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Classroom Review

CLASSROOM REVIEW

Front Building:

We began January in the front class with a conversation about winter. We had to change the month, the year and the season on our calendar after our break. Snow and ice are part of our winter here in the PNW.  In the classroom, we have art and books about cold and snow as well as our parts of a snowman book.  Thank you for sending your children with hats, gloves and warm coats!

We also introduced a model of the earth as a sandpaper globe first to feel the difference between ocean and land and afterwards we introduced our colored globe with continents (in Montessori North America is orange, South America is pink, Europe is red, Africa is green, Asia is yellow, Australia brown and Antarctica is white).  Then that globe was cut into two hemispheres (with the help of colored play dough) and turned into a map of the world.  The children learned about the difference between land, air, and water and we will talk about the different land and water forms as well like lake and island, etc. There will be models for each to explore on the shelf in Practical Life.  All these activities lead us into our unit for this year: Continents of the world (and a little about some countries, too).  It will be exciting to learn about animals, music, living habits, foods, biomes and so much more starting with North America in February. So stay tuned for some fun facts.

Back Building:

Hello, families!  We were happy to see everyone back at school after a relaxing holiday break!  The children came back excited to work in the classroom and to be reunited with their friends.  We began January by filling our classroom with winter-themed works, snowflake math works, snowman art, etc…  We talked about what happens during this season, and we experienced some extra cold weather!  We spent two weeks on a Peace Curriculum, where we focus on a different “Peace Virtue”  for each color of the rainbow.  We have bottles filled with colored water as a visual representation in our classroom as well.  Red represents “truth,” orange is “personal best,” yellow is “peace,” green is “friendship,” blue is “kind words, ” and purple is”joy.”  We practiced role playing these virtues in a circle and introduced a peace basket work where a child can meditate on an individual mat and explore peaceful objects whenever he/she needs to feel more peaceful.  This activity is a nice mid-year reminder that we treat each other and our classroom with respect and kindness!

We also began our geography study that will span the next few months.  We introduced the globe and explored the concept of landforms and water forms through small models that the children can fill with water.  We also have cards that the children can use to make land and water form booklets.  Near the end of the month, we will dive into studying North America, and cover each continent specifically after that.  We will learn about the people, customs, landmarks, food and landscapes that make each continent special.

creativemontessorischool_mz5i3rClassroom Review