Blog

Cardboard Tools

Posted on by Danielle Ulacco

This week we welcomed the kindergarten students into the world of cardboard. Cardboard is an important medium we use in the MakerSpace. It costs practically nothing, we have an endless supply (thanks to community donations), and when we are done with it we still get to recycle it. It is the basis for the Design Thinking Process and all of the prototyping that occurs in the MakerSpace.

In an effort to understand how to work with cardboard, kindergarten students were introduced to our Make.Do cardboard construction tools. Kindergarteners had a lesson on each tool and how to properly use them: small and large screws, screwdrivers, the puncture tool, and the saw.

Their challenge was to puncture five holes in a piece of cardboard and correctly use the screwdriver to place a screw in each hole. You’d be surprised to see how much force is needed to do go straight through the cardboard. This gave students reinforced instruction on their lefts and their rights and it gave them an opportunity to work on their hand-eye-motor strength and coordination. Here in the MakerSpace we talk about “failing fast” this exercise provided the safe environment for them to move past frustration and into the “ah-ha!” feeling.

This is the first of a series of lessons that each student successfully completed!

Important Information & Upcoming Events

Posted on by Alison Kistner

Current Toddler & Primary Families response requested
Please take a minute to click on this link to complete your family’s desired program choice for the upcoming school year.

Friday, January 16th Moving Up Information Night.  Learn about the curriculum and program for next year.  This is especially helpful for parents whose children are transitioning to a new level (Toddler to Primary, Primary 4 year old to Kindergarten, Primary to Lower Elementary, Lower Elementary to Upper Elementary, and Upper Elementary to Middle School).

Parent Association: FWM 1st Annual Snow Ball Saturday, February 1st – 3:00-5:00pm. The Snow Ball is a dance where students from toddler through middle school attend with their favorite grown up! The adult can be a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or any other adult your child would like to invite. There will be dancing, a winter themed photobooth, craft activities, food, and a very special Winter Basket Raffle. It is not to be missed! Tickets are on sale now for $15 per couple (child/adult pair) in advance or $20 at the door. All ticket purchases include a glowstick and an entry to win the Winter Basket Raffle Grand Prize! Optional purchase of a child’s wrist corsage or boutonniere is available as well. Click this link to purchase your tickets. The Snow Ball Dance promises to be “snow much fun” for students and adults alike!The FWM Gym will be transformed into a magical winter wonderland for this special event. We hope that you can join us!

Parent Association Meeting: Thursday, January 23rd from 8:30-9:30am. in the conference room. Be on the lookout for the upcoming meeting agenda. Everyone is invited and we encourage you to attend!

Mrs. Wilson: New Year, New Friend, New Growth!

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

It was great to see all our little friends after being away for two weeks. We also welcomed our new friend Lennox! We sure did miss them and they seemed to miss us and their peers. They came back ready to get busy with all the new materials. This month we are exploring arctic animals and all things winter.

One of our new lessons is arctic animal object-to-picture matching. Object to picture matching helps build vocabulary. In this instance, they are exposed to the words arctic hare, arctic fox, orca, harp seal, husky, walrus, beluga whale, and polar bear. The toddlers also start making object-photo connections. For example, holding the object polar bear and seeing the photo of the polar bear. This connection is stored in their brains later for reading. This lesson also exercises the left to right hand movement, which prepares them for future writing.

Food Tasting: Beets!!! We explored a raw beet with the stem and leaves and tasted canned beets. I was surprised by how many of our children could not wait to taste more.

We were so excited to be able to get outside a few times this week. It has been quite some time since the children have seen the playground due to the temperature being below 32°.
The children had a surprise waiting for them outside. Ms. Sara donated 4 big Tonka trucks. Thank you, Ms.Sara!

As always enjoy the photos!
Mrs.Wilson, Ms. Sara, and Ms. Heather

Publishing Party

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. – Melody Beattie

Happy New Year! The holiday season came and went with a blink of an eye and now we are beginning a new decade! There has been plentiful laughter and enthusiasm buzzing in the classroom this week.

In the first half of the year, the children became storytellers, writing true stories about their lives. Now, as we wrap up this unit, the children are working on publishing a story they hold near and dear to their hearts. They have been working so hard this week to get their stories accomplished. It’s beautiful to see all the children’s unique personalities shine through their writing. We will be having an authors circle when the publishing process is over to celebrate and share (those who are comfortable) their efforts.

Soon the children will be learning about writing nonfiction, becoming experts on topics of their choice. This will lead nicely into the research the children are beginning for the upcoming Research Night on Thursday, February 6th, at 6:30. They are in the process of choosing a topic of interest within some categories we provided them. Children will work together with us to do all of their research at school. First year students will make posters with information about their topics, second year students will make posters and write research papers, and third year students will make presentation boards, write papers, and give oral presentations. We will provide all of the information and resources for the children to complete this process successfully.

