Hemlock Class
Happy March! As we say goodbye to winter and welcome spring, it’s refreshing to enjoy longer days and see new life emerge. Thanks to the snowy weather, the children also had fun building snowmen on the playground. Spring brings renewed energy for learning, connection, and setting new goals. We’re excited to see many of our children progressing in blending, working with four-digit operations, counting larger numbers, and creating their own books.
Thank you all for taking the time to attend the conference. We truly enjoyed discussing your child’s growth in learning, friendships, motor skills, and emotional development. It was a meaningful and enjoyable opportunity to have uninterrupted time to share your child’s interests and curiosity.
We dedicate March for Unit Study; this year we travelled further away to another big continent Asia which is described as yellow continent and learned about India and China. First, we talked about India, where it is in Asia and its border. Children learnt the colors and the design of Indian flag and the reason behind it. They enjoyed making the artwork of it. They heard about national symbols of India and the Emblem too. They happily visited big cities including the capital city New Delhi and the beautiful palaces. We talked about Taj Mahal; one of the seven wonders of the world and children one day would like to visit there. We brushed up the biomes of India, the major rivers like Ganges and the major religion Hinduism and a temple in south India. Children learnt that India has many cultures and many languages. It has very vibrant and colorful costumes and jewelry. They enjoyed wearing kurta, sari, veshti, and bindi or pottu. They looked so cute on pottu.
We learned about animals that live in India and enjoyed tasting ghee rice with hands. We also talked about Tamil; the oldest living language still used in both speech and writing. The children learned that Tamil is recognized as a classical language and enjoyed singing the Tamil song “Tamil Thaivazhtu.” During circle time, they practiced counting in Tamil and saying “Vanakkam” (hello) and “Nandri” (thank you). It was a fun and motivating way to revisit India together.
North of India, we studied another large country in Asia—China. We explored where it is located, its writing system and numerals, and the Great Wall of China, including why it was built and how. The children loved constructing their own “Great Wall” and learning how flags represent countries. They also noticed that China’s flag has one large star and four smaller stars. The class created pin-poke art of India and China and enjoyed tasting a Chinese biscuit during circle time. Our sincere thanks to Valerie’s mom, Eva for taking time to talk about China and explained Zodiac animal’s story. Children enjoyed eating sticky rice. They had fun in singing Chinese song in circle.
We also talked about St. Patrick’s Day, and the children were excited to learn about him, Irish traditions, and leprechauns.
Our class meetings are getting better as children discuss their problems and come up with the solutions. Week April 6th is spring break, no school and summer school forms will be available in the following week, first come first serve policy.
Next month we are going to fly to another continent to another two countries for fun facts.
“Establishing lasting peace is the work of Education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.”
“Today, however, those things which occupy us in the field of Education are the interests of humanity at large and of civilization, and before such great forces we can recognize only one country-the entire world ——Dr. Maria Montessori
Buckeye Class
Thank you to all the parents who took the time to attend conferences during the first week of March. It was so meaningful to connect with you, share your child’s progress, and celebrate their growth together.
This time of year, is truly a special season in our classroom. The children are in a wonderful stage of learning, and it is amazing to see how much they have blossomed. Many students are beginning to read or blend words, and there is a noticeable excitement and curiosity about learning that is inspiring to everyone in our community.
We also began our dinosaur unit this month, which has been a huge hit! The children have been exploring how long a go dinosaurs lived, learning the names of different dinosaurs, creating their own dinosaur books, and sorting dinosaurs by whether they walked, swam, or flew. We’ve also been having fun singing dinosaur songs like “We Are the Dinosaurs” and “My Name is Stegosaurus.”
In connection with our studies, Ms. Ekstrom recently visited the Burke Museum in Seattle, which has an incredible collection of dinosaur fossils, including a Stegosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus rex skull. It could be a fun family outing if you’re interested in extending your child’s learning!
We also had a special cultural visit from Dennis’s mom, who shared about the Taiwan Lantern Festival. In celebration of the Year of the Horse, the children created rocking horses using straws and paper cups—such a fun and creative project!
Looking ahead, we are excited to welcome Marlowe’s parents, who will be visiting to share about Nowruz, the Persian New Year.
Thank you, as always, for being such a supportive and involved part of our classroom community.