This week in Aspen we traveled to the Arctic and the Antarctic! We bundled up in our Arctic gear and braved the cold as we explored both the North and South Poles ! In doing so, we learned that the Arctic and Antarctic are so cold and frigid because they are far away from the Equator. Aspen learned that the Equator is the imaginary line that hugs our Earth like a belt.The closer we get to the Equator the warmer it gets because the Equator receives the most direct sunlight. The farther away you are from the Equator the less direct sunlight hits the earth surface and it gets colder . We also discovered that each of these super cold places are home to different types of animals. These animals that live in these harsh environments have found ways to adapt to living in such extreme environments. Therefore, the vocabulary terms adaptation, migration, and hibernation were also introduced this week as we learned how these animals manage to survive arctic temperatures. During our exploration of Polar environments, we discovered that many of the animals living in these areas have adapted by having a thick layer of fat called blubber to help keep them warm. During the work period, we listened to relaxing classical music while viewing scenery and wildlife from the Polar Regions, while engaging in cultural activities and Polar science experiments. This week the Aspen children got to experience what it was like to have blubber with our Blubber Experiment. We got to stick our hands into icy water! Our experiment involved placing one of our hands into a bag that was surrounded by Crisco oil (representing blubber). We then placed our other hand into a plastic bag with no Crisco ( blubber). The Aspen students got to see how long each hand could brave the icy cold water while determining which hand was kept warmer. It was decided unanimously through experimentation that the bag with the blubber was warmer! This experiment showed us just how amazing adaptations can be and how well blubber protects these animals! Aspen then spent the week exploring a variety of Cultural activities exploring the Life Cycle Of A Penguin, labeling penguins, and exploring various animal adaptations! Did you know, that Polar animals have rounded bodies with shorter limbs to reduce surface area and retain heat, and some animals have fur on the bottom of their paws to protect them from the cold while helping them to grip icy surfaces easier? Aspen learned this and more! Ask your Polar Explorers what they learned this week.

This week Aspen also had Grandparents Day. The Aspen students got to be teacher for a day and taught their grandparents math, language, cultural, sensorial, and practical life lessons. It was an absolute pleasure to meet your family and the Aspen children truly wowed their grandparents. We would also like to thank you for participating in our book fair encouraging the importance of literacy and learning!

Next week we will be revisiting our lessons involving adaptation, hibernation, and migration while focusing on hibernation! Sunday is Groundhogs Day! Will he see his shadow??

Exploring the Life Cycle Of A Penguin!

Moveable Alphabet Fun! Building phonetic words using our Sound clues!! A great Sound Detective looks at each clue when sounding out words!!

Mastering the Teens and Tens Board!!

Learning how to tie!!!

Welcome to the Mega Blog! This blog will cover everything the Aspen class has focused on for the past two weeks! My apologies in regards to not sending last week’s blog out prior to today! However, things worked out, as we received a surprise two day school week due to the severe cold and Arctic weather here in Ohio! I hope that everyone stayed nice and warm and had lots of family fun! All the children recalled and shared their stories of all the fun they had! Did anyone attempt any fun cold weather science experiments?? Please share them with us!

Week Of 01/13/25 – 01/17/25

This week in Aspen we reviewed the concept of matter and explored the Water Cycle even further. Aspen discussed the vocabulary terms precipitation, evaporation, and condensation. One of the things we discovered was that the term precipitation refers to water that falls from the Earth ‘s atmosphere to the Earth’s surface. Aspen also discovered that precipitation encompasses different kinds of weather. Such as: rain, snow, sleet, and hail. At the same time, we also found out that temperature plays a huge role in determining what kind of precipitation we receive. Currently, in Stow our temperature is very cold, so if we get precipitation, it will fall in the form of snowflakes. Therefore, we decided collectively to take a closer look at snowflakes. In doing so, Aspen watched a really interesting SciShow Kids video on snowflakes and a really fascinating video where we got to view snowflakes under a microscope on YouTube. Aspen learned that snowflakes start as hexagons because water molecules bond together in a six- sided lattice structure as they freeze. From here they form dendrites when they fall through the clouds. Molecules will then attach themselves to the six points of the hexagon forming branches or dendrites. We further learned that temperature and humidity also determine what kind of snowflakes form. For instance, the more moisture or humidity there is in the air the more intricate the snowflakes will be with more branches (dendrites).

