As we approach the end of our school year, we take a moment to reflect on the immense academic and social growth our students have experienced.

Reading on a continuous basis throughout the summer is vitally important for maintaining skills and encouraging the love of learning.  Our local libraries are great places to borrow books, get out of the summer heat, and experience the usefulness of learning the reading skill.

Don’t forget the blog is available to you during the summer and may be a fun way for your child to see pictures of their friends and to remember some of the lessons we did during the school year.

We are so grateful to our parents and for the tremendous amount of support we feel from you. Thank you also to those who chaperoned our field trips, helped prepare the monthly food projects, and came into the classroom to share life experiences that coincided with our cultural studies.  

Finally, we say a special thanks to Diana Valencia for being an outstanding room mother for us this year.  Muchas gracias!

Most importantly, enjoy the sweet satisfaction of the summertime, and the special opportunity for taking it easy and to not be in a hurry.  We look forward to seeing all of our returning and new students for the 2018/2019 school year.

As we approach the end of our school year, we take stock of the wonderful time we have had together.  There were wonderful moments of academic breakthroughs, especially when students read for the first time. A great deal of preparation goes into crossing that threshold. First sound recognition, then seeing who sounds are put together to form words. Decoding words and recognizing sight words comes next.  We were so pleased to hear many of our students reading fluidly and with inflection.

The end of the school year is usually filled with many activities and this year is no exception.  Last week, we celebrated with our Spanish fiesta where, for the second year in a row, Coronado High School Spanish students facilitated activities in the three Spanish immersion classrooms, the multi purpose room, and on the field.  We all spoke as much Spanish as we could and it was a wonderful chance for our children to see older students studying and using Spanish.

Parachute used during Spanish fiesta.

We know it is the end of the school year when we have field day!  This week, with the help of parent volunteers, Coach Bob had several water themed activities for our students.  There was an obstacle course, playing with all sizes of beach balls on the basketball court, and the ever popular activity of throwing water balloons.  A good time was had by all! A special thanks to Coach Bob and our parent volunteers (Evan, Laura, Diana, Mae) for helping to make this day fun for all.

A special thanks to Kristina (Jonny’s Mom), Laura (Skye’s Mom) and Celeste (Cora’s Mom) for creating a healthy and creative cooking project.

Mother’s Day Tea was held today, and we recognize the profound role that mothers and grandmothers play in our students lives.  It was a sweet morning of singing songs, enjoying each other’s company, and celebrating that special place in our hearts for our mothers.

Next Friday is Kindergarten Late Night! All Kindergartners are invited to attend from 5pm-8pm, while dinner and activities will be provided.  This is a special night where we celebrate our Kindergartners and treat them to a fun-filled evening shared together.

Wednesday, 5/23 is the Kindergarten moving up ceremony.  We will begin the celebration in P3 at 1:30 and at 2:00 we will move to the multi-purpose room to conclude the activities.  

A big thanks to Emmett, Aubrie, Carl, and their families for providing healthy and delicious snacks and beautiful flowers for our classroom.

REMINDERS

Friday, 5/18 from 5pm-8pm is Kindergarten late night.

Wednesday, 5/23 is our Kindergarten moving up ceremony starting at 1:30pm.

Friday, 5/25 is the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!  Dismissal is at 11:15am.

“Reduce, reuse, recycle” is the melody to a song that we have been singing in the classroom this month as we look at the importance of carefully using our natural resources. On that note, we encourage the children to pack a cloth napkin to use during lunchtime, eliminating the need for a paper napkin that must go in the garbage. School lunches come with a water bottle, which the children are in the habit of recycling.  Any leftover water is collected in a blue dish pan, which we pour on the plants outside. We started this recycling effort last year and the children naturally did it again this year.

This month, we are doing an experiment involving a green pepper and a plastic spoon.  We are observing the decomposition process of the green pepper day by day, and witnessing the plastic spoon has not changed one bit!  As the children will report, the green pepper is biodegradable and the plastic spoon is non-biodegradable.

Earth Day takes place on April 22, which gives us a chance to explain to the children that all of us are caretakers of the Earth.  We show respect to the Earth by being careful not to let the water just flow out of the faucet when we are washing our hands and brushing our teeth, to put our trash in the trash can, and to turn off lights if we are not in the room.  Caring for the Earth is the same as caring for ourselves.

We so enjoyed the parent presentations on South America.  Thanks to Cristy (Camilla’s Mom), Jenny (Hayden’s Grandmother) and to Heidi (Carl’s Mom) for sharing their experiences of living and traveling in South America.  

