Hemlock Class
We welcome all of you in the new year. January is the month of transition, the reflection of the past, and looking forward to the future. We are happy to see the children back in the routine. We can see their excitement to be in the classroom and with each other. It motivates the teachers too. We are happy to know that they were able to remember the classroom rules.
We started the month with our planet Earth. We learned the position of Earth in Space and how it is divided as land and water using our Sand Paper globe. Using a colored globe, we learned the seven continents’ names. We also learned that Earth is flattened as Western and Eastern hemispheres for our convenience and where all continents fit in the hemispheres.
We are learning the different landforms and excited to learn and identify the landforms in our map. They were happy to make
landform books. We read a book about Martin Luther King Junior and his speech about “I have a dream” and his contribution towards equal rights for everyone.
The Montessori curriculum emphasizes peace in the world. We provided eligible tools to foster self-awareness in children. We learned how to calm our bodies and feel the love within us. We learned our Outer self, Middle self and Inner self-using a Matryoshka Doll. We did an activity about a circle of self-awareness. We will continue our peace education in February too. We celebrated Leon’s 6th, Aiyana’s 5th , Harris’s 5th , Sienne’s 3rd and Chloe’s
5th birthdays
“An educational method which cultivates and protects the inner activities
of the child is not a question which concerns merely the school or the teachers, it
is a universal question.” – Dr. Maria Montessori.
Buckeye Classroom:
We hope all of you had a wonderful start to the New Year! The winter season is a great time of learning in the classroom, and often leaps of progress happen during these months. The first week after returning from winter break, we talked about what a year is, and how it is divided in months, weeks and days. We discussed the calendar and the different seasons. The children were able to concretely experience this by working with a long chain with 364 beads, divided by 12 silver beads, and laying down month and season cards. Some of the older children were excited to make labels with their birthday and find the particular bead for this date on the chain.
We continued that week with learning about the South Pole, Antarctica, and the best-known animal from the southern continent – the Penguin. Several children made a “Parts of a Penguin” booklet, which you may have seen coming home. Somehow in the colder months we must think about the colder parts of our world, because later the children also learned about the North Pole, the arctic tundra, and the animals that live there. We put out three-part nomenclature cards (pictures and labels) with miniature animals, igloos, and Eskimos, and this soon became a favorite work of many children.
What would January be without snowflakes? We learned about water molecules, freezing water vapors, ice crystals, and that the ice crystals that make up snowflakes are symmetrical (or patterned) and that snowflakes are always six-sided.
January has been a fun and busy month of learning! We also learned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and about his dream that one day everyone would be treated as equals and live in a society where black people and white people would live together in harmony. The children enjoyed singing the song “Freedom, Freedom, Let It Ring” during circle (to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”):
“Freedom, freedom, let it ring.
Let it ring, said Dr. King.
Let it ring from North to South.
Let it ring from house to house.
Let it ring for everyone,
All across the whole nation.
Let it ring for black and white,
Let it ring both day and night.
Let it ring for young and old,
Forever may its song ring bold.
Freedom, freedom, let it ring.
Let it ring, said Dr. King.”
Hemlock Class
We welcome all of you in the new year. January is the month of transition, the reflection of the past, and looking forward to the future. We are happy to see the children back in the routine. We can see their excitement to be in the classroom and with each other. It motivates the teachers too. We are happy to know that they were able to remember the classroom rules.
We started the month with our planet Earth. We learned the position of Earth in Space and how it is divided as land and water using our Sand Paper globe. Using a colored globe, we learned the seven continents’ names. We also learned that Earth is flattened as Western and Eastern hemispheres for our convenience and where all continents fit in the hemispheres.
We are learning the different landforms and excited to learn and identify the landforms in our map. They were happy to make
landform books. We read a book about Martin Luther King Junior and his speech about “I have a dream” and his contribution towards equal rights for everyone.
The Montessori curriculum emphasizes peace in the world. We provided eligible tools to foster self-awareness in children. We learned how to calm our bodies and feel the love within us. We learned our Outer self, Middle self and Inner self-using a Matryoshka Doll. We did an activity about a circle of self-awareness. We will continue our peace education in February too. We celebrated Leon’s 6th, Aiyana’s 5th , Harris’s 5th , Sienne’s 3rd and Chloe’s
5th birthdays
“An educational method which cultivates and protects the inner activities
of the child is not a question which concerns merely the school or the teachers, it
is a universal question.” – Dr. Maria Montessori.
