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Ms. Handibode: Discovering Diversity Through Holiday Celebrations

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

Last week, we embarked on a journey through different cultural celebrations happening around the world during this special season. As Montessori teachers, we embrace the knowledge that promoting peace and understanding begins with introducing children to the rich tapestry of traditions celebrated by people everywhere. Over the next few weeks, we will be learning about Hanukkah, St. Nicholas Day, Christmas, and Kwanzaa through literature, artifacts, and thoughtful conversations that highlight both the similarities and differences in how families celebrate.

Our introduction to St. Nicholas Day brought pure delight to the children. We learned about the tradition and left a pair of boots outside our classroom door. The next morning, the children discovered those boots filled with candy canes—a magical moment that captured their imagination and sparked wonderful discussions about traditions and surprises.

Scientific Exploration: The Animal Kingdom

The children have been deeply engaged in classification work, building their understanding of the natural world. We began by distinguishing between living and non-living things, then explored what makes an animal a vertebrate or invertebrate. Now we are learning the specific characteristics that classify an animal as a mammal. Ask your children if they are mammals—they may surprise you with their confident answers!

Our geography work has taken us to the continent of Antarctica, where we are discovering this unique and remote part of our world.

Special Guest

We had the absolute pleasure of welcoming Connor’s grandmother as our guest reader this week. She captivated the children by reading Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood and No Roses for Harry!  by Gene Zion. These special moments when family members join our classroom community are treasured by both the children and teachers.

Extending Learning at Home

  • Observe and classify animals you encounter together—at the park, in books, or even pets at home. Can your child identify which are mammals and explain why?
  • Share your own family’s holiday traditions with your child. Talk about special foods, decorations, or activities that are meaningful to your family.
  • Look at a globe or map together and find Antarctica. Discuss what makes this continent special and different from where we live.

UPCOMING EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

***Winter Weather Reminder: Please make sure your child has snow boots, pants, gloves, winter coat, and hat. It is so helpful if each piece of clothing is labeled! Also, please let us know if you would prefer your child’s snow gear to go home each day or stay in their locker at school.

This Week
Monday, December 8: Sharing Box and flowers—Olivia S.
Tuesday, December 9: Playground Volunteer—Bradley S.
Wednesday, December 10: Guest Reader—Katie D.

Next Week
Tuesday, December 16: Classroom Hanukkah Celebration
Thursday, December 18: Classroom Christmas Celebration
Friday, December 19: Winter Showcase (PA Breakfast 10am, Half-Day Dismissal for All Students 11:30am

Winter Break
Monday, December 22, 05 – Friday, January 2, 2026
School resumes on Monday, January 5, 026

Lower Elementary: Timelines and Human Needs

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

Our Lower Elementary classroom has been buzzing with curiosity and meaningful work as the children dive deeper into two big areas of study: Fundamental Human Needs for our second and third year students, and Timelines for our first year learners. Each of these lessons plays an important role in helping children understand themselves, others, and the world around them.

Our older students have been continuing their exploration of the Fundamental Human Needs—a key component of the Lower Elementary Montessori curriculum. Through stories, activities, and discussion, they’re learning that all humans across time and cultures share the same basic needs: things like food, shelter, clothing, defense, and transportation, as well as spiritual and cultural needs such as art, music, and community. In the Montessori classroom, this work helps children begin to understand why humans make certain choices and how different civilizations have met the same needs in different ways. It invites empathy, global awareness, and a growing appreciation for people throughout history. Our second and third year students are enjoying comparing different cultures and time periods, and beginning to see the interconnectedness of human life.

Meanwhile, our first-year students are continuing their lessons on time—an exciting introduction to understanding history from a personal perspective. After learning about the history behind the days of the week and months of the year, and making a month-by-month timeline of their lives, they are now beginning their year-by-year family timelines. In our Montessori classroom, timeline work is concrete and visually rich. All of this groundwork lays the foundation for understanding larger historical timelines later in both Lower and Upper Elementary. By starting with their own story, children discover how time passes, how they have grown, and how they fit into the greater human story.

