Themes of the Week (in addition to Montessori Work time)
11/30: Weather
Why does it snow? Why does it rain?
Charting the weather.
Conduct experiment about rain, using cotton balls.
Discuss dangerous types of weather, such as tornados, thunderstorms, etc.
Discuss how we dress for certain types of weather.
12/7: Parts Of The Orchestra/ Music
Learning about Woodwind, Brass, String, and Percussion sections of the Orchestra.
What is the job of the Conductor?
Listening to performances by famous instrumentalists.
Learning about Quarter Notes, Half Notes and Whole Notes.
Learning about some famous composers.
12/14: Holiday Symbols
All about Poinsettas.
All about Reindeer.
All about Evergreens.
All about Candy Canes.
Learn parts of the Poinsetta.
Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.
12/1: Ll
12/7: Ff
12/14: Dd
Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
12/1: Let
12/7: Fit
12/14: Dog
Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:
-Track the weather this month with your child. How many rainy, snowy, sunny, and cloudy days will there be?
-Listen to classical music together as a family.
-Envolve your child in making Christmas cookies, or in planning your Christmas dinner.
-While decorating your Christmas Tree, discuss with your child what they remembered learning about the Evergreen, and why it is a symbol of the Holiday Season.
Themes of the Week (in addition to Montessori Work time)
11/02: Family
-Learning ASL family signs.
-Sharing our Family Tree projects.
-Discuss Family traditions and celebrations.
-Discuss how every family is unique and special.
-Discuss how pets are also part of our families.
11/9: Turkey Fun
-Learning the parts of the Turkey
-Singing songs about Turkeys
-Discuss how the Turkey is a bird, based on the characteristics of birds.
-Discuss why we eat Turkey on Thanksgiving.
-Turkey Crafts and Songs
Friday, November 13th NO SCHOOL/ Teacher In Service Day
(Parent//Teacher Conferences All Day 8am-7pm)
11/16: Pilgrims and Native Americans
-Who were the Pilgrims? Who were the Native Americans?
-Learning about Pilgrim life.
-Learning about how the Native Americans helped the Pilgrims.
-Working on our costumes for the Thanksgiving Feast.
-Working on our center pieces for the Thanksgiving Feast.
11/23: All About Thanksgiving
-Discussing the foods we eat at Thanksgiving.
-Discussing what it means to be thankful.
-Finish preparing our costumes for the the Thanksgiving Feast.
-Finish preparing our centerpieces for the Thanksgiving Feast.
-Singing songs about Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Feast 11/25 (11:00‐12:00pm) 12:00pm Early Dismissal (No Aftercare)
Thursday/Friday NO SCHOOL—Enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday!
Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.
11/02: Jj
11/09: Ee
11/16:Hh
11/23: Nn
Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
11/02: Jig
11/09: Egg
10/16: Hop
11/23: No
Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:
-I encouage you to include your child in the preparation of one of the dishes for your Thanksgiving meal. Look up a new reciepie and include them in measuring, backing, serving, etc.
-Discuss with your child their favorite family tradition or celebration.
-Include your child in everyday household chores, activities, and errands. Montessori believed that in order for the child to best adapt themselves to their environment, they need to go out and participate in everyday activities in the world around them.
-Discuss will the child what they learned about the first Thanksgiving. Ask them about the foods they learned were served at the first Thanksgiving, and make a comparison to what is on your Thanksgiving table.
What I will learn at school the Month of October in Ms. Kristen’s Class…
Themes of the Week (in addition to Montessori Work time)
09/28: Down On The Farm Learning ASL farm animal signs
Learning what animal live on a farm
Life cycle of the chicken
Making butter, learning about other foods made from milk
Sink or float experiment with eggs
10/5: All About Pumpkins Learning all about the parts of the pumpkin
Discuss what we can make with Pumpkins
Decorating a white pumpkin in class using crayon
Taste testing Pumpkin Pie
Learning the Poem “ Five Little Pumpkins”
10/12: All About Fall Discuss the characteristics of Fall
Shading over leaves to make prints
Leaf sorting
Poems and Songs about Fall and Leaves
Parts of the leaf
10/19: All About Bats Learning the parts of the bat
Reading “Stellaluna”
Learning about echolocation, and how it helps certain species of bats see
Ven Diagram comparing bats to birds
Making a “bat cave”
10/26: All About Spiders/ Halloween Learning the parts of the spider.
