Blog

Mrs. Carroll’s Class: Ripe For Learning

Posted on by Cindy Carroll

 

Pumpkins can be found everywhere in October. Who knew this squat symbol of fall was ripe with opportunities for learning.

This week your children explored the life-cycle of a pumpkin. They read books and authored stories of their own. We used math to estimate the number of seeds and measure the circumference of our class pumpkin. Our creative, amazing ideas for a jack-o-lantern came to life under the skillful carving of Ewan’s dad, Ross MacLean. Thank you Ross! We smelled, touched and then baked the treasures found inside our pumpkin. Your children had fun exploring and learning from nature.

Pumpkins can be found everywhere in October. Sharlene and I have enjoyed sharing pumpkins in a new light. A seasona,l hands-on learning experience that supports math, science, sensory, and language development, as well as curiosity.

Take time to stop and smell the pumpkins!

Global Culinary Night is Thursday, November 8th from 6:30-8:00pm.

This is a FWM entire family event.

Grab your “passport” and travel along with us as we visit countries near and far, sampling foods at each stop! This community event is for FWM families to gather together and share a unique dish from their cultural, ethnic, or regional background while also sampling dishes from other FWM families’ cultures.

Cindy & Sharlene

After School Program: October Fun

Posted on by Rebecca Faust

What a fun month! We are so excited to have Ms. Sharlene join us. She brings such a warm energy to After School. We have enjoyed spending our time outdoors continuing to build our friendships and creativity.

“…age-mixed play offers opportunities for learning and development not present in play among those close in age, permitting younger children to learn more from older playmates than they could from playing with only their peers. In age-mixed play, the more sophisticated behavior of older children offers role models for younger children, who also typically receive more emotional support from older kids than from those near their own age. Age-mixed play also permits older children to learn by teaching and to practice nurturance and leadership; and they are often inspired by the imagination and creativity of their younger playmates.”

American Journal American Journal of Play, volume 3, number 4. © 2011 by The Strong. Contact Peter Gray at grayp@bc.edu

Best,
Mrs. Rebecca Faust
rfaust@fraserwoods.com
Director of After School

Information on these EXCITING After School Activities!
  • Aviation Club:
    • Wednesdays, 3:15-4:15 until November 14
  • Minecraft Education:
    • Thursdays, 3:15-4:15 until December 13

Reminders:

  • Cell phones are not permitted in After School.
  • If you need to get in contact with us after school you may call the After School Room at (203) 426-3390 x 307

 

Global Culinary Night is Thursday, November 8th from 6:30-8:00pm.

This is a FWM entire family event.

Grab your “passport” and travel along with us as we visit countries near and far, sampling foods at each stop! This community event is for FWM families to gather together and share a unique dish from their cultural, ethnic, or regional background while also sampling dishes from other FWM families’ cultures.

Mrs. Doyle’s Class: Harvest Time!

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

 

Welcome to our pumpkin patch!  There are pumpkins everywhere in our class. Having pumpkins in the classroom provides so many opportunities for the children to observe and introduce basic science and mathematical concepts.

In Practical Life, we have pumpkin spooning, pouring, pumpkin hammering, and even pumpkin scrubbing. In Science, we learned about the parts of a pumpkin and the pumpkin life cycle. We compared pumpkins to categorize them as small, medium, and large. We counted the lines/ridges on pumpkins and learned why some pumpkins have more and some have less. In Math, we were faced with the very difficult question of how do you measure the circumference of a pumpkin.

On Wednesday, we had a Harvest Celebration in our classroom. We worked together as  a class to decide how to carve our pumpkin. First, we brainstormed ideas of what shape the eyes, nose, and mouth should be and then we voted on it to make our decision. Every child had a chance to come up and scoop out some of the pumpkin pulp and seeds. We also voted on the name and “Violet” was the clear winner!

Our Kindergarten children had fun cutting and arranging an array of vegetables in the shape of a skeleton. As they were building and discussing the different parts of a skeleton, they had to decide which vegetables would work best to build “Skully.”  They definitely didn’t make any bones about eating their veggies this time!

