We have had a wonderful year and feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to get to know you and your family. We want to wish you a safe and happy summer. Below you will see a few pictures from our Mother’s Day Tea, Field Day, and Kindergarten Late Night…Enjoy!
Reminder – the new school year begins August 12, 2019. See you next year!
“Do not tell them how to do it. Show them how to do it and do not say a word. If you tell them, they will watch your lips move. If you show them, they will want to do it themselves.” ~Maria Montessori
In the math area of the Montessori classroom, we have a special shelf designated for the learning of the decimal system. The shelf is home to the Golden Bead Material. We start by exploring the single bead that represents a unit or the ones place. We move on to the bar that is made up of 10 units in a row and represents the tens place. Ten of the bars connected together form a square which represents one hundred and the hundreds place. Ten of the hundred squares piled on top of each other comprise the one thousand cube or the thousands place. Each of the different place values are color coded. The ones is green, the tens is blue, the hundreds is red, and the thousands is green again, because the thousands are actually units of thousands followed by tens of thousands, etc.
The children are introduced to the decimal system with 3 basic exercises. First they build quantities with the bead material. We start building quantities with simple numbers. For example, “bring me 3 units.” Soon we combine numbers from different columns by saying, “bring me 5 tens and 7 units.” We then move on to large quantities of numbers by saying, “bring me 6 thousands, 3 hundreds, 2 tens, and 7 units.”
The second exercise is to find cards to represent the numbers given to them by the teacher. The child then learns to combine the numerals on the cards with the corresponding quantity of bead material.
The thousand chain is another material which the children can use to see what the thousand cube looks like when it is laid in a single row. The children count by tens to make it to 1000. With the chain being 27 feet long, the children are impressed with the great size of 1000.
The bank game is another favorite work of the children. This includes the exchanging of the Golden Bead material. The children use the Bank whenever they want to change units to tens, tens to hundreds, hundreds to thousands, or vice versa. Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing four place numbers can all be done with the Golden Beads. The children also enjoy doing the decimal layout to show all the decimal places with their quantity.
Important Dates:
May 10th: Mother’s Day Tea 8:30-9:15
May 16th: Primary Field Day
May 17th: Kindergarten Late Night (Kindergartners only)
May 22nd: Kindergarten Moving Up Ceremony (Kindergartners only)
May 24th: Last Day of School- Half-day dismissal at 11:15
We have been having a fun and busy couple of weeks. The children have been learning all about the Rainforest, South America, and Birds. We also had our very first Primary Field trip to Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary.
The children are fascinated by the Rainforest, including its 4 different layers. The children love learning about all the many animals which inhabit each layer. They especially like talking about the various noises each animal makes.
As we study South America, we have learned a lot about the diverse countries that make up this continent. The children each have their favorite fact and can tell you all about South America:
“Because South America has the Rain Forest.” ~Mattias
“Brazil, because it has a larger river.” ~ Avi
“Brazil, because I like it.” ~Miras
” I know there are Jaguars, sloths in South America. I like Uruguay and Argentina because they play soccer.” ~ Matis
“I like South America because there are baby jaguars. Fruit comes from South America.” ~Elizabeth
“I liked learning about the rain forest. I just like learning about animals in the rain forest. My favorite is the jaguar, because they are really pretty.” ~ Leyla
“I want to go to Brazil because I like the shapes of their buildings.” ~ Winter
“I like the Toucan because I like it when it flies.” ~ Llana
“My favorite thing about South America is the forest.” ~Hudson
“My favorite thing about South America is the rain forest and the toucan.” ~Will
South America Pin Punching
Our first Primary Field Trip was a huge success! The children had so much fun and were such great listeners. We saw goats, turkeys, peacocks, ducks, llamas, pigs and more birds. The children were able to explore Gilcrease and interact with various animals. We had a wonderful time!
We hope you each have an amazing and safe Spring Break!
Important Dates
April 15-19: Spring Break, No School
April 22: Teacher In-Service, No School
April 23-26: Teacher Appreciation Week
May 6: Primary Field Trip to Shark Reef
May 10: Mother’s Day Tea 8:30-9:15
May 16: Primary Field Day
May 17: Kindergarten Late Night
May 22: Kindergarten Moving Up Ceremony at 1:30
May 24th: Last Day of School; Half day dismissal at 11:15
“Children display a universal love of mathematics, which is par excellence the science of precision, order and intelligence.” ~Maria Montessori
The math curriculum in the Montessori classroom focuses on using concrete materials which the children are able to manipulate. The material allows for a deeper understanding of the math concepts, rather than simply teaching math in an abstract way in the elementary years. When the materials are available during the early years, children can easily and joyfully assimilate many facts and skills of arithmetic. Maria Montessori created concrete materials to represent all types of quantities. Not only do the children see the symbol for 1, 1000 or 1/2, they can also hold each of the corresponding quantities in their hand.
Later, by combining the equipment, separating it, sharing it, counting it, and comparing it, he can demonstrate to himself the basic operations of arithmetic. The children are able to learn by discovery rather than by being told, and eventually develop a love for the world of numbers.
Some of the materials the children are first introduced to include: the red and blue rods, the spindle box, numerals and counters, Seguin Boards.
The red and blue rods consist of rods alternately colored representing the quantities one through ten. The child will count in alternating red and blue sections starting with the smallest one called ‘one’, the next rod ‘two’, and so forth. The numerals are also then learned through tracing them with the sandpaper numbers.
The spindle box represents a parallel exercise in associating the numerals with the proper quantities. The numerals are in a fixed order and the quantities are loose. There are ten compartments labeled 0-9 and spindle rods in a separate basket. The child is first introduced to the number 0. While attempting to place a spindle in the zero compartment, the children are directed that zero means nothing. The child will continue to place spindles in each compartment.
Numerals and counters, the symbol and quantities, are both loose and must be placed in order by the child doing the exercise. After placing the numeral cards, the child will place the appropriate number of counters under each figure, placing the counters in rows of two. Each odd number only has one disc in the bottom row and the even numbers have two counters in the bottom row. This is also teaching the concept of odd and even.
The Seguin Board teaches the children all about teen numbers. They also place the quantities to match with the numerals.
Next month we will continue to discuss math and the materials the children are able to manipulate when learning about place values.
Important Dates:
March 21st: Half-Day dismissal at 11:15 am; Parent-Teacher Conferences
March 22nd: No School for students; Parent-Teacher Conferences
March 30th: Middle School Parking Lot Sale
We had a wonderful February full of love and working together. We had a blast at our Valentine’s Day party and are so thankful for Ale, Priscilla’s mom, for decorating heart cookies with our friends. The children loved decorating their bags and receiving Valentine Cards from each other.
This month we have been learning about Australia, Oceans, and different animals. In practical life, the children have been able to create their own ocean scene. The children scooped blue jello into a cup, crushed up cookies for sand, and added a gummy fish to swim in the water. This activity was by far one of the favorites. Thank you to everyone who helped supply the ingredients for this project.
The Kindergartners explored marine life at Estes McDoniel Marine Lab. They were able to explore different animals and they even got to hold some. We had a great trip with a lot of great information learned.
Important Dates:
Friday, March 1st: Dr. Seuss Day
Saturday, March 16th: PTO Family Fun Run
Thursday, March 21st: Half-day dismissal at 11:15am; Parent-Teacher Conferences in the afternoon.
Friday, March 22nd: No school for students; Parent-Teacher Conferences all day.
Saturday, March 30th: Middle School Parking Lot Sale