Aspen also engaged in an in class science experiment. We collected snow from a very clean looking portion of our schoolyard area. We then brought our snow indoors and practiced our observation skills! Observation means to look, observe, watch and not touch! As we observed and kept our snow undisturbed we noticed something shocking! Our clean snow contained lots of dirt and particles that were only visible once it melted! This reinforced what we learned about water molecules attaching to dust particles in the atmosphere as they formed snowflakes. It also reinforced why it’s not a great decision to eat snow! What a fun filled wintery week we had in Aspen!

Week Of 01/20/25 – 01/24/25

This week in Aspen we learned all about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. Aspen learned that many years ago there were unfair laws that involved discriminating people based on their appearances. Those individuals with dark skin were discrimanted against and were treated differently than those with light skin. Aspen was shocked to discover that based on how a person looked they were treated differently and unfairly. In fact, many unfair laws were established and people were not treated equally. We then discussed how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted to change these unfair laws. He sought to show the world how unfair they were by protesting peacefully emphasizing the unjustice. We read one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’.s famous quotes stating , “Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. ” After reading this quote we discussed what it meant. Aspen learned that by modeling kindness and respectful behaviors you can show others the error of their ways. We then talked about what protesting peacefully meant and learned all about Rosa Parks. We learned that some of those unfair laws involved how and where individuals could sit on a bus. Therefore, one law stated that if you had dark colored skin you had to sit at the back of the bus . At the same time, those individuals would also have to give up their seat to a light skinned individual if no seats were available! Even if you had been sitting there first, giving up your seat was expected! If you didn’t give up your seat , you could go to jail! Aspen learned that this is exactly what happened to Rosa Parks. Rosa refused to give up her seat to a light skinned (white) man and was sent to jail because of it! The entire class agreed this was completely unfair!! We learned that Rosa and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used this situation as an example to change the world by changing those unfair laws. The change began with the bus laws and eventually lead to other unfair/unjust laws being changed as well. As a result, many of those unfair laws were changed and now people are treated more fairly! Because, of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, and all of the individuals involved in the Civil Rights Movement you can no longer discriminate based on looks and differences. Everyone is entitled to receive the same opportunities and should be treated with respect, kindness, and love no matter what!

In order to illustrate how unfair these laws were, and how it affected those involved we role played or re-enacted the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Aspen students got to take turns playing Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, bus riders, the man asking for Rosa’s seat, the police officer, and the bus driver. We all got to experience what it must have been like for Rosa! Many children mentioned how unfair it was, and how sad or scared Rosa must have felt. We all agreed as a class that everyone should be treated equally and fairly no matter what! We then discussed ways we could also help change the world ! Our Aspen students had so many great ideas! Take a look at our door and the wall in the hallway to see some of our ideas.

Our thematic topic for the week of 01/27/25 – 01/31/25 is the Arctic and Antarctic. We will be exploring how many animals have adapted to living in a cold and harsh environment. We will also discuss the concepts of migration and hibernation.

Fun with the I Spy objects game! Matching objects to their corresponding sounds.

Practicing sounding out phonetic words with the CVC Words activity.

Transferring water using a baster!

Practicing cursive handwriting.

Everyone loves Amora’s braids and beads! There is a huge interest in doing hair in the Aspen classroom! Therefore, our Aspen students were our inspiration for our newest Practical Life activity! We all get to learn how to braid and bead hair!!

Welcome back Aspen families! We hope that you all had a very relaxing, fun, and family filled Winter Break!! This week in Aspen we were all glad to be back! The classroom was alive with learning and buzzing with activity. We had so much fun learning, reconnecting with friends, and returning to our weekly classroom routines. This week our thematic topic was All About Matter! The Aspen students learned that Matter is all around us. We learned that everything around us that we can touch is made up of matter! Aspen also discovered that matter is made up of atoms and molecules. Matter exists in three states solids, liquids, and gases and each of these states have different properties. At the same time matter has mass, and mass can be described as the amount of matter within an object. For instance, we learned that solids have a rigid structure and the molecules within a solid are tightly packed together and do not move freely. Solids have a definite shape and a definite volume. Solids cannot change their shape unless they are broken or cut. Liquids have a definite volume but no shape! The molecules inside a liquid are not tightly packed together like a solid. Their molecular particles can slide past each other resulting in their fluidity. Liquids will therefore take the shape of whatever container they are held in. Gases have no fixed shape and no fixed volume. You cannot see them and the molecular particles within them are spaced out and move freely.

