Blog

Mrs. Hood: Cold, Tangy and Fun!

As we continue to focus on the winter season, we introduced the concept of cold this week. Children observed how cold liquid water turned into very cold solid water. The children felt the ice between their fingers with so much wonder. They enjoyed adding the ice block to our penguin sensory box and they seemed to loved the fact that after a couple minutes the ice started to melt and created a fun pool for the penguins to swim in! This sensory experience brought a lot of smiles and admiration.

Our older students had the opportunity to receive a special practical life lesson this week. They worked on cutting real bananas with real knives. Yeah! I said it correctly, real toddler knives!. The children watched attentively how I demonstrated to cut my own banana. Then I placed my hands on top of theirs and guided them to cut slowly and carefully a couple of pieces. They finished cutting the banana on their own and later tasted the fruit of their labor! There was so much self-confidence on their faces at the end of this activity! As an extension, children will soon be cutting bananas and sharing them with their classmates as a grace and courtesy lesson.

Students that show readiness will be offered special leadership roles in our environment. Being a snack helper is one of the works we introduced this week! Serving their classmates brings joy to the children as their self-esteem and independence boosts. These activities also provide important social skills that will be very helpful as they grow up as responsible and caring citizens of the world.

For food tasting we explored a kiwi! This winter fruit was loved by all despite of the tanginess! They wanted more and more!

Who’s That -Artic Animals by Tad Carpenter was a loved book by the children this week.

Thank you so much to the parents that have already donated items for our treasure baskets! Our youngest children are going to love them! We appreciate your support!


Happenings and Events

If there is one parent education event that you go to this year, this is it! Dr Pearlman’s presentation is not to be missed. 

Parent Event: Thursday, January 17th – 6:00pm.
How Montessori Today is Essential for What Colleges Want Tomorrow by Dr. Steve Pearlman. 
Free childcare and pizza for FWM children. RSVP by January 11th.

We are excited to welcome Dr. Steve Pearlman, co-founder of The Critical Thinking Initiative. His fascinating discussion: How Montessori Today is Essential for What Colleges Want Tomorrow is not to be missed. Dr. Pearlman addresses the disheartening trend of declining critical thinking skills in education. His insights on how we can help students to become better thinkers align with what Maria Montessori observed and implemented over a century ago.

Steven Pearlman, Ph.D. is the Director of Interdisciplinary Writing and Reasoning at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, CT.  He possesses over thirty-years experience in teaching writing and critical thinking across the disciplines in higher education. This talk is open to the public. Invite a friend. 

Dr. Pearlman’s discussion will be followed by Moving-Up Information Night. Moving-up information night is for parents to gain a better understanding of what the next program level has to offer for their child. This evening is particularly important for parents of students moving next September from:
Toddler into Primary 3
Primary 4 into Kindergarten
Kindergarten into Lower Elementary
Lower Elementary 3 into Upper Elementary
Upper Elementary 5 into Middle School

RSVP here!

Early Dismissal: Friday, January 18

FWM will have an 11:30am dismissal on Friday.  The afternoon will be an in-service day for faculty.  There is no Afterschool Childcare on this day.

Prospective Parent Open House: Thursday, January 24th – 9:30am.
Invite a friend to come and take a look at what our school has to offer for their child. Now enrolling for September 2019 school year. RSVP to: admissions@fraserwoods.com

Community Event: Sunday, January 27th from 12-3pm., Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, Sunday at the Sanctuary: Pets & Vets 101 hosted at Fraser Woods Montessori School
Pets & Vets 101 brings together animal care experts, live ambassador animals, pet rescues, and YOU!  Learn all that it takes to care for dogs and cats with veterinarians from Cornell Veterinary Medicine, how to care for backyard farm animals like chickens, rabbits, goats, and even llamas with Dr. Kim Brinton and the rescues of Rowanwood Farm, and learn what animals may or may not be appropriate to have as an “alternative” pet with the ambassador animals and naturalists from Earthplace.  This is the perfect opportunity to meet with live animals from rescues that are in need of forever homes and learn exactly what the commitments are to properly care for them. RSVP here!

Tuition Assistance Applications for upcoming September 2019 school year
Tuition Assistance information can be found by visiting our website: www.fraserwoods.com. Scroll down and click on the affording FWM tab. On the bottom of the page you will see the tuition assistance information on eligibility, how to apply, and important deadline information.

Please note that the deadline to apply for tuition assistance for the upcoming September 2019 school year is February 15th. If you have any additional questions, please contact Alison Kistner, Director of Advancement.

Save the Date: 25th Annual Auction Gala – Friday, April 12th – 6:30-11:30pm. -The Waterview, Monroe. Be on the lookout for more information on ways you can support this upcoming event! Auction theme clue #1: This annual FWM event is held to raise a lot of “baro.”