Discuss the ways spiders are helpful .
Discussing the difference between arachnids and insects.
Learn about the spider life cycle.
Poems and Songs about Halloween.
Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.
9/28: Pp
10/5: Yy
10/12:Ss
10/19: Ii
10/26: Review of All Sounds-Learn ASL Signs
Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
9/28: Pig
10/5: Yes
10/12: Sit
10/19: It
10/26: Pie
Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:
Take a fall hike together as a family. Have your child point out the changes they see around them.
Ask your child to show you some of the ASL signs they’ve learned for farm animals.
While reading to your child, point out the sight words they are learning this month.
Pick out a pumpkin together with your child. Discuss with them what they have learned about how pumpkins grow, what foods we can make with pumpkin, etc.
Themes of the Week (in addition to Montessori Work time)
8/24: Grace and Curtesy / Ground Rules
-Learning Control of Movement-Rolling A Rug, Carrying A Tray, and Carrying A Chair.
-Learning Grace And Curtesy- How to Introduce Yourself, How To Say Please And Thank You, How -To Interrupt Another.
-Learning classroom rules.
-Discussing what it means to be kind to others and what are “kind words”.
-Making a “Kind Words Chain” in pre-school lesson.
8/31: Grace And Curtesy/Ground Rules
-Reading the book, “ The Bear That Was Chicken” and discussing with the children how they felt -before coming to school and how they feel now about school.
-Lessons on saying “Excuse Me”, “I’m Sorry”, and “ Thank You”.
-Singing songs and playing game to review what we’ve learned about classrroom rules and manners.
-Having the children write our classroom rules and display them in the classroom.
-Read the book “ There’s A BirdOn Your Head”. Discuss how to speak to someone when we’re frustrated.
9/7: All About Me
-“ Who’s Baby Picture Is This?” guessing game. (Be sure to send in a baby picture of your child with them this week.)
-Disccussing what makes each of us special: hair color, eye color, likes and dislikes, our birthdays, our names, our emotions, etc.
-Graphing our differences such as hair and eye color.
-Practicing saying our full names.
-Learning our birth dates.
9/14: All About Apples
-Read the story “Little Bear’s Star”- Story about an apple.
-Sorting apples by size and color.
-Learnging the fractions of one whole and one half using an apple.
-Taste testing different color apples and making a graph, as a class, of our favorites.
-Learning the Apple Life Cycle.
9/21 All About Community Helpers
-All About Firefighters and Police Officers
-All About Doctors and Nurses
-All About Construction Workers
-All About Transportation Workers
-What Is A Community Helper?
Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.
8/24: Aa
8/31: Cc
9/7: Rr
9/14: Tt
9/21: Review Of All Four Letters
Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
8/24: at
8/31: cat
9/7: rat
9/14: tap
9/21: Review All Four Sight Words
Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:
-While reading a book have your child point to all of the letter of the week she/he can find. Have them do this with the sight words as well. Play I-Spy using things that only start with the letter of the week.
-Discuss with your child what they learned about Community Helpers. How can your family help our community.
-While reading to your child, point out the sight words they are learning this month.
-Find a fun apple recepie to try as a family. Let yor child practicing measuring the ingrediants, assemble the ingridiants, etc. Discuss with your child the other things that can be made with apples.
Themes of the Week (in addition to Montessori Work time)
5/4: All About Insects
• Learning the Characteristics of Insects.
• Life Cycle of the Butterfly.
• How Insects are helpful/harmful.
• Where do certain insects live?
• Where do insects get their food?
5/11: Dinosaurs
• Studying Dinosaurs that lived on land, earth, and in the air.
• Learning about the difference between carnivores and herbivores.
• Discuss how Dinosaurs left fossils, which give us “clues” about them.
• Discuss different types of dinosaurs such as T-Rex, Stegosaurus, and Triceratops.
