Dear Parents,

At this point in the school year, children have especially been learning in small groups based on their progress and readiness for different materials and concepts. We are considering each individual and their current path for growth, and soon enough, we will be sharing with you in detail about how your child is being challenged during the conferences coming up. In the meantime, just to get a better understanding on how the classroom is running at this point in the school year, many lessons are divided up into small groups that look like this:

New / First Year Students: Generally younger students who are ready for Montessori introductions in pre-academic areas, practical life materials, and more.

Advanced / Intermediate Students: Generally older students who have been in the Primary class for at least a year or two. They have learned the pre-requisites to our advanced Montessori materials, showing readiness in areas such as academics and Montessori extensions.

Note: While some students are on the verge of readiness in different subject areas and some could use reviews, they may occasionally find themselves in the opposite groups for exposure of lessons that will be beneficial for them.

To build community in the classroom, we make a point to mix the age groups and different stages of development for particular lessons in the classroom on a weekly basis, and we hope that you have been hearing about some of these activities. For example, you may have heard about “Science Fridays,” which had organically developed this school year by Ms. Lauren, as students have had rising curiosities and questions in our science area. This is one of the many examples of what we mean by the phrase “follow the child” in the Montessori Method; we do our best to find ways to incorporate our lessons around the students’ interests.

To give you an idea of all of the lessons that your children are seeing, we will share with you lists of recent lessons from the 3 types of groupings:

New / First Year Students, Advanced / Intermediate Students, and “All,” i.e., lessons that every child is included in (presented within mixed age groups).

Lessons Given to New / First Year Students in 2022

Practical Life

Grasping Works: how to sort tiny objects with fingers
Sponge Transfer Water Work
Intro. to Push Pins (and safety using sharp objects)
Screws & Bolts Works
Pouring with Pitchers: wet & dry pouring
How to Use Pencils, Scissors, Art Paper & Glue Sticks
Scooping Transfer Works: use of various spoons to transfer tiny objects
Dropper Work: transferring water from one vase to another
Tongs Works: how to hold and transfer tiny objects with tongs
Pin Cushion Work: decorating with pins & beads
Self-Serve Snack Station: how to serve yourself, eat safely and politely, & clean up afterward
Containers Work: opening & closing various containers

Math

1 through 9 Color Coded Beads: organizing and matching quantities to digits
Spindle Box: learning digits 1 – 9, the physical quantities, and organization
Small Rods: numbers 1 through 10
1 through 9 Miscellaneous Bead Sort

**1 through 9 Miscellaneous Bead Sort** – Ms. Lauren teaching the students how to sort beads and match the quantities to the digit on a grid.

Geography

Continent Puzzle & Globe
Continent Cards

*Color Coded Montessori Continent Cards*

Sensorial (Developing & Isolating our Senses)

Blindfold & Headphone Safety: for isolating senses with materials
Intro. to the Mystery Bag: exploring textures & vocabulary
Intro. to the Geometric Solids: vocabulary – cube / cylinder / cone
Color Matching Tablets