Blog

Mrs. Semmah: It’s Off To Work I Go!

Posted on by Kaoutar Semmah

When a child works, he does not do so to attain some further goal.  His objective in working is the work itself. –Maria Montessori

One of Maria Montessori’s most noted quotes is “play is the child’s work.”  We’re sure by now you have heard your child talk about their work at school. Dr. Montessori preferred the word work rather than the word play to describe the learning process children are constantly undergoing. Work conveys the amount of effort that children put into their physical, social, emotional, and academic growth. As adults, our definition of work has a very different meaning.

Children are driven by a strong, unconscious internal growth process to seek out experiences that will meet their needs. Our role as Montessori teachers is to provide a well-prepared environment that encourages children to be independent and learn at their own pace. The children are free to choose their work and to use it repeatedly. So, while they are ‘working’ each child is also building independence, coordination, self-discipline, and concentration.

Enjoy your work!

Kaoutar & Michelle

Middle School Health

Posted on by Pam Pascarella

In Health class, the Middle School students read an article from Choice magazine discussing the effects of sugary drinks on the body. We also discussed as a group what their perceptions of healthy and unhealthy drinks were and which drinks had the most sugar. They learned how to calculate the number of teaspoons of sugar you find in a variety of drinks. One teaspoon of sugar equals 4 grams. For example, a soft drink that has 40 grams of sugar equals 10 teaspoons of sugar!

The students worked together to research beverages that they drink and calculated how many teaspoons of sugar each contained. The beverages that they researched were Sprite, Orange Juice, Lemonade, Gatorade, Pepsi, and Coca Cola. We then measured the individual teaspoons of sugar into a plastic cup to gain a better understanding of how much sugar is in each beverage.

Before the end of class, students presented their findings and shared their beverages and the sugar content. Some were surprised by how much sugar their favorite drinks had. We discussed the importance of reading the Nutritional Facts Labels as well as paying attention to the serving size per container. We also discussed how they can make healthier choices; such as drinking water, diluting sugary drinks with water, eating fruit rather than drinking juice, and keeping a bottle of water with them at school. The students enjoyed being involved in this learning experience and gained a greater understanding of healthier beverage choices.

First graders taking it from 2D to 3D!

Posted on by Walker Fuchs

Our first graders have been hard at work learning how to 3d print. First the students must go through the  process of ideation and planning. They are then able to design their concepts freely on a program called TinkerCAD. This allows the students to learn the basics of 3D design with low risk and stress. Then after all the design work is done, we go to the FAB lab to actually print the independently designed creations! Throughout this endeavor the students are learning what it takes to bring what starts as an idea into the real world.   

Upper El Montessori Mathematicians

Posted on by Karen Sankey

“This system in which a child is constantly moving objects with [their] hands and actively exercising [their] senses, also takes into account a child’s special aptitude for mathematics. When they leave the material, the children very easily reach the point where they wish to write out the operation. They can thus carryout an abstract mental operation and acquire a kind of natural and spontaneous inclination for mental calculations.” -Maria Montessori

Happy December! The first few months of school have gone by so fast! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration last week. Thank you to Raquel for helping us bake bread! Our pumpkin bread and cranberry orange bread came out delicious. We made enough to enjoy as a class on Monday and share with the school community on Tuesday.

Throughout their elementary years, Montessori students master math procedures and develop conceptual understanding of math concepts at a deep level. This is because their work begins concretely, with the use of carefully designed materials, before moving to the abstract. Their individualized work in the Montessori math curriculum prepares them for their later work in middle school and high school. But the benefits of Montessori don’t stop there. Students experience joy in this work. They look forward to tackling challenging problems instead of shying away from them. This week has been full of enthusiastic students participating in new math lessons, with everyone moving onto new concepts in their individualized work.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,

Karen and Angie

Middle School: Week in Review

Posted on by Michelle Lamb

Happy December! It will be a fun, but short, month here at FWM. We are certainly busy with our classes and community service projects (more to come on this in next week’s blog).

If you would like to sign up for the 8th grade’s Family Gift Drive for a local family, please visit the Sign Up by clicking this link: Family #28 Sign Up

Humanities

In 6th grade Humanities classes this week, students have been working on their writing, particularly organization and word choice. First, they continue to understand the importance of organization. How can we write topic sentences that represent a paragraph’s main idea? How do we present the details to support it in a logical and fluent way? How about the ending? They have also worked on using transitions to move from one idea to the next. For word choice,  students have talked about using specific nouns, strong verbs, and descriptive adjectives to enhance their sentences. They are starting to take risks using synonyms of more common words. For example, using the word “stroll” or “saunter” rather than “walk” when appropriate. Currently, students are writing to compare Melody, the main character from their recently completed novel, Out of My Mind, to Mackenzie, a young adult living with cerebral palsy in New Zealand from the short documentary, Mackenzie’s Voice.

