Blog

Back To The Routine

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

We are all so happy to be back in the swing of things. It always amazes me how quick the children are to pick up on the routine, like we never left! I hope everyone had a safe, restful, and rejuvenating break.

One of my favorite aspects about the Montessori curriculum is that it fosters autonomous learners, which means, children are learning the skills they need to be independent, successful citizens. When children are provided with concrete experiences, both academically and emotionally, they are able to progress to abstract concepts. They learn the skills, they are able to reflect upon their strengths and learn from their weaknesses. The goal I have for the children in my class is to be self confident, empathetic individuals- something they can take with them for the rest of their lives!

As we enter April, the end of the year seems right around the corner, and I can’t help but reflect on each child’s progress throughout the year. I am so pleased to see what a compassionate, kind-hearted, unique group of students we have in the classroom!

Welcome Back Upper El!

Posted on by Karen Sankey

It was great to get back together this week and continue with our good work in and out of the classroom. We got back to our individual lessons in math and some small group lessons in grammar and geometry. Fourths focused on collective nouns this week and fifths on a review of verbs that show physical action. Students in both fourth and fifth grade took advantage of open lessons this week and joined the geometry lesson of the other grade level as well as their own. The fourth grade lesson was on finding the area of rectangles and they learned to use a formula to find area. The fifth graders learned about the concept of circles as the limit of regular polygons. We learned that both figures have similar elements called by different names: perimeter/circumference, apothem/radius, side/center, diagonal/diameter. We ended our week in the outdoor classroom, exploring, building, and playing an in-person game of Among Us.

Mrs. Hood’s Class: As Fresh As Spring!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

I remember a couple of years ago sitting by a small window and observing the gigantic icicles that covered my view. Suddenly I noticed how, so slowly, water started to drip from the icicles on a sunny morning! I remember so clearly how this sense of joy filled my life! This was the end of my first winter in America and since then, I love the hope that spring brings when Earth seems to wake up and become alive again! Longer, warmer, and sunnier days, windows opened, greener views, flowers growing, trees budding, birds singing, and that crisp in the air are just some of the things that spring offers us and that we all appreciate! 

To celebrate the return to school and the  beginning of spring, the children worked on an art project creating a spring crown. They worked hard and attentively by painting and then gluing flowers on it. Together we got to say good-bye to winter and welcome spring, and naturally, dancing with the crowns on our heads was part of the welcoming.  

As we continue to practice recognizing colors, the children discovered this week what happens when you mix the color red with yellow, creating the color of the week: orange! 

And talking about orange, children absolutely loved not just exploring and tasting a yummy orange during our food tasting lesson but also the children were introduced to the process of making orange juice all by themselves! 

Children worked their muscles and their maximum effort by making sure they squeezed and twisted their orange into the handheld juicer. After this, children practiced their fine motor skills by transferring the juice into a small pitcher and then serving themselves their orange juice into an open cup. To say that they seem to enjoy the process and the result of this activity is an understatement. They kept asking to make it all over again and again. I highly encourage you to provide the opportunity for your child to practice this lesson at home many times! We thank you again for your support in providing the requested food items to make this type of lesson a reality during COVID times, still following the safety guidelines. 

We can’t wait to dive more deeply into our Spring studies! It’s going to be fun! 

We hope you enjoy this beautiful weekend and we wish all of you that celebrate a very Happy Easter! 

Much love, 

Mrs. Hood and Ms. Maria

Middle School: Riddle Me This Week #1

Posted on by Michelle Lamb

It has been a wonderful return to school following spring break. It has been great to see all of the students and to be working on the amazing play they wrote: Riddle Me This. 

We started the week with a full cast, read-through over Zoom. From there, the day has been divided into thirds with each group working either on the stage blocking with Ms. Sutherland, building the set with Ms. Reid & Mr. Brown, or running through lines and additional rehearsal time with Mrs. Lamb. By Wednesday, the set was looking great and almost half the play was blocked!

