The children have been working SO hard the past few weeks in preparation for the holiday concert. Many had pre concert nerves and jitters but once they got up there, everybody performed liked the stars they are. It was so nice to see so many of your faces in the crowd cheering on your kiddos!

Thank to all the parents that contributed to our holiday party, we couldn’t have done it without you. The kids had a blast.

Mary and I wish you all a healthy and happy holiday break! Enjoy this special time with your kiddos. See you in 2023!

This year Lower Elementary students are learning about the Composition of the Earth. This physical geography unit follows the Sun and Earth study that we explored last year, and provides the children with a more intensive study of the planet. The goal is to provide an impressionistic understanding of the Earth’s composition and formation.

This week we explored the layers of the earth: inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust. Each child made a sphere out of clay in art class and cut it in half. After the clay dried, the children had a chance to paint the layers of the earth on their own model. Shout out to Mrs. Reid for collaborating with us!

In preparation for our holiday concert on December 15th, Lower Elementary has joined Upper Elementary each morning to practice our songs! We have been thrilled to spend the extra time with our older friends!

The children are wrapping up their Writer’s Workshop unit on Personal Narratives. Each child had the chance to share his/her writing with the class and most of the children proudly read their stories aloud, showing their illustrations to their friends and teachers. They are very enthusiastic about their writing and often don’t want to stop when it is time to move on to another activity. It is so wonderful to see their enthusiasm blossoming and their growth since September!

As winter approaches, please make sure your child has the proper clothing for our outside play: warm coat, snow pants, hat, mittens or gloves, and boots. Thank you!!

We had an amazing trip to the Eli Whitney Museum on Thursday! We learned about different cultures, studied people and where they live. The children constructed simplified model houses to consider the climates, resources, materials and traditions that define culture. The student’s built two different types of houses; Brazilian stilt houses and pueblo houses. Thank you Tameria Macari, Greg Lewis and Mik Sulkowski for joining us!

First, second, and third grade students are currently learning about physical geography. Third graders are learning to identify several parts of a mountain. Second grade students are building on their lessons from last year by learning about advanced land and water forms; most recently strait, canal and channel. First graders are learning about inverted land and water forms. Last week they learned about lakes and islands, and this week they’re studying isthmus and straits. They make the forms using clay and water.

In addition, we were very excited to attend a Diwali presentation hosted by staff members and parents of the community. Diwali was celebrated on October 24th,  but we felt fortunate to celebrate it with our Fraser Woods friends as a community in school on Tuesday.  Diwali is an important religious and cultural festival, celebrated by Hindus in Asia.  Diwali, or Deepawali, is India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year. This signifies the victory of good over evil.  Diwali or Deepawali means row of lights in India. People decorate their houses with beautiful Diyas, lights, delicious food and make Rangoli designs to observe the festival. People buy new clothes for their friends and families. Lower Elementary engaged in dancing, craft making and even enjoyed some delicious foods!

Halloween was a fun filled day! We started our morning by joining Upper Elementary and Middle School friends on a parade around the field while the younger students watched and waved. We then celebrated by painting pumpkins in the classroom and coloring and tracing Halloween sketches! Later in the afternoon, we had a class party and enjoyed delicious treats! (Thank you to the parents who brought snacks in.) Mrs. Dufour helped out with a snack/craft activity, making Oreo spiders! The children were overjoyed with the festivities all day long.

Last week we started the study of life. Animals are more familiar to children than plants, and vertebrates are the most familiar animals. Throughout the year, first and second grade children will study five classes of vertebrate animals and third grade children will study five classes of plants in evolutionary order. We will learn about fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals as well as seaweed, moss, ferns, pine trees, and flowering plants.

First year students learned about the external parts of fish. We started with a little in-school field trip to the Middle School science room  last week to observe Mr. Brown’s fish. Mr. Brown facilitated a discussion about the external parts of the fish. This week the children were introduced to classroom materials of fish.

Second year students also took a trip to the science room to learn about the body functions of fish last week. Mr. Brown reviewed the external parts of fish and then the children talked about what goes on internally. This week the children were introduced to classroom materials of fish.

Third year students learned about the external parts and body functions of seaweed. They were introduced to the classroom material and were thrilled to be studying botany this year! Thankfully, a classmate went to the beach and brought some samples in for us to observe closely under a microscope in Mr. Brown’s lab!

This week we started preparing for our Creation Story with some science demonstrations. The purpose of these demonstrations is to illustrate concepts explored through the story of the creation of the universe. The Creation Story provides an impressionistic demonstration of the origins of life. The story is designed to impart a sense of wonder and awe, to instill respect for all that has happened, and to ignite interest in scientific investigation.

We are continuing to settle into our classroom routines and have new lessons. First year students completed their lessons on the geometric solids and enjoy playing a “hide-and-seek” game with the geometry shapes. The second years are using the box of sticks to make three different types of angles; whole, straight, and right angles. Lastly, the third graders enjoyed learning how to multiply angles on the Montessori protractor.

On Thursday we had a visit from the Botsford Fire Department. We learned about fire safety and prevention, how smoke moves through a house, and about all of the equipment on a fire truck!

The children have been immersed in geography. The first grade group had a lesson on the puzzle maps, where they learn the continents. In a Lower Elementary classroom, puzzle maps are first used as a sensorial material, but then are used repeatedly as a resource for research of continents, countries and their capitals. The second grade group learned about the pin maps. This is an extension of the puzzle maps, but is more abstract. The children are using this material to identify countries. The aim of this material is to enhance memorization of geographical features. Last but not least, the third graders began brainstorming the country they want to independently research this semester! They also started the study of each countries capitals using the pin maps.

In addition, the children received a lesson called the Cosmic Nesting Boxes. These are 10 wooden boxes that demonstrate the concept of each space contained within a larger space. These nested boxes guide the child in concrete steps from the macro, the Milky Way Galaxy, all the way through to the micro, the energy within them, to help develop the child’s sense of place in the Universe.

Our Cosmic Nesting Boxes are personalized to our state, city, and school. Here is the progression:

• Milky Way Galaxy
• Solar System
• Earth
• Continent of North America
• Country of the United States
• State of Connecticut
• City of Newtown
• Fraser Woods Montessori School
• The Child
• The Energy within the Child