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Mrs. Doyle: Giving Thanks

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

The education of even a small child, therefore, does not aim at preparing him for school, but for life. 

    –Maria Montessori

For many, the holiday season is a time for giving. Perhaps more than ever, it is so important for our children to understand that giving does not have to be a materialistic gift. Simple and heartfelt words of love and friendship will last much longer than most anything that can be bought from a shelf. It can be an amazing and powerful gift to our children, if in all the hustle and bustle of the holidays we take time to slow down and model being grateful.

This week we asked each child to share what they are thankful for. While their messages will make you smile and warm your heart, there is beauty in their simplicity.

Alex–              Painting because I love to make pictures.

Angie–           My dog Sidney because I like petting him.

Bodie—           My mom because she always makes me dinner.

Ella–               Playing Candy Land with Livie.

EmmaJo–     My cat because she loves me.

Greyson–      My pets because I like to play and snuggle with them.

Harper–        BunBun my rabbit because I bring her everywhere.

Isla–               My Mommy because I spent all my time with her when I was a baby.

Jonathan–    My Mommy and Daddy because they play go-fish with me.

Landon–       My bed because it is so comfortable.

Leo–               My Mommy and Daddy because they let me play sometimes on the tablet.

Melina–         Going outside with my dog.

Olivia–           Leaves because you can make leaf piles and jump in them.

River–            Singing with my Mommy and Daddy.

Saanvi–         Simmi because she snuggles with me.

Stephen–      My dog Asher because he really likes to play with me.

Zara–             Mrs. Doyle because I like to have lessons and learn things.

Maria and I are grateful for the time we spend with the children each day and for the relationships we develop with each of you.  Wishing you all a week filled with peace and love.

Michelle & Maria

Mrs. Lopes: Giving Thanks

Posted on by Amanda Lopes


The education of even a small child, therefore, does not aim at preparing him for school, but for life. 

    –Maria Montessori

For many, the holiday season is a time for giving. Perhaps more than ever, it is so important for our children to understand that giving does not have to be a materialistic gift. Simple and heartfelt words of love and friendship will last much longer than most anything that can be bought from a shelf. It can be an amazing and powerful gift to our children, if in all the hustle and bustle of the holidays we take time to slow down and model being grateful.

This week we asked each child to share what they are thankful for. While their messages will make you smile and warm your heart, there is beauty in their simplicity.

 

Kian–       My Mommy because she makes me smoothies.

Advay–    School because I get to play with my friends.

Rowan–   My Mommy and Daddy’s hugs and snuggles because it makes me warm.

Annie—     Valentine’s Day because it’s my favorite holiday.

Sara–        My guinea pigs Nibbles, Kit Kat, and Lola because they snuggle with me.

Desi–        The treasure I found in the dig kit.

Daniel–    Christmas because I like to play in the snow.

Izzy–           I am thankful for my friends because they take care of me.

Arjuna–    My baby pig that I sleep with.

Owen–       Going to the farm with my family.   

Eleanor–   Playing fetch outside with my dog, Dublin.

Nava–         My Mom and Dad because they help me clean up.

Jack–          Numbers because I like to trace them in the sand.

Sullivan–   School because I like to learn.

Noelle–      When my baby sister gives me hugs.

Ayan–         My Dad because he fixes my toys.

Evie–           My brother, Ruscher because he plays with me very much.

Carmen–   My sister because she lets me go in her room and eat candy.

Parker–     My Hot Wheels because they are fast.

Brisa–        Laying under my cherry tree top.

Hema and I are grateful for the time we spend with the children each day and for the relationships we develop with each of you.  Wishing you all a week filled with peace and love.

Amanda & Hema

Just a reminder, Tuesday, November 22nd is a half-day for all students with an early dismissal at 11:30 am.

We want to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving Break!

Lower El at the Eli Whitney Museum

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

We had an amazing trip to the Eli Whitney Museum on Thursday! We learned about different cultures, studied people and where they live. The children constructed simplified model houses to consider the climates, resources, materials and traditions that define culture. The student’s built two different types of houses; Brazilian stilt houses and pueblo houses. Thank you Tameria Macari, Greg Lewis and Mik Sulkowski for joining us!

We also attended a fabulous Taekwondo presentation on Tuesday. The World Champion Taekwondo school just recently opened up here in Newtown.  They came to Fraser Woods to do a demonstration of their program.   They spoke to the students about integrity and respect in school as well as demonstrated some awesome skills. These are the fundamentals behind this traditional Korean martial art and they make sure to emphasize that. The kids loved it.

Just a reminder, Tuesday, November 22nd is a half-day for all students with an early dismissal at 11:30 am.

We want to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving Break!