After learning all of the above information regarding matter we then applied our knowledge to the world around us. The Aspen students engaged in hands on learning activities exploring solids, liquids , and gases. The Aspen children practiced sorting objects into their matter categories, experimented with liquids by pouring them into different containers, trapped a gas (air) into containers, and read books exploring the different states of matter. Our favorite book was Ice Boy by David Ezra Stein, it explored the various states of matter and the concept that matter can occasionally change it state! For example, the book illustrated the concept of liquids changing into a solid when it freezes. It also discussed the concepts of water vapor, steam, and evaporation. Therefore, describing the Water Cycle in a fun and simple manner. Finally, the Aspen students had the opportunity to color their very own Matter coloring book.

Kindergarteners returned to school eager to learn and used this week to revisit concepts they were exploring before Winter Break. They also received new Kindergarten lessons involving handwriting, reading, and sight words. All kindergarten students received their first take home phonetic reader and are encouraged to read them to siblings, pets, and parents for learning reinforcement to improve fluency skills.

Next week our topic is Snow and Snowflakes !

Exploring the properties of a liquid! Liquids change their shape depending on the container that holds them.

Gluing molecules to represent the properties of the different states of matter.

Fun with friends during indoor recess!!

Group work with the Mystery Bag! Identifying objects using only our sense of touch!

Tracing the Animal Puzzles!

Welcome back Aspen families! We hope that you all had a very relaxing, fun, and family filled Winter Break!! This week in Aspen we were all glad to be back! The classroom was alive with learning and buzzing with activity. We had so much fun learning, reconnecting with friends, and returning to our weekly classroom routines. This week our thematic topic was All About Matter! The Aspen students learned that Matter is all around us. We learned that everything around us that we can touch is made up of matter! Aspen also discovered that matter is made up of atoms and molecules. Matter exists in three states solids, liquids, and gases and each of these states have different properties. At the same time matter has mass, and mass can be described as the amount of matter within an object. For instance, we learned that solids have a rigid structure and the molecules within a solid are tightly packed together and do not move freely. Solids have a definite shape and a definite volume. Solids cannot change their shape unless they are broken or cut. Liquids have a definite volume but no shape! The molecules inside a liquid are not tightly packed together like a solid. Their molecular particles can slide past each other resulting in their fluidity. Liquids will therefore take the shape of whatever container they are held in. Gases have no fixed shape and no fixed volume. You cannot see them and the molecular particles within them are spaced out and move freely.

After learning all of the above information regarding matter we then applied our knowledge to the world around us. The Aspen students engaged in hands on learning activities exploring solids, liquids , and gases. The Aspen children practiced sorting objects into their matter categories, experimented with liquids by pouring them into different containers, trapped a gas (air) into containers, and read books exploring the different states of matter. Our favorite book was Ice Boy by David Ezra Stein, it explored the various states of matter and the concept that matter can occasionally change it state! For example, the book illustrated the concept of liquids changing into a solid when it freezes. It also discussed the concepts of water vapor, steam, and evaporation. Therefore, describing the Water Cycle in a fun and simple manner. Finally, the Aspen students had the opportunity to color their very own Matter coloring book.

Kindergarteners returned to school eager to learn and used this week to revisit concepts they were exploring before Winter Break. They also received new Kindergarten lessons involving handwriting, reading, and sight words. All kindergarten students received their first take home phonetic reader and are encouraged to read them to siblings, pets, and parents for learning reinforcement to improve fluency skills.

Next week our topic is Snow and Snowflakes !

Exploring the properties of a liquid! Liquids change their shape depending on the container that holds them.

Gluing molecules to represent the properties of the different states of matter.

Fun with friends during indoor recess!!

Group work with the Mystery Bag! Identifying objects using only our sense of touch!

Tracing the Animal Puzzles!

