Blog

Middle School: Signs of Spring

Posted on by Michelle Lamb

Before I begin to talk about our times since we have been back from break, I would like to give a huge thank you to all of the parents, family, and friends of the middle school for your support during our play, Flight 1927. Your presence and your feedback were so important to the kids and teachers. We had a great time doing it!

This week we were lucky to travel to the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven. We walked through the museum and were particularly impressed by the dinosaur exhibit. Afterwards, the 6th and half of the 7th years toured the Ancient Egypt exhibit and had a lively lecture from Richard, the resident expert. The other half of 7th years and 8th year students visited David Friend Hall, the gem and mineral gallery. Students were taught a lesson on the identification of minerals upon entering the exhibit. Students were amazed at the natural colors, shape, and sizes many of the minerals displayed. The museum also let us know that they would be opening a Mesopotamia exhibit soon, so we look forward to that in the coming years!

Now, let’s talk about signs of spring in middle school: a renewed sense of enthusiasm for classes, excitement about end-of-the year events that are now around the corner, and, for the 8th years, the reality that expert project presentations are coming fast and furious.

We have spent time outside every day this week. That being said, it has been in the upper 30s and low 40s at our morning recess time and will be chillier next week. Your children should be dressed for this type of weather with warm, outer layers as well as limbs covered. If they wish to wear shorts, they may change into them after recess. Thank you for your attention to this.

 

 

 

Upper Elementary: Fresh Start

Posted on by Brian Comstock

After our long March break it was nice to return to school re-energized to close out the year on a positive note. It did not take much time for the students to get back into the natural rhythm of our work cycle.

Now that each child knows their role for our upcoming play we have spent a little time each morning with the Lower Elementary practicing songs and lines. Based on our first few practices we expect a great show in May!

As we approached the end of the week we celebrated the March birthdays with our monthly birthday breakfast. The students are already looking forward to our next breakfast in April!

Lower Elementary: Field Trip Fun!

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

We started our unit on sound with some special activities that are designed to teach about sound at the Connecticut Science Center. We learned that sound is created through vibrations in the air. We looked at musical instruments, different sound frequencies, and sound waves.  The children enjoyed getting their hands on different materials and exploring the different exhibits.

Some of the other exhibits we visited were forces in motion and exploring space. Here the children had the opportunity to design and test their own heli-flyer, move objects with wind power, took the controls of a lunar lander and lounged in a space pod to take a tour of the outer reaches of space.  Another bonus about the field trip was that we got to dive further into our Earth lessons in the planet Earth exhibit. On top of that, some of the other exhibits the children explored were the inventions, health and sports, butterfly encounter, real bodies, and sustainable energy.

Stay tuned for our field trip coming up on Friday, April 26th to watch Disneynature’s Penguins.

Middle School: What is a Montessori Immersion Week?

Posted on by Gina Tryforos

Maria Montessori believed it is important to give adolescents opportunities to create and build things with their own hands, to understand the process of working toward a larger goal, and to immerse themselves deeply in meaningful work.

At FWM, we expect a lot from our students during the school week. We know that challenging academics will help our students get ready for the path that lies ahead. Because we are committed to the development of the whole child, we embrace the prospect of giving students the opportunity to be creative in a different setting and to see each other’s strengths in a new light.

FMW’s Middle School Immersion week focused on the production of Flight 1927.

The students came up with the basis for the story. They developed the plot line, designed the scenes, developed the characters, and wrote the play in its entirety-scenes and dialog.

The result: Thursday night’s performance of Flight 1927!

BRAVO to FWM’s Middle School Students!

Purposeful work done with honesty and passion is what drives our students to success on any path they choose to follow.

 

 

Upper Elementary: Spring Happenings

Posted on by Brian Comstock

As we wrapped up this final week before March break we peeked ahead to some exciting events in spring! The two most notable events are the Science Fair on April 25th and the Elementary play on May 9th. Our Science Fair theme is “Inventions.” The students started prepping for this by coming up with one or more problems. Then, they will solve the problem by coming up with a solution (invention). Be on the lookout for an information packet that explains the Science Fair and due dates. Have a great March break!

