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Mrs. Wilson: When the Weather Outside is Frightful

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

When the weather isn’t ideal for outdoor play, we make the most of our indoor spaces. This week, the children had a great time releasing their energy in the gym. We provided them with balls, hoops, and push cars to use during this free play. The large, open space allowed the children to run in all directions, kick and chase balls, and eagerly retrieve the hoops we continuously rolled for them.

As our gym time wraps up, we end with a fun race! The children line up on one side of the gym and eagerly wait for the signal: “Ready, set, GO!” They then race to the opposite end with excitement and joy.

When gym time isn’t quite enough to meet their energy needs, we take a walk around campus, playing “I Spy” along the way. We explore and find various objects or pictures and always take the time to greet the administrative staff we pass. 

If more movement is still needed, we turn to dancing in the classroom. One of the children’s favorite activities lately has been playing “The Floor is Lava” song by The Kiboomers. The game encourages them to dance, hop, and wiggle along with the music until they hear, “The floor is lava!” At that moment, they must quickly find a stepping stone to stand on. Not only does this activity promote listening and following directions, but it also helps the children practice balance and coordination.

Food Tasting: This week, we explored the flavors of green and purple cabbage, tasting both raw and cooked versions. Both were a big hit, but the children seemed to prefer the cooked cabbage. The cooked was sautéed with butter, salt, and pepper, bringing out its delicious flavor.

Love and Light,

Cynthia and Sara

Middle School: Immersion Week #1

Posted on by Michelle Lamb

Wow! What a busy week preparing for next week’s production of Set in Stone. The finalized script was read on Tuesday, and from there, students have been in a flurry of set design, prop creating, blocking, and line memorizing. The stage went up, and the lights and sound arrived on Friday afternoon. While there is still a lot of work to be done, students are halfway there!

We can’t wait to welcome you to the show on Thursday, 1/30 @ 7 pm. The call time for students is 6 pm, and the gym is open to the audience at 6:30 pm.

Mrs. Hood: Winter Adventures!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

This week brought a winter wonderland of learning and exploration to our classroom! The weekend storm brought very cold days, which meant we couldn’t venture outdoors as much as we’d like. However, we brought the magic of the outdoors inside! The children had a wonderful time exploring the snow indoors in creative and engaging ways. They painted the snow with different colors, felt its cool texture in their hands, and observed how it melted over time. Snow also made its way to our sensory table, where it provided a new avenue for exploration and learning and of course, by popular request, we also brought back ice painting, which captivated the children’s attention for long periods of time!

Maria Montessori emphasized the importance of sensory experiences as a foundation for learning, believing that children learn best through hands-on exploration of their environment. She saw the senses as “the gateway to intelligence,” helping children understand the world around them.

As the week progressed, the snow stayed long enough for us to enjoy it outdoors in its full glory! The children’s excitement to head outside was matched by their growing independence in preparing for the winter weather. Dressing for outdoor play is more than just putting on winter gear; it’s an opportunity for toddlers to practice independence and gain confidence in their abilities.

In our classroom, each child identifies their individual winter bag and retrieves it from the designated area. They then sit on the classroom rug to begin the dressing routine. First, they take off their indoor shoes, retrieve their winter pants, and lay them out on the floor. Sitting down, they practice pulling up their pants until they can see their toes, then stand up to finish pulling them on and zipping their snowsuit. Afterward, they put on their snow boots, coats, hats, and mittens. With each practice session, the children become more adept at this sequence, and their smiles reflect the pride they feel in achieving this task independently. We encourage you to provide time and space for your children to practice this skill at home, as this consistency will further enhance their confidence and capability.

Once outside, the children embraced the opportunity calmly and joyfully, taking in the sights and sounds of winter while exploring the snow at their own pace. It was a peaceful and enriching experience that highlighted the beauty of nature and the joy of discovery.

Lastly, our sensory exploration didn’t stop at snow. This week, the children explored beets as the food-tasting lesson.  They were intrigued by the long green leaves and were in awe to discover the vibrant purple inside the beet. Even though it was not a favorite vegetable for all, we report that 100% of the class tasted it and many of them expressed how beautiful the beets were.

Stay warm and have a great weekend,

Mrs. Hood and Ms. Patty

Ms. Mollie: Cozy Days

Posted on by Mollie Smith

This short week has been packed with so much fun! While there is no such thing as improper weather, just improper clothing……we definitely had two days that were just too cold! The children were able to run, play, and get lots of energy out in the gym! The classroom book nook was a very popular spot this week. It provided that cozy feeling of “snuggled up with a good book.”  Our classroom books are rotated out frequently, often following the holidays or a season, giving the children more exposure to the world around them. I love the, “I am” books for children, the simple books give us insight to a variety of humans who have changed our world.  The book I Am Brave gave a little glimpse into Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s life and legacy, and most of all, his bravery.