• Discuss how dinosaurs all hatched from eggs.
5/18: All About Reptiles and Amphibians
• The difference between reptiles and amphibians.
• Learning about the Frog Life Cycle
• Learning about snakes, lizards, and alligators.
• Learning about turtles and frogs.
• Making a ven diagram of the differences between reptiles and amphibians.
5/25: All About Mammals
Learning the physical characteristics of mammals.
Learning about bears, monkeys, and lions.
What do certain mammals eat?
Where do certain mammals live?
6/1: All About Summer Fun/Safety
• Learning all about camping.
• Making ice cream.
• Learning about “stranger danger”.
• Learning when to call 9-1-1.
Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.
5/4: Yy
5/11: Ss
5/18: Ii
5/25: Pp
Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
4/6: Yet
4/13: Set
4/20: Lip
4/27: Pit Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:
• Discuss with your child their favorite types of dinosaur they are learning about.
• Take a trip to the zoo with your child. Discuss the different types of animals you see.
• Play “ I Spy” with your child using the letter sounds of the letter of the week.
• Discuss summer safety with your child (stranger danger, swimming safety, etc)
The month of March has been very busy in our classroom. The children are loving being able to finally go outside and enjoy the warm weather! We’ve also learned all about Dr. Seuss, Space, Ohio, and about North America!
During the first week, we had fun learning all about Dr. Seuss. The children enjoyed reading “ The Cat In The Hat Comes Back” with Ms. Kim and making a “Cat In The Hat” craft that you might have seen displayed on our bulletin board in the hall! The children also enjoyed learning about rhymes, making their own “plane ticket” after reading “Oh The Places You’ll Go”, and eating “ green eggs” made using green pudding and vanilla wafers.
In week two, we enjoyed learning all about space. The children enjoyed learning all the names of the planets in our solar system, learning all about the phases of the moon, and all about constellations. We also learned first hand how astronomy telescopes for children works! The volunteer said that they had to click here to get one to show us firsthand. The children also enjoyed making their own constellations using stickers with Ms. Kim! The children even asked me to keep the space books on our Science shelf for an extra week, because they were so interested in learning more!
We learned all about Ohio during week three! The children learned all about our state bird, the Cardinal. We learned that the male cardinals have bright red feathers, while the female Cardinals have more brown, dull feathers in order to camouflage themselves in order to protect their nest. We also learned that our state capitol is Columbus, and that our state tree is the Buckeye Tree.
For St. Patrick’s Day, the children also enjoyed making a shamrock craft with Ms. Kim during Preschool lesson, and reading a story about how St. Patrick’s Day became a holiday. The children really enjoyed decorating their shamrock with Lucky Charms!
During the fourth week of March, we began our discussion about countries and continents. We began by discussing that a continent is a large “chunk” of land that is divided up into smaller “ pieces” called countries. We then took out the map of North America puzzle and began to name some of the countries. We learned all about Mexico, Canada, and The United States, and I even discussed with the children a trip to Haiti that I took several years ago. The children are enjoying learning about new cultures and customs of other countries, and they have been asking great questions!
Enrichments (Ms. Kim)
Music
In music, the children spent time getting familiar with the piano (keyboard). They listened to different high and low sounds, animals, sounds in nature, and musical instruments. Sometimes Ms. Lisa played a sound on the piano, and the students had to guess what the sound was. The children practiced listening for the differences in high and low sounds by playing the Cat and Mouse game. “Mice” came out to play when high sounds were played, and “cats” came out to play when low sounds were played. Ms. Lisa explained that the high sounds on a piano are on the right, while the low sounds are on the left. The children got to play both white and black keys on the piano.
Science
During the first half of the month Mr. John did experiments with objects that either sank, floated, or did both! First we made hypotheses on whether or not a crumpled piece of construction paper would float or sink in water with dishwashing soap. The piece of paper floated in plain water but sank in the soapy water. The paper was able to sink to the bottom because the dishwashing soap breaks the strong bonds in plain water.