Middle School: Week at a Glance

Posted on by msutherland

It was an exciting week in the Middle School community. Students participated in a fun game of floor hockey, they each created a unique clothing brand in STEAM class, and we prepared for the Thanksgiving Day celebration.  Each grade selected a bread of choice to bake and share with our entire school community during our assembly next week. As a reminder, Tuesday November 22nd is an early dismissal at 11:30 am  with no school for the rest of the week. We want to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving Fall Break! 

Humanities: 

6th grade Humanities classes were busy this week. They completed their class novel, Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. This week, they led discussions using their own annotations from their nightly independent reading. This has been a breath of fresh air, and the class has been having rich conversations about the novel and how they are reacting to it. It is most exciting, and sometimes surprising, to them when they annotate the same section. The 6th grade also reviewed organization in their writing, particularly in using a topic sentence representative of their paragraph, details to support with transitions incorporated and sometimes used at the end to bridge paragraphs, and a conclusion that wraps up their thoughts. Finally, students completed a unit of vocabulary

7th grade Humanities classes looked at the impact of Mao Zedong and his reign in the first half of the 20th century. This included the Civil War in China, the Japanese-Sino War, and the Cultural Revolution. Next, we are completing a mini-unit of the structure of the US government in connection to the mid-term elections. We completed a broad overview of the 3 branches of government and then focused on the legislative and executive branches. Students will continue this next week. Finally, a unit of vocabulary was completed.
 
8th grade Humanities classes continued to study the formation of the Virginia Colony. They finished a Smithsonian Documentary about the legend of Pocahontas, which explains the myth and her impact on both the Powhatan/Pamunkey people as well as the Virginia colonists. Then, they studied the importance of the cash crop tobacco in the success of the Virginia Colony and as the catalyst to slavery, indentured servitude, and the livelihood of what would be the U.S. Finally, they completed a unit of vocabulary.
Science:
6th year Earth Science students have finished their stop motion videos depicting tectonic plates. Students were able to share ideas with their partner in a collaborative effort to meet each of the objectives. Students did a great job finding creative ways to represent convection currents, the 3 types of plate boundaries (transform, convergent, divergent), and the influence this has on our landscape.
 
7th year Physical Science students have begun their unit “States of Matter”.  The objectives of this unit are for students to be able to draw or model the movement of atoms in a solid, liquid, and gas, explain what happens to the motion and energy of molecules as a substance is heated or cooled, and explain how substances change state.This unit was first introduced by students demonstrating the movement of molecules in a solid (ice) as the energy level was increased (heat applied). Students represented this by moving marbles (molecules) around a tray at different speeds/rates, including how this relates to the temperature, volume, and shape of the given object. 
 
8th year Life Science students have been working on their unit “Cellular Respiration”. This week students were able to represent the first step of cellular respiration (glycolysis) by testing how different amounts of sugar affect the rise of yeast. Students were provided a set amount of yeast and water, with varying amounts of sugar. After the yeast, water, and sugar were added to a graduated cylinder, students were asked to record the rise/height of yeast produced. The results were compared to additional samples tested with varying amounts of sugar. Our next step of cellular respiration to represent will be the Kreb’s Cycle (citric acid cycle). 
 
Math:
This week all math classes participated in a Thanksgiving ‘Meal Plan’ activity. Students were asked to calculate total servings for their guests, make an accurate grocery list and total the cost of purchasing the ingredients to host a fun thanksgiving dinner! As a bonus activity, students could design a seating chart, make a digital invitation and write a toast about what they were most thankful for this year. 
 
In the Pre-Transition math class, students got to investigate using fractions to add mixed numbers or numbers with mixed units in real-world situations. This class can add positive and negative numbers on a number line and identify integer values.
 
In the Transition math class, students were excited to begin Chapter 5 in the UCSMP textbook and started to explore absolute values. This week we learned about simplifying expressions with order of operations and using fact triangles to depict relationships between numbers. 
 
In the Algebra math class, students concluded their learning of Chapter 4. We finished learning about compound inequalities and rearranging complex formulas for indicated variables. Students will begin to learn about Chapter 5 after the Thanksgiving Break! 
 
Math Joke: What do turkeys call a math test? ……and EGGS-amination

Mrs. Wilson: Another Trip Around the Sun!

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

This week we recognized two birthdays. Birthdays for toddlers are an abstract concept. We like to celebrate them by having the child roll out a felt sun, placing the numeral of their age, and counting out the number of candles that correspond with that numeral. Then we sing Happy Birthday to the child as they walk around the sun. Afterward, we read their favorite book with the class.

The children this week have become more interested in the language materials. They have been enjoying the baskets of fruit and vegetables. Some will even sit together and ask or label what each product is.

