Mrs. Semmah: Ocean Theme

Posted on by Kaoutar Semmah

Summer is almost here. This is our favorite time of the year. One way to start the season off is to talk about the ocean theme and care for the environment. Soon we can start heading to the beach and the children always have been fascinated with sea creatures, shells, and of course, playing in the sand.

At our nature table, we include a natural large shell and a magnifier for the children to explore its details. This is also an important sensory experience for the children to hold, touch, and feel the shell in their hands. Our water sensory table looks like an open aquarium. It has manipulative fish, sea shells, blue beads, scooping cups, and blue water. The children take turns to cool down with the water sensory table and feel each piece in the ocean bin. We also have seashell sorting cards with labels. It includes a beautiful shell collection and matching cards. The cards have the name of the shell which introduces new terminology for the child. There is something very special about seashells and the children enjoy these activities.

We have our Field Day planned for Tuesday, June 7th. Just a reminder to have your child dressed in comfortable clothes and sneakers and not to forget their water bottles! We’re looking forward to a whole morning outside with lots of fun activities planned by Ms. Pam.

Wishing you a peaceful  weekend,

Kaoutar and Sara

Mrs. Doyle: Are You Ready For the Summer?

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

We asked the children what they loved about summer and /or what their plans were for this summer.  We hope you enjoy their answers as much as we did!

  • Anchor:  Likes to go swimming in a pool.  He tried the beach once but it didn’t work out so well because he kept stepping on shells and it hurt.
  • Everly:  Loves to swim in her pool because it’s so nice and cool and you can relax in there.
  • Lily:  Likes to connect the hose to her splash pad and kiddie pool and get soaking wet.
  • Marin:  Likes to go for bike rides with her family and is hoping to go to the Galapagos too.
  • Wilder: Likes to swim in the deep end of the pool where it is almost 1000 feet deep.
  • Emma:  Can’t wait to visit with all of her friends and play together.
  • Greyson:  Likes to play outside with his family and his dog.
  • Landon: Likes to go to Grammy’s pool and swim.  You have to go on a far walk to get there but when you do you just jump right in and have fun.
  • Luca:  Likes to get in his hot tub and relax.  This summer he is hoping to travel to South America or Asia.
  • Olivia: Likes to go the beach with her cousins.  They play in the water for a really long time and then get out and eat lots of snacks.
  • Theo:  Likes to jump in the pool every single day and eat dinner outside.
  • Virginia: Can’t wait to go to Florida to celebrate her birthday. She is so excited because she is getting her ears pierced and her hair colored.
  • Bodie: Likes to play with his mommy and daddy all day long.  They play in the pool and then do lots of cannonballs.
  • Emma Jo:  Can’t wait to open her pool and just sit in the water all day long.
  • Isla: Likes to swim in her inflatable pool and use the water squirters.  She is looking forward to visiting her grandpa and grandma in Rochester.  Grandpa tells lots of jokes and Grandma just loves to spend time with her.
  • Micaela: Likes to swim in the pool and play with her toy worms in the grass.
  • Saanvi:  Likes to go to the playground with her sister and climb on everything they can.
  • Stephen:  Likes to go down the slide in his pool and go underwater.  Luckily he has all new bathing suits because he grew so much.
  • Zara: Likes to go to the beach and make sand castles and play in the water.
  • Mrs. Ray: Likes to go swimming, hiking, fishing and camping with her family.
  • Mrs. Doyle:  Plans to sleep, take a road trip with her family, sleep, read, sleep, find new hiking trails to take her dogs on, spend time with her friends, and sleep.

Wishing you all a week filled with peace and love!

Michelle & Liset

Mrs. Lopes: One More Week to Go!

Posted on by Amanda Lopes

As the school year winds down, we reflect on how much the children have grown and matured over the last 10 months.  The last few weeks of school are always a little chaotic, but we try to enjoy these last few moments we have as a classroom family.  We cannot believe there is only one more week of school left in the school year!

Looking forward to next week, we have our Field Day on Tuesday, June 7th.  Please remember to send your child in comfortable clothes and sneakers with a full water bottle.  They will enjoy a whole morning outside with fun activities and games set up by Ms. Pam.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,

Amanda and Heather

Mrs. Doyle’s Class: Fun At Flanders

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

 

On Thursday, the Kindergarten children spent time at Flanders Nature Center in Woodbury.  First, we gathered our nets and took a hike through the woods to the Botany Pond. The children then had the opportunity to catch and identify amphibians, reptiles, and insects. We found tadpoles, beetles, newts, giant water bugs, and salamanders.  We observed turtles resting on a rock, fish swimming, and even found one of those elusive frogs.  When we were done, we released any living thing we had collected and then climbed aboard for a tractor ride.  We observed a blue heron flying and landing and got up close to a beaver lodge.  It was both informative and impressive to speak with a Flanders volunteer, who explained how and why the beavers dam up a culvert each night.  Walking back, several children shared what a great day it was! Flanders is open to the public and we encourage you to take advantage of this amazingly beautiful nature center.  They also offer several summer programs.  You can find more information on their website.

