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Mrs. Hood’s Class: Season’s Greetings!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

And just like that, our first trimester comes to an end, filled with great moments and stories to tell. COVID has changed many things for us this year, but will never change the love and connection we have with each one of your children! Our environment is full of love, smiles, curiosity and great fun because of them! We feel honored to be able to see each of your little ones unfolding so beautifully. 

We thank you SO much for your support and trust. We love partnering with you in this adventure!

May the holiday season fill your home with joy, your heart with love, and your life with laughter.

May 2021 be a great year for all of us!

Enjoy a peek from our Pajama Holiday celebration!

Stay safe and see you next year! 🙂

Mrs. Hood and Ms. Maria

Middle School: Math Carnival, Kindness Cards, Alternative Gift Market, & Fun Friday

Posted on by Michelle Lamb

In our final Friday post of the year, we have a variety of activities to share with you!

Math Carnival

Come one, come all…..IT’S CARNIVAL WEEK! During the last week of December, all middle school classes participated in a Math Carnival. Each student was required to build a unique game that could easily be played by their peers. They spent the week gathering materials, creating blueprint sketches, and calculating the theoretical probability of winning the games. Students were creative with building games such as corn hole ball toss, picking a specific card and spinning a colored spinner, dropping a marble down a shoot , and randomly selecting two correct colored tiles from a mystery jar. Everyone was eager to play each other’s games at the end of the week; however, due to the Thursday Snow Day, the live Carnival game day is postponed to the first week of January. During the live games, students will record the experimental probability of having other students/ staff play their games. After the live carnival day, students will graph their results and compare the theoretical probability to the experimental probability.  Stay tuned for more pictures to come.

Kindness Cards

In continuing to connect with their younger peers, the 8th year students have been working for weeks to create a personal card for each student in Fraser Woods during Leadership. This week, students delivered cards to Primary classes, Lower El, and Upper El. The younger students were excited to receive their cards! One Primary student, eager to show off their card, said, “I love my card so much that I hugged it!” 8th grade will continue to reach out to the remainder of the students once they return from winter break.

Alternative Gift Market

Another Leadership initiative is the Alternative Gift Market. Usually held during the holiday concert on the morning before winter break, 8th grade students advocate for national and international causes they have personally selected. While we can’t meet in person, the gift market (called a crowdfund) is now live online! Please preview the causes in the slideshow and then click here to donate!

Fun Friday

Over the past 4 weeks, all middle school students were given a unique fun Friday challenge…build a chair! Sounds easier than you might think given their only materials included 5 pieces of printer paper, 10 paper straws, and 18 inches of masking tape. The challenge was to be able to hold a full water bottle, a minimum of 2 inches off the ground. Students worked individually to create structures they felt would hold best. Students used a variety of techniques to create a seated unit, such as triangular based prisms, cylindrical units filled with straws, and taped together paper squares. The middle school was fortunate enough to gather all together outside to observe the live challenge. Each student had a chance to test their structures by placing a water bottle on top and having it stand solo for 10 seconds. With the encouragement of their peers, students were excited to see how their hard work would fare.

We hope you have a wonderful and safe winter break!

Best,

Megan, Zak, & Michelle

Gratitude

Posted on by Alison Kistner

Every holiday season we often hear the word “gratitude” frequently. Gratitude has been known to impact our mental health in a positive way. Two psychologists from the University of Miami completed a research study that focused on gratitude. Participants were placed in three groups; one group wrote about things that they were grateful for, the second group wrote about things that displeased them, and the third group wrote about things that affected them in general. Researchers followed each group closely for a period of ten weeks. The group that focused on what they were grateful for, had the most positive outcome. They were more optimistic, felt better about their lives overall, visited the doctor less, and exercised more.

5 Ways to Practice Gratitude this Holiday Season by Mindwise Innovations

  1. Make a list of things you have instead of what you want.
  2. Write a thank you note.
  3. Meditate or pray.
  4. Practice acts of kindness.
  5. Focus on your health

I am grateful for:
all of our parents, students, faculty and staff that make our community truly a special place,
all of our class parents who through a pandemic find creative ways to build community within their classes,
all who participated in our newest gift wrap fundraiser that raised $3,400 our school,
all who participated on Giving Tuesday and made a donation to FWM’s Annual Fund,
and all of you for choosing FWM for your child’s education. Thank you! Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday filled with all things that you are grateful for.

Warm regards, Alison

That’s a Wrap

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

 

What a unique, challenging, but special year 2020 was. For me, one of this year’s highlights was having the blessing of being part of your child’s journey of life. Each and every one of them has not only grown physically, but emotionally and intellectually. I find such joy watching their individual personalities come to life! These children are such a gift and I can’t wait to watch them blossom even more in 2021!

Wishing you all peace and love during this holiday season. Here’s to a great 2021!