This week in Aspen we continued our Botany lessons by taking a closer look at leaves. The Aspen students learned that leaves are a very important part of a tree. Leaves have a very special job, they are like nature’s little solar panels. They help plants to make food and grow. Aspen discovered that leaves need three important things in order to perform their job. Leaves need sunlight, water (rain), and carbon dioxide from the air. We learned that as they perform their job, leaves engage in something called photosynthesis. Through photosynthesis leaves convert the sunlight , water, and carbon dioxide into a chemical energy while creating oxygen and energy in the form of a sugar called glucose. This glucose is then used by the leaf to make cellulose and starch.This then makes food for the tree to grow healthy and strong. At the same time, leaves also produce something called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is what gives the leaf its green color! Aspen then discussed that something really amazing is happening to our leaves this time of year. The Aspen students pointed out that our leaves are not all green right now! Some are turning colors, they are turning red, yellow, and orange! The Aspen students then asked a couple of questions, Why are they changing colors and why are they falling off of the trees? Through our research and various classroom activities, Aspen discovered that the leaves are changing color because the leaves are no longer producing chlorophyll. As the chlorophyll breaks down the red, yellow, and orange colors show through changing the color of the leaves! Furthermore, Aspen learned the terms deciduous and coniferous. Deciduous trees are the trees that are currently changing colors and loosing their leaves and coniferous trees stay green all year long like pine trees and evergreens.

After learning all of this interesting information the Aspen class then took a closer look at the parts of a leaf. We used our leaf puzzle, leaf classification cards, and the labeling materials to name and identify each part of a leaf. First, we learned to identify the blade of a leaf. The blade is the flat, wide part of the leaf. It’s like a big, green solar panel that catches all sunlight. The blade is the part that helps the plant make food using sunlight, water, and air. We then identified the veins in a leaf and learned that the veins are the tiny lines you see on a leaf. They look like little roads. These veins carry water and nutrients from the stem to the rest of the leaf. We found that the part of a leaf called the midrib is the big vein that runs down the middle of the leaf. It’s like the leaf’s backbone, giving it support and helping it stay strong. Finally, the part of a leaf called the petiole is the little stalk that attaches the leaf to the plant’s stem. Think of it as the leaf’s handle. It helps hold the leaf up and connects it to the rest of the plant. Aspen then discussed leaf margins. The leaf margin is the edge of the leaf. It can be smooth, wavy, or even have little teeth like a saw. Each type of leaf has a different margin, making them unique! We then applied all of our leaf knowledge outdoors as we went on a leaf hunt! The Aspen students found leaves on our playground and then matched them to their corresponding leaf margins! We also collected leaves to explore the parts of a leaf, made leaf rubbings, and leaf ghosts ! It was a very busy and informational week in Aspen! Ask your little Botanist what they learned this week!

Next week we will be talking turkey! We will enter the month of November learning all about turkeys and Thanksgiving! See you next week!

REMINDER – NO SCHOOL NEXT FRIDAY! ( TEACHER IN-SERVICE DAY)

Finding leaves and matching Leaf Margins!

Meet Charlotte, Mr. John’s tarantula ! Charlotte visited the Aspen room Friday afternoon for a fascinating lesson on spiders!

Making phonetic words with the Moveable Alphabet and then practicing handwriting skills by writing them on lined paper.

Addition fun with the Colored Bead Bars!

In keeping with the theme of our Spooky Halloween season, Aspen learned all about the Skeletal System this week. Our Aspen students learned the names and location of all the bones in the human body. As we began exploring this topic, we found out that skeletons are not Spooky! In fact, without a skeleton we would not be able to move and do all the fun things we do! Aspen learned that our Skeleton provides our body with support and gives us our shape. Therefore, we imagined our body being like a big, strong house. We discussed that every house needs a frame to hold it up, and our skeleton is like that frame. The human skeleton is made up of different bones and Aspen students learned all their names. Do you know how many bones the human skeleton has? Well….this week, the Aspen students learned this and more. We discovered that when we are born, we have about 270 bones! But as we grow up some of these bones join together and we end up with 206 bones as an adult. We were absolutely shocked to learn that babies have more bones than adults!!

