Blog

Ms. Marissa: Head, Thorax, Abdomen, Abdomen!

Posted on by Marissa Frisk

We are closing our Bird study and beginning our study of butterflies and honey bees! To kick off this next month, we welcomed five tiny caterpillars to our classroom. It is so exciting to observe each step of the fascinating life cycle of the painted lady butterfly. Right now, our caterpillars are busy eating, spinning silk, and growing bigger every day. During this incredible period of growth, they will shed their exoskeletons four times and grow more than ten times their original size! When they have finished growing, the caterpillars will climb to the top of the cup. Once there, they will hang from the paper disk in a “j” shape under the lid. Finally, they will shed their exoskeletons one last time before they pupate and form a chrysalis.

On Wednesday, a classmate shared the wonderful traditions of celebrating the New Year in Sri Lanka during the month of April. He showed us his special outfit, shared homemade Sri Lankan snacks, and gave each child a keychain representing Sri Lanka. Thank you so much to his family for sharing a little piece of their culture with us!

Wishing you a week filled with peace and love!

Marissa & Sue

Grandparents and Special Friends Day in Lower El!

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

“Of all things, love is the most potent.”
― Maria Montessori

In the bustling room of Lower Elementary, there are few occasions as heartwarming and joyful as Grandparents Day. On this special day, the classroom came alive with the laughter and chatter of children excitedly showing off their beloved grandparents and special friends. It’s a celebration of family, love, and the cherished bond between generations. The children enthusiastically showcased their work to their guests, filling the room with delightful energy and beaming smiles. Witnessing the children actively engaging with those who hold such a special place in their hearts was truly heartwarming. Grandparents’ Day is undoubtedly an event cherished by all!

Mrs. Sargeant: A Peek at the Week

Posted on by Christine Sargeant

The highlight of the week was Grandparents and Special Friends Day. We saw true joy on the children’s faces as they showed their loved ones around the classroom. Thank you all for coming and taking an interest and spending some special time with your beloved toddlers. 

We also celebrated a friend’s birthday this week. This birthday was a little different, as he was the first to turn three years old! We enjoyed doughnut holes as we listened to Happy Birthday by the Ting Tings and read a book about a dinosaur who played baseball. The children’s favorite part of celebrating their friends’ birthdays is to look at their baby photos. It is truly heartwarming to see them take such an interest.

In celebration of Earth Day this week,  we delved into discussions about our precious planet and the importance of taking care of it. We emphasized the significance of properly disposing of trash in either the garbage or recycling bins. The children had the opportunity to paint Earth using blue and green paint, which represented water and land. 

We’ve been exploring fascinating African wildlife, including zebras, giraffes, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, elephants, and more. Our learning journey has involved reading books, visual matching activities, puzzles, and, of course, vocabulary enrichment. 

We tasted both black and green olives this week. A handful of the children could not get enough of the green ones; a few seemed to like the black, and another group did not appear to be fond of either type. There are hundreds of different types of olives, so we encouraged the children to try others at home. We discussed olive oil, as the connection was brought up by one of the children. 

Enjoy the weekend! Christine & Lizette

This Week in Upper El

Posted on by Karen Sankey

After a week of spending our mornings taking standardized tests, we enjoyed spending Friday welcoming grandparents and special friends to our classroom. Upper El students enthusiastically prepared, laying out activities they wanted to do with their guests. They shared their work with joy and pride, demonstrating how they used the materials to complete their lessons. During the week, we also enjoyed baking banana bread and celebrating Olive’s birthday!

Mrs. Doyle: Head, Thorax, Abdomen, Abdomen!

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

We are hard at work becoming entomologists. This is always a favorite unit of study for the children. An entomologist is a scientist who studies insects. We began our unit by discussing what we already know about insects, what they are, and what they can do. We discovered that insects are slimy, little, gross, soft, and hard. Insects can crawl, sting, bite, eat, fly, walk upside down, and jump. We learned that insects lay eggs and have antennae and three main body parts: a head, thorax and abdomen, eyes, and six legs. Insects are also cold-blooded, have an exoskeleton, and many have wings. Finally, we found out why a spider is not an insect. Ask your child to see if they know why.

We also welcomed five tiny caterpillars to our classroom. It is so exciting to observe each step of the fascinating life cycle of the painted lady butterfly. Right now, our caterpillars are busy eating, spinning silk, and growing bigger every day. During this incredible period of growth, they will shed their exoskeletons four times and grow more than ten times their original size! When they have finished growing, the caterpillars will climb to the top of the cup. Once there, they will hang from the paper disk in a “j” shape under the lid. Finally, they will shed their exoskeletons one last time before they pupate and form a chrysalis.

