The month of December has been full of fun and merriment in our classroom! The children have enjoyed learning about the weather, the different parts of the orchestra, and about different symbols of the holiday season. We had a blast!

During the first week of December, we learned about weather. The children enjoyed learning about the job of a meteorologist how it is their job to scientifically predict the weather. Ms. Kim and I also have been having the children keep track of how many Sunny, Cloudy, Windy and Rainy days there have been this month. In true Ohio fashion, there were more cloudy days. I’ve also noticed that the children have been paying attention to the weather report in the mornings before school, and have been sharing what the Meteorologist has stated that the weather will be like that day!

During the second week in December, the children learned about the different parts of the orchestra. They learned that all instruments belong to a “family”, such as String, Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion. The children also enjoyed listening to sound clips of the different instruments in our parts of the orchestra work, and placing the cards in each family of instruments from the highest sounding instrument to the lowest sounding instrument. The children also enjoyed making a book of all of the instrument families as well with Ms. Kim during Pre-school Lesson.

During week three of December, we learned about the different symbols of the Holidays. First, we learned about reindeer, which are also called caribou. We learned that they are mammals and that they are herbivores. The children also enjoyed making a reindeer craft with Ms. Kim. We also went over to Mr. John’s room to make Ginger bread houses with Ms. Dana and also over to Ms. Kate’s room to make reindeer food!

Enrichments:

In music class, Ms. Lisa got the students ready for the Christmas season! First, they did some review with “Penny the Pony”. Ms. Lisa used “Penny the Pony” to review the musical words for slow, medium, and fast. Then the children used egg shakers, bells, and castanets to help them sing and keep the beat to Christmas songs. We sang “He’ll Be Coming Round the Chimney”, “Jingle Bells”, “Jingle Bell Rock”, and “Deck the Halls”. Thanks to Ms. Lisa for getting us into the Christmas spirit!

In science, Mr. John did a very gooey experiment! He used water, green food coloring, glue, and borax (laundry detergent). First, he made the water green by adding the green food coloring. Then, he added the glue and borax to the water. When the borax was added, the mixture turned to goo! The borax acted like a polymer with the other ingredients. It didn’t matter if you stretched or pulled the goo apart. It always went back together.

In art, Ms. Michele continued her unit on shapes. During our first art lesson this month, the students looked at a painting to find different shapes, objects and lines. Then, we looked at another painting that only had circles, but these circles were different sizes and painted different colors. Next it was the children’s turn to create their own shape paintings. First, they used oil pastels to draw different sized shapes all over their papers. Then, the children painted their papers with watercolors. Painting over the oil pastels with the watercolors is a resist technique. The oil pastels resisted the watercolors, but the watercolors showed on the other parts of the paper.

Our next art lesson also used shapes, but we used the shapes to make self-portraits. First, we looked at the artwork of Pablo Picasso. Picasso’s paintings allow you to look at pictures and objects from different perspectives. Some of the children looked at a painting and saw musical instruments, while other children saw a face. The children were able to see these different objects because of the different shapes Picasso used. After we learned about Picasso, the children created their own self-portraits using different shapes cut out of colored construction paper. Ms. Michele had the students first cut out large circles for their faces. Then, the students used their imaginations to cut and glue down other face features.

In conclusion, I would encourage you to track weather patterns with your child at home. Play I Spy with your child to practice the letter sounds they are learning at school. Take time to listen to classical music with your child and ask them about the different instruments they hear. As Maria Montessori stated,”We teachers can only help the work going on, as servants wait upon a master.” I agree, and it is truly a pleasure to serve your children.

Themes of the Week  (in addition to Montessori Work time)

1/5:        Ground Rules Review

• Care of The Environment-Rolling a rug, tucking in a chair, etc.
• Grace and Courtesy-How to greet another, how to get a friends attention, how to say please and thank you, etc.
• Reviewing Classroom Rules and Manners
• Friendship Game- The children will guess who’s voice they hear to practice listening.
• Reviewing kind words and phrases.

1/12:     Peace Makers

• Maria Montessori-Her life, mission, and how she was a peacemaker.
• Mother Theresa- Her life, mission, and how she was a peacemaker.
• Martin Luther King-His life, mission, and how he was a peacemaker.
• Discussing how we are also able to be peacemakers.
• Dicussing how to build each other up. Introducing a sand sculpture making activities which will teach how to give compliments

1/19:     Art Appreciation

• Monday 1/19- NO SCHOOL (MLK Day)
• Painting-Discuss the medium of painting.
• Sculpting-Discuss the medium of sculpting.
• Drawing-Discuss the medium of drawing.
• Photography-Discuss the medium of photography
• Discussing colors and how they are used in different mediums of art.