Art Club Animal Drawings

Posted on by Jen Reid

 

Our first Lower Elementary Art Club session of the New Year was a big success! We began by looking at images of various animals from invertebrates to mammals, birds to reptiles, and everything in between. After a brief demonstration on how to begin an animal drawing by breaking down the body into simple shapes to act as guidelines, students then chose one animal to focus on for their drawing.

With images as their reference, students worked diligently on their animal drawings, sketching lightly in pencil first and then completing their drawing with darker outlines. Next, students worked on the fur, skin, feathers, or scales of their animal using colored pencils. Once complete, students cut out their animal by following along the outline so that next session they can focus on creating an environment for their animals to live in. These cut-out animal drawings will be glued onto their painted habitat, creating a finished art piece with a complete ecological story behind it!

Mrs. Hood’s Class: Little Snowflakes

Posted on by Andrea Hood

Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful holiday break and you got some relaxation and meaningful time with your families! We are thankful for all of you and for the joy your wonderful children bring to our lives! What an honor it is to see them growing and blooming right before our eyes! We want to thank you also for your generosity through your gifts and encouraging words! Ms. Lizette, Ms. Maria and I love partnering with you through this adventure!

Your children transitioned peacefully after the break and they arrived eager and ready to explore the environment and all the new works on the shelves. For the next month we will focus on our Winter studies, using water as a main object for conversations and sensorial experiences. This week we introduced one of the conditions of water that is truly magical: snowflakes. Children learned that even though snowflakes have in common symmetry and a hexagonal structure, the detailed structures of the snowflakes are totally different. I can’t stop thinking how the individuality of a snowflake is parallel to human life. Each one of your children are so unique and so precious and we are grateful we are able to “contemplate” them as they grow and continue to share their beauty.

At the end of the week, children enjoyed choosing their favorite stencil to paint their own snowflake, not forgetting the magical touch of glitter as the last detail.

Another highlight of this week was the addition of the rocking moose and the slide to our climbing structure. There is a sense of exhilaration in the life of a child when using slides, no matter how big or small they are. Apart from promoting balance, coordination, and spatial awareness, this exercise promotes positive social skills. Children learn to play together and take turns. Children learn to be patient and tolerant and they increase their communication skills.

As part of our Enrichment of Vocabulary curriculum we added opposites to our language works. It’s so great to see your children purposely observing and verbally communicating while enjoying finding the matching opposite cards.

For food tasting children seem to enjoy using all their senses in the exploration of a beet! Its leaves looked like hair for some of the children and the roots of it were fun to touch. Most of the children were not too enthusiastic about tasting this food, but at least some of them liked it and asked for more!

As we continue to enjoy our winter season, please make sure your child brings a labeled bag with winter gear inside. This includes: snow pants, waterproof mittens with mittens clips, snow boots, winter hat and winter jacket. Feel free to leave it in your child’s locker as we will use it, weather permitting.

Mrs. Lopes’s Class: Our Five Senses

Posted on by Amanda Lopes

The holiday season came and went in a hurry and the new year has officially begun. We were so excited to see the children’s enthusiasm as they returned to the classroom ready to learn and get back to work!

Children of all ages are eager to learn about their world and everything in it.  When young children use all of their five senses, they understand how their bodies work and find new ways to experience the world. In the Montessori environment, children are taught to experience the world through all five of their senses. This can give them new insights and allow them to think creatively.  This week we explored each of our senses in depth and talked about how we use our senses to understand the world around us. The children have been enjoying the new lessons this unit has brought to our Sensorial shelf. We also ended the unit with a “taste test” to explore the flavors of sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.  It was interesting to watch their reactions as they tried each flavor!

As we begin this new year, we would like to wish you all a very happy new year and look forward to what the remainder of the school year will bring!

Amanda and Deanna

Mrs. Carroll’s Class: A New Year Begins!

Posted on by Cindy Carroll

The holidays are behind us now and the new year looms on the horizon as a time of hope and promise in our lives, our families, and our communities. Your children’s smiles and laughter once again warm both our classroom and our hearts. It is not uncommon to see an increase in children’s emotional, social, and academic development after returning from the break. Our classroom routines are well established and each child is discovering their part in our classroom community. We slowly begin to introduce longer and more involved lessons. It truly is an exhilarating time of the school year!

Matter is everywhere! We have begun our study of the basics of solid, liquid, and gas and look forward to illustrating how matter can change from one state to another: melting, freezing, boiling, condensation, sublimation, and deposition.

Our classroom travels have taken us to the continent of Asia, the largest of the seven continents.  We look forward to exploring the various countries, customs, animals, foods, music, and literature this culturally rich continent has to offer.

Thank you again for your thoughtful and generous holiday gifts.  Ms. Sharlene and I are blessed to have such a warm, supportive classroom community.

Stay well!

Cindy and Sharlene