Thanksgiving Celebration

Posted on by Kaoutar Semmah

Thanksgiving is a holiday when we think about our values such as gratitude, charity, and community. We read a book about gratitude, and we ask children about things they are thankful for. It is so adorable and precious to hear their answers for the things that they are grateful for. Last Tuesday, we baked two banana breads, one for our classroom and the other one for sharing at our school. The children were so happy to measure some of the ingredients, crack the slimy eggs, and mashed the bananas. Each one of the children had a turn to mix the ingredients with a spatula.  On Wednesday, the children joined the big table to enjoy the snack that they made with lots of love and joy, appreciating their friendship and adoring the company of each other.

Wishing you a peaceful weekend.

Kaoutar and Sara

Mrs. Doyle: Giving Thanks

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

 

The education of even a small child, therefore, does not aim at preparing him for school, but for life. 

    –Maria Montessori

For many, the holiday season is a time for giving. Perhaps more than ever, it is so important for our children to understand that giving does not have to be a materialistic gift. Simple and heartfelt words of love and friendship will last much longer than most anything that can be bought from a shelf. It can be an amazing and powerful gift to our children, if in all the hustle and bustle of the holidays we take time to slow down and model being grateful.

This week we asked each child to share what they are thankful for. While their messages will make you smile and warm your heart, there is beauty in their simplicity.

Anchor–      My dog Sasco because I like to play with him.

Bodie–         My birthday trucks because I can play with them all day long.

Emma–        My sister Evie because she loves me.

Emma Jo–   For the calendar in my classroom.

Everly–         My dogs, Joey and Georgia because I love them so much.

Greyson–     My Mom and Dad because they always let me play outside.

Isla–              My brother Ewan because he shares everything with me.

Landon–      The Paw Patrol movie and I will get to watch it one day when I’m older.

Lily–              My Daddy because he is going to take me to work with him.

Luca–            Curious George because he makes me laugh and the movie Luca because it has the same name as me.

Marin–          My whole family because they make me feel so happy.

Micaela–       My Mom because she loves me so much.

Olivia–          Going to Maine because my whole family is there.

Saanvi–        My sister Simrin because I play with her all the time.

Stephen–     My Mommy and my Daddy because I love them.

Theo–            Star Wars the movie because I love the whole series so much.

Virginia–     My brother George because I love him.

Wilder–        I get to learn new things at school.

Zara–             My Mommy, my Daddy and my sister because I miss them when  I am not with them.

Liset and I are grateful for the time we spend with the children each day and for the relationships we develop with each of you.  Wishing you all a week filled with peace and love.

Michelle & Liset

Mrs. Lopes: North America

Posted on by Amanda Lopes

This past week, the children have been immersed in exploring the first of seven continents; the continent we live on, North America.  At the beginning of the week we introduced the continent of North America with our continent puzzle map. When using this lesson, children are taught to take one country out of the puzzle at a time and match it to the control map. The control map helps the child see where each country is located on the continent and helps the child to independently put the puzzle back together. The children also enjoyed engaging in our other North American themed works on the shelves, which included native animals, traditional clothing, topography, and flags of North America.

The Montessori cultural studies curriculum provides children with an opportunity to explore the whole world, including the continents, countries, people, animals, terrain, music, and arts. Children use didactic Montessori materials to familiarize themselves with the needs of all humans for such things as food, housing, and clothing. This early cultural awareness helps cultivate independent, joyful citizens of our world.

During our study of North America, we have been discussing the importance of Thanksgiving and the feeling of gratitude. We have enjoyed sharing with each other what we are all thankful for!

As a side note, we also had a special visitor in our classroom on Monday!  Elara brought in her pet turtle, Mrs. T, to share with us.

Some fun facts about Mrs. T:

– age: 37

– species: Eastern box turtle

– loves to eat strawberries, raspberries and meat!
We all enjoyed petting her and getting to observe her during our morning work cycle.  Thank you to Elara and her family for bringing her in!

Best,

Amanda & Heather

Mrs. Semmah: The Silence Game

Posted on by Kaoutar Semmah

The Montessori Silence Game is a sensorial lesson that is introduced in the primary classroom. It is a calming activity and patience activity that can be implemented at home too. This week I introduced a Silence Game for our morning meditation before we start circle time. By this time of the year, children have been practicing other types of “control of movement” practices, such as walking on the line, scooping, pouring, and moving the chair quietly.

This is how we play the silence game in our classroom. I model for children how to sit crisscrossed without movement and close their eyes using my whisper voice.

We are going to do a morning meditation, stretch your body, move your neck, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and make silence. You may hear some sounds in our classroom or outside our classroom. Then, I take two deep breaths and I close my eyes. All the children take two deep breaths and close their eyes. We sit still quietly for a few minutes. Then I say: I open my eyes to you, I open my heart to you, together we open our hearts to the sun, to the cloud, together we join our hearts this Monday morning. We hold hands together and we raise them. After all the children open their eyes. I ask them if anybody heard something during the silence game. Remember when we read a book, you can make silence and quiet your body. You can make silence any time, isn’t that great. You can stop at any time and take a deep breath. It is very helpful to make silence when you are sad or tired.