7th grade Humanities class has begun their study of SubSaharan Africa. They completed maps of the countries that make up this part of the continent. They also identified their capital cities and took notice of the placement of capital cities within a country and how terrain might affect this. Also, they read about the diverse human population of SubSaharan Africa as well as the industries of mining, drilling, forestry, and fishing. At the end of the week, students wrote about and discussed the difference between modern and traditional culture leading into the beginning of the memoir, A Gift From Childhood by Baba Wague Diakite, a Malian artist currently living in Portland, Oregon.

8th grade Humanities class moved north from the Jamestown Colony this week to the settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They discussed the Separatists’ voyage on The Mayflower, challenges following this voyage, and the initial encounters with the Wampanoag. They read and discussed the story of the “first Thanksgiving” and began to learn about the Puritans. Finally, continued discussions about the value of religion to the people of Great Britain and those deciding to make the journey to the colonies and how this ultimately affected settlements, rules, the Indigenous people, and decision making.

 

Science

6th year Earth Science students worked in groups this week to represent a specific plate boundary (transform, divergent, convergent), the actions leading to this boundary, and any landforms as a result of this. Finishing the week, students were able to make connections about how plate tectonics influence earthquakes. Students were able to share their prior knowledge of earthquakes, whether personal or through the news. Moving forward, we will learn about how geologists are able to monitor and rate earthquakes in hope of future safety measures to be implemented.

7th year Physical Science students began to work on their states of matter stop motion project. Students are asked to represent the transition of matter as a solid, liquid, and gas as it relates to the increase or decrease of energy (temperature) applied. Students first were required to write a script of how they are going to represent these transitions which was later followed by the process of the artistic representation.
8th year Life Science students are also working on their stop motion project, Cellular Respiration. Students are asked to represent how our bodies process food into usable energy for our body by breaking down glucose into forms of ATP (energy). Students are asked to include the reactants and products of the 3 main steps of cellular respiration (glycolysis, Kreb’s Cycle, and Electron Transport Chain).
Math
In the Pre-Transition math class, students are learning about the properties of addition which include the zero property, opposite property, and commutative property. This week, students learned how to use a protractor to measure angles in a given shape. This class can label the vertex and understand the difference between an acute and obtuse angle. 
 
In the Transition math class, students are exploring how to solve single step equations and inequalities. This week, students used fact triangles and fact families (Addition and Subtraction) to understand how to rearrange an equation with a single variable. 
 
In the Algebra math class, students started working through Chapter 5 and were first introduced to algebraic fractions. Students are able to multiply and divide algebraic fractions as well as simplify to the lowest form. Next week, the class plans to cover proportions and solving for similar figures. 
Have a wonderful weekend!

This Week- Lower Elementary

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

In preparation for our holiday concert on December 15th, Lower Elementary has joined Upper Elementary each morning to practice our songs! We have been thrilled to spend the extra time with our older friends!

The children are wrapping up their Writer’s Workshop unit on Personal Narratives. Each child had the chance to share his/her writing with the class and most of the children proudly read their stories aloud, showing their illustrations to their friends and teachers. They are very enthusiastic about their writing and often don’t want to stop when it is time to move on to another activity. It is so wonderful to see their enthusiasm blossoming and their growth since September!

As winter approaches, please make sure your child has the proper clothing for our outside play: warm coat, snow pants, hat, mittens or gloves, and boots. Thank you!!

Mrs. Doyle: It’s Off To Work I Go!

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

When a child works, he does not do so to attain some further goal.  His objective in working is the work itself. –Maria Montessori

One of Maria Montessori’s most noted quotes is “play is the child’s work.”  We’re sure by now you have heard your child talk about their work at school. Dr. Montessori preferred the word work rather than the word play to describe the learning process children are constantly undergoing. Work conveys the amount of effort that children put into their physical, social, emotional, and academic growth. As adults, our definition of work has a very different meaning.

Children are driven by a strong, unconscious internal growth process to seek out experiences that will meet their needs. Our role as Montessori teachers is to provide a well-prepared environment that encourages children to be independent and learn at their own pace. The children are free to choose their work and to use it repeatedly. So, while they are ‘working’ each child is also building independence, coordination, self-discipline, and concentration.

Enjoy your work!

Michelle & Maria

Upper El Chalk Pastel Autumn Leaves

Posted on by Jen Reid

Upper Elementary students took time to slow down and carefully observe leaves in the Art Studio, and then drew the details they saw. Working on a large 18×24 inch piece of paper, each artist sketched out their leaf in pencil first, then traced it with black sharpie. Students were encouraged to fill the entire page with the leaf and to add the vein detail, and any other details observed. Next, we used chalk pastels to fill each section of the leaf with color, choosing either autumnal colors or any colors of choice, and blended the colors with a blending tool or finger. The finished products are so bold and unique. Bravo young artists!