Next week, the Middle School looks forward to finishing rehearsals and starting to film! Stay tuned!

Mrs. Doyle’s Class: Becoming An Entomologist

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

We are hard at work becoming entomologists.  This is always a favorite unit of study for the children.  An entomologist is a scientist who studies insects. We began our unit by reporting on what we already know about insects, what they are and what they can do.

This week as a class, we discovered that insects are slimy, little, gross, soft, and hard. Insects can crawl, sting, bite, eat, fly, walk upside down, and jump. We learned that insects lay eggs, have antennae, three main body parts, a head, thorax and abdomen, eyes, and six legs. Insects are also cold blooded, have an exoskeleton, and many have wings. We found out why a spider is not an insect. Ask your child to see if he or she knows.

In a few weeks, we will welcome caterpillars into our classroom.  It is so exciting to observe each step of the fascinating life cycle of the Painted Lady Butterfly. We will also be going on an insect walk around the school grounds, to put our newfound entomology skills to use!

Have a wonderful week!

Michelle & Lizette

Spring, Is That You?

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

After a very cold, and snowy winter, we are all thrilled to see some signs of spring this week. On Friday, we even ate lunch outside!

The importance of being outdoors is often overlooked, but is actually an essential part of the development of the whole child. Children need to learn how to work together, in unstructured settings. Being outside is a great chance for children to engage in imaginative play, learn how to share and cooperate, and learn appropriate ways to treat other people. In addition to the socialization benefits of being outdoors, it is a great way to foster children’s innate appreciate of nature. If a child grows up never walking in the woods, seeing animals in their natural habitat, digging in dirt, or playing in a stream, they may never really understand what there is to be lost. Since the future of our planet, Mother Earth, depends on our children, I think it is so important for them to learn to appreciate it.

Have a fabulous spring break!

Mrs. Lopes’s Class: Our Class Rocks!

Posted on by Amanda Lopes


“The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the Earth.” -Maria Montessori

Have you ever noticed your child’s fascination with rocks found outside on the ground?  We have observed after playing outside on the playground some of the children will return to the classroom with pockets full of rocks as if they are treasures. You can imagine the children’s excitement when they learned that our new science unit for this week was the study of rocks!  We discussed the three main types of rocks – igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic, as well as how these rocks are formed on Earth. We added several new rock lessons to our environment, but the group favorite was a basket full of rocks with a magnifying glass.  The children enjoyed examining and classifying each of the rocks in this lesson.

Wishing you all a relaxing and peaceful Spring Break!  We look forward to returning to school in a new season, with the excitement and energy that comes in the last few months of the school year!

Peace and love,

Amanda & Sharlene

 

Mrs. Wilson: The Magic of Mouse Paint

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

What happens when three white mice discover three jars of red, yellow, and blue paint? You get children witnessing the magic of color mixing.

It is one thing to read a story so they can hear the idea of color mixing, but it is another to actually see the book come to life. Mouse Paint by Ellen Walsh is about three white mice that find three jars of paint in primary colors. As the mice experiment with the paint on their bodies and the puddles of paint dripped on the floor they learn that by mixing two primary colors they get a secondary color.
The first few days the children watched while listening to the story. They then had the opportunity to mix the two colors of their choice and create their own little mouse paint. As they mixed, they chanted, “Mix and stir, stir and mix, and do a little dance.”

So if you see colored cotton balls come home, ask your child about it. See if they can tell you what colors they used to make the mouse/mice.

We also did a traveling water science experiment using paper towels and 6 cups of water. We added food coloring to the 1st, 3rd, and 5th cup, then placed one end of a paper towel into one cup and the other end to the next cup, repeating with the rest of the cups. While we waited, we started to see the red-colored water crawl up the paper towel and mix with the next. As the colored-water was being absorbed, they mixed together and our final result was a rainbow-colored paper towel.

Maybe over break, you can do some of these fun experiments together, but whatever you do have lots of fun and we will see you in two weeks.

Happy Birthday!

Mrs. Wilson and Ms. Sara