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Mrs. Sargeant: A Peek at the Week

As adults, we must remember that we want things done as quickly as possible so they are finished and out of the way. In contrast, the child is interested and content in the doing, not the done.” –Margaret Stephenson, The Art of Montessori in the Home.

Every Friday, we send home the folders that contain the work the children have completed over the past week. We often receive emails asking why there was so little work inside and what exactly the children are doing.

Sometimes, it can be difficult to accept the idea of focusing on the process, not the product. What exactly does that mean? Many works in the Montessori classroom do not end with a physical product that the children will bring home to share with everyone. There is often no way to visually assess what a child is learning. Overall, as a society, we are product-driven and often base our success on this factor. The experience a child has when working with the materials is truly what is most important. However, it can often be unsettling when you hear they did “nothing” day after day.

Research shows children ages three to six learn best through their hands. To truly understand a concept, they need to explore it through touch. This is why so many lessons in the Montessori environment are not based on memorization alone. Most concepts we teach involve tracing, manipulating, and exploring with their hands. Perhaps most importantly, focusing on the process protects the child’s intrinsic motivation to learn and understand. External factors such as recognition, praise, or reward do not influence it. We truly value and encourage the time and experience with the materials.

So, if your child’s folder comes home with little to no work, know that their accomplishments can’t always ‘fit’ in that folder. Maybe after weeks and weeks of trying, they learned how to zip their coat, or perhaps they can finally carry a work without it dropping. Maybe after observing a lesson day after day, your child tried it independently for the first time. The list of skills each child can accomplish will never be fully represented in the Weekly Folder. So please enjoy the work in there, but know it will never be an accurate portrayal of all the children are learning and accomplishing.

Wishing you a week filled with peace and love.

Christine, Hailey, & Julie


Mrs. Lopes: A Look at Our Week


As adults, we must remember that we want things done as quickly as possible so they are finished and out of the way. In contrast, the child is interested and content in the doing, not the done.” –Margaret Stephenson, The Art of Montessori in the Home.

Every Thursday, we send home the blue folders that contain the work the children have completed over the past week. We often receive emails asking why there was so little work inside and what exactly the children are doing.

Sometimes, it can be difficult to accept the idea of focusing on the process, not the product. What exactly does that mean? Many works in the Montessori classroom do not end with a physical product that the children will bring home to share with everyone. There is often no way to visually assess what a child is learning. Overall, as a society, we are product-driven and often base our success on this factor. The experience a child has when working with the materials is truly what is most important. However, it can often be unsettling when you hear they did “nothing” day after day.

Research shows children ages three to six learn best through their hands. To truly understand a concept, they need to explore it through touch. This is why so many lessons in the Montessori environment are not based on memorization alone. Most concepts we teach involve tracing, manipulating, and exploring with their hands. Perhaps most importantly, focusing on the process protects the child’s intrinsic motivation to learn and understand. External factors such as recognition, praise, or reward do not influence it. We truly value and encourage the time and experience with the materials.

So, if your child’s folder comes home with little to no work, know that their accomplishments can’t always ‘fit’ in that folder. Maybe after weeks and weeks of trying, they learned how to zip their coat, or perhaps they can finally carry a work without it dropping. Maybe after observing a lesson day after day, your child tried it independently for the first time. The list of skills each child can accomplish will never be fully represented in the Weekly Folder. So please enjoy the work in there, but know it will never be an accurate portrayal of all the children are learning and accomplishing.

Wishing you a week filled with peace and love.

Mrs. Lopes, Mrs. Hema, and Ms. Kristina


Ms. Handibode: The Blue Work Folder Isn’t Really Empty

As adults, we must remember that we want things done as quickly as possible so they are finished and out of the way. In contrast, the child is interested and content in the doing, not the done.” –Margaret Stephenson, The Art of Montessori in the Home.

Every Thursday, we send home the blue folders that contain the work the children have completed over the past week. We often receive emails asking why there was so little work inside and what exactly the children are doing.

Sometimes, it can be difficult to accept the idea of focusing on the process, not the product. What exactly does that mean? Many works in the Montessori classroom do not end with a physical product that the children will bring home to share with everyone. There is often no way to visually assess what a child is learning. Overall, as a society, we are product-driven and often base our success on this factor. The experience a child has when working with the materials is truly what is most important. However, it can often be unsettling when you hear they did “nothing” day after day.