Our weekly baking was making a loaf of banana bread with extra shredded carrots! The children absolutely love to bake each week, its a time where we come together both to mix, bake and to share food at the table with one another, most importantly its giving us connection. Once the weather gave us some better temperatures, we could finally go outside and play in the snow! Our walk to the field gave us the opportunity to enjoy, as one child said, “all the blue colors” and a variety of different birds. The children were so happy to play outside in the snow. I was able to pull them in the sled, and the pure joy and giggles were infectious!

With Full Hearts,

Ms. Mollie, Ms.Lizette and Ms. Anabelle

Performing Arts

Posted on by mkirk

December was an extremely exciting month in performing arts!  Students put in so much hard work rehearsing for their Winter Concert! The show was a smashing success!! It was so wonderful to see the joy on the students’ faces while they were sharing the gift of music with their friends and families. I could not be more proud of each and every student! Bravo to all!

In primary classes, students continue to develop their musical ears.  We have been doing a lot of call-and-response singing! This really helps students to hear different intervals and rhythms.  Primary students have also been composing short four-beat rhythms using popsicle sticks for our eighth and quarter notes. Students also really enjoyed our acting game, “This is the sound,” where after a call and response from the teacher, they had to “wake up” in an imaginary place and show what it would look like if we were really there.  We have “traveled” to Alaska, the moon, under the sea, and many more places using our imaginations!

In Lower Elementary, students created their own short plays! Students were given the title “The Day the Music Stopped!” and they had to create their own characters and short scripts. All of the students were so creative and had so much fun with this project! Lower Elementary students continue to develop into young musicians as well.  They are doing a wonderful job with their rhythms and ear training.  Using the scale with solfège, students are able to hear and echo many different intervals and melodic patterns.

Upper Elementary students are also doing an excellent job in performing arts class!  They have been working on a readers’ theater project called “The Case of the Big Bad Wolf.” Students are working on their character acting, vocal projection, and diction with this project! Upper El has also been working hard on their music theory skills.  Using the music we are working on in class, students are becoming great rhythm and note readers! Upper El also continues to work on their vocal techniques such as breath support, vocal placement, and how to know when to use their head voice or chest voice for certain notes.

In Middle School, students are continuing to grow as amazing musicians and performers! In music theory, students are becoming more comfortable recognizing the notes on the staff as well as following a melodic line with their voices. I am also very proud of all of the progress students in middle school have made with their vocal techniques.  They are all using all of the tools we have learned in class to sing with a strong and healthy voice. Another project we completed in our drama portion of the class was writing and performing short commercials for made-up items.  We had the talking calculator, shapeshifter, unbreakable water bottle, and many more! Students had to come up with a catchy commercial that would sell these items.  They were hilarious! They have also been very excited to work on their student-written play! It is amazing to see how creative all of these students are! I am so excited for the immersion weeks that are right around the corner!

Mrs. Hood: Highlights of our week!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

This week brought a special milestone as we celebrated the first third birthday of one of our students in the classroom! It was a joyful occasion marked with smiles, singing, and a sense of togetherness.

We also introduced a beloved new addition to our classroom: a baby doll named Simba. One of the children came up with the name, and the rest of the class eagerly agreed, demonstrating wonderful teamwork and cooperation. Simba has quickly become a favorite, offering the children an opportunity to practice nurturing behaviors like feeding, reading, singing, and cuddling. These sweet interactions allow the children to develop empathy, patience, and social-emotional skills while learning the importance of caring for others.

In the art area, the children explored a new challenge: using scissors. This activity requires focus and fine motor skills, and it has been rewarding to watch their confidence grow as they successfully cut strips of card stock. This is a wonderful step toward developing hand strength and coordination for future skills like writing and crafting.

Our food-tasting adventure this week featured avocado. While some children were hesitant at first, many discovered they enjoyed its flavor!

To end the week, we enjoyed a fun group sensory experience: painting with ice! The children were fascinated by the cold texture of the ice and delighted in using it to create colorful, freeform art.

As always, our story time has been filled with laughter and engagement, with some of our favorite books this week including The Itsy Bitsy Snowman by Jeffrey Burton, Winter is Here by Kevin Henkes, What Can You See in Winter? by Sian Smith, and the class’s most popular pick: Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin, within others.

We’re so proud of the growth and enthusiasm your children bring to our classroom every day, and we look forward to more meaningful experiences together next week!

