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FRONT CLASS REVIEW

Well… following the raising and releasing of the ladybugs, and Earth Day education…we are fully immersed in “everything spring” and launching into summer.

Each child has taken at least one nature walk to St Edward’s Park and enjoyed adventuring through the many trails off the beaten path. We have identified some types of plants, listened for new sounds, and experienced touching and smelling some of the plant life in the park.

At circle time, we have talked about insects, worms, slugs, and snails. We observed live worms to see if they preferred dark or light, moist or dry, cheese or potato peels.

We spoke of summer safety including wearing helmets, boat and water safety, talking with strangers, crossing the street, and wearing sunscreen and (possibly) bug spray

Science and botany have been popular subjects. We enjoyed watching propagation happen in our room. (We grew plants from root cuttings!) We have also been identifying flowers. We

currently have some zinnias with colored water…the children have been amazed at the changes happening to the flowers each day! Perhaps the most exciting activity has been the planting of our garden! We have prepared the soil, weeded, planted seeds, planted starts, and watered endlessly. We have tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, radishes, strawberries, and marigolds.

Upcoming, many summer birthdays will be celebrated in the classic Montessori way this month and next. A fire truck will also be visiting at the end of this month! We are looking forward to our annual class party, field day, our St. Edwards Park field trip on the 30t​ h​ and 31s​ t​ (weather pending), and our end-of-year picnic!

At this year’s end, we are so proud of your children’s growth and accomplishments! Thank you for sharing them with us.

BACK CLASS REVIEW
This month, we’ve been putting a focus on nature! We’ve learned about the parts of a flower,

examined different types of flowers, and studied earthworms and their role in nature. Our praying mantis eggs hatched, and the children enjoyed watching hundreds of the insects in their bottle “habitat.” We’ve planted a vegetable garden, and the children are taking turns caring for the plants. The children have also been enjoying our nature walks on the paths of St. Edward State Park.

We have also started a peace unit, where the children are learning to find their “inner peace,” calming themselves down, practicing respect for others, and respecting the classroom materials and rules. The children have been enjoying our yoga exercises, which also can help us feel more peaceful!

During science this month, the kids enjoyed watching a dancing jelly bean, floating eggs in salt water, and making invisible ink.

At the end of this month, we will be going on our “big” class walk to the playground at St. Edward State Park, which the children are looking forward to.

FRONT CLASS REVIEW
Our front class has been continuing to learn about the human body. After learning about internal organs, we focused on how we can take care of our bodies, keeping them healthy, strong, and even calm! We will be finishing our human body studies with some peaceful exercises such as yoga stretches.

We have also been continuing with some science experiments: we saw an egg float in saltwater, but sink in fresh water. We also saw a mixture change color when we added new ingredients in our “iodine clock” experiment.

We continue to study French on Fridays, and many of the children are remembering the names of colors, pieces of clothing, and family members in French.

This week, we also had a visit from Oxbow Farms, and a class egg hunt. The children always enjoy this special event, during which they search for Easter eggs labeled with their names.

BACK CLASS REVIEW

This month, children in the back building have been very involved and interested in our curriculum unit on the body. We talked about skin, bones, muscles, and joints. Amongst internal organs, so far we have focused on heart, blood, and lungs. Currently, we are learning about brain.

In our Practical Life area, we have introduced carrot and cucumber cutting, bread cutting and eating, color mixing, and eggshell grinding.

In science, we conducted some experiments on how blood works and component of blood and also learned about lungs and their function.

In language on Fridays. we have been learning German names for different animals.

The children are having fun working together, learning about the human body, and enjoying each other’s company.

FRONT CLASS REVIEW

This month, the front building children are very involved and interested in our curriculum unit on the body. We’ve talked about skin, bones, muscles, and joints, and are now learning about our internal organs. So far, we’ve concentrated on our heart, blood, lungs, brain, and the systems that go with these organs. The kids have a new appreciation for what it takes for their bodies to go out and run, jump, and climb! The kids are enjoying, in our Practical Life

area, carrot, apple, and cucumber cutting and eating. Bread cutting and color mixing have also been newly introduced.