1/26:     The Five Senses

• Learning about our sense of hearing and about the different  parts of the ear.
• Learning about our sense of taste and the different parts of the tongue.
• Learning about our sense of touch.
• Learning about our sense of smell. Discussing how our nose functions.

Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.

1/5: Nn

1/12: Vv

1/20: Uu

1/26: Xx

Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.

1/5: Nut

1/12: Vet

1/20: Up

1/26: Box

Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:

• Practice using “Please” and “Thank You” at home with your child, especially at play time or at the dinner table
• Take a trip to the Akron Art Museum or Cleveland Museum of Art as a family. Discuss the colors and the different mediums of art used. The Akron Art Museum has many family activities throughout the year, check out their calendar!
• Discuss with your child who their favorite peace maker is they learned about in class. Discuss with your child how they can be a peace maker at home.

Themes of the Week  (in addition to Montessori Work time)

12/1:       Weather

• Why does it snow? Why does it rain?
• Charting weather.
• Conduct experiment about rain, using cotton balls.
• Discuss dangerous types of weather, such as tornados, thunderstorm, etc.
• Discuss how we dress for certain types of weather.

12/8:       Parts of the Orchestra

• Learning about the Woodwind, Brass, String, and Percussion sections of the Orchestra
• What is the job of the Conductor?
• Listening to performances by famous instrumentalists.
• Making our own guitars and making our own flutes

12/15:    Holiday Symbols

• All about Poinsettias
• All about Reindeer
• All about Evergreens
• All about Candy Canes
• Learn parts of the Reindeer and Poinsettia
   

Christmas Show Rehearsal (not a dress rehearsal)
Wednesday, December 17th 6:00– 7:00pm
Cuyahoga Falls Hgh School
431 Stow Ave. Cuyahoga Falls, OH  44221

Christmas Show
December 19th 6:30pm
Cuyahoga Falls High School
431 Stow Ave. Cuyahoga Falls, OH  44221

**  All students arrive by 6:00pm
** Doors will open at 6:00pm

Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.

12/1: Ll
12/8: Ff
12/15: Dd

Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.

12/1: Let
12/8: Fit
12/15: Dog

Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:

• Listen to classical music together as a family. Discuss the different instruments you hear.
• Look up the weather forecast for the week together as a family.
• Involve 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.

Cuyahoga Falls Preschool

The month of October has been a very busy month in our classroom! Fall is in the air and the children have been learning a lot about fall, Halloween related animals, healthy eating habits, and all about Pumpkins.

During the first week of this month, the children learned about Farm Life and about all the animals that live on a farm, in American Sign Language, watched a video of a chicken being born, and learned about the life cycle of the chicken. The children also had fun making butter the “old fashioned” way; using heavy cream and shaking it in a mason jar. It was very yummy!

In the second week of October, we learned ab44out Healthy Eating Habbits. We first learned about the Food Groups: Grains, Dairy, Fruits, Vegetables, Beans and Legumes, and Oils and Fats. We learned about what foods are “Grow Foods” (foods that help our bodies to grow), and what foods are “Sometimes Foods” (foods that we should only have sometimes). The children also had fun during preschool lesson making a healthy snack of wheat bread, peanut butter, bananas, and raisins, shaped like a bear!

In week three, we learned about spiders. We learned that spiders are arachnids, which means they have eight legs and two main body parts ( the head and cephalothorax). We also began reading the book “Charlotte’s Web”, about a spider named Charlotte who befriends a pig named Wilbur.

During week four, the children enjoyed studying about bats. We learned that bats are mammals, and that many use echolocation to find their way around their environment, as many bats cannot see. Also, we learned that some bats eat insects and the blood of other animals, while some bats, such as the fruit bat, eat fruit. We also read the book “Stellaluna”, about a baby bat who gets lost from her family, but ends up making friends with a family of birds she meets.

During the last week of this month, we learned all about pumpkins and Halloween. We learned that pumpkins can be more than just orange. We also learned that we can make many different things from the pumpkin, such as pumpkin pie, baked pumpkin seeds, pumpkin fluff, etc. The children also enjoyed coloring a white pumpkin with crayons during work time. We also learned about the different parts of the pumpkin, such as the stem, the seeds, etc.

In music class, the students practiced forte (loud) and piano (soft) by singing hello to Jerry the Giraffe and Frieda the Frog. They really enjoyed using the instruments of tambourines, castanets, and egg shakers to help move to music, all these instruments was donated for infantcore. Ms. Lisa helped the students practice their listening skills by having them freeze when the music stopped playing. Then, she reminded the students of allegro (fast) and adagio (slow) by having them dance with leaves (colored scarves). Lastly, the students practiced following directions by dancing the Hokey Pokey! What fun!

