“Through movement, children explore their world. They touch it, they move and manipulate it, they go outside and out into the world to examine the natural beauty around them.” – North American Montessori Center
Montessori believed that children need the opportunity to move during their day at school. In the primary classroom, you see this through materials like the Pink Tower or Brown Stair which require the children to take ten whole trips to and from the material to gather everything at their mat before even beginning the work! With being given more freedom to develop into and explore what it means to be an adult, movement in the Elementary classroom appears in different ways. Children cannot become independent by sitting in one place all day. They need to move, to explore, to try (and sometimes fail) before they can really grasp the importance of something. We include movement in our classroom through games at recess, building and creating in the room and at recess with power tools and hot glue, allowing many choices in work spaces, completing chores throughout our entire building, and offering the choice of a mental break with jump rope and yoga. Sign up for “Bring Your Parent to Work Time” below to observe movement in our room before working with your child!
Here, two Lower Elementary students are participating in a game of one-on-one soccer. Each child has chosen a team to represent and take turns playing offense and defense for their entire team!Sometimes you need a physical break from a mental break! This student was pausing his work after a lot of research to do some jump roping. After jumping for as long as he could without stopping, he needed a rest!
Lower Elementary by Ms. Marlee
These third graders are continuing their exploration of different types of nouns. They are using their “Singular and Plural Noun Rule Chart” to help them classify nouns into the correct category. Language works like these help students become stronger writers and readers.Our Lower Elementary has been reviewing their knowledge of telling time over the past two weeks. This week, the third graders had a review over telling time to the minute. These two students are working together to determine what time these clock faces are representing. Being able to tell time independently helps students regulate their time effectively and keep track of how much time they have left to complete their daily responsibilities. Both are tools that will help them smoothly transition into adulthood.
Upper Elementary by Ms. Ashley
Our fourth year students reviewed their previous Lower Elementary lessons with the Bohr Diagram and Periodic Table this week! We reviewed the subatomic particles in an atom and where to find information about each element using the Periodic Table. To continue their review, each student chose one element to research. They have found the history of their element and its many uses. Look for these projects on the bulletin board next week!Our third year and Upper Elementary students are split into two reading groups. Students read the summaries of “Fish in a Tree” and “Jackie Robinson” to determine which group they’d like to join. Twice a week students meet, give out reading group jobs, and work through the readings together. Both books have sparked many deep discussions about discrimination this week and have allowed students to ask questions about the experiences of others, while discussing how they would behave in those situations.
Enrichments by Ms. Erica
Our students are having a lot of fun preparing for their Grandparents’ Day performance!
REMINDERS
For information on what your child is doing daily, please check in on Transparent Classroom!
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