We Brought the Gym to Us!

Posted on by Stephanie Thomas

With the below-freezing temperatures this week, we would normally head to the gym for some exercise. But our awesome middle school buddies were preparing for their play in the gym, so we needed to get creative. Ms. Sara came up with the brilliant idea to bring a favorite gym activity to our environment. We are blessed with a large room and can easily move our furniture to make space for big movement materials. We brought two heavy foam blocks and a large crash pad for the children to enjoy a gymnastics jumping station…and enjoy they did!

We also added two boxes to the room for those who wanted to partake in imaginative play. The boxes were mainly used for peek-a-boo, but there were houses, kitchens, and beds as well. It was a pleasure to watch the children turn the boxes into whatever they wished.

Practical Life, sensorial, art, and snack were equally popular on the tiled side of the room. The children were fully engaged in shaving cream art, digging in snow in the sensory bin with spoons and waterproof mittens, slicing their own bananas for snack, and transferring St. Patrick’s Day themed work.

We wish you all a wonderful break, and look forward to seeing you when we return Monday, March 25. Enjoy!

Rainbows and delicious Kumquats!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

The main focus this week was based on colors. Recognizing the colors and identifying the color names is an important part of a child’s development. The ability to identify colors is considered a marker and milestone in a child’s cognitive process.

As introductory activities this week, we used a lot of verbal communication and sorting and classifying games and activities. Verbal communication is a great way to teach the children about colors as we give them some vocabulary for starting to describe the world around them. Practicing this exercise daily encourages the children to start sorting and classifying objects around them based on their color attributes. With our youngest we focused on the primary colors and with our oldest we also worked recognizing and identifying secondary colors. As we worked on putting our rainbow puzzle together we took time to search around the classroom for objects that represented the color assigned. Children had a lot of fun thinking, observing, and finding different colored objects in our environment!

Children were very curious about what food we were going to taste this week as they already recognize this activity as a part of our weekly routine. It’s so fun to see the children gathering with great excitement onto the main rug when they see the teacher walking with the food tasting tray. They sit so quietly and so patiently waiting to see the special towel to be removed and reveal the new food to be tasted. There were a couple of conversations between the oldest toddlers speculating that the new food this week was going to be watermelons! To their surprise we enjoyed some tiny but delicious kumquats. Kumquats look like oranges but are the most diminutive member of the citrus family. We had great fun exploring and tasting this fruit! Even Mrs. Wilson and I loved being part of it!

We wish you a great, colorful, and relaxing spring break with your family and a safe trip to all of you who will be traveling!

Keep warm and happy!

Ms. Kayser’s Class: “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

Posted on by skayser

You’re off the Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

-Dr. Seuss

Monday in the classroom, our children got to celebrate the birthday of one of the most renowned children’s book authors, Theodore Seuss Geisel. Dr. Seuss has touched the hearts of many children and parents with his whimsical stories and characters. This week we got to celebrate his life by snuggling up in pajamas with our favorite stuffed animals and reading his books.  To pay tribute to one of his most famous stories, the children got to enjoy a delicious breakfast of green scrambled eggs and ham! Despite the strange color, the children ate every bite and even asked for seconds! Thank you to all the parents who came in and provided everything for our special morning. We can’t say it enough, but we are truly blessed!

Personally, our favorite part of the morning was witnessing the confidence in our kindergarten students as they read to their younger friends.. We got to sit back and watch as they sat around the circle and read together. They are confident in their abilities as readers and fearless in picking up any book and tackling the words. The younger students were awestruck as they sat with their kindergarten friends, watching as they perservered through each page. These students have grown so much since the beginning of the year, and they have truly become beautiful role models for our class.

It is hard to believe that spring break is already upon us, but we wish you a safe and fun filled few weeks!

Ms. Kayser and Ms. Alli