Next we made hypotheses on whether or not raisins would sink or float in a glass of ginger ale. When the raisins were dropped in, they floated and sank repeatedly. Mr. John called them “dancing raisins”! Ginger ale and other soda pops have carbon dioxide bubbles. These carbon dioxide bubbles attached themselves to the raisins and brought them to the top. Once the bubbles popped, the raisins sank to the bottom.
For the last experiment, we looked at hot and cold water. When a jar of cold blue water was placed on a jar of hot red water, the water mixed and turned purple. When we switched the jars and put the jar of hot red water on top of the jar of cold blue water, the water did not mix or turn purple. Why? The hot water must be on the bottom for the water to mix because hot water is less dense than cold water.
Art
For our first art lesson, we looked at Dr. Seuss’ artwork. Ms. Michele read the students Fox in Socks to show how imaginative Dr. Seuss was. Then the children created their own imaginative or “dreamy” piece of art by drawing with oil pastels.
Next Ms. Michele taught a lesson on mosaics. She explained how Romans made mosaics using many tiles. The pictures created by the tiles were made to remember important events that had taken place. So, the children thought of things that were important to them and then created mosaics of these things by gluing down square pieces of foam.
For our last lesson, Ms. Michele discussed the artist James Demski or “JIMBOT”. This artist has created artwork with many robots. So, the children had fun drawing their own robots with oil pastels. These robots did many things like cutting grass, cleaning, and cooking, is one of the advantages of technology now a days, we got machines that clean for us, and some even clean the air in our houses as the air purifiers from https://www.bloomingair.com/air-purifier-reviews/vava-3-in-1-true-hepa-filter/.
This coming month, I encourage you to review with your child what they have learned. Take time to look at the night sky as a family and look for some constellations. Try a new Mexican restaurant together. Read Green Eggs and Ham together with your child and point out the rhyming words.
Maria Montessori said that,”To aid life, leaving it free, however, that is the basic task of the educator.” I consider it my joy and privilege to aid the lives of your children, and in turn, I enjoy watching them thrive in the freedom they have to learn and discover!
January was a busy month in our classroom! We were so exited to welcome Giana, Tenleigh, and Hadley into our classroom! They fit right in and we all love having them be a part of our class! We also enjoyed diving back into working in our classroom!
During the first week of January, we reviewed our classroom rules. We were reminded of how to carry a tray, how to walk on the line, and how to roll up our rugs. This was a great reminder coming back from a two week break, and a great introduction to our classroom for our new friends. Our returning friends were a great help to our new friends when it came to teaching them the rules of the classroom.
During the following week, we learned about Peacemakers. You might have heard your child talking about what it means to be a Peacemaker at home. We learned that a Peacemaker is someone who is kind, who helps others, who does not hurt others, who uses kind words, and does not argue with others. We talked about great Peacemakers, such as Maria Montessori, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, and Helen Keller. The children also all signed their own names to our “Peacemaker Promise” that you might have seen on the outside of our door.
We learned all about different types of art during the third week. We learned about Vincent Van Gough, and how he was a famous painter. The children also enjoyed learning about primary colors,making a mosaic flower, and making a collage of their favorite things.
We also learned all about the Five Senses, during the last week of the month. The children enjoyed learning about the parts of the ear and how we are able to hear. They also learned about our sense of sight as well. To illustrate how important our sense of sight is, Ms. Kim placed many different objects in the middle of our circle during preschool lesson and each child took turns being blindfolded and guessing which object Ms. Kim removed from the middle of the circle. What a great way to practice our observation skills! We also popped popcorn in an air popper. We learned that when making and eating popcorn, we can use all five of our senses. The children enjoyed describing what they heard, saw, smelled, tasted, and felt while making and eating the popcorn!
I hope you will take time to explore what we’ve learned with your child at home as well! When cooking, playing, eating, or taking a walk outside, discuss with your child which of their five senses they are using. Review with them what it means to be a Peacemaker, and ask them how they can be a Peacemaker at home. Take a trip to the Akron Art Museum as a family or create art together at home.