Mrs. Lopes: Exploring the Human Body

Posted on by Amanda Lopes

We began our study of the human body last week. The children learned about their skeletons and why our bodies need bones to stand tall, move, and protect our important organs. Through hands-on exploration and group discussions, they discovered the functions of different organs in our bodies.

Our practical life area welcomed new seasonal work for December, giving the children fresh opportunities to practice fine motor skills and independence as we move into the winter season. The children have been deeply engaged in these new materials, taking great care as they practice coordination and concentration.

Extending Learning at Home

You can continue exploring the human body at home with simple activities:

  • Play “Simon Says” focusing on body parts and movements to help your child connect with their own body awareness
  • Look at books together about how our bodies work—many wonderful picture books explain bones, organs, and body systems in child-friendly ways
  • During bath time or getting dressed, talk about bones you can feel and muscles that help us move

UPCOMING EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

***As the weather turns colder, please send in a full set of snow gear to keep at school. This includes snow pants, boots, gloves, and a hat. Please make sure all articles of clothing are labeled with your child’s name.

***In addition, remember to switch out your child’s extra clothing in their locker with long sleeve shirts, long pants, and socks. Children often need extra clothes to change after playing in the snow.

This Week
Tuesday, December 9: Playground Volunteer–Katie R.
Wednesday, December 10: Guest Reader–Raia Family

Next Week
Tuesday, December 16: Classroom Hanukkah Celebration
Thursday, December 18: Classroom Christmas Celebration
Friday, December 19: Winter Showcase (PA Breakfast 10am, Concert begins 10:30am), Half-Day Dismissal for All Students 11:30am

Winter Break
Monday, December 22, 05 – Friday, January 2, 2026
School resumes on Monday, January 5, 026

Ms. Mollie: Hello December!

Posted on by Mollie Smith

Hello December!

This week in our Montessori toddler community, the children were busy with rich sensory experiences, hands-on work, and thoughtful conversations about the season.

One of our favorite moments last week was baking focaccia bread together. Mixing, mixing, and more mixing made the perfect dough!  The children loved pressing their little fingertips into the soft dough, drizzling olive oil, and sprinkling herbs on top. Baking provides such meaningful practical life practice—pouring, stirring, smelling, tasting—and the joy on their faces as we shared the warm bread together made the work even more special.

We will begin our gentle exploration of winter celebrations. Through simple stories, songs, and materials, the children were introduced to Christmas, Hanukkah, and the Winter Solstice. In the Montessori toddler environment, these lessons are kept very concrete and sensory: noticing the warm glow of Christmas lights, exploring seasonal colors and natural items, and talking about the kindness, light, and togetherness that these holidays celebrate. Each child engaged at their own level, taking in the beauty and calm of the season.

As the days grow shorter, we continue to slow down, create cozy moments, and offer opportunities for connection and wonder. It has been a lovely week of learning, discovery, and community.

With Full Hearts,

Ms. Mollie and Ms. Lizette

Middle School: Week in Review

Posted on by Michelle Lamb

We hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving Break and had time with those who bring them joy. The Middle School led our school tradition of gathering to share breads that students baked, listen to messages of gratitude, and give blessings in the cultures representing our community.

The weather is becoming colder, and we are getting closer to Winter Break. For Middle School, this time of year contains fun traditions, new and old. One new tradition the FWM 6th and 7th grade worked on was decorating and donating a tree to the Festival of Trees in support of Newtown Youth and Family Services. The tree was decorated with hand-crafted symbols of friendship, including bracelets, laser-cut ornaments, letters of affirmation, and various flowers representing what friendship means to the students. The theme of friendship was selected by students due to their belief in its importance during the holiday season. Trees are on display Saturday and Sunday, 12/6 & 12/7, at Trinity Episcopal Church on Main St. in Newtown, and spectators can choose their favorite trees, and each will be raffled.