Our students love to learn from our parents and we look forward to future presentations.  We are talking about Africa and insects during the month of May. If you have any direct experience with those themes and would like to speak to the class, please let us know.Kindergartners enjoyed their “Pippi Longstocking” chapter book party with pancakes, hot chocolate, and whip cream.  They also got to be “Thing Finders” just like Pippi, and located wooden spools and beaded necklaces in the classroom.

REMINDERS:

Spanish Fiesta is scheduled for Wednesday, May 2nd at school from 9:00-11:00.  This is the chance for our students to enjoy arts and crafts, music, and food, all the while using their Spanish speaking skills to communicate with Coronado HS AP Spanish students.

Mother’s Day Tea is coming up on Friday, May 11th at 10:30am in P1. All mothers are invited to attend. If a mom cannot attend, please send a special someone in their place.  Each student is allowed one guest due to space restrictions in the classroom.

Kindergarten Late Night Party is happening on Friday, May 18th from 5:00-8:00pm. We will have a sign-up sheet available soon for parent volunteers to help make this celebration fantastic.

Kindergarten Moving Up Ceremony takes place on Wednesday, 5/23 from 1:30-2:30pm.

Gardening together with all of the kindergartners.

Thank you to Jonny and his family for providing our classroom with delicious snacks and beautiful flowers.  

During the  month of April we are studying South America, birds, recycling, and care of the Earth.  We have been recycling paper in the classroom since last year.

A separate trash can is set up in the room where we dispose of paper and paper towels.  Once a week, we also recycle the plastic bottles from pizza Mondays. Next week, we will be going on our final class field trip to Springs Preserve.We will make our way through the park and spend most of our time in the recycling display room.  Please be sure your child wears their orange, FMS shirt on Tuesday 4/10.

Figuring out which objects are recyclable and which ones are garbage.

As our school year draws to a close, we reflect on the growth and development we have seen in all of our students. 

Working with the binomial cube.

We have watched students emerge as break through readers, other students writing in full sentences, and budding mathematicians grasping operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with ease.

This is truly the springtime of our year where the fruits of our student’s efforts is seen in the quality and productivity of their work. Montessori instruction is process driven where each step in doing a work is methodically explained and then practiced by the student.

It is satisfying, as teachers, to see the academic and social roots in our students take hold. Playfully encouraging math skills and keeping up with reading (aloud or silently) are excellent strategies for keeping skills sharp, and for nurturing your child’s love of learning.  

REMINDERS

Spanish Immersion Fiesta (at school) on 5/2 from 9am-11am.

Working with the multiplication board.

Please join us for our annual Mother’s Day Tea on Friday, 5/11 at 10:30-11:15 am.  As classroom space is limited, we request only one guest per student (mom or other special relative/friend if mom cannot attend).

Kindergarten Late Night party (at school) on 5/18 from 5pm-8pm.

Kindergarten Moving Up Ceremony on 5/23 from 1:30-2:30pm.

Last day of school on Friday, 5/25  – dismissal is at 11:15am.

THANKS

A great big thanks to Noel and her family for providing delicious snacks and beautiful flowers for our classroom.

FMS embraces Dr. Seuss Day with unbridled enthusiasm because Theodore Seuss Geisel was an inspired humorist and author.

Every year in March, the entire campus celebrates the author’s birthday with activities focused around literature penned by Dr. Seuss.  Children dress up as their favorite character and we explore different ways of inspiring our students to experience the whimsy and depth of his stories.

Part of the joy of reading his books is his genius for creating interesting and fanciful stories that rhyme.  Rhyming is a skill that we weave into our language curriculum and is an invaluable tool for reading development.  It is especially helpful for early readers to experience literature from this playful and humorous vantage point.

We were very grateful to Brigid (Noel’s mom) and Andrea (Haley’s mom) for helping the children cook green eggs and ham; bringing to our senses the delicious creativity of Dr. Seuss’s ideas and writing.

Dinosaurs, amphibians and reptiles are front and center in our March studies, along with the people, plants and animals of Asia.

We encourage our families to share their cultures with the class, as it helps to bring to life book knowledge we share with the class.  We were grateful to Khadija (Fatimah’s mom) for sharing her experience of the cultures of India and Pakistan with our classroom.

The annual PTO Family Fun Run is this Saturday, March 17th. Please come run or walk, and enjoy a pancake breakfast with our community.  Benefits from the race directly support Project Imagine, a Nevada Arts in Medicine Program.

COOKING PROJECT

Making sushi in the kitchen with Kristina (Jonny’s Mom) and Celeste (Cora’s mom).

Half day dismissal on Friday, 3/23 as Spring Break begins!  Spring break is 3/26-3/30; teacher in service on 4/2. School resumes for students on 4/3.

A great big thanks to Haley, Willow, Carsyn and their families for providing delicious snacks and beautiful flowers for our classroom.