Wrapping Up

Posted on by Karen Sankey

“When a particular sensitiveness is aroused in a child, it is like a light that shines on some objects but not others, making of them [their] whole world.”…”[The sensitive period] comes for a moment but its benefits last for a lifetime.” -Maria Montessori

The sensitive period of six to twelve year olds includes the development of the conscious mind, and at this level, learning happens at a slow, steady pace. These children have a great capacity for mental growth. The goal of our curriculum is to inspire them to think and question; to become thoughtful. As they are developing this thoughtfulness, they are also building their inner sense of right and wrong, their conscience. It is essential that children in this sensitive period feel the love and respect of the adults in their lives.

This week we focused on wrapping things up before the holidays, figuratively and literally. We started our week with our community meeting. We had two items on our completely student-set agenda:

  • How can we have a fair recess schedule?
  • How do we make sure people are being safe in the hall?

After brainstorming, openly discussing each item, and then voting on the solutions, they successfully came up with a plan for each. We wrapped up some of our weekly language and math work with small group meetings. Fourth graders finished their literature circle book, Rules, and had a nice final discussion about the book. They have chosen to read My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George next. Fifth graders are a little over halfway through Wonder. We spent time wrapping hats, mittens, and blankets for the children served by St. Vincent DePaul Mission. Thank you very much for your donations! Your children commented while wrapping about how much they enjoy volunteering their time to help those in need. One student sweetly remarked, “First it was like we got to work in a deli and now it’s like we are working in Santa’s workshop!” We celebrated the holidays together at the end of the week by making edible evergreen forests while listening to the music of the season.

I was overwhelmed by the generous class gift from you. Thank you! And thank you for sharing your awesome children with me each day. I wish you joyful and peaceful holidays! Here’s to a great 2021!

Mrs. Doyle’s Class: The Best Gift Of All

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

As the Holidays are quickly approaching, we hear the children speak throughout the day of what they hope to receive as a gift. Through literature, classroom conversations and taking a peek into the different holidays celebrated by those around the world, we introduce the concept and power of giving as the best gift of all.

We asked each child what gift they could share during this holiday season.  We told them it does not need to cost anything and it really is about helping others and our communities.  They could share their gift with a loved one or even be a secret gift giver and do something anonymously for someone in need.  The simplicity of their words is heartwarming.

The world could learn a lot by listening to these children!

Elliot–I know a lot of stories and I can tell them to kids that don’t know them.

Gregory L–I can share my toys with kids that don’t have any.

Harper–I made special bead works to share with everyone.

Julianna–I am going to give hot dogs to people who are hungry.

Mya– I am going to leave little notes to share with my friends when they are sad.

Anchor–I am going to read books to our new baby.

Gregory G–I am going to give all of my picture stories to Ms. Michele in the office because I’m pretty sure it will make her happy.

Lily–I am going to water all the plants in my house and help with my sister, Annie.

Marin–I can help James with all of his homework.

Xander–I can share my artwork with everyone because it makes them happy.

Carmen–I can give my sister Cheyenne hugs when she is sick.

Greyson–I can help Daddy shovel when it snows.

Landon–I can help Mommy make cookies and pizza.

Luca–I can get my Dad tools when he needs them.

Olivia–I can give Ella Bella a hug when she’s crying.

Wishing each and everyone of you peace and love during this holiday season.

Michelle & Lizette

Mrs. Lopes’s Class: Happy Holiday Wishes

Posted on by Amanda Lopes

“The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart” -Helen Keller

We cannot believe how quickly the month of December has passed and winter break is upon us!  This month the children have enjoyed learning about all the special holidays that are celebrated in December. Learning about the holidays of different cultures embraces the Montessori principals of inclusion and peace and helps students understand that celebrations have had a great significance to people throughout time and across all cultures. Rituals and celebrations are a large part of human history. They have to do with your culture, as well as your time and place in history. As we celebrate the holiday season we encourage you to create your own rituals as a family and celebrate this season of togetherness, especially as many of us cannot be with the ones we love this year.

May your holidays be merry and filled with moments you’ll always remember.  See you in the new year!

Love,

Amanda and Sharlene

Mrs. Wilson: Oh What Fun!

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

Wow! What a busy and exciting week it has been. The children continued to explore the lessons on the holidays celebrated around the world. On Monday I introduced the story I Love The Nutcracker by Marion Billet. This a very simple book about the music and dance from The Nutcracker. Every page in this book plays a sample of the music. After reading the book, I played the full version of the music. We danced around the room to Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and marched around to March of the Toy Soldiers. The children even partnered up on their own while dancing. The children really seem to have an appreciation for orchestra style music. Bravo! Brava!

Our holiday/pajama celebration was very energetic and exciting. The children were full of joy partaking in the photo session with the wintery background. We had a snowball toss game, jingle bell pajama parade, candy cane lacing activity, and decorated cookies. Thank you all for your support in making this day a very special and successful day!

Have a very happy and healthy holiday. Make lots of beautiful memories together during this holiday season!

Enjoy this week’s photos,
Mrs. Wilson and Ms. Sara