We also had a blast getting all our energy out with a dance party. The children used scarves to dance and play peek-a-boo with. The room was filled with laughter and joy. They got excited when I took all the scarves and threw them up in the air at once.

This week’s food tasting was cranberry. First, the children tasted raw cranberry. I described it as tart, and it made a fun popping sound as we bit into it. Then the children tasted cranberry sauce. This was a huge hit for the children. Lastly, they ate Craisins, this was their favorite version of a cranberry.

Just a reminder, Tuesday, November 22nd is a half-day for all students with an early dismissal at 11:30 am.

We want to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving Break!

November Family Connection

Posted on by Karen Sankey

This month’s Family Connection is about Cosmic Education. Maria Montessori created Cosmic Education to “give the child a vision of the whole universe…for all things are part of the universe and are connected with each other to form one whole unity.” As you will read in the article, Cosmic Education is “an all-inclusive curriculum that helps children recognize and appreciate the interconnectedness of all things. It provides a framework for them to understand the universe and their place within it, empowering them to better the world for future generations.”

This work manifests itself differently at different levels.

In our Toddler classrooms, children are working with items from nature: sea wool sponges, pumpkins, acorns, leaves, and pinecones.

In the Primary classrooms, children learn about the world through their continent studies. This month they are learning about North America.

At the Elementary level, students learn about the connectedness of living things through the “Great Lessons”. In Lower Elementary, students learned the first Great Lesson of the Coming of the Universe. In Upper Elementary, students are participating in an ongoing study of Human Evolution.

Children in Upper Elementary and Middle School learn to be socially responsible people and become passionate about global issues by taking care of others. Upper Elementary students do this through their volunteer work each month, making sandwiches and collecting supplies for people experiencing housing insecurity. They have also started a composting program at school, leading the way for environmentally responsible behavior. Our Middle School students participate in multiple volunteer experiences throughout the year: collecting donations for local animal shelters, running a Thanksgiving food drive, and collecting food and gifts for two local families’ holiday celebrations.

Thank you for being part of our community! I hope you enjoy this month’s Family Connection.

Karen Sankey
Director of Montessori Education

Upper El: Leading the Way

Posted on by Karen Sankey

“We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost’s familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road – the one less traveled by – offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of earth.” -Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Last week Upper Elementary students viewed the documentary, Kiss the Ground, a film that explains how we can stabilize Earth’s climate by drawing down atmospheric carbon using regenerative farming. We were all inspired by this film to take action. The following is the message Upper El students wrote to our school community.

Dear Fraser Woods Montessori Community,

As a class, we want to do our part to begin to take steps to help reverse climate change. Our first initiative is to create a composting program at Fraser Woods.

This week, we worked together with Mr. Fuchs to build a school compost bin. The bin is located beside the dumpster. We would like you to participate by saving your food scraps each day at snack and lunch. We will come around each day after lunch to collect the scraps and deposit them into the bin. These scraps will break down and become rich soil instead of releasing methane gas into our atmosphere.

Examples of things that CAN be composted are:

  • raw fruits and vegetables
  • egg shells
  • tea bags (with the string removed)
  • coffee grounds
  • unbleached paper products
  • wood/lawn scraps

Examples of things that CANNOT be composted are:

  • processed food
  • dairy
  • meat

If you are interested in learning more about our inspiration, we invite you to watch the documentary, Kiss the Ground.

Thank you for helping us do our part to take care of our planet!

Sincerely,

Students of the Upper Elementary Class

 

Have a wonderful weekend,

Karen and Angie

Mrs. Semmah: First Stop, North America!

Posted on by Kaoutar Semmah

 

These last few weeks have been a particularly busy and exciting time with your children. We have traveled through space, explored the eight planets, discovered that the sun is a star, and rocketed back to planet Earth. We are now exploring the first of seven continents, North America.  You may hear your children call it the orange continent. This is because on the Montessori globe and map, North America is indeed orange. We will continue to explore the animals native to our continent, map North America’s countries, examine topography, and study how a continent’s proximity to the equator impacts its climate.

The Montessori cultural studies curriculum provides children with an opportunity to explore the whole world, including the continents, countries, people, animals, terrain, music, and arts. Children use didactic Montessori materials to familiarize themselves with the needs of all humans for such things as food, housing, and clothing. This early cultural awareness helps cultivate independent, joyful citizens of our world.

In addition, meet Jack, our veggie skeleton prepared by the kindergarten students last week on Halloween.  It is always so wonderful to hear the children say they don’t like this vegetable or that one and then devour all of it!  On Tuesday, November 8th, we were treated with a special presentation about Diwali organized by Ms. Paromita, Ms. Hema, and a few of the parents. We had so much fun learning about this holiday, as well as the dancing, food, and crafts.

Wishing everyone a week filled with peace and love!

Kaoutar & Michelle