To get ready for Valentine’s Day, the children made Valentine cards and decorated a bag to hold all their cards from their classmates. The day was made extra special with a treat of a heart-shaped waffle and fruit. This is really a favorite celebration of the children.

We had fun learning about the reason for the Presidents’ Day holiday and continue with our French language on Fridays. We have been learning the French names for different clothing pieces, and will soon start on food names.

The children are working so well together, enjoying each other and having fun learning.

BACK CLASS REVIEW
In February, we had a great month in which we learned about the human body and celebrated Valentine’s Day.

The children have been enjoying learning about the human body. They have been learning the bones that make up the skeletal system and about all their senses: sight, touch, sound, smell, and taste. Recently, the children had a circle where they were able to experience the difference between bitter, sweet, salty, and sour. They were able to use their sense of touch by doing fun fingerprint experiments during circle time.

Valentines Day was also a blast! The kids made fun Valentine’s Day cards, had tasty treat at the Valentine’s Day party, and exchanged Valentine’s cards with all their friends.

The children are learning so much, and having so much fun playing together. We look forward to watching them learn and grow more!

FRONT CLASS REVIEW
We hope you and your families all enjoyed a fun and relaxing holiday in December. The children were so excited to reunite with their friends after the break. We have had a lot of interesting and new activities in this new season, month and year!

At circle time, we learned about animals in the Arctic region, as well as land and water forms like lakes and islands (and many more). We continue with French on Fridays, and the children have been very excited to begin leading our show and tell circle time. This month we spoke about M.L.K. day and the Chinese New Year holiday with the help of a guest speaker/parent. Thank you Julia! We held A LOT of birthday circles (ceremonies) this month, which is such a special moment and is something the children really look forward to.

Our classroom also launched off our human body unit in mid-January. We are beginning with body parts and skin and are now covering the 5 senses, to include touch, sight, taste, hearing and smell. Next month, we will work inward to cover muscles, bones and organs.

Some more complicated works, with many steps, were introduced. We now have a hand-washing material and a table-washing work.

As the children learn more and more about the human body, this next month should be very exciting!

BACK CLASS REVIEW

In January, the class was ready for the children with winter-themed materials. After the break, the kids were excited to see their friends and talk about the gifts they received and the trips they went on.

Once the kids were settled in, we began a geography theme where we talked about models and how our globe is a model too. We introduced the sandpaper globe and colored globe, and they saw how a flat map is formed from a round globe.

Different types of water and landforms were introduced, and kids learned the names of opposite landforms such as “peninsula and gulf,” and “lake and island.” We also learned about the layers inside our earth.

In science, we learned about how hot air goes up and cold air moves down. We did an experiment to see it. We also saw how shadows are formed.

Soon we will be moving into our big unit: The Human Body. The children will learn about their own body and how it is similar and different from others.

FRONT CLASS REVIEW

December at school went fast. We started already in late November with the secret presents for moms and dads for under the tree. There were cards to be made and wrapping to be crafted and off course the main gifts to be designed. The children had a lot of fun choosing and preparing; we hope you are enjoying their gift for you!

Alongside we learned some Christmas favorites like: “Rudolf the red nosed reindeer” and “Frosty the snowman” as well as “Jingle Bells”. We learned a little about Hanukkah and Kwaanza and took a trip around the Christmas-celebration world like Santa on a surfboard and having a BBQ – only in Australia!

On Tuesdays we continue with our science projects. In December we looked at a candle’s behavior under a glass in a bowl of water and started to grow our own crystals. The children have good ideas when it comes to asking the question for our experiment. They come up with their own hypothesis and are keen observers during the procedure. They understand the drawn conclusion and look forward to the next science day.

The book exchange was fun as always, but our last day with the Christmas celebration was a nice end to 2017’s school time.

We are happy to see you all back and we hope everyone had a lovely holiday break! We are now getting started with new topics for January and the children are already enjoying learning about landforms and the layers of the earth.

BACK CLASS REVIEW

During December, we got into the holiday spirit! The kids not only learned about Christmas, but Christmas all around the world. When teaching the children about Christmas, we also taught them about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and even what Christmas is like in China. The kids also did a variety of holiday-themed works, such as learning how to play the game Dreidel, sewing paper mittens together, and learning parts of a Christmas tree. One of our front classroom teachers, Ms. Dykstra, taught the children about the history of St. Nicholas. The children made ornaments for our classroom Christmas tree and special presents for each of their parents.