Design Your Own Board Game (5th)

Students in Mr. Comstock’s 5th Year students are designing unique board games in our MakerSpace. Here are titles of their games:

Group 1: Fraser Woods-opoly (A take on Monopoly)

Group 2: Bear Operation (Operation)

Group 3: Chess: Fortnite Edition!

Group 4: Ice Cream Land (A take on Candyland)

 

This project requires dedication, focus, creativity, and team work. Students have been  tasked with creating every aspect of the game: the board, the pieces, and the accessories. This project culminates all of the tools and machinery that this age level has been introduced to in the MakerSpace thus far.

  • Prototyping ideas with paper and cardboard
  • 3D printing
  • Laser cutting (wood/acrylic)
  • Silhouette cutting machine (vinyl/paper/fabric/felt)
  • Sewing Machines
  • Printing and Laminating
  • and more!

We can’t wait to share the finished products with our peers and our community!


Mrs. Hood’s Class: Welcome Back!

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 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! Mrs. Wilson and I love partnering with you through this adventure!

Your children transitioned peacefully after the break and they arrived ready to explore the environment and all the new works on the shelves. One of the favorite activities has been exercising to climb up and down stairs in our new climber. Children have been working hard on taking turns, being mindful of others, patience, and safety while using the climber. As soon as they are ready we will add the slide for some more fun!

Some of the most popular works this week were the polar bear family and the penguin sensory box. It’s so great to watch the children starting to use their imagination and create scenarios with these objects while practicing vocabulary.

The favorite books this week were Cub’s Big World By Sarah Thomson and Itsy Bitsy Snowman by Jeffrey Burton. One of the most clear words our students are able to say is “again” so, at their request, we have read them over and over and over.

At the end of the photo gallery, please enjoy a couple of pictures taken during our holiday celebration in December. Thank you so much for each of your donations to make this beautiful holiday breakfast a yummy success and thank you very much for your support during my health emergency!

Our best wishes for a joyful, healthy, and peaceful 2019!


Mrs. Carroll’s Class: A Warm Place

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 his/her 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


Mrs. Doyle’s Class: Hibernate, Migrate, or Adapt?

We hope that everyone had a chance to relax over the course of the winter break.  The generosity shown to us in everyone’s gifts and cards was so very touching. We are most grateful for all of your support. The relationship between home and school is extremely important at this stage of a child’s school experience. We are beyond blessed to have so many wonderful parents who make it easy to foster positive relationships with our families.

This week, we are learning that winter can be very harsh for animals. The weather and lack of food can make their survival difficult. To help ensure their survival, animals will hibernate, migrate, or adapt to their surroundings.  Some animals hibernate for the winter by going into a deep sleep. Their body’s temperature drops, their heartbeat and breathing slow down, and they use very little energy. Animals that migrate travel to other places where the weather is warmer and they will be able to find food. Animals that adapt remain and stay active in their environment. They adapt to the changing weather and their behavior and bodies may change too.

So, as the cold weather is becoming more frequent, how many of us are thinking about hibernating or migrating?

Have a warm and happy week!
Michelle & Sonja


Upper Elementary: New Year

We kicked off our 2019 school year by writing New Year’s Resolutions. The student resolutions covered various areas such as, organization, improving academics or sports’ skills, and relationships.

This month we will spend a lot of time preparing for Research Morning (February 7). Each student received a packet inside a blue folder with all of the information and due dates. The students were divided into groups to research the ancient civilizations of China, Rome, Greece, and Egypt.

On Wednesday January 16 we will visit the Peabody Museum to learn about Ancient Egypt and explore the museum.  This will be a great experience to connect to our ancient civilization studies!


Becoming Nonfiction Experts

We have kicked off 2019 with our nonfiction unit in both Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop!

In the first half of the year, the children became storytellers, writing true stories about their lives. Now, the children are learning to be experts, writing to teach others what they know. They practiced this by acting as a teacher and taught their peers about a topic they already knew a lot of information about. These topics varied with topics such as dancing, baking a cake, washing your hair, solving a multiplication problem or playing a sport. The room was buzzing with enthusiasm. They followed up this activity by writing all about their topic.

Our Reader’s Workshop lessons are going hand in hand in what the children are learning in Writer’s Workshop. Students are learning to use informational texts to gain knowledge in different subject areas.

This writing and reading work leads very nicely into the research the children are beginning for the upcoming Research Morning on February 7th at 8:30. This year the children will research a topic of their interest. They have been given categories to choose from and all of the children have made their choices! 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. We will send you a separate email with more details about Research Morning.