Thank you to Meg (Elliot’s mom) for the amazing craft and Helena (Ellia’s mom) for the awesome snack! As always, there are parents working behind the scenes to help us and we are most grateful.

Global Culinary Night is Thursday, November 8th from 6:30-8:00pm.

This is a FWM entire family event.

Grab your “passport” and travel along with us as we visit countries near and far, sampling foods at each stop! This community event is for FWM families to gather together and share a unique dish from their cultural, ethnic, or regional background while also sampling dishes from other FWM families’ cultures.

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Doyle & Mrs. Lyga

Happenings and Events

Posted on by Alison Kistner

Faculty & Staff attend Annual Montessori School of Connecticut Conference

This past Friday, the entire faculty attended the MSC Conference in West Hartford.  Howard Gardner, renowned educator and architect of “multiple intelligences” was the keynote speaker.  Teachers not only connected with other Montessori educators from the state, but also attended lectures and discussions with topics relevant to their field.  Making time for faculty to learn more about their craft and ways to be more knowledgeable about the children they teach is essential to their development as educators.  Thank you for your support!

FWM hosts the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary

Yesterday FWM welcomed the CVHAS to the school for their October “Sunday at the Sanctuary” event entitled: Not So Spooky Anymore! The school’s nature trails served as the perfect place to explore dead logs and look for tiny creatures! It was great to see so many FWM families in attendance and to be able to support such a great organization! We look forward to welcoming them back for their January and March 2019 Sunday at the Sanctuary events. Additional information on this organization can be found here.

Halloween on Wednesday

All parents are invited to watch the Halloween Parade that Lower Elementary through Middle School will be participating in on Wednesday starting at 9:00am.  Below are some important parent guidelines for Halloween at FWM:

For Toddler children: On Wednesday, October 31st the toddlers will continue with their daily routine.  Children at this level won’t be wearing costumes, but are invited to wear Halloween type clothing (images of Halloween or other clothing decorated with autumn themes).

For Primary children: On Wednesday, October 31st Primary will be participating in autumn activities in the classroom.  Children at this level won’t be wearing costumes, but are invited to wear Halloween type clothing (images of Halloween or other clothing decorated with autumn themes).

For Lower/Upper Elementary and Middle School children: On Wednesday, October 31st the Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, and Middle School children will participate in a Halloween Parade at 9am.  They will also have Halloween parties in their classrooms; each level will have their own time and method for celebrating.   Costumes are encouraged and children should wear their costumes to school.  Please make sure your child has a change of clothes so they can change into dress down clothes after their parties.  Below are some guidelines for costumes:

  • No weapons or accessories
  • No costumes that denigrate a particular gender, culture, or religion
  • No gory masks (e.g. blood dripping down)
  • If wearing face paint, please have your child bring in wipes to help remove the make-up

Parent & Teacher Conferences are Over – Now What?

Though Parent & Teacher Conferences are complete, a reminder that parents do not have to wait till the next Parent & Teacher Conferences on February 14th to speak with teachers.  If you have any concerns or you would like to know how your child is progressing, parents are invited to schedule a conference at any point of the year.

Playground Update: The Zip Line Cometh!

The lower anchor of the Zip-line was re-installed.  KOMPAN realized the pitch was too steep so they had to return and make the needed corrections.  The next step will be to attach the cable and have the safety mulch delivered.  Our goal is that the Zip Line will be available to students in the next two weeks.

Family Event: Global Culinary Night – November 6th – 6:30-8:00pm

Taste foods from all over the world. This is an entire family event not be missed.  RSVP here by November 2nd. So far we have food from: Italy, France, Spain, Ireland, Costa Rica and more!

Parent Social & Education Event: November 13th – 7:00pm

Avielle Foundation, Brainstorm Experience: The Gift of Failure, by Jessica Lahey NY Times best selling author. Use the promo code: BEFWM for a 20% discount for FWM parents. Secure your tickets here to attend this excellent parent education presentation.  More details to come about plans for a 5:30pm dinner together and an optional childcare service at FWM during the dinner and presentation for parents who need babysitting.

