A good time was had last Friday when our classroom was filled with the words and rhyming of Dr. Seuss and the eating of green eggs and ham.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many thanks to the following families for donating eggs, bread, and ham for our feast, including:

 

Jonas and his family,

Andrew and his family,

Zoey and her family,

Lucy,  Jack and their family,

Eli and his family,

Charlotte and her family,

Isaac and his family,

Paige and her family

A special thanks to Emma’s mom, Maria “the chef”, for making our delicious green eggs and ham.

 

 

 

 

 

We are excited to take our first, full class field trip on Tuesday, March 12^th to the Natural History Museum.  We need all of our students at school by 8:30am for an 8:45 departure.  We will return to school for our regular lunch time.  No need for paper sack lunches.

 

Thanks to Lola W. and her family for providing a delicious snack this week.

 

Have a restful weekend,

 

Ms. Lina, Ms. Nancy, Ms. Julie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We are winding up our month of learning about the oceans and the wonderfully interesting continent of Australia. It has led us to look at the great coral reefs, sea animals and to learn that the ocean is salty.  We are looking forward to studying the continent of Asia and to learn about reptiles, amphibians and dinosaurs next month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Dr. Seuss is a favorite author of the Foothills Montessori School and on Friday we read from his books while sampling the odd flavors of “green eggs and ham.”  Many of the students and teachers dressed up as their favorite Dr. Suess characters….”Do you like green eggs and ham?”  “I do not like green eggs and ham.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parent teacher conferences start next week.  We are looking forward to meeting with each of you.  Thursday (3/7) and Friday (3/8) school is dismissed at 11:15am so that conferences can be conducted in the afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Jack and Lucy and their family for providing delicious snacks this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a restful weekend.   En Espanol…”Tenga un buen fin de semana”

 Ms. Lina, Ms. Nancy, Ms. Nancy

 

 “Enero, Febrero,Marzo,Abril, Mayo, Junio, Julio, Agosto, Steptiembre, Octubre, Noviembre, Diciembre”  estos son los meses …January, February, March and April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November December, these are the months of the year.  The months of the year sung in Spanish and matched with a choreographed hand movement, cement in the children’s minds the sound and order of the months.

 “Enero, Febrero,Marzo,Abril, Mayo, Junio, Julio, Agosto, Steptiembre, Octubre, Noviembre, Diciembre”  estos son los meses …January, February, March and April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November December, these are the months of the year.  The months of the year sung in Spanish and matched with a choreographed hand movement, cement in the children’s minds the sound and order of the months.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Thank you for the big turnout for parent/child night and giving your children the opportunity to show you around their classroom and demonstrate some of the skills and knowledge they have acquired so far this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 One of the fundamental techniques of Montessori teaching is “the three-part lesson”.  This applies especially to the introduction of sounds and numbers.  For instance a couple of sand paper sounds may be introduced with the simple explanation “this is ‘a’”(two fingers are used to trace the letter while the sound of the letter is being shown).  Another letter is introduced in the same way.  The first aspect of the three part lesson is complete.  Then we prompt the student’s recall of the sound by saying “point to ‘a’”, “point to ‘s’”.  Finally, the third step is to recognize the sound by saying “which one is ‘a’?”, “which one is ‘s’?”.

 

We offer this technique to you as a tool to be used conversationally with your children when you are teaching them a new concept or reinforcing the learning of acquired knowledge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Andrew and his family for providing our delicious snacks this week.

Please be reminded there is NO SCHOOL on Monday, February 18^th in honor of President’s Day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a restful weekend,

 Ms. Lina, Ms. Nancy, Ms. Julie

 

 

 

 

“Hola, como estas?” “Hi, how are you?”  “Por favor” “Please” , “Gracias” “Thank you” are a few of the common Spanish words heard in our classroom as we begin our day together. “ Uno, dos, tres” “one, two, three” can be heard by the children as they count in Spanish.  “Por favor, venga al circulo, no mas trabajo,” “please come to circle, no more work” is an example of some of the daily instructions that our students hear as they experience the Spanish language in a natural and routine manner.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have found that singing in Spanish is also an easy and enjoyable way for the children to hear the rhythm of the language.  The children work with exclusive Spanish language materials in learning how to identify objects and pictures in Spanish.  They do this by learning how to pronounce, spell and associate the concepts in the Spanish language.  The Montessori math materials are also taught in Spanish, once the concepts are learned in English.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are looking forward to our parent/child night next Wednesday, 2/13 starting at 4:45pm (if your last name begins with A-M) and at 5:30 (if your last name begins with N-Z).  This is a great opportunity to experience the Montessori classroom through the eyes of your child.  It is not only a window into their daily routines, but it gives you a sense of the key strengths of a Montessori education of helping to create a foundation of order, concentration, coordination and independence in your child so a life-long love of learning can be ignited, guided and nurtured.

 

            “Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning.”

                                                            William Arthur Word

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please remember to help facilitate your child making their Valentine holder (decorated shoe box is suggested) at home and please bring it to school on 2/14.  Please bring 34 valentines signed by your child (not addressed to specific children) to school that day.   Our afternoon children are invited to come to school at 10:15am on that day.

 

Thank you to Thomas and his family for providing delicious snacks this week.

 Have a restful weekend,

Ms. Lina, Ms. Nancy, Ms.Julie

 We concluded our space exploration week with the Kindergarteners researching and presenting an individual planet in our solar system.  It was fun to watch the younger children look with curiosity at the process of the Kindergarteners engaging in the process and then to see their poise as they presented their planet.  The Kindergartener’s were then invited to make the presentation to P2.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We took an audio visual trip to India last week through the vivid presentation given to us by Krishna and his mom, Nalini.  It was a walk through Indian history beautifully shown and described.  Muchas gracias!

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week started with the amazing acrobatics of the Chinese performers.  It was amazing to witness their skill and balance in juggling balls, and hats and doing moves that took your breath away.  The children and teachers sat on the stage in the multi-purpose room and were treated to amazing gymnastic skills of defying gravity.  Some of the children were able to count the number of balls the female performer was able to juggle, starting with two balls and ending with four!  

 

 

 

 We are moving into the study of oceans and the continent of Australia.  We welcome parents to make a presentation to our class about either subject during the month of February.  

 

 Valentine’s Day is approaching and we ask that the children decorate a shoe box at home to collect their Valentine Day’s cards.  Please provide 35 Valentines’ signed (or not) by your child, but not addressed to individual students.  This will make the distribution process smoother.  We invite our afternoon children to come to school at 10:15am on Valentine’s Day to participate in our activities.  Please send them with a lunch. 

 Thanks to Rory and his family for providing delicious snacks this week.

 Have a restful weekend,

 Ms. Lina, Ms. Nancy and Ms. Julie