In a multi age Montessori classroom, there are many advantages for students to learn from each other. Our preschoolers and pre-kindergarten students have ample opportunities to learn from the Kindergartners, and our Kindergartners get to share their knowledge and experience with their younger peers. All of this interactions help solidify the relationships between the students and it helps foster independence in everyone.

We are studying the continent of South America this month and are focused on the four layers of a rain forest.

We discovered a wonderful way for our students to interact with the curriculum theme, by positioning a large wall lesson and then having the students color, cut and then tape specific animals on the wall. We started with the coral reef in February then dinosaurs in March and now we have animals of the rain forest. This becomes a wonderful visual reference for all of us and gives students ample opportunities to interact with themes in a hands-on manner.

REMINDER

We are starting our primary service project next week and asking our families to donate: 

New baby clothes (onesies are great) 

Diapers sizes 1-3 

Baby hygiene (baby wash, hand sanitizer and baby wipes)

Baby board books

Thank you so much for your generosity!!

With gratitude we say THANK YOU! The decorations, the sweets, the flowers, the gifts the donations all made us feel so special. Thank you for your wonderful support in making this school year one to remember and one to cherish. To think that we were able to unite and figure out a method for navigating through this unusual year is commendable.

We are wrapping up our month in studying Asia this week. We were given a thorough and creative presentation about the Philippines by Ms. Pauline.

Peer reading is one method for students to practice their skills, both reading and listening. Many jobs in our Science area are about categorizing and labeling parts of the object being studied. Dinosaurs are classified as carnivores (meat eaters) and herbivores (plant eaters).

Kindergartners working with their younger friends. Using language boxes, matching and using the puzzle maps.

Sharing a favorite book with the kindergarten class.

PRIMARY SERVICE PROJECT

Every Spring, the Primary classes do a service project for our community reaching out with needed supplies, food, books. This year, we have chosen the Lullaby Connection, a local organization the helps new mothers with basic, new born supplies. Beginning April 12th through April 23 families can purchase items from Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc for the Lullaby Connection and have them shipped to school.  Items must be new.  A complete list and further details for families will be provided after Spring Break

Spring break begins at the end of this week! Have a safe and restful time together.

We will see you back on Tuesday, April 6th!

Every morning P4 students are invited to work in our outdoor classroom. Managed by Ms.Gayle, an assortment of activities, games, art projects and large motor activities await our students. Ms. Gayle provides work that mirrors the monthly curriculum and easily reinforces the themes that we are talking about inside the classroom.

Students learn to interact and communicate with each other as they enjoy materials mirroring daily life.

Fine motor skills are refined by the numerous opportunities for coloring, painting and relaxing outside.

Being outside enjoying the sunshine and fresh air while practicing grace and courtesy are the hallmarks of our outdoor classroom.

Enjoying the mud kitchen!

Large motor skills are tested on obstacle courses that Ms. Gayle creates.

Welcome to our study of the five oceans and Australia. We are featuring the Great Barrier Reef which gives so much aquatic life around the continent of Australia and so much joy to the people who have seen and swam around the coral reef. We also learned that coral are animals, not plants.

Giving our students the opportunity to color and cut out aquatic animals has blossomed this plain wall into a colorful representation of the Great Barrier Reef.

Learning about shells coming out of the oceans. We noticed the spiral shapes that many shells take.

We had a lovely and festive Valentines Day celebration decorating cookies, playing games and making little valentines for each other.

REMINDERS:

PTO meeting tomorrow 2/18.

Celebration of Dr. Seuss Day on Tuesday, 3/2. Students may dress up as their favorite Dr. Seuss character. We will have fun activities in the classroom that day.

Well, we made it through our virtual learning weeks together! Thanks to all our wonderful parents and our incredible students we were able to keep the academic flow going!

We finished studying our solar system, including learning about each of the 8 planets, the sun and the the asteroid belt. There are still many mysteries in our universe, including that the vast majority of space is void of any light at all! We hope you had some enjoyable times stargazing, moon gazing and seeing our beautiful sunsets!

During the month of February we will be studying the continent of Australia as well as the oceans and the myriad of plants and animals who live in the oceans.

REMINDER

No school on Monday 2/15 in observation of President’s Day.