Have a great long weekend,

Mrs. Hood and Ms. Patty

Middle School: Week in Review

Posted on by Michelle Lamb

What a week! Middle School held their annual Math Carnival on Friday for families and students and finished writing the 2025 Middle School Play, Set in Stone.

Announcements:

  • Tuesday, 1/21- Thursday, 1/30: Middle School Immersion –*Additional information below*
  • Thursday, 1/30: Middle School Play at 7 pm in the Gym
  • Tuesday, 2/4: MS Field Trip to the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT. Students will leave school at 9:30 am and return by 1:30 pm.

Math

This week in Middle School math, students engaged in an exciting blend of critical thinking, creativity, and hands-on learning. After designing and refining their own Math Carnival games, they took the opportunity to test each other’s creations. They collected data to calculate experimental probabilities and analyze the results. The experience provided a valuable hands-on application of math concepts, allowing students to connect theory with practice in a fun and interactive way.

The week ended with the 5th Annual Math Carnival, a lively event where students showcased their hard work and math skills. It was an afternoon of friendly competition, laughter, and learning as Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary students played the carnival games.

A heartfelt thank you to all who attended and supported our Middle School math students. Your presence helped make the event successful and created lasting memories for everyone!

Humanities

Students completed week two of playwriting. Their original script, Set in Stone, is ready for final editing and will be finalized for the start of Immersion Week 1 on Tuesday.

Immersion Weeks involve turning the script that students created over the last two weeks into a full production. This includes creating the set and props with Ms. Reid and Mr. Frisk, working with Mrs. Kirk to block the scenes, memorizing lines, learning how to run the tech for the show, and moving the set and props on and off the stage as needed for each scene of the show. During the first week, students will be blocking the show until lunch and then continue with classes in the afternoon. During the second week, rehearsals will run the full day leading up to a performance for students on Wednesday, 1/29, during school and a final evening performance on Thursday, 1/30, at 7 pm.

*Be on the look-out for additional communication about the show in the coming week.*

Science

6th grade:
This week in science, students learned how to find the epicenter of an earthquake using data from three seismic stations. Students learned how to interpret seismograms in order to calculate the distance between P-waves and S-waves and how to use that knowledge to calculate the distance of an earthquake event from a seismic station. Once students knew the distance of an earthquake from each station, they were able to use triangulation in order to locate the epicenter of an earthquake event.  Students enjoyed acting as scientists and appreciated the real-world application of our work.  This will complete this unit.  Once students return to science class from immersion week for the play, they will begin a new unit on Earth’s Systems.
7th grade:
This week marked the class’ introduction to atomic structure and the periodic table.  Students learned the basic components of an atom – protons, neutrons, and electrons.  They talked about how the number of protons, or the atomic number, of an element determines its identity. Students learned how to find the number of electrons in each atom and also how to find the number of neutrons.  The class finished the week by touching on ions and isotopes.  Students will continue this topic after the play.
8th grade:
Students worked hard this week learning about the cell cycle and cell division as well as the role it plays in every living organism. The class touched on the difference between asexual and sexual reproduction and dove into a deep study of asexual reproduction. Students learned how cell division occurs, complete with the steps of the cell cycle, including interphase, mitosis, and cytokinesis.  The class also learned what chromosomes are and how they divide during mitosis.  This brought up many questions about cancer and genetics, which were worked through in class.  When the class returns from immersion weeks, they will return their attention to cell division, but the focus will be on sexual reproduction and meiosis.

Mrs. Lopes: A Look at Our Week

Posted on by Amanda Lopes


Children display a universal love of mathematics, which is par excellence the science of precision, order, and intelligence.”~ Dr. Maria Montessori

The Montessori math materials are visual and hands-on manipulatives, aiding in the ability of a child to understand mathematical concepts concretely. After many repetitions and when the child is ready, we introduce the more complex and abstract concepts. We teach the process first because the goal is to develop a true understanding of mathematical concepts and not simply memorization. The materials are sequenced in a way that each success a child experiences is a building block for the next concept to be introduced.

Maria Montessori believed that all children have a mathematical mind and an internal drive to understand the environment around them. We know that the Montessori math materials are exact and precise and allow the child to have positive experiences in math right from the beginning. We also know that the Practical Life activities have helped the child to develop order, concentration, coordination, and independence. Likewise, the Sensorial materials have allowed the children to recognize and extend patterns. Here’s the real secret behind the success of the Montessori math materials: the children truly enjoy them.

Hope your week adds up to one filled with peace and love.

Amanda & Hema