When learning the names of the bones in the human skeleton Aspen learned that the skull is the bone that protects our brain. The skull is like a helmet that keeps our brain safe! Also, attached to our skull is a bone called the jawbone or mandible. This bone helps us to chew and talk. Aspen also learned that the spine or our backbone helps us stand up straight and protects our spinal cord.We then discussed that our spinal cord is like a superhighway for messages. It sends messages from our brain to the rest of our body. At the same time, Aspen used these skeleton lessons as an opportunity to discuss the vocabulary terms vertebrate and invertabrate. We learned that animals with a backbone are called vertebrates and animals without a backbone are called invertabrates. We then learned about a group of bones called the ribs. Together these group of bones form the rib cage. They surround and protect our internal organs like the heart and lungs. The Aspen students also learned that our arms and legs have bones. Our arms have bones like the humerus (funny bone), radius, ulna. Our legs have the femur (the longest bone in our body), tibia, and fibula. Aspen then learned all about our finger bones and the bones in our feet. They are called the carpals, metacarpals, phalanges (finger bones) , tarsals, metatarsals and phalanges (toe bones). Did you know that our finger bones and toe bones are both called phalanges?? Ask your child what they learned about skeletons this week! They are now Skeletal System experts!!

After learning all of the above information about bones we then discussed why they are such an important part of our body. Bones are super important because they provide the support for our body. They hold us up and give our body its shape, they help protect us, they keep our important organs like our brain, heart, and lungs safe, and without bones we would be unable to move. Bones work together with our muscles to help us run, jump, and play and without them we would be a blob unable to do all the fun and amazing things we do! So this Halloween season when your child tells you how scary some of the Halloween skeleton decorations are, remind them of how important and awesome bones are! You could also ask them to name some of the bones they see!

Kindergarten students are continuing their work with phonics, segmenting, and word building. They also explored the Decimal System (formation of numbers), the linear sequence to one hundred and beyond, and began their introductory lessons with the Addition Stripboard. In Readers Workshop the kindergarteners were introduced to the Phonics Folders the precursor for reading the phonetic readers (Max Series).

See you next week! We will continue our Halloween fun as we study bats, cats, and other Mammals! Remember Trunk or Treat is next Friday!!

Learning the names of the bones with our Skeleton Puzzle!

Meet Mr. SKELLEY Bones! The children thought up names and then voted on what to name our Halloween Decoration Labeling Skeleton! Everyone especially loves checking out the Phalanges!! Giving SKELLEY a high five!!

Exploring phonics with the Moveable Alphabet! Isolating and combining sounds to form words!

Tracing numbers and practicing proper pencil grasp.

Explore texture by pairing the Touch Tablets! Next step pairing at a distance and Sensorial Extension fun!

Indoor recess fun! Singing and dancing to silly songs!

This week in Aspen it was all about classification and sorting! Aspen learned how to sort or classify things into categories based on if they were living or nonliving things. However, in order to determine if a thing was living or nonliving, Aspen had to first learn the characteristics of living things. Aspen learned that in order for a “thing” to be living it needs to grow, have movement, reproduce, metabolize or use food/water for energy, respond to the environment, breathe, and get rid of waste. Therefore, in regards to growth Aspen learned that just like we are growing taller and stronger every day, all living things grow too! Plants grow from tiny seeds into big trees, and puppies grow into dogs. Growing is a special part of being alive. Did you know that all living things can move? Animals like cats and birds move around to find food and play. Even plants move! They turn their leaves to face the sun to get more light and water moves through plants to other areas of the plant for nourishment. Just like we need yummy food and water to stay healthy, living things also need food and water. Plants drink water through their roots, and animals eat different kinds of food to get energy. Breathing is super important! Most living things breathe in air through the nose or mouth. But, did you know that even plants breathe? Plants breathe through tiny holes in their leaves. Living things can also feel things and respond to their environment around them too! We are able to feel when something is hot or cold, and animals can feel it too. Even plants can even feel the sun! They will often grow towards it! Animals have babies, and plants make seeds that grow into new plants. It’s like magic! Living things will respond to what’s happening around them.For example, If you touch a snail, it might hide in its shell and plants can close their leaves when it gets dark. Just like we need to go to the bathroom, all living things need to get rid of waste too. Both plants and animals have special ways to do this to stay healthy to remove waste. Isn’t it amazing how all living things share these special characteristics? In order to explore the information we learned, Aspen engaged in various classification activities. We sorted objects and pictures into categories based on if they were living or nonliving. We also went on a living and nonliving scavenger hunt outdoors on our playground!