In science class, Mr. John taught the concept of density. He showed the students that oil and water do not mix because oil is less dense than water. The students even shook a bottle with oil and water many times but every time the oil floated to the top! We knew that the oil and water did not mix because the oil was a lighter color than the water with food coloring. To explore more about the concept of density, the students tried to get a ketchup packet to sink. When they said sink the ketchup packet sunk. When the students said float, the packet floated back to the top. Was it magic? No Mr. John was squeezing the water bottle. When the bottle was squeezed an air bubble in the ketchup packet got smaller. This made the ketchup packet more dense so it sank. I wonder if we will have any magic in science next month?

In art class, the first two weeks were spent on a project that included the students own junk! During the first week, the students glued down their junk items to popsicle sticks. Then, the second week the students painted these works of art one primary color. To learn the complimentary colors, the students then added objects that were the complimentary color to the color they originally painted with. This was a great way to learn primary and complimentary colors at the same time! Since winter is upon is, Ms. Michelle thought it would be a good idea to study the artist Georgia O’Keeffe. Georgia O’Keeffe is known for painting close ups of flowers. The students drew and painted flowers using oil pastels, markers, and water. Lastly, Ms. Michele introduced the students to observational art. The students brought in their favorite toys and set them together in the middle of the room, some brought cars. At Fluff Heaven carry a large selection of heirloom-quality natural toys made from eco-friendly and sustainably-harvested wood. The students sat around these toys and were told to draw what they saw. Not only did they draw their own personal toys but other toys as well, one of the kids even brought a Kids shark toy pillow!

This coming month, I encourage you to practice with your child what they have learned. Maybe take a fall hike and play “I Spy”, make a pumpkin recipe together as a family, or discuss a healthy meal you and your family can make together. Maria Montessori believed that our children learn from participating in everyday activities out in the world and in the home, so please include your child in your party preparations, grocery shopping, household chores, etc. This will go a long way to aiding your child in their development!

Themes of the Week
(in addition to Montessori Work time)

11/03:     Family

• Learning ASL family signs.
• Sharing our Family Tree projects.
• Members of our family, family traditions and celebrations.
• Discuss how pets are also part of our families.

11/11:    Turkey

• 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

11/17:    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
• Working on our center pieces for the Thanksgiving Feast..

11/24:    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 

Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.

11/03: Jj
11/11: Ee
11/17:Hh
11/24: Nn

 Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.

11/03: Jig
11/11: Egg
10/17: Hop
11/24: No

 Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:

• I encourage you to include your child in the preparation of one of the dishes for your Thanksgiving meal. Look up a new recipe 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 with 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.

Themes of the Week
(in addition to Montessori Work time)

09/29:    Down On The Farm

• Learning ASL farm animal signs
• Learning what animals live on a farm
• Life cycle of the chicken
• Making butter, learning about other foods made from milk
• Sink or float experiment with eggs

10/6:      Healthy Eating

• Learning about the food pyramid
• Learning about foods that are beneficial for our bodies and what is “junk food”
• Learning the difference between fruits and vegetables
• Making a healthy snack as a class
• Singing songs that reinforce healthy food choices

10/13:    All About Spiders

• Learning the parts of the spider
• Stories about spiders-”The Very Busy Spider” by Eric Carl, and we’ll begin reading “Charlotte’s Web
• Discuss the ways spiders are helpful
• Discussing the difference between arachnids and insects
• Learn about the spider life cycle

10/20:    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”

10/27      All About Pumpkins/Halloween

• Discuss how pumpkins grow and the pumpkin life cycle
• Discuss what we can make with pumpkins
• Decorating our own white pumpkin in class using crayons
• Taste testing pumpkin pie
• Singing songs about Halloween and Pumpkins
• Halloween Party Friday, October 31^st! 

Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.
9/29: Pp
10/6: Yy
10/13:Ss
10/20: Ii
10/27: ie

Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
9/29: Pig
10/6: Yes
10/13: Sit
10/20: It
10/27: Pie

Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:

• Plan a healthy meal as a family. Include your child in the preparation.
• 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.

This week, we learned all about the Food Pyramid! We learned about the different food groups of Veggitables, Fruits, Dairy, Grains, and Protein. We also learned the difference between healthy food and food we should only have sometimes, there are other ways to maintain your health like taking supplements for kidney health and many other measures. We also learned it is not good to eat too many sweets such as cookies and soda, because too much sugar is bad for our teeth, and our health that’s why doing sports and using supplements from sites as quinnova.com could really help with this. It’s not only a beauty to look at but will always tempt the little ones to dip their hands at the right time. The children were also very interested in the Food Pyramid work we put on the shelf to help them practice what they have learned,

A Peek Into Next Week:

-All About Our 5 Senses.

-Learning about how the different parts of the tongue help us to taste.

-Playing the “Mystery Bag Game” to explore our sense of touch.