Buckeye Classroom:
We hope all of you had a wonderful start to the New Year! The winter season is a great time of learning in the classroom, and often leaps of progress happen during these months. The first week after returning from winter break, we talked about what a year is, and how it is divided in months, weeks and days. We discussed the calendar and the different seasons. The children were able to concretely experience this by working with a long chain with 364 beads, divided by 12 silver beads, and laying down month and season cards. Some of the older children were excited to make labels with their birthday and find the particular bead for this date on the chain.
We continued that week with learning about the South Pole, Antarctica, and the best-known animal from the southern continent – the Penguin. Several children made a “Parts of a Penguin” booklet, which you may have seen coming home. Somehow in the colder months we must think about the colder parts of our world, because later the children also learned about the North Pole, the arctic tundra, and the animals that live there. We put out three-part nomenclature cards (pictures and labels) with miniature animals, igloos, and Eskimos, and this soon became a favorite work of many children.
What would January be without snowflakes? We learned about water molecules, freezing water vapors, ice crystals, and that the ice crystals that make up snowflakes are symmetrical (or patterned) and that snowflakes are always six-sided.
January has been a fun and busy month of learning! We also learned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and about his dream that one day everyone would be treated as equals and live in a society where black people and white people would live together in harmony. The children enjoyed singing the song “Freedom, Freedom, Let It Ring” during circle (to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”):
“Freedom, freedom, let it ring.
Let it ring, said Dr. King.
Let it ring from North to South.
Let it ring from house to house.
Let it ring for everyone,
All across the whole nation.
Let it ring for black and white,
Let it ring both day and night.
Let it ring for young and old,
Forever may its song ring bold.
Freedom, freedom, let it ring.
Let it ring, said Dr. King.”
After this topic we moved a bit deeper into peace and harmony with activities on Peaceful Meditations. This covered learning about positive and negative emotions, breath awareness, making silence, a love light that represents the love within us, and an introduction to meditation and self-awareness (Mind in a Jar). There are several new items for the children to explore on our Peace Shelf, such as the Peace Basket, the Peace Rose, the Love Lights, and the Circles of Self-awareness.
We continued with learning about Lunar New Year, and several children enjoyed making Chinese Lanterns. We want to thank Martha Tran (Martin and Lana’s mom) for sharing stories and information on Lunar New Year during our circle time. The children are very excited when a special guest comes to visit! We encourage all parents (and grandparents) to share any special gifts, talents, or information they have with our classroom!
We also thank those of you who came to Kindergarten Information night. The Kindergarten year in a Montessori classroom gives the child an experience like no other. Not only do they get to be a leader and a mentor, they also develop skills they have been practicing for a couple of years here. The Kindergartners continue to grow socially and emotionally while still in a safe and nurturing environment where they know everyone, staff included, and everyone knows and loves each child.
After this topic we moved a bit deeper into peace and harmony with activities on Peaceful Meditations. This covered learning about positive and negative emotions, breath awareness, making silence, a love light that represents the love within us, and an introduction to meditation and self-awareness (Mind in a Jar). There are several new items for the children to explore on our Peace Shelf, such as the Peace Basket, the Peace Rose, the Love Lights, and the Circles of Self-awareness.
We continued with learning about Lunar New Year, and several children enjoyed making Chinese Lanterns. We want to thank Martha Tran (Martin and Lana’s mom) for sharing stories and information on Lunar New Year during our circle time. The children are very excited when a special guest comes to visit! We encourage all parents (and grandparents) to share any special gifts, talents, or information they have with our classroom!
We also thank those of you who came to Kindergarten Information night. The Kindergarten year in a Montessori classroom gives the child an experience like no other. Not only do they get to be a leader and a mentor, they also develop skills they have been practicing for a couple of years here. The Kindergartners continue to grow socially and emotionally while still in a safe and nurturing environment where they know everyone, staff included, and everyone knows and loves each child.