have our first bus field trip on Tuesday, October 10, to Holden Arboretum. While there, we will learn about plants and animals of Ohio and try their Canopy Walk! Please dress your child for a day outdoors and send a disposable lunch.

REMINDERS: Holden Arboretum Field Trip 10/10

Please sign up for the Parent Education Night (10/25) about preparing your child for success now and in the future. You can sign up for the workshop here.

A peek into our Academic Enrichment for kindergartners | Tallmadge Campus 9/29/17

Written by

The past two weeks we have covered North America and the bodies of water surrounding the continent. We also covered Ohio and its surrounding states. We learned things like:

Tracing and labeling North America (Canada, United States of America, Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Hudson Bay, Great Lakes and Gulf of Mexico).
Learning and identifying the three largest countries in North America (Canada, United States of America and Mexico).
Ohio’s state bird is a Cardinal.
Ohio’s state flag is the only flag that is not a rectangular shape.

 

Our next unit we will be diving into is Landforms!

A Peek into our Academic Enrichment with kindergartners | Cuyahoga Falls Campus 9/29/17

Written by

Academic Enrichment with Mr. John
Over the past few weeks together we looked at the bodies of water that “touch” the continent in which we live, North America. The students know that Hudson Bay is to the north and Gulf of Mexico is to the south. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east and to the west is the Pacific Ocean. We also identified where the Great Lakes are. Do you know what the significance of “HOMES” is?

Next, we took a look at the great state of O-H-I-O. Your children know the official “things” of Ohio:
Tree: Buckeye Tree
Fossil: Trilobite
Mammal: White Tail Deer
Flower: Scarlet Carnation
Insect: Lady Bug
Drink: Tomato Juice
Rock and Roll Song: Hang On Sloopy

They also know it is the Buckeye State, the abbreviation is OH, and the capital city is Columbus.  We also looked at the surrounding states of Ohio and learned the abbreviation and nickname for each.


Reading Group with Ms. Kate
This week our Reading Club read the story Big Wolf and Little Wolf. After the story, I encouraged the children to ask questions from the story. We then worked together as a team to come up with basic comprehension questions. After our discussions, we completed the sharing questions. The children really enjoy copy writing their sharing question from the white board. They feel so proud of their writings and drawings. During the next week, we will be focusing on vocabulary, acting out and analyzing a section of the text. We will also explore the story’s meaning by discussing interpretive questions!

 


Handwriting with Ms. Kristen
All of our practice using form drawing has paid off and the kindergarten students are working hard on forming their cursive letters. We are working our way through the alphabet. In the past two weeks, we have been working on C-H. The children are carefully learning step by step how to form each letter and are working on copy writing sentences using words beginning with the letter we are currently working on that day. I am so proud of our young writers!