Kindergarten students are currently continuing their focus on segmenting phonetic words and combining sounds. Therefore, they spent the week word building with the Moveable Alphabet and the Phonetic Object Boxes. At the same time, they have also received introductory lessons with phonograms practicing sounding out words that don’t follow typical phonetic rules. Like words with th, sh, and the magic e (e at the end). The Aspen kindergarteners have also been focusing on the Decimal System and building large numbers with the Golden Beads. With these activities they are learning how to form large number quantities while engaging in memory training exercises.

Next week ,we will be keeping with the theme of the Halloween season by learning about the Skeletal System! The Aspen students will learn the location and names of the bones in the human body while also learning about Vertebrates and Invertebrates. See you next week!

Classifying things into categories based on if they are living and nonliving while practicing our cutting and gluing skills.

Sorting objects cards into categories based on if they are living or nonliving.

Hammering golf tees into a pumpkin! This is one of Aspen’ s favorite Practical Life activities!

Team Work classifying living and nonliving things !

Fun with the Lotto activity! Matching pictures while discussing the characteristics of living things!

l

More sorting fun but with the Practical Life activities!

This week in Aspen it was all about Color! The Aspen children took a closer look at the world around us and discovered that color is everywhere! We practiced naming all the colors by playing I Spy (color) and found different colors around the classroom. Aspen even learned color names in Spanish! During Group Lesson time we learned all about primary, secondary, and tertiary colors!! Aspen even explored color with our Color Mixing experiment! The Aspen students were able to utilize the Primary Colors, red, yellow, and blue to create new colors! The new colors are called the Secondary Colors (orange, yellow, and green). Color Mixing was like magic! We explored a variety of combinations and made many coloriffic discoveries! Ask your child what they discovered this week while color mixing. Some of our discoveries prompted the exploration and discussion of shades and tints! We learned that a tint is created when you add white to a color and a shade is created when you add black to a color! Did you know that black and white are called achromatic colors? During the week, Aspen was also introduced to the color wheel and the concept of warm and cool colors. Did you know that color can convey feelings or emotion? To complete our exploration of the world of color we also went on a color hunt outside to find different colors in nature! We sure had a fun but busy week in Aspen!

As we enter October the classroom is alive and buzzing with fun and learning! This is the time of year that new students settle into their classroom routines and returning students have completed their review lessons. As a result, the classroom is a busy and bustling place with all students practicing independence, self discipline (responsibility), and time management skills. Due to this, all children are becoming more comfortable and confident when navigating the classroom and exploring new concepts! This week, all students not only worked hard on challenging activities but also completed all work expectations! Some of our children even completed their responsibilities (work) during the morning work period! Therefore, these students had the afternoon free to create, work with friends, color, or continue working. This accomplishment prompted mini group lessons discussing the concept of privileges and consequences. We discussed that when we don’t complete our responsibilities consequences can arise. Such as, less time creating, less time coloring, less socializing with friends, or the build up of work to be completed. This week we saw the results of achieving all of our academic goals and completing all responsibilities. This accomplishment led to some amazing privileges! We got to apply concepts we learned in the classroom to the world outside the classroom with our Color hunt. We had extra time creating, playing with friends, enjoying nature, enjoying the sunshine, and even got to eat lunch outdoors twice! Aspen even got to have a “Fun Friday ” ! An afternoon where a half hour before pick up we cleaned our classroom and brought out our inside recess bin! The Aspen children got to build, create, and play games! Ms.Angela and I are so proud of how hard all of the Aspen students have worked. We really have some awesome and amazing students!!!

Fun with color! Mixing different color combinations with the Primary Colors!

Exploring letter sounds with a variety of Language materials! Lessons begin with the isolation of sounds (letters) and progress to combining sounds with the Moveable Alphabet (pictured left).

Exploring the abstract concept of color with the Color Tablets.

Searching for colors in nature!