Wishing you all a week filled with much peace and love.

Michelle & Liset

Mrs. Lopes: Field Trip to Flanders

Posted on by Amanda Lopes

On Thursday, our Kindergarten children went on a field trip to Flanders Nature Center in Woodbury, CT.  This was a great introduction to amphibians and the life cycle of a frog.  The children first took a hike through the woods to a pond.  Once at the pond they were introduced to some of the species that live there and were given nets to do some exploration on their own.  We had so much fun catching tadpoles, newts, dragonfly nymphs, and even a large green frog!  We then went on a hayride through the fields where we witnessed a blue heron searching for food.  We also learned about the beaver family who built a lodge in the nature center’s pond and continues to dam up the town’s water supply.  We got to talk with one of the nature center’s staff who was unclogging the pipe while we were there and said he has to unclog the pipe every 2-3 days!

I would encourage you all to visit the beautiful Flanders Nature Center for a fun outdoor family activity: www.flandersnaturecenter.org.

In addition to a field trip, we also had a few toddlers visit our classroom this week and on Tuesday we had a visit from Maggie, a member of the Newtown Strong Therapy Dogs!

Wishing you a peaceful week,

Amanda and Heather

Mrs Semmah: The Love of Geography

Posted on by Kaoutar Semmah

One of the many gifts a Montessori education brings is a lifelong love for geography. There are two main purposes of presenting geography to our three to seven–year-old children. First, to help the children visualize the Earth and localize our country and state, and second, to learn about other countries and cultural differences.

Maria Montessori divides geography into physical geography, cultural geography, political geography, and cartography. We introduce physical geography to three year old children through the sandpaper globe and show the land and water. The political geography includes the globe of the continents, the painted globe, and the puzzle map of the world with the continent outline map that is known as control of errors.

Every day, the children visit the Geography area, either to explore the globes or to use the continent puzzle maps. Our classroom has just three year and four-year-old children. However, there is always a level at which even the youngest children can have a sensory experience that will prepare them for a deeper understanding in the future.

Wishing you a peaceful long weekend.
Kaoutar and Sara

Mrs. Doyle: Our Future Is So Bright Please Put On Your Shades!

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

It’s always a little startling to realize that the end of the school year is quickly approaching. May is an amazing month because we look back to see all that we have accomplished and take stock of what we have left to do. Each child’s learning at this point is very much cumulative and continues to build upon all of the skills that have been mastered since August. A perfect example of this is the kindergarten animal research project the children have been working on for several weeks. We start this project in late spring because we need a foundation of reading, writing, geography, science, and even math in order to be successful. I was ‘interviewing’ the kindergartners for the About The Author section of their books and, as typically happens, several other children quickly wanted to be interviewed and share their future career aspirations. Their answers are sure to brighten everyone’s day.

  • Anchor:  Wants to be a You Tuber with his own channel.
  • Everly:  Wants to be a veterinarian who makes everyone’s pets feel better.
  • Lily:  Wants to be a teacher who teaches big kids about plants and berries or a dentist because they get to give everyone the best toys.
  • Marin:  Wants to travel the world and study rocks.
  • Wilder: Wants to be an event planner like his dad.
  • Emma:  Wants to be a mom and have two children.
  • Greyson:  Wants to be an artist whose work is hung all over the world.
  • Landon: Is only 4 and a half so he won’t make a decision until he is 5 in June.  He will definitely let us know though!
  • Luca:  Wants to play soccer or football for a team with blue uniforms.
  • Olivia: Wants to be a paleontologist who studies everything there is to know about dinosaurs.
  • Theo:  Wants to be a wrestler who wears a red, white, and blue uniform but is not sure of his wrestling name yet.
  • Virginia: Wants to be a scientist who studies lions and tigers.
  • Bodie: Wants to build houses.
  • Emma Jo:  A crafter who makes butterflies and sells them to everyone.
  • Isla:  Wants to work at Sacred Heart University and be a teacher.
  • Micaela: Wants to drive an excavator.
  • Saanvi:  Wants to be a cook who makes a lot of buttered pasta.
  • Stephen:  Wants to be a doctor who treats zebras and horses or maybe a policeman or fireman.
  • Zara: Wants to be a scientist or an artist who paints.

Wishing you all a week filled with peace and love!

Michelle & Liset

Mrs. Semmah: Bird Sounds

Posted on by Kaoutar Semmah

Last week the children were so engaged in learning sounds around us and we continued into this week by learning about our birds theme and we came up with more listening games to add to our theme. Listening to birds’ sounds added to the children’s excitement and learning. This is a simple, yet effective activity of seeing photos of different birds and listening to the sounds they make. The children were so engaged and also enjoyed imitating the birds’ sounds. We also learned about the life cycle of a duck and a robin and their chicks. The children loved the book Have you Heard the Nesting Bird. This is an enjoyable book about unique bird songs with beautifully illustrated bird pictures. This week we also released our three beautiful butterflies on the playground. It was a very beautiful moment watching the children so keen on following butterflies and wishing them a happy life.

Have a great weekend,
Kaoutar and Sara