Announcements:

  • Help the 8th grade and the Newtown Fund satisfy the holiday wish list for a Newtown Family of 6 in need. Click Here to sign up to help Family #26. 
  • Thursday, 12/18: Class Winter Party: Pajama Day, Secret Snowflake Gift Giving, and yummy treats! More information to come!
  • **Please bring in the Secret Snowflake Gift wrapped by Thursday morning, 12/18!**
  • Friday, 12/19 @ 10:30 am: Winter Showcase & Fraser WoodShop Pop-up Shop (Park & grab the shuttle at Sand Hill Plaza!)
  • Check with your MS student(s) to make sure they have their refillable water bottle with them.
  • MS Flower Schedule

Humanities

This week, grade 8 presented their Internship Projects to the Middle School Community. Each of them had robust experiences that gave interesting perspectives on a variety of occupations. These experiences offered appreciation for the professions as well as a behind-the-scenes look at different businesses. Additionally, the 8th grade continued reading their class novel, <em>If I Ever Get Out of Here</em> and decided on the much-anticipated big idea for the Middle School play! The class will begin the plot next week.

Grades 6 & 7 Humanities classes completed the class novel, <em>A Long Walk To Water</em>. Students also began learning more about the countries of Sudan and South Sudan, as they were the setting for the class novel. Additionally, students completed editing practice as well as lessons on annotating narratives and how they can differ from informational reading. Next week, the classes will begin the plot for the Middle School play.

Math

Pre-Transition: This week, students continued their work in Chapter 3. They learned how to name and measure angles using a protractor and, once they had a solid understanding of angles, moved on to finding missing angles in triangles and quadrilaterals using their sum theories. To wrap up the week, students practiced adding fractions and mixed numbers by finding common denominators through the least common multiple. Students will review all Chapter 3 skills and take the Chapter 3 test on Thursday, December 11th.

Transition: This week, students continued exploring Chapter 3 concepts. They worked on converting among decimals, fractions, and percents and even created a helpful tool to support this skill. From there, they moved into applying percents in real-world situations. Students learned how to calculate the percent of a quantity, determine tax and discounts, and find the new price of an item after these percentages are applied. The week wrapped up with an introduction to square roots. Students will review all they learned in Chapter 3 and take the Chapter 3 assessment on Thursday, December 11th.
Algebra: This week, students wrapped up their work with Chapter 3 concepts. They practiced applying the distributive property to solve equations and inequalities, learned how to solve and check inequalities, and became comfortable graphing the solution sets of linear inequalities. The chapter concluded with solving equations by clearing fractions and decimals. Students ended the week reviewing all Chapter 3 skills and will take the Chapter 3 assessment on Tuesday, December 9th.
Geometry: This week in Geometry, students mastered using algebra to represent and find measures of angles. Students are now able to justify conclusions using postulates of algebra and can give justifications for conclusions involving angles and segments.

Algebra II: This week, students began Chapter 3 titled “Linear Functions and Sequences”. So far, students have learned to determine the slope and intercepts of a line given its equation. They can also recognize properties of linear functions, and they can graph or interpret graphs of linear equations. Students can also model linear combination situations.

Science

This week, 6/7A and 6/7B students started a new unit, “Combining and Separating Matter”. They learned the concepts of a pure substance and mixtures, types of mixtures, and how to identify if a mixture is homogeneous or heterogeneous. They also learned that mixtures could be liquid, solid, or gas.  They talked about the mixtures they find in their daily life. They also learned about classifying mixtures such as solutions, colloids, and suspensions. They are understanding their differences and examples of each of these mixtures. In addition to that, they learned what the Tyndall Effect is and where they can find it in nature. The class observed it with the help of an aerosol.

On the other hand, eighth graders also started a new unit about cells. They started learning about the Cell Theory and how it kept developing through the years with the help of technology. They also learned that the cell is the basic unit of life, or the main building block, in all living organisms, regardless of whether they are unicellular or multicellular organisms. The classes also talked about the types of cells, Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic. They learned about their differences in structure and functions using pictures and models where they were able to see inside the cells, identifying each organelle and its general functions. Within the eukaryotic cells, students studied animal and plant cells and their differences. All this learning was supported by classwork, videos, pictures provided by the Discovery Education tech book, and some other trustworthy sources that facilitate the students ‘ understanding of each of these topics.

Mrs. Wilson: A Festive December

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

Welcome, December! This month brings so many joyful celebrations, and the children are already feeling the excitement in our classroom. We began the week by celebrating a friend’s birthday, which is always such a special moment in our community.