Research shows children ages three to six learn best through their hands. To truly understand a concept, they need to explore it through touch. This is why so many lessons in the Montessori environment are not based on memorization alone. Most concepts we teach involve tracing, manipulating, and exploring with their hands. Perhaps most importantly, focusing on the process protects the child’s intrinsic motivation to learn and understand. External factors such as recognition, praise, or reward do not influence it. We truly value and encourage the time and experience with the materials.

So, if your child’s folder comes home with little to no work, know that their accomplishments can’t always ‘fit’ in that folder. Maybe after weeks and weeks of trying, they learned how to zipper their coat, or perhaps they can finally carry a work without it dropping. Maybe after observing a lesson day after day, your child tried it independently for the first time. The list of skills each child can accomplish will never be fully represented in the Weekly Folder. So please enjoy the work in there, but know it will never be an accurate portrayal of all the children are learning and accomplishing.

Wishing you a week filled with peace and love.

Michelle, Maria & Marisa


Lower El: Great Lessons and Key Lessons

Happy Fall, everyone! It was so great to connect with many families at Curriculum Night. This week was another rich week in the classroom as we shared the third Great Lesson and also began presenting some “Key Lessons.” The Great Lessons set the stage for each subject of the curriculum and spark the children’s imagination. At the same time, the Key Lessons give more detail, offer new information, and guide the children toward their own independent discoveries.

The third Great Lesson, “The Coming of Humans,” is a story meant to help the children see the special place humans hold in the story of life. It reminds them how the Earth had to be carefully prepared before humans could arrive. The seas formed, plants filled the air with oxygen, and animals created balance in the world. Each step built upon the last until the Earth was finally ready for human life. When humans finally appeared, they came with gifts no other creature before them had: the mind that can think and imagine, the hand that can work, and the heart that can love like no other. The purpose of this lesson is to highlight the role humans play in the larger story of life and to lay the foundation for the work that will grow from the Great Lessons that follow. Our hope is that the children will come away with gratitude for the gifts they possess and an understanding that each of them is part of something truly special and important.

We welcomed the autumn equinox with an introduction to our Sun and Earth work in geography. As we told the story of the equinox, the children got to see how the tilt and rotation of the Earth create the changing seasons and why day and night are equal during the equinox. This work is a Key Lesson that connects back to the Story of the Universe. The Story of the Universe is like a wheel, and the Sun and Earth work is one of the many radiating spokes that we share with the children.

We recently opened the door to the geometry curriculum with the Story of Geometry. The children enjoyed learning about how geometry got its name. This story introduced the children to the history of how humans first explored geometry. We told the story of how the ancient Egyptian rope stretchers used ropes to measure land and create boundaries each year when the Nile flooded. This story emphasizes the influence that history has had on geometry and vice versa. By having this approach, the children may become interested in geometry through history or the other way around. Through this story, children see geometry as an exciting part of human discovery and a creative way humans use their thinking minds and their working hands to solve a problem.

It is so special to share these moments of discovery with your children. It brings us such joy to witness their curiosity and sense of wonder unfold as we share these lessons and stories with them!


This Week in Upper El

 

We had a great week in Upper El! We began the week with a writing lesson focused on sentence variety. We learned to identify four different types of sentences: declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory. In geometry lessons, the fourth graders explored six different types of quadrilaterals, while the fifth graders learned how to find the area of an acute triangle. In grammar, the fourths studied common, proper, and collective nouns, and the fifths focused on the agreement between pronouns and verbs in the present, past, and future tenses. The whole class examined an evolutionary strip and reviewed the common and taxonomic names of familiar animals in biology. In history, we began our lessons on humans’ closest relatives by discussing where we, as humans, fit in. We took a logical approach to determine the relationships between humans and other living animals.

This week, we launched this year’s Book Buddies program with our Kindergarten students. Each Friday morning, the Kindergarteners join Upper Elementary students for thirty minutes to read and be read to. This year, we have nineteen Kindergarten students, and each Upper El student is paired with a Kindergarten student to mentor throughout the year as our little friends learn to read and develop a love for books. Our Upper El students did an excellent job selecting books that were just right for their buddies. They showed patience and kindness, and each student felt a sense of pride when the half-hour session concluded.