Enrichments:
In music class this month, the children practiced using their soft, loud, high, and low voices to sing hello to Tina the Turtle, Jerry the Giraffe, and Nemo the Fish! Ms. Lisa began her Peter and the Wolf story. The children were introduced to the characters in the story and what musical instruments from the orchestra they are represented with on the CD. Most of the children could recognize when specific characters were coming up in the story. For example, as soon as they heard the flute they knew the bird was talking. Ms. Lisa left us wondering when the wolf is going to show up in the story. We will find out next week! We also had some fun listening and dancing to the music of Mozart. Ms. Lisa had the children dance with scarves and pretend to be little birds. Lastly, we sang some of our favorite songs such as “Baby Bumblebee”, “Wheels on the Bus”, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, and “No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed”.
In Science class this month, Mr. John came to our classroom to do a diaper experiment! First he showed the children his materials: a diaper, measuring cup with water, measuring cup without water, and paper towels. Then, he placed a paper towel in the empty measuring cup, and poured three ounces of water over top of the paper towel. He asked the children if they thought the water would stay in the paper towel if he turned the measuring up upside down over his head. No the water did not stay! It poured onto Mr. John’s head. The paper towel could not hold all of the water. Next, he placed the diaper into the empty measuring cup, and poured six ounces of water over top of the diaper. Did the water stay or pour out onto Mr. John’s head? The water stayed in the diaper! So, we decided to try twelve ounces of water. The water still did not pour out. Why? The diaper has a special chemical that absorbs and holds water. Glad we have these diapers for babies!
In Art class this month, the students began their imaginary creatures. This is a project that Ms. Michele spends a couple weeks on. During the first week, she showed the children pictures of mythological creatures and discussed the history of them. She also passed around colorful eggs and had the students brainstorm what creatures could come out of them. Next, the children picked two animals off Ms. Michele’s board to mix together. Their goal was to take characteristics from each animal to make a new imaginary animal. They drew and colored in these new creatures. During the second week, the children took these drawings and used them to help make the creatures with clay. Ms. Michele gave them foil to first mold the creatures bodies. Then the children covered the foil with white clay. Next week we will add color to our creatures and really make them come to life!
In conclusion, I want to thank you for letting me serve your children. Maria Montessori believed that we, as directresses, are mainly observers and servants of the child, who She believed this so much, that she credited the children she worked with when she said, “It is not true that I invented whats called the Montessori Method. I have studied the child, I have taken what the child has given meand expressed it, and that is what is called the Montessori Method.”
I consider myself blessed to be an observer and servant of your child, and it is a true joy!
Themes of the Week (in addition to Montessori Work time)
2/2: Transportation
What is Transportation?
Discuss trains and how they operate.
Discuss airplanes and how they fly.
Learning about busses and how they take us different places.
Discuss boats and how they are able to float on the water.
2/9: Polar Pals/ Valentine’s Day
Discussing Penguins – What they eat, where they live and more.
Learning about Polar Bears- Where they live, how they stay warm and more.
Discussing Beluga Whales- Where they live live, what they eat and more.
Discussing Seals-Where they live, how they stay warm, what they eat and more.
History of Valentine’s Day and Valentine’s activities.
*Valentine’s Party, Friday, February 13th
2/16: Presidents
Discussing Abraham Lincoln and his life.
Learning about George Washington, the father of our nation.
Learning about our current president, Barack Obama
Learning about the American Flag, and what the different parts symbolize.
Discussing the Pledge of Allegiance and what the words mean.
*Monday, February 16th President’s Day- NO SCHOOL
2/23: Dental Health
Discuss Dental Health
Learn what foods are healthy for our teeth.
Learn the parts of the tooth.
Why do we loose our baby teeth?
Learn about the job of a Dentist.
Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.
2/2: Kk
2/9: Gg
2/16: Mm
2/23:Oo
Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
2/2: Kid
2/9: Go
2/16: Me
2/23: Off
Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:
Make Valentines together with your child. Have them sign their own name to the cards.
Practice saying the Pledge of Allegiance with your child at home.
Practice teeth brushing with your child. Make a healthy snack together as a family that will promote dental health.
Practice the letter of the week with your child by playing “I Spy”. This is a great way to help them learn initial sounds. Remember to focus on the sound of the letter and not the name of the letter.
