This month we loved learning about Dinosaurs!  This is a favorite unit of study for many of our students. These ancient creatures that once roamed the earth are fascinating to our students. We became paleontologists this month as we learned about the different characteristics of dinosaurs to help us understand if they were herbivores or carnivores. Most herbivores walked on four legs and had small mouths. Most carnivores ran on two legs, had claws for grasping its prey and big mouths. We used this information to sort dinosaur models into appropriate groups.

We also learned about amphibians this month. Amphibians are often confused with reptiles due to their many shared characteristics. Both are vertebrates, both are cold blooded, both lay eggs.  Amphibians differ from reptiles by laying their eggs in water. All amphibians start their lives underwater and breathe with gills. As they grow, they develop lungs and move out of the water onto land. Students had a chance to study the life cycle of frogs and label a few of the many different kinds of frogs and toads that live on our planet.

This month, we also studied different aspects of Asia. Ms. Melissa lived and taught in Japan for a year and shared some of her experiences with the class. We practiced using chopsticks in Practical Life and a favorite activity in the classroom was a puzzle from Tokyo that has the Japanese hirigana writing system on it, one of the 4 alphabets that the Japanese use. We also learned a few words in Japanese: tomodachi means friend, hashi means chopsticks, and ohio gozimas means good morning.

Thank you to all of our families for your thoughtfulness and generosity during Teacher Appreciation Week!  We truly felt loved and honored!

Here are some photos of our many activities in March:

P1 March Photos

Next month brings some very exciting events to our campus!  We will be doing a Food Drive for Three Square during the week of April 4-8.  Flyers will be distributed and boxes will be placed outside each classroom door for donations of canned and dried goods.  

We are also excited to be hosting Parent Child Night at the end of the month!  This is an opportunity for you to come into the classroom and let your child show you some of the wonderful things they do during the day.  Please sign up for a specific date and time to visit P1.  A link to Sign Up Genius will be sent out on Friday, April 1.  

Spring Break is April 11 – 15 with school resuming on Tuesday, April 19.  We hope you all have a wonderful time!

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to let us know.

Thank you!

Ms. Melissa, Ms. Diana and Ms. Kini

March 15 Blog

Zoology (the study of animals) is a large component of the Montessori curriculum.  We study animals for a variety of reasons.  They are interesting, sometimes cute and sometimes scary.  Learning about animals helps children classify the world around them.

As children study animals, they develop powers of observation.  By looking at the physical characteristics of an animal, we can tell if it is a mammal, a reptile, a fish, an amphibian or a bird.  Once we can recognize what kind of animal we are looking at, we know a great deal of information: Mammals are warm blooded, breathe with lungs, have fur or hair on their bodies and give birth to live babies. Reptiles are cold blooded, also breathe with lungs, have skin or scales covering their bodies and most of them hatch from eggs. Fish are cold blooded, breath with gills, have scales covering their bodies and lay eggs. This month we learned that amphibians and reptiles have much in common. They are both cold blooded. But while reptiles breathe with lungs, amphibians start their life under water and breath with gills! As they grow, their bodies change and they develop lungs. Their bodies are covered with skins and they lay their eggs in water. All of these types of animals have one thing in common:  they are all vertebrates. (Next month, we will wrap up our vertebrate studies with birds!)

Studying animals also helps us learn about the world. Different animals live in different places and need different things to survive (environment, food, water, shelter). Penguins can survive in the extreme cold of Antarctica, Bighorn Sheep can live in hot, dry deserts and coyotes are so adaptable they can live just about anywhere! This leads to an understanding of habitats and an appreciation for our planet as well as the importance of taking care of it so animals can live and thrive.

Learning about animals leads to reading, writing and research activities. As children develop reading and comprehension skills, they love doing their own research on animals. We always have books on the different animals we are studying so that students have the opportunity to look at pictures, make observations, read information and learn on their own.

Here are some pictures of past and current animal studies in P1.

Zoology Photos in P1

Thank you all for meeting with us for Parent Teacher Conferences. It was wonderful to take the time to talk with you about your children!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel let us know.

Thank you!

Ms. Melissa, Ms. Diana and Ms. Kini