This week in Aspen it was all about pumpkins!! After our amazing trip to Ramseyer’s we decided to focus our attention on pumpkins this week! The Ramseyer’s staff taught us many interesting facts about pumpkins last Friday! Therefore, we started our group lessons with a review of what we learned at Ramseyer’s. We then took a closer look at the Life Cyle Of A Pumpkin. In order to get a closer look, the Aspen children utilized our Pumpkin Life Cycle tray. On this tray the Aspen children were able to experience various stages of pumpkin growth by observing, touching, and exploring vines, flowers, pumpkins, and leaves. Through exploration and lessons the Aspen students learned that pumpkins grow on vines and start out as seeds. We also discovered that pumpkins have lots of seeds! Some pumpkins have more than 500 seeds!! Aspen even compared the pumpkin seeds to those of the apple seeds we explored last week! We discovered that pumpkins have more seeds than apples and pumpkin seeds are larger than apple seeds. After learning all of this we then engaged in work with pumpkin themed Practical Life activities, classified the parts of a pumpkin, explored the pumpkin life cycle with our three part pumpkin life cycle cards, watched the How They Grow: Pumpkins video, labeled the parts of a pumpkin, and discussed our new season Fall.

The Aspen Kindergarten students continued segmenting three letter phonetic words, practiced writing on lined paper, and began their introductory cursive lessons. The kindergarten students explored phonics with the Phonetic Object Boxes, played the “Rhyme Time” game, I Spy, and made personalized readers to practice their Sound Detective skills! At this point in time, confidence is the key! By focusing on the isolation of “sounds” (letters) they are able to segment phonetic words without apprehension!

Next week our thematic topic is Color! Color is all around us, is subjective, and our area in Northeast Ohio is about to be rich and vibrant with Fall colors! Thus, there is no better time than next week to learn how to verbalize our interpretation of the colorful world around us ! See you Monday!!

Scrubbing Pumpkins!

Decorating a pumpkin with Expo markers!

Exploring the linear sequence of numbers to twenty with the Pumpkin Numbers!

Using tweezers to remove Sunflower Seeds from our giant Sunflower!

Fun learning numbers with the Green Sandpaper Numbers!

One of the most beautiful things to witness in a Montessori classroom is a Child to Child presentation of a work! Both of these children had received an independent formal presentation with a teacher prior to this moment. However, they chose to work together while figuring out the presentation process and concepts of The Cards And Counters .

One of our classroom chores! Learning how to care for the environment around us is a big part of the Montessori curriculum. Watering our plants is one of our most favorite chores!

This week in Aspen it was All About Apples!! The Aspen children got an up close look at Apples! We learned that Apples can be different colors and that they grow on trees. We also discovered that there are many different kinds of apples (varieties). Did you know that there are 7,500 different varieties of apples? Furthermore, the apples we eat weren’t originally native to North America, they were brought over from Europe! In fact, the only variety of apple native to America was the Crab Apple. Did you know different varieties of apples taste different?? The Aspen students discovered this with our apple taste test! We tried red, green, and yellow Apples. We learned that each variety belongs in the Apple family but have different first names. Therefore, we taste tested a Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith apples. Ask your child what they discovered and which apple was their favorite! Besides our apple group lessons the Aspen children also engaged in many apple themed Practical Life activities, apple classification materials, labeling the parts of an apple, watched a short video How They Grow: Apples, explored the life cycle of an apple, and sang lots of apple songs!

The kindergarteners have continued their exploration of Math, Sensorial, Language, and Cultural lessons in detail focusing on extensions, exploring geographical concepts, and the linear sequence of numbers to one hundred and beyond. This week the kindergartener students further explored the Cardinal Directions and focused on hemispheres locating the Northern , Southern, Eastern, and Western Hemispheres. They also continued practicing their “Sound Detective ” skills with the Moveable Alphabet and continued segmenting phonetic words.

This week we also had our Fall field trip to Ramseyer’s to kick off the Fall season!!! Fall is here! Each class had so much fun exploring Ramseyer’s Farm and picking out the perfect pumpkin! It was such a fun filled day! Thank you to all of the Aspen parents for making this day so special and fun.

Exploring three-dimensional form with the Geometric Solids while matching bases!

Using ” Sound Detective ” skills to decode clues to make a personalized Phonetic Reader to read at home.

Practicing handwriting skills and proper pencil grasp while learning how to write letters on lined paper!

Exploring the concept of Fractions while investigating and observing the inside of an apple.

Apple Classification with the Parts Of An Apple three part cards.

Practicing sorting skills with a bushel of apples!

Exploring number quantities with the Cards and Counters!