We look forward to seeing you at Curriculum Night on Thursday at 5:30. Please take some time to review the slideshow that Jill will be sending. The evening will follow an Open House-style format, allowing you to explore some Montessori materials while learning about our school day and what to expect this year.


Ms. Mollie’s Class Peek of the Week

It’s hard to believe we are already in the third week! Most of our children have really started to settle in and grow fond of their new environment and teachers. We’re seeing fewer tears and more smiles each day, and outdoor play continues to be a big favorite among our toddlers.

We are also continuing to introduce and reinforce our expectations with the children, such as practicing grace and courtesy, cleaning up after themselves, putting away their work, and sitting at the table during meals. We’re also encouraging them to use the toilet, even if it’s just for a quick sitting.

As Maria Montessori wrote, “Toilet training is not only about learning to use the toilet, it is a preparation for independence, freedom, and self-respect.”

These are important steps in their development, and one of our main goals in the toddler class this year is to help all of our little ones reach the milestone of independent toileting.

Thank you once again for your trust and support. We truly appreciate you all.


The Big Work Begins: The “Great Lessons” in Lower Elementary

The children have settled into the routines of the classroom so beautifully. Their days are now filled with busy, purposeful work cycles, and it has been wonderful to see their concentration and collaboration blossom. With this strong foundation in place, we have been able to begin something very exciting: the “big work” of Cosmic Education.

Cosmic Education, the heart of the Elementary curriculum, begins with the Great Lessons. These are a series of impressionistic stories meant to spark curiosity, admiration, and interest while opening the doors to all areas of study. The stories are told with rich language and a sense of mystery to really capture the children’s imagination and interest.

We began with the Coming of the Universe, which tells the story of the beginning of the cosmos. This lesson sparks wonder about the vastness of space, the birth of stars, and the formation of our planet. The third years had the very special role of doing the experiments that went along with the story, while the rest of the children watched in excitement.

Next, we shared the Timeline of Life. This lesson unfolds the incredible journey of living beings across millions of years. From the tiniest unicellular creatures to mighty dinosaurs, from the first plants to the earliest mammals, the children begin to see how life has adapted and evolved. The timeline gives them a beautiful, concrete impression of the grand interconnected story of life on Earth.

These lessons are really just the beginning. Each story opens countless doors for exploration in biology, history, geography, language, and more. In Montessori, learning is not divided into isolated subjects and does not follow a strictly linear path. Instead, everything connects like threads woven into one larger whole. One curiosity sparks another, and learning naturally unfolds like a web. Stay tuned as we will be sharing three more Great Lessons in the coming weeks.

This is a truly magical time in the elementary years, and it is so inspiring to watch the children dive into their work with so much enthusiasm and curiosity. Every year, we feel just as excited as the children when we revisit these lessons together!

We are looking forward to welcoming you to Curriculum Night on Thursday. Jill will be sending out the slideshow for you to look over ahead of time. We hope you will join us for an Open House-style evening where we can chat and answer any questions you may have. It is always a wonderful chance to connect and share more about the classroom. See you then!


Ms. Rhodora: High in the Sky

We continue our study of the Solar System with great emphasis on the planet Earth. The planets are introduced in relation to their position in the solar system, along with an explanation that each planet revolves around the sun. The children walked around the ‘sun’ (a candle representing the planet) in relation to how far or near the planet was to the Great Star, which helped them grasp the concept of ‘orbit’ and understand why certain planets are hotter and others colder.

The children explored color using a variety of materials. With the metal insets, they experiment with form and color, using colored pencils to fill and shade the traced shapes. The children experienced the magic of mixing two primary colors using colored water to make secondary colors. Most children also discovered that combining the three primary colors will make brown!

The Montessori birthday walk was celebrated by one of our friends this week. The children loved seeing the candle as a representation of the sun. Thank you, Ms. Becca, for helping celebrate this birthday and sharing the delicious snacks!

Your children’s smiles and laughter warm both our classroom and our hearts!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Rhodora & Ms. Anabel