Mrs. Doyle’s Class: Fun Five Senses

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

First the education of the senses, then the education of the intellect—Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori believed there is a sensitive period for a child’s development of their senses. Although the senses are an integral part of our lives, children during the early years have the greatest potential to develop and retrieve them. It is precisely this idea that demonstrates the purpose of Sensorial materials in the Montessori classroom. The Sensorial materials are powerful tools, which allow children to become aware of their unconscious impressions and bring these impressions into conscious awareness. Additionally, they enable your children to create a basis of order in their mind, allowing for intelligent exploration of their environment.

This week we are beginning our study on the five senses.  What better way to teach this than to use popcorn? Popcorn is a multi-sensory snack as it incorporates all five of our senses. It might just be our most appetizing science unit yet! Did you ever notice that when you make popcorn, somehow the entire family knows about it and shows up to have some of this favorite treat?

We begin by discussing what our five senses are and how we use different body parts to learn about things in our environment. For example, our noses are for smelling, ears are for listening, eyes are for seeing, hands are for touching, and our tongue is for tasting.  We learned that sometimes we use more than one sense at a time.

Next, each child had the opportunity to handle popcorn kernels to make observations of what they see, smell, and feel.  We record all of our observations as we are going along. Finally, we use an air popper to pop some popcorn.  Now we can include our observations about hearing and tasting as well.

Wishing you all peace and love.

Michelle & Lizette

Mrs. Lopes’s Class: Our Class Rocks!

Posted on by Amanda Lopes


“The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the Earth.” -Maria Montessori

Have you ever noticed your child’s fascination with rocks found outside on the ground?  We have observed after playing outside on the playground some of the children will return to the classroom with pockets full of rocks as if they are treasures. You can imagine the children’s excitement when they learned that our new science unit for this week was the study of rocks!  We discussed the three main types of rocks – igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic, as well as how these rocks are formed on Earth. We added several new rock lessons to our environment, but the group favorite was a basket full of rocks with a magnifying glass.  The children enjoyed examining and classifying each of the rocks in this lesson.

Wishing you all a relaxing and peaceful Spring Break!  We look forward to returning to school in a new season, with the excitement and energy that comes in the last few months of the school year!

Peace and love,

Amanda & Sharlene

 

Mrs. Doyle’s Class: Read Across America

Posted on by Michelle Handibode
I do believe something magical can happen when you read a good book.”   ———-     J.K. Rowling

Read across America is a national event that is celebrated on March 2nd, the birthday of Dr. Seuss.  This initiative was created by the National Education Association and was created and implemented to encourage a love of reading in children.

An online article from nationaldaycalendar.com has some wonderful ideas on how to motivate children to read wherever they are.

  • Keep books everywhere you spend time. Put them in the car, in every room of the house, and tuck them in backpacks and purses. Make them easily accessible.
  • Visit the library often. Knowing how to use the library and learning the benefits of a library fosters a love of reading as well as genuine respect for the services libraries provide.
  • Get caught reading. Children imitate what they see the adults around them do. Whether they see you read a magazine, newspaper, or novel, let them know reading is the cool thing to do.
  • Read to your children. No matter their age, reading aloud strengthens their vocabulary and language skills. It also opens up opportunities for discussion.
  • Have your children read to you, too. You never know what you might learn!

In our classroom, we call books treasures. Reading is an integral part of each school day. I hope that Miss Lizette and I are able to pass on our passion for literature.

Happy Reading!

Michelle & Lizette

Mrs. Lopes’s Class: Read Across America Day

Posted on by Amanda Lopes

“You can find magic wherever you look.  Sit back and relax all you need is a book.”-Dr. Seuss

On Tuesday, March 2nd we celebrated Read Across America Day in our classroom.  The children enjoyed sharing their favorite books from home and we loved seeing their version of their favorite part of the story on their headbands.  Read Across America was launched in 1998 by the National Education Association (NEA) and is the nation’s largest celebration of reading.  The program focuses on motivating children and teens to read.

The titles and resources featured by NEA’s Read Across America “include books that students can see themselves reflected in, as well as books that allow readers to see a world or a character that might be different than them.  Readers who feel included, recognized, and a part of the world are engaged readers.”

Please use the link below to find books and resources associated with this wonderful program:

https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/read-across-america

Happy Reading!