The kids also have been learning about extreme weather conditions during our science-themed circle time once a week. Our class also enjoyed participating in the Book Exchange, where each child brings in a book that they own, and during the book exchange, gets to choose a new book (that one of their friends brought in) and take it home. Finally, for our in-house field trip, we had Ms. Govindaraj’s friend Radha come in and play the Indian string instrument, the veena, for us. The kids were ecstatic for the holidays! We hope you enjoyed your vacation and that everyone is excited to come back to school and begin some new topics!

FRONT CLASS REVIEW

This month, our front classroom has been as busy as ever! At circle time, the children have been learning about the Pilgrims’ journey to North America, as well as about the Native Americans (Wampanoag people) who lived in the region.
We have also been continuing with French on Fridays, and science lessons on a Tuesdays. We have practiced our earthquake drill and talked about what causes

earthquakes, as well as how we stay safe if an earthquake happens. After the windstorm, we talked about power outages and what makes the power go out. We have practiced our scientific observation and memory skills as well! The children have been enjoying working with each other on lessons, as well as celebrating Thanksgiving together with songs, poetry, crafts, and a classroom “feast.” It has been great to see everyone becoming comfortable in the classroom and gradually widening the number of activities they are willing to try. The older children have also been enjoying a leadership role as they teach the younger children some of the lessons they have mastered!

BACK CLASS REVIEW

This year’s November has been typical for Seattle, with lots of dark, gloomy, and wet days. Yet, the kids are having lots of fun learning and experiencing new things in class every day. This month’s theme in school has been Thanksgiving. From the beginning of this month, we learned about pilgrims and how Thanksgiving came into existence. Kids built turkeys using pine cones and hand prints, and wrote what they are thankful for on the tails. They also made bonnets and headbands to reflect the Native American spirit. We read the book Stone Soup , and as in the story, all the kids contributed vegetables to make the soup. They also prepared butter and pumpkin bread for their feast. On Wednesday, November 22nd, they all enjoyed their self-prepared feast! There were no complaints! Apart from Thanksgiving activities, we continued our class curriculum. We practiced wood polishing, metal polishing, and bubble making. We also learned about the water cycle and we worked on science experiments about static electricity and the bending of light. Next month, here in creative Montessori, we are very excited about Christmas activities, and we are sure the kids will enjoy the month making holiday-related projects.

FRONT CLASS REVIEW

This month, the kids are using and learning from all the Montessori materials, are involved in making art projects, and are getting to know each other. Many strong friendships are developing. Every week, we include lessons on French and science, which the children are enjoying. We started the month by talking about the season of Fall, the reason for leaves turning color, and the parts of a leaf. We went on to learn the continent names, and we have a song about the continents that we often sing.

As we are getting closer to Halloween, we’ve learned about the parts of a pumpkin and how they grow. We will be carving our own pumpkin near the end of October. Every day, we sing Halloween songs or have a Halloween story. On the actual day of Halloween, we will show off our costumes and have a healthy treat together. Mrs. Govindaraj, who is from India and teaches in the back class, told us about the celebration of Diwali and showed us beautiful saris and colorful sand designs that she was able to make before our eyes.

BACK CLASS REVIEW

It has been an exciting first couple of months. The older students have had a lot of fun showing the younger students how the Montessori classroom works. The kids have also been very busy having fun, learning, and making new friends.

At circle time, we have been learning about the calendar, reading books, singing songs, and taking part in a variety of musical activities.

The kids are singing and enjoying the “Light a Candle for Peace” song, which helps us focus on how to treat each other with kindness and respect. Along with practicing kindness toward each other, we have also been focusing on practical skills that build independence. We are teaching the children to hang up their coats, serve their own snacks, and pour their own water. As they learn how to do more for themselves, they gain a great sense of accomplishment.

This month, the children have also been enjoying Halloween-based materials and art projects.

We look forward to what the rest of the school year will bring at Creative Montessori!