Social Media Use Survey

Thank you to those parents that have completed the anonymous social media use survey that was recently sent out. If you didn’t complete one, there is still time –  please complete it here. Thank you for your help!

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Digital 3D Design to Full Size Cardboard

Posted on by Danielle Ulacco

 

Middle School students participate in a weekly class called STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math). This class is taught by both myself and Mrs. Jen Reid, our Art Teacher. Each month there is a new project/theme. In October, we tasked groups of students to design a “fall” object that will be assembled from cardboard.

We verbally discussed our grand plans: 3D DESIGN of FALL OBJECT -> SLICER SOFTWARE -> GLOWFORGE -> REAL LIFE CARDBOARD DESIGN!

Once groups were assigned, they started discussing viable options and sketched ideas in their MakerSpace journals.

Timeline:

  1. Work as a group and complete sketch together of your “fall object”
  2. Design completed sketch in Tinkercad software (www.tinkercad.com)
  3. Download 3D file and send to Ms. Ulacco
  4. Ms. Ulacco sends 3D file through a program called “Slicer” which actually slices 3D designs!
  5. Export Slicer files as PDF
  6. Send PDF’s to Glowforge (laser cutter)
  7.  Start cutting PDF’s on cardboard in Glowforge (the most time consuming part!)
  8. Assemble the pieces with glue
  9. Bedazzle/Decorate!

Photos included are of the Sugar Skull, designed/crafted/assembled/bedazzled by Rania, Zachary, Rohan, and Siena.

Mrs. Thomas – Thank You!

Posted on by Stephanie Thomas

It was wonderful to meet with you this week for conferences. We had a lovely time talking about some of our favorite subjects: your children!

Enjoy these photos from September and October.

Lower Elementary Hard at Work

Posted on by Karen Sankey

We love starting our day by centering ourselves while listening to soft, peaceful music. We spend about five minutes doing this before we start our work time every morning. The children are getting better every day at learning to be still and quiet, giving their minds a break by paying attention only to their breathing.

Often times children at different grade levels enjoy working together. Our Biology material, First Knowledge of the Five Kingdoms, provides an opportunity to do just that while allowing each child to challenge her(him)self. At the beginning level, children work with the animal identification cards. These increase in difficulty, respectively, with the plant, fungi, protoctista, and prokaryote identification cards. This week some first grade students teamed up to work with the animal cards while a third grade friend worked with the fungi cards alongside them.

After children learn a lesson in geometry, they use their hands and work with materials to solidify their understanding of the concepts they are learning about. Recently, some students learned about perpendicular and oblique lines. They followed up by using a material called the Box of Sticks to make the different types of lines. They learned to use a measuring angle – which is a right angle – to check their perpendicular lines.

First, second, and third grade students are currently learning about physical geography. Third graders are learning to identify and label the water forms of each continent, starting with North America. Second grade students are building on their lessons from last year by learning about advanced land and water forms; most recently lagoon, fjord, cove, gulf, and bay. First graders are learning about inverted land and water forms. This week they learned about capes and bays. The beginning lessons start with the children making the forms using clay and water and then they make a representation of it using construction paper.

Mrs. Doyle’s Class: The Three-Period Lesson

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

When we introduce new concepts or materials to the children, we often do so using a three-period lesson. This is an important tenet of Montessori education and it helps to move the child from basic understanding of a concept to  mastery.

Period One is the introduction stage. In this stage we are isolating new vocabulary to the children. For example, if we are introducing the color tablets, we would say, “this is blue.”  Repeating that statement and allowing the child to manipulate the blue color tablet are crucial during this stage.

Period Two is all about association and recognition. It is often a separate lesson. We do not ask the children to remember the vocabulary or recall the concept.  We are simply reinforcing the concept taught in Period One. We use words such as “show me the blue tablet” or “can you place the blue tablet on your lap?”

Period Three is the recall stage and the first time we ask the child to remember the concept independently.  We ask them “what is this” when showing them the blue color tablet. We are careful not to begin Period Three until we know they are ready for success.

Every time a child masters a new concept it paves the way to move towards another one.

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Doyle & Mrs. Lyga