Amanda & Sharlene

Mrs. Lopes’s Class: The Absorbent Mind

Posted on by Amanda Lopes


There exists in the small child an unconscious mental state which is of a creative nature. We have called it the “Absorbent Mind.” The tiny child’s absorbent mind finds all its nutriment in its surroundings…Especially at the beginning of life. We must, therefore, make the environment as interesting and attractive as we can. -Maria Montessori

The Montessori Method is based on self-motivation to learn. Children are considered to be at work during the day, but they have fun doing it. They do go beyond life skills, learning geometry, geography, phonics, and much more. Young children have the capacity to absorb, learn, and do so much. They just need a controlled, creative environment to allow them to pursue their interests.

Enjoy these images of your children at “work”!

We welcomed two new students into our classroom this week!  Eve and Rowan.  The children were so wonderful making them both feel comfortable and a part of our classroom family!

Next Tuesday, March 2nd, we will be celebrating Read Across America Day!  Please look out for an email with more information about this fun event!

Wishing you a peaceful week,

Amanda & Sharlene

Mrs. Doyle’s Class: Montessori Math–It All Adds Up

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

 

“Children display a universal love of mathematics, which is par excellence the science of precision, order, and intelligence.”

~ Dr. Maria Montessori

The Montessori math materials are visual and hands-on manipulatives, aiding in the ability of a child to concretely  understand mathematical concepts. After much repetition and when the child is ready,  we introduce the more complex and abstract concepts. We teach the process first because the goal is to develop a true understanding of mathematical concepts and not simply memorization. The materials are sequenced in a way that each success a child experiences, is a building block for the next concept to be introduced.

Maria Montessori believed that all children have a mathematical mind and an internal drive to understand the environment around them. We know that the Montessori math materials are exact and precise and allow the child to have positive experiences in math right from the beginning.  We also know that the Practical Life activities have helped the child to develop order, concentration, coordination and independence.  Likewise, the Sensorial materials have allowed the children to recognize and extend patterns.  Here’s the real secret behind the success of the Montessori math materials though, the children truly enjoy them.

Wishing you all a week filled with peace and love!

Michelle & Lizette

 

Mrs. Lopes’s Class: 100 Days and Counting…

Posted on by Amanda Lopes

On Tuesday of this week we celebrated our 100th day of school!  It is unbelievable to think 100 days in our school year have already passed, but we are so grateful to have spent them watching your children grow and learn.  To celebrate the occasion, our Kindergarten children engaged in several 100 themed activities.  These activities included making a 100 day headband, drawing a portrait of themselves 100 years old, and what they would buy with $100.

We also began our continent study of Africa this week. We located Africa on the continent map, talked about the interesting animals that live in Africa, and read an African folk tale.  Mrs. Reid also presented a wonderful lesson introducing the children to one of our favorite African animals, the giraffe. The children were invited to create their own giraffes by gluing and cutting paper, as well as a yarn tail. We look forward to continuing our study of Africa next week!

Wishing you a peaceful week,

Amanda & Sharlene

Mrs. Doyle’s Class: Amazing Africa

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

Each time we study a new continent, we first find it on the globe of the world, then we locate the continent on the world map, and finally, we study the individual continent, using the specific continent maps. Currently, the children are learning about the continent of Africa. We learn about the geography, culture, weather, animals, and people of Africa.

We are learning lots of fun and fascinating facts about the continent of Africa.

  • Africa is the second largest continent, with 54 countries.
  • The longest river in the world, the Nile, is located in Africa.
  • Over one thousand languages are spoken by the people in Africa.
  • The Sahara, the world’s largest desert is located here.
  • The highest mountain in Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro. It is so tall that glaciers can be found at its summit even though the mountain is near the equator.
  • Africa is the most centrally located continent in the world. Both the prime meridian and the equator cut across it.
  • The world’s tallest animal, the giraffe, and the largest land animal, the African elephant are found in Africa.

This Tuesday, we celebrated the 100th day of school. From the very first day of school, the kindergarten children have been learning to count by 1’s, 5’s, and 10’s to 100. They spent the afternoon going to different stations that all revolved around the number 100. They drew pictures of what they would like when they were 100, what they would buy with $100, what they wished they had a hundred of, made a 100 headband and then played a game called Race to 100. This year, more than ever, reaching 100 days in school was a reason to celebrate!!!

Wishing you a week filled with peace and love.

Michelle & Lizette