Valentine’s Day is a celebration of LOVE. A day when we may honor other beautiful values that make human life wonderful. Like selflessness, friendship, and affection.

In our classroom, we did many crafts including hearts painting on canvas using pompon, dye coffee filters valentine heart craft, and children’s thoughts about the meaning of love. We also read some books that emphasize the notion of love.

On Tuesday we enjoyed a belated classroom Valentine’s celebration! We had a special Valentine’s snack of fruit and heart cookies. The children enjoyed giving out the special valentines they made for each other.

Many thanks and appreciation to everyone for the food the supplies contributions and for making this celebration a success.

Read Across America Day/Pajama Day is this coming Wednesday, March 2^nd. The children are encouraged to wear their favorite pajamas to school and bring in their favorite book and stuffed animal.

Peace and love for all.

Kaoutar and Sara

Children’s writing may include scribbles or separated letters and looks very different from adult writing. Vertical lines through paper may correspond to a whole story. Letters of a child’s name may stand for a letter to his or her family. It is very fascinating to observe the children using a series of letters to express their thoughts. They also show their motivation for reading and writing. Our role as parents and teachers is to provide an environment rich with resources for writing.

In our Montessori classroom, we have the moveable alphabet as a significant resource to compose words or stories before writing them on paper. It can be used for building words or building sentences to express a story. It is a hands on experience for the child to hear the sound and feel the matching letters by his hand. They begin using consonants that match some of the sounds in the story they are writing. This is an example of a transitional stage. Below, I have included a chart of developmental stages of writing which helps teachers and parents to identify children’s developmental stages. It helps us understand where our child is and what stage is next.

Wishing you a peaceful weekend.

Kaoutar and Sara

Last month we studied one of the largest continents, which is Asia. We learned about flags, animals, and read books about Asia in general. It was a delight to have our Director of Admissions and Parent Relations, Mrs. Paromita, share some insights with the children about the culture of India, especially the state of West Bengal. This region of India Kolkata which is the capitol of West Bengal is inhabited by people who speak Bengali as their primary language in addition to the Hindi and English.

Mrs. Paromita talked to us about the symbolism of the Indian flag. The three colors are: saffron which stands for strength and courage, white which indicates peace and truth, and green symbols refer to the fertility and growth of the land. A blue wheel in the center is known as the Dharma Chakra. Mrs. Paromita also showed us a long piece of sari which is a traditional dress worn every day in India and other Asian countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal. She also showed the children “ghagra choli” and kurta pajamas.  It was fascinating to know that Indian brides have been wearing red for their weddings for centuries.

Mrs. Paromita also presented the Bengali numbers that had different symbols from the international numerals. One interesting fact is that the number 8 is also a Bengali symbol referring to the number 4 in Bengali culture. And in the end, Mrs. Paromita delighted the class with her dance to Bengali music. She was moving in the classroom space so rhythmically and beautifully and sharing a joyful piece of the Bengali culture.

I am looking forward to meeting with your during Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday, February 17th. Please use this link to access the sign up for your conference.

Peace and love.

Kaoutar and Sara