A Peek at Our Week | Elementary | Week of February 18 - Absorbent Minds Montessori School

“A child, more than anyone else, is a spontaneous observer of nature.” – Maria Montessori

This week was an exciting week for nature in our classroom. We have been able to see Kernel out exploring his new habitat almost every day, we started germinating our lettuce seeds for the aquaponic system, and we have seen some growth in the food scraps we are trying to regrow! So far, most of our lettuce has sprouted enough to plant into our aquaponic system and it has continued to grow! Through research and conversation with others that have aquaponic or hydroponic systems, we learned from our mistakes last year and have seen success! Our onions, garlic, and carrot scraps are coming along and we are waiting to see if our pineapple will regrow.

This week we had two more kindergarten visitors. Here, a first grade friend is showing a kindergarten friend how to build quadrilaterals with the Box of Sticks. The Box of Sticks is one of our favorite Geometry materials because we can use it to study angles, lines, polygons, and circles!

One of our first grade friends practiced her cursive handwriting with a kindergarten visitor. They wrote letters for a while, then decided to switch to words. Our first grader helped sound out the words when necessary and gave advice on where to start each letter. It is so great to hear our students share their knowledge with new children!

Last year two of our current fourth year students and one of our current second year students were in charge of the aquaponic system. This year, they each chose a younger child to teach about the system so we can use it year after year. The younger children were able to begin the germination process and our older, experience friends, showed them how to plant the seeds once they were germinated. We are so excited to continue to see the progress of our lettuce.

Ms. Marlee introduced our first year and kindergarten students to the adverb! This is always a favorite lesson of teachers and students. Each child gets to chew a cracker in a specific way based on which adverb they receive. Some children had to eat messily, some quietly, some quickly! Being able to physically bring an adverb to life leaves a lasting impression.

These third year students used our physics discovery materials to make this creation. They were able to make five gears turn simultaneously! The students use this work to create cars, pulleys, and other machines!

Photos from our Valentine’s Party

“A Peek at Next Week”

Next week we will begin our backdrops and buttons for the Wax Museum! Our first year students will be introduced to number lines, will discuss antonyms, and will find the parts of a bulb. Our second year students will have their next Checkerboard lesson, will find adverb pairs, and will learn the origins of the names of the days of the week. Our third year students will write explanations about graphs they study, will classify adverbs, will join the second years in learning the origins of the names of the days of the week, and will find plants from each continent. Our fourth year students will begin studying early groups of Homo sapiens, will continue studying simple tense verbs, and will continue taking the area of triangles. Fifth year students will continue ancient civilization research, will divide fractions, and will begin measuring circles.

REMINDERS:

“Bring Your Parent to Work Time” – 2/26 and 2/27 – We still have a few slots open. Sign up here.
Monday, March 4 – NO SCHOOL – Student Led Conferences – Please check your email for the time your child was scheduled and for more information.
Monday, March 18 – Wax Museum
Thursday, March 21-Friday, March 29 – NO SCHOOL – Spring Break

“A child, more than anyone else, is a spontaneous observer of nature.” – Maria Montessori

Leave a Reply