Over the course of the week, the classroom received a thoughtful seasonal refresh. Each area now gently highlights the many different holidays celebrated around the world in December. From Christmas—both Santa and the Nativity—to Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, the children will find beautiful, simple materials that represent each tradition. Even the soft sound of jingle bells has made its way into the environment, inviting the children to jingle all the way around the room.

These items are intentionally placed throughout the Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, and Art areas, inviting children to explore, notice, and enjoy the diversity of celebrations in a hands-on, meaningful way.

It has been wonderful watching the children discover these new materials and make connections as they move through the classroom. 

Food Tasting: was a bright, sunny, and wonderfully sour lemon. The children had so much fun watching each other’s reactions—from wide eyes to tiny puckers—and they were eager to smell, touch, and taste this vibrant fruit.

December is off to a lovely start!

Love and Light!

Cynthia and Sara

Ms. Vicki’s Weekly Update

Posted on by Vicki Downs

 

What a festive and exciting transition week we had—moving from Thanksgiving celebrations into snowy weather and the start of December!

Right before break, we made Bread in a Bag, and the children loved being part of the whole process. They helped pour the ingredients, squish the mixture together, and then knead the dough with their hands. We gave one loaf to the school to have for their celebration.

While our dough was rising, we explored how cream can change when it’s mixed. We poured heavy cream into a jar, gave it a big shake, and watched it turn into whipped cream, which we tasted! With more shaking, the cream separated into butter and buttermilk, and the children were fascinated watching it transform. When the bread finished baking, we all enjoyed the bread with our freshly made butter. It was a cozy, delicious way to start the holiday.

After Thanksgiving break, we stepped right into freezing temperatures and our first snow. We went outside while it was snowing and talked about how rain turns into ice or snow when it gets very cold.

One morning, the children were especially curious:
“Where did all the sand go?”
The sandbox had a light layer of snow covering it like a blanket. The toddlers spent time brushing the snow aside and happily rediscovering the sand underneath. Their excitement and wonder made the chilly morning so much fun.

Inside the classroom, we welcomed December by introducing new Christmas and winter-themed activities. The children have been exploring these materials with so much joy and focus as we continue moving into the holiday season.

It’s been a week full of discovery, sensory experiences, and winter magic. We can’t wait for all the learning and joy this month will bring! Enjoy all the pictures!

Reminders:

  • Please send in extra warm pants and sweatshirts to keep in their bin. Playing outside and getting wet and muddy requires a change of clothes. Lightweight leggings and pants are not enough for these cold temps.

This Week in Upper El

Posted on by Karen Sankey

What an exciting week we’ve had in Upper El! The children were thrilled to learn that this year’s spring musical will be Wonka! The announcement sparked a lot of enthusiasm around our classroom, and the children are already talking about which character they hope to be. It’s going to be a show to remember!

Here are a few learning highlights from this week:

Writing: We learned to use keywords to create outlines, and then used those words to create an organized structure for a summary, paragraph, or report.

Geometry:

  • Fourth-years learned about the equivalence of a trapezoid to a rectangle.
  • Fifth-years worked on finding the area of a polygon by comparing it to an equivalent rectangle.

Biology: Our latest lesson on the vital functions of animals focused on circulation. We discussed the differences between incomplete and complete, open and closed, circulatory systems, and the children asked thoughtful questions that made the lesson even better.

Grammar:

  • Fourth-years reviewed the different types of adjectives and learned to put them in descriptive or limiting categories. They also learned about comparative and superlative adjectives.
  • Fifth-years learned about the future progressive tense, which conveys information about an action or event that occurs over time in the future.

Looking ahead:

  • Thursday, December 11 – We’ll be making sandwiches for the St. Vincent DePaul Mission in Waterbury. Thank you to all who are contributing ingredients, kindness, and helpfulness to serve our local community!
  • Wednesday, December 17 – December Birthday Breakfast! I’m looking forward to celebrating all our December birthdays together right after drop off at 8:30.
  • Thursday, December 18 – Class Holiday Party and exchanging of “Secret Pudding” gifts.