This weeks lessons have been out of this world. We continue to explore the mysteries of the solar system and have become quite knowledgeable on the characteristics and key information of the first three planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus and Earth. Did you know that you can not sing on Mercury or fly a kite on Venus? Ask your children why.

This Thursday a presenter from The Discovery Center Of Bridgeport came to present the program, “I Want To Be An Astronaut.”  Among the numerous areas of interest he shared, the children really enjoyed learning how astronauts live and work in space and how rockets launch astronauts and their cargo into space. The morning ended with a mini rocket launch! It was a successful mission.

We appreciate the children arriving on time to school.   Just a gentle reminder that arriving on time allows the children to peacefully enter the classroom and  smoothly transition  from home to school.  Morning arrival for the lower school children is from 8:30-8:45.  Our morning meeting begins at 9:00.

Take some time this week to star gaze!

 

This week we enjoyed a visit from a dental hygienist.  She explained why a dentist wears a mask and gloves when caring for our teeth. We learned the importance of keeping our teeth and gums clean and healthy.  Your children were excited to take home a tooth care kit. What a great opportunity to spend time with your child while reinforcing the importance of self care. Ask your child to share what sugar bugs are and how to take care of them.

It was very eye opening to see how many teaspoons of sugar there are in some of our favorite foods

Just a few gentle reminders as we enter into the Winter season.

–Now is a great time to check your child’s locker and make sure their extra change of clothes is weather appropriate.   

–We do go outside most days so dress accordingly to the weather; hats, gloves, warm coats etc.

–Some of the children are bringing home book bags with books they are reading at school. Please return these bags the following school day.

–Kindergarten children have been working hard each week on a different class book.  They go home in a canvas FWM bag.  Don’t forget to add a comment on the back of the book and return them the next day.  This way each child gets a chance to share the book with their family.

–Thank you so much for all of your help with cleaning the linens each week.  Please remember to return them on the next school day, with a bouquet of fresh flowers.  For those children who only come to school on Tuesday-Thursday, we understand this isn’t possible so just bring the flowers and linens in with you on Tuesday morning.

We are thankful for the gift of your children each and every day. Hope

 

 

 

 

 

We are beginning our study of Antarctica and the Arctic region.  First, we located the Arctic area on the globe known as the North Pole.  The Arctic is frozen water surrounded by snowy land.   There are many animals that live in the arctic and we learned fun facts about some of them.  Did you know that a polar bears skin is actually black?  Their white fur allows the sun to shine through and their black skin can then absorb the warmth.  We also learned about the Caribou, the Arctic Fox, the Snowy Owl, Narwhals and Harp Seals.

Antarctica is found on the bottom of the Earth and is also called the South Pole.  Antarctica is frozen land surrounded by frigid water.  The temperature in the winter months are too cold for most animals and only the Emperor Penguin lives in Antarctica year round. Other animals that will spend some time in the South Pole are the Macaroni Penguin, the Weddell Seal and Orca Whales.

Learning about all of the amazing animals is a wonderful time to dive further into our study of Zoology.  This week we also drew on the children’s previous lessons with  categorizing living and non living things, plants and animals.  We introduced that all animals can be classified as either vertebrates or invertebrates. One of the more difficult concepts to grasp is that most common animals we see are vertebrates but there are actually more invertebrates living on our planet.

The best part of all these Geography and Science lessons is how much the children enjoy them.

 

 

 

 

The anticipation of the upcoming Holidays can be felt in our classroom as the children are busily creating gifts for their families and have begun rehearsing for our Holiday Concert on December 19th.  We hope you can join us for this special performance!

Amidst all of the excitement, it is a joy to see the children still so hard at work and focusing so intently on new lessons.  This week’s pictures are just a sample of all of the amazing learning that has been taking place.

The Montessori environment is carefully prepared to offer children of mixed ages various materials that are appropriate for their sensitive periods of learning.  Teachers are present to provide guidance and instruction, but learning is primarily student-driven.  Children choose the materials that interest them and decide how long they will work with them.  This environment fosters a positive sense of self-esteem, independence and an inherent love of learning, as the children achieve mastery of various concepts at their own pace.  Children learn best when they are allowed to discover and pursue the things they are interested in.

Gentle Reminder:

Should your child bring home wet or soiled clothing, please replace these items as soon possible to ensure that your child will always have clean, spare clothing.  Thank you!

We hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving break!  The children were excited to share with us where they spent the holiday and the fun things they did.

Our class has had a very busy and eventful few weeks.  We enjoyed a visit from Rhiannan’s dog, Po!  Thank you to the Mendite family for sharing her with us.  Two dental hygienists from Dental Associates in Newtown also paid us a visit this week.  They explained why a dentist wears a mask and gloves when caring for our teeth. We learned the importance of keeping our teeth and gums clean and healthy.  Your children were excited to take home a tooth care kit. What a great opportunity to spend time with your child while reinforcing the importance of self-care.  Ask your child to share what sugar bugs are and how to take care of them.  It was very eye-opening to see how many teaspoons of sugar there are in some of our favorite foods!

The highlight of our week was participating in the Bridgeport Discovery Museum’s “I Want to Be an Astronaut” Program.  The children learned about the type of suits astronauts wear, gravity and even witnessed the “take-off” of a homemade rocket.  Friends enjoyed coloring their own rockets as well.

The study of magnetism and the categorization of objects based on whether they are magnetic or non-magnetic has been a big hit this past week.  Through the use of various materials, children are discovering what makes a material magnetic and are learning about magnetic fields.  The concepts of repelling and attracting have also been discussed.  It’s been great fun walking through the room with our large magnet and predicting what it might stick to!

Just a few gentle reminders as we enter into the Winter season:

–Now is a great time to check your child’s locker and make sure their extra change of clothes is weather appropriate.   

–We do go outside most days so dress accordingly for the weather; hats, gloves, warm coats, etc.

–Some of the children are bringing home book bags with books they are reading at school. Please return these bags the following school day.

–Kindergarten children have been working hard each week on a different class book.  They go home in a canvas FWM bag.  Don’t forget to add a comment on the back of the book and return them the next day.  This way each child gets a chance to share the book with their family.

–Thank you so much for all of your help with cleaning the linens each week.  Please remember to return them on the next school day, with a bouquet of fresh flowers.  For those children who only come to school on Tuesday-Thursday, we understand this isn’t possible.  Please bring the flowers and linens in with you on Tuesday morning.  Thank you!

 

This week we enjoyed a visit from a dental hygienist.  She explained why a dentist wears a mask and gloves when caring for our teeth. We learned the importance of keeping our teeth and gums clean and healthy.  Your children were excited to take home a tooth care kit. What a great opportunity to spend time with your child while reinforcing the importance of self care. Ask your child to share what sugar bugs are and how to take care of them.  It was very eye opening to see how many teaspoons of sugar there are in some of our favorite foods.

Just a few gentle reminders as we enter into the Winter season.

–Now is a great time to check your child’s locker and make sure their extra change of clothes is weather appropriate.

–We do go outside most days so dress accordingly to the weather; hats, gloves, warm coats etc.

–Some of the children are bringing home book bags with books they are reading at school. Please return these bags the following school day.

–Kindergarten children have been working hard each week on a different class book.  They go home in a canvas FWM bag.  Don’t forget to add a comment on the back of the book and return them the next day.  This way each child gets a chance to share the book with their family.

–Thank you so much for all of your help with cleaning the linens each week.  Please remember to return them on the next school day, with a bouquet of fresh flowers.  For those children who only come to school on Tuesday-Thursday, we understand this isn’t possible so just bring the flowers and linens in with you on Tuesday morning.

Enjoy your week!

Thank you for joining us on Parent-Child Night. The children were very excited to share their classroom and accomplishments with Mom and Dad.  We hope you enjoyed this peek into your child’s day!  It is always a pleasure to see how much the children have learned and enjoy demonstrating their new skills.

The upcoming Thanksgiving holiday has given us the opportunity to discuss what it means to be thankful as well as the various things we are all grateful for.  Friends enjoyed sharing on Circle what they appreciate in their lives.  Some responses included: family, food, pets, toys, school and the opportunity to be together with friends and teachers every day!

We discussed the concept of breaking bread with others and how we will bake two loaves of bread to share with our FWM community next week at the Thanksgiving Ceremony.  The children have decided to make chocolate chip banana bread this year.  We are looking forward to baking and enjoying our creation!

We appreciate the children arriving on time to school.   Just a gentle reminder that arriving on time  allows the children to peacefully enter the classroom and  smoothly transition  from home to school.  Morning arrival for the lower school children is from 8:30-8:45.  Our morning meeting begins at 9:00.  Thank you!