Wishing you a week filled with peace and love!

Michelle & Maria

Mrs. Hood: Band time!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

Maria Montessori used the scientific method to study children’s natural learning processes. She found that the child absorbs the culture they are in effortlessly and without fatigue between the ages of birth – six. Whatever the child is exposed to is internalized by the child and accepted into the child’s own being, imprinted on their soul. If a child is surrounded by music, the child will be a musical person. If a child hears their parents singing, the child will sing. If a child sees their parents dancing, the child will dance.

She called this the child’s “Absorbent Mind.”

In our environment, children are exposed to meaningful music experiences every day. Whole-body movement songs, singing, finger-plays, and instrument times are always part of our morning routine. There is a shelf exclusively for musical instruments, and these get rotated during the year so children learn the names of the instruments they are playing, and they learn how to play them properly. One main part of our group music lessons includes grace and courtesy. Through this, the children learn to recognize the importance of being polite and waiting until everybody gets their instrument before selecting a song and grabbing their instrument to play! This is a great exercise, especially for toddlers who tend to be so impulsive, but we are happy to report they all are so capable at this!  Children are directed to recognize hand gestures for tempo, dynamics, and their favorite: the closing of the song. They all love to hold their fists up and watch how everybody’s instrument stops at the same time! Their smiles say it all! We call this our “band time.”

As always, we had fun exploring food, and this week, we enjoyed some delicious avocados! We also spent meaningful time outdoors enjoying this beautiful spring weather, from feeling the soft breeze and warmth of sunny days to having a blast and getting soaked while jumping in puddles under the soft rain!

Lastly, children explored the color orange this week by mixing yellow and red paint in the easel, playing games around the classroom to look for orange objects, and talking about the different orange objects they chose to bring for Sharing Time! We had great fun!

Enjoy the  weekend,

Mrs. Andrea and Ms. Mollie

Exploring Magnetism in Lower Elementary

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

The past week, Lower Elementary students entered into the world of magnetism! Here’s a glimpse into some activities we delved into:

Magnetic Hunt in the Classroom: We kicked off our exploration by conducting a “magnetic hunt” right in our own classroom. Armed with a magnet of their own, each child eagerly touched the magnet to various objects, carefully observing whether they were attracted or not. The excitement was palpable as they discovered that magnets have a special affinity for objects made of iron, steel, cobalt, and nickel. With each finding, they diligently recorded their observations, honing their observation skills in the process.

Salt and Iron Fillings Experiment: Next up was a hands-on experiment that everyone was eager to take off the shelf! In a non-metallic bowl, we mixed salt with iron fillings, creating an intriguing concoction. Wrapping a magnet in a cotton cloth, we held it just above the mixture, demonstrating how the magnet could attract the iron fillings even through the barrier of cloth. The children were fascinated as they witnessed the invisible force of magnetism at work, effortlessly separating the iron fillings from the salt with the help of the cloth.

It was wonderful connecting with all of you during the parent-teacher conferences! I truly enjoyed the opportunity to discuss each child’s growth and the unique contributions they bring to our classroom.

Positive Discipline in the Montessori Classroom and at Home

Posted on by Gina Tryforos

Our parent education events for the school year are coming to a close.

We have one more on the topic of Family Meetings, scheduled for Thursday, May 23, at 8:30 after drop-off.

We hope the impact of our shared learning and collaboration empowered you with effective communication and discipline strategies, nurturing healthy and more harmonious relationships within the family as we have seen Positive Discipline’s impact in our classrooms. 

Positive Discipline’s focus on mutual respect, encouragement, effective communication, and fostering independence makes it a great fit for both home and our Montessori school classrooms.

Some of the big takeaways from our Parent Education talks this year include:

Mistaken Goals of Children’s Behavior: 

We talked about why children do things that might seem wrong, like trying to get too much attention, too much power, or getting back at someone. We learned that it’s because they have feelings and needs that aren’t being met or they’re feeling upset about something, not because they’re being “naughty” on purpose. We learned how to figure out what’s really going on and how to respond kindly instead of punitively.

Reflective Listening: 

We learned how important it is to really listen and understand our children. We talked about “reflective listening,” where we repeat back what our children say to show them we hear them and care about their feelings. We also learned some tips for being better listeners, like making eye contact and not interrupting.

Non-verbal Cues: 

We learned how our body language, like how we stand or move our hands, can say a lot to our children. We also talked about how a child’s body language can tell us how they’re feeling, even if they don’t say anything. We learned how to pay attention to these signals and how to respond to them.

Karen and I are looking forward to seeing you in May and sharing what we learned about Family Meetings!