Mrs. Carroll’s Class: Our Little Place on Earth

Posted on by Cindy Carroll

Montessori geography lessons and materials are a beautiful part of the classroom. Your children have been intrigued with our introduction to the Montessori globes. We have spent the first few weeks of school exploring the smooth blue areas called water/oceans and the rough areas, land/continents. This week we have named the oceans and continents using the political globe, which uses color to identify each, more clearly. We will continue our study of geography, showing how continents on a globe can be represented on a flat map, and our journey begins.

Geography is a wonderful way of sparking a child’s imagination.  It is an opportunity for cross disciplinary learning, for making art and practicing fine motor skills. Geography helps children place themselves on Earth, fostering care for the rivers, forests, oceans, and people. It creates the foundation for recognizing the needs that all people share while appreciating the diversity of how different cultures satisfy those needs.

Until next week…

Ms. Sharlene & Mrs. Carroll

Mrs. Carroll’s Class: Let The Journey Begin!

Posted on by Cindy Carroll

The beginning of school is a time of excitement, yet with that comes anxiety and nervousness for many children. Planning, patience, and nurturing ensures that each child starts the year feeling loved, respected and safe.  Respect and courtesy in our Montessori school is the foundation for everything we do and each child has already begun to learn the following important skills:

  • how to put their work away where they found it
  • how to tidy up after themselves
  • the importance of helping a friend in need
  • the importance of respecting the materials, the teachers and each other
  • how to tuck in their chair when they leave the table
  • how to walk in the classroom
  • how to be self directed and find their own ‘work’ and most importantly,
  • how to be independent!

         ( NAMC, 2010)

We are thrilled to be starting the new school year with your children and look forward to nurturing their independence, respect, and courtesy.

Let the Montessori journey begin!

Mrs. Carroll and Ms. Sharlene

Ms. Kayser’s Class: Welcome Back!

Posted on by skayser

The beginning of the school year has been a whirlwind of excitement! The first full week of school is almost over and the children are on their way to getting acclimated to our new classroom and routines. Our kindergarten group this year has been such an asset to our class by mentoring and guiding the younger and new students through this transition period. A strong, harmonious community has already begun to develop within our room and it is a beautiful thing to witness everyday.

Although there have been a lot of new things to get used to for the children, it has not stopped them from exploring the classroom and trying new lessons! Both our new and returning children have immersed themselves into all areas of our classroom, enthusiastically reaching out to learn more and more each day.

Ms. Alli and I are both so thrilled to have such an incredible group of children with us this year and look forward to all the new adventures we will be sharing together!

Ms. Kayser and Ms. Alli

Mrs. Doyle’s Class: Focusing On The Process Not The Product

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

“We have to remember as adults, that we want things done, and as quickly as possible, so that they are finished and out of the way; whereas the child is interested and content in the doing, not the done.” –Margaret Stephenson The Art of Montessori in the Home

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

Research shows that children from 3-6 learn best through their hands. In order to truly understand a concept they need to explore it through touch.  It is why so many of the lessons found in the Montessori environment are not based on memorization alone. Most concepts we are trying to 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. It is not influenced by external factors such as recognition, praise, or reward. The time and experience with the materials is what we truly value and encourage.

Warmly,

Mrs. Doyle & Mrs. Lyga

Mrs. Santayana´s Class: From seeds to Trees

Posted on by Rhodora Santayana

 

One tree, two tree, alder tree, aspen tree, hazel tree, willow tree, old tree, new tree. Trees go well with Dr. Seuss´ rhymes.

We learned about trees and plants. Plants do a lot for us. Plants give us most of the food we eat. Fruits, vegetables, and even things like bread come from plants. Bread is made from wheat plants. Something else we get from plants is wood. Wood is from trees. Most of our clothes are made from cotton plants. So plants are very important to us. We talked more about things we get from plants.

Mrs. Doyle’s Class: Fun On the Farm

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

 

Today our class spent the morning at Sticks and Stones Farm in Newtown, CT.  We are grateful the weather cooperated.  Our journey began with a brief introduction to the farm from our guide Jim.  The farm at Sticks and Stones is comprised of many natural treasures such as moss gardens, cedar forests, beaver dams, ponds, and wooded trails. We explored them all.  One unexpected treasure that we were pleasantly surprised to come across was a bus full of llamas!  The llamas are brought to the farm each week to walk the trails with guests.  Each child had a chance to go on the bus and see the llamas up close.  It was a peaceful way to spend our morning together, exploring nature.

On Monday, June 4th, we will be having a lock down drill in the morning. As always, we speak to the children beforehand, explaining in simple terms what to expect.

Mrs. Carroll’s Class: Take a Hike!

Posted on by Cindy Carroll

 

Today our class spent the morning at Sticks and Stones Farm in Newtown, CT.  We are grateful the weather cooperated.  Our journey began with a brief introduction to the farm from our guide Jim.  The farm at Sticks and Stones is comprised of many natural treasures such as moss gardens, cedar forests, beaver dams, ponds, and wooded trails. We explored them all.  One unexpected treasure that we were pleasantly surprised to come across was a bus full of llamas!  The llamas are brought to the farm each week to walk the trails with guests.  Each child had a chance to go on the bus and see the llamas up close.  It was a peaceful way to spend our morning together, exploring nature.

On Monday, June 4th, we will be having a lock down drill in the morning. As always, we speak to the children beforehand, explaining in simple terms what to expect.

Enjoy your week!

Cindy & Samantha

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Design Thinking comes to Kindergarten

Posted on by Danielle Ulacco

Our Extended Day students have “officially” jumped head first into our 3D printing realm! They created amazing and original designs for their end of year project.

Collaboration is a beautiful thing. To complete this co-curricular project we had several Middle School Techsperts assist throughout our kindergarten MakerSpace class.

When Extended day students arrived, they were given an overview of how to use Morphi: Our resident 3D printing application in the MakerSpace. Once the tech was understood and questions were answered, we moved to our mobile whiteboard tables that were set up and ready forour kindergarten makers. At each seat you would notice their name, their animal, an iPad, and a marker to start drawing their 2D animal. Middle Schoolers assisted by pulling up photos of their animals on our iPads to serve as a reference. They took their time in drawing, critiquing, requesting feedback, and then finally asking for approval from one of the Techsperts.

Once their rough draft was approved, they were given a stylus and proceeded to recreate their draft on Morphi’s application. Upon completion, they used the “type” feature to add their name and the name of their animal. The beauty of our technology that we chose to implement in the MakerSpace is that everything works seamlessly. With a tap of a few buttons, all files were Airdropped to one of our MacBook Pro’s where I would later slice and send the files to the 3D printers in our MakerSpace.

Our school functions entirely on community and collaboration, and this project is a perfect mirror image of who we want to be. Thank you to Mrs. Doyle for inviting me to be a part of this project. Thank you to my Middle School students for their guidance and tech-knowledge. And a big thank you to my Extended Day students for their hard work and eagerness to learn new things.

Here in the MakerSpace, it’s ALL possible.