“The greatest gift we can give our children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.” -Maria Montessori
This week we have worked to prepare for the Science Fair. Students have finished collecting data and keeping track of their plants. We have started compiling our information for our trifold boards and some have completed their displays. We are practicing what we will say to visitors to our projects and are excited to show what we know! This week we also enjoyed a trip to the Lake Metro Parks Farmpark. We learned a lot about portion size and why we should put fresh food into our bodies instead of processed food and follow the best healthy delicious premium menus. We had two more kindergarten visitors that we were excited to help!
Our kindergarten visitors joined our first graders at a Decanomial lesson this week! This lesson is a physical representation of a multiplication table. Students work together to build each equation out of beads. Students then record their equations on Decanomial paper. Look for your child to bring this home this or next week!We really enjoyed our time at the Farmpark! We learned about portion size, how much of each food group we should be eating, how cheese is made, how a cow is milked, origins of different pizza topping plants, how grains are grown and cooked, and had the opportunity to pet so many animals!This student is petting one of the piglets. We were excited to see how large a sow is!Our students enjoyed petting different animals. This student told us he found his “Spirit Animal” here.We learned how farmers were able to do things before electricity and took turns using some of the machinery. This student is grinding some wheat for dough.We were able to milk a cow at the Farmpark. We learned what cows need to produce milk and what the farm does after they extract it!The farmers showed us how homemade cheese is made with enzymes, cheese cloth, and a press. We then found out why cheese is dyed orange. Students were able to feel the squeezed and dyed curds!Our students are working hard to prepare for the Science Fair. These first year students are working on their trifold boards. Students are tasked with making neat, creative, and attractive displays to draw in visitors so they can explain their project and research!Some of our third year students have started doing more math without materials. In the Montessori classroom, we begin with the most concrete before moving into something abstract like multiplication on paper. The third year students have spent a few years working with just the materials, then they move on to doing work on paper alongside the materials. When they have a deep understanding of what they are doing, we take away the materials and just work on paper. This was a special event for our third graders! They are so proud of themselves and so excited to work on math!A few years ago, we visited Seneca Caverns to explore inside a real cave. The Caverns partnered with FS Nature Live to give us the opportunity to participate in a digital field trip about caves. Last week, we watched a video from the company about caves. We learned how they are formed, why they are important, what flora and fauna are inside, and what jobs people have inside a cave. We wrote down our questions and submitted them to the scientists. Wednesday we watched the scientists answer our questions live on video and live online! Students kept saying they were famous!
A Peek into Next Week
Next week, Lower Elementary students will continue work with polygons, will discuss pronouns, and will review Geographic Features. Third year students will continue measurement lessons by baking bread for the classroom! Fourth year students will do math with binomials and trinomials and will continue their bacteria studies.
REMINDERS:
Tuesday, March 20 – Elementary Science Fair from 6-7 pm. Please invite your friends and family! We will also be having a Bake Sale to raise money for our Hydroponic System! Let me know if you will be able to send in baked goods to contribute to our Sale.
Wednesday, March 21 – Pizza Party for Box Tops. The Elementary Classroom collected the most Box Tops and are celebrating with pizza (gluten-free will be available for those that need it) for lunch. We will also be having a dress-up day. Our students voted to dress as movie characters. Following the same rules we have for Halloween, please no scary characters, weapons, or masks.
Friday, March 23 – Pajama Day. Your child may wear pajamas for the day and bring a board game for the afternoon. We will not be having gym this day.
