Classroom Review
Buckeye Class:
This month we’ve been embracing fall (although the weather on most days still felt like summer!) The children learned about seasons, what happens to the trees, why leaves change colors, and why they eventually fall off.
During circle time on Indigenous Peoples Day we discussed what this day means, and learned a little bit about the European explorers, the mapmakers, the spice traders and the Native Americans.
After this, we moved on to zoology and explaining the difference between vertebrates (animals with a backbone) and invertebrates (without a backbone). The children had the opportunity to sort a variety of animals into the respective categories. We learned about spiders (invertebrates!), their body parts, and looked at many different kinds of spiders. Your child might have brought home a “My Parts of a Spider Book”. We also stressed the message that spiders are our friends and that we treat all living creatures with kindness and respect. We have started learning about all things pumpkin, and several fun pumpkin activities have been brought in. Towards the end of the month Ms. Govindaraj from the Hemlock classroom will talk to us about the Hindu festival of Diwali, and we will end the month with bats, owls, Dias de los Muertos, and – of course – Halloween! On the day of Halloween your child is welcome to come to school in a costume, if they wish (no weapons or scary costumes, please).
Two circle time songs the children especially enjoyed this month are “Way up high in the apple tree (five red apples smile down at me)” and “Five little pumpkins (sitting on a gate)”:
Way up high in an apple tree
Way up high in an apple tree,
5 red apples smiled down at me.
I shook that tree as hard as I could,
Down came an apple! Mmm, mmm… it was good!
Way up high in that apple tree,
4 red apples smiled down at me.
3 red apples…
2 red apples…
1 red apple…
Way up high in that apple tree,
No more apples smiled down at me.
I shook that tree as hard as I could,
Down came no apples! They’re gone for good!
Way up high in that apple tree,
No more apples left for me.
_________________________________________
Five little pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The first one said, “Oh, my it’s getting late”
The second one said, “There are witches in the air”
The third one said, “But we don’t care”
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run”
The fifth one said, “We’re ready for some fun”
Then “Ooh” went the wind and out went the lights
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight
Hello Hemlock families,
Welcome to the October month news edition. We enjoyed every bit of the extended summer. Like the outside weather, our classroom is packed with laughter. Children come around with classroom routines and getting to know each other. We, teachers get to know the new children. It is great to see the older children help the younger ones with the classroom rules and work. We could see Dr. Maria Montessori’s envision of the mixed age group being fulfilled.
We started this month with apples which are our state fruit and went on with spiders and pumpkins which can be seen in every other grocery store. We learned the parts of an apple and pumpkin by dissecting them. We learned the life cycle of them too. We talked about the different types of apples and enjoyed the mindful eating of apple slices. We learned about the oxidation of apples and why apples float in the water by experiments. We enjoyed carving the pumpkin and made a Jack-O-Lantern. Children were excited to nail the pumpkin. Children learned about the life cycle and parts of a spider. They were thrilled to see the exoskeleton of a big spider.
They also watched the growth of the spider by an experiment. To our surprise, there was a huge spider web in our back window with a spider in the middle. Children searched every place in the playground for a spider web. They made parts of a pumpkin, spider and apple books. We talked about gourds as they share a common family with pumpkins and Day of the dead and how Halloween started.
Way up in the apple tree, itsy bitsy spider, 5 little pumpkins and witches brew were hit songs among them. We look forward to seeing the children dressed up in their Halloween costumes. We had a chance to explore our rainy-day playthings because of the bad air quality. Ms. Govindaraj enlightened us about Diwali, a celebration from India and one that she celebrates each year.
We can’t wait to see you all in the conferences on November 3rd and 4th morning and November 18th for PM children. We are closed on November 11th Friday for Veterans Day and November 24th and 25th for Thanksgiving.
“Early childhood education is the key to the betterment of the society.”
————–Dr. Maria Montessori.