This is a very wonderful peaceful activity that I have implemented through my years of teaching as a part of our daily routine. The children love the silence game, and it also contributes to” normalization”.

As a side note, we also had a special visitor in our classroom on Monday!  Remington brought in his pet turtle, Mrs. T, to share with us. Children loved Mrs. T’s company and  they were very nice and gentle with her. Thank you to the Muller’family.

Some fun facts about Mrs. T:

– age: 37

– species: Eastern box turtle

– loves to eat strawberries, raspberries and meat!

Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving,

Kaoutar and Sara

Mrs. Doyle: Traveling to North America

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

These last few weeks have been a particularly busy and exciting time with your children. We have traveled through space, explored the eight planets, discovered that the sun is a star, and rocketed back to planet Earth. We are now exploring the first of seven continents, North America.  You may hear your children call it the orange continent. This is because on the Montessori globe and map, North America is indeed orange. We will continue to explore the animals native to our continent, map North America’s countries, examine topography, and study how a continent’s proximity to the equator impacts its climate.

The Montessori cultural studies curriculum provides children with an opportunity to explore the whole world, including the continents, countries, people, animals, terrain, music, and arts. Children use didactic Montessori materials to familiarize themselves with the needs of all humans for such things as food, housing, and clothing. This early cultural awareness helps cultivate independent, joyful citizens of our world.

Wishing everyone a week filled with peace and love!

Michelle & Liset

Mrs. Lopes: Discovering Dinosaurs

Posted on by Amanda Lopes

In our classroom these last few months, your children have been exploring the world around them by becoming biologists, astronauts, and now, paleontologists!  This month, your children have been immersed in the land of dinosaurs, learning all about what they looked like, where they lived, and what they ate. On our science shelf, the children have had an array of works that spark their creativity and curiosity about these giant reptiles from the past. They have been able to use crayons to make fossil rubbings, match dinosaurs with their fossils, and even sort dinosaurs according to if they walked on two feet or four feet. We have also been discussing the word “extinct” and possible reasons why the dinosaurs became extinct.  The children loved sharing their ideas about why they think there are no more dinosaurs.

Have a great week,

Amanda & Heather

Mrs. Semmah: Classroom Jobs

Posted on by Kaoutar Semmah

Practical life lessons are all everyday duties that are part of our life. These lessons help the children learn how to take care of themself and their environment. In addition to these activities, we added classroom jobs this week.

The children are naturally drawn to these jobs. They don’t see them as duties, they want to copy what they see us doing. They find meaning, fun, and satisfaction in having responsibilities in their classroom. It also helps the children gain self-confidence and be contributing members of the classroom. It encourages independence and a sense of responsibility in our children.

The job charts identify the classroom jobs that are completed every day to make it visual and easy to grasp for children. I take pictures of the children doing the jobs and I print them and laminate them. Using a pocket chart hung on the wall, a photo of each job title is placed in the pocket and the name of the child is placed in front of it. These are some examples of the jobs: playing the music box while walking on the line to transition from circle time to start a work cycle, the door holder, wiping the table, and watering the plants.

We introduce the classroom job chart on each Monday during circle time, announcing a job title for each child’s assigned week.

Wishing you a week filled with love and peace.

Kaoutar and Sara

Mrs. Semmah: Harvest Celebration

Posted on by Kaoutar Semmah

Hosting a fall Primary Harvest Celebration is one of the many ways to celebrate this beautiful season at Fraser Woods. Our Harvest celebration offers opportunities to have fun and experience the different smells and tastes of the fall season. It was very lovely to see the children coming on Wednesday morning full of joy and excitement to start their celebration day.

First, we set up the pumpkin station at circle time. Mrs. Sara carved the big pumpkin, while she talked about the smells, seeds, and ideas to carve the pumpkin. She also showed them how to personalize a pumpkin by adding hair, eyes, and a mouth. Then, she lit a little candle inside the carved pumpkin. Meanwhile, the children were enjoying their beautiful, delicious, and spectacular Halloween cookies with water. We also went outdoors for a pumpkin hunt. The children were very happy searching for their preferred pumpkin and bringing it back to the classroom for decoration. The children had a lot of fun decorating their sugar pumpkin with yarn, googly eyes, and felt. Then, we sat outside our classroom watching the Middle School and Elementary Halloween Parade. The children had a wonderful time during the Harvest Celebration. Thank you for all your donations and s special thanks to Lidia and Kenyon for organizing the event and thinking about every detail to make it an enjoyable experience.

It was very lovely to meet and connect with all of you for Parent-Teacher conferences via Zoom. Thank you for your open communication, our goal is always to work together for the benefit of our children. Please feel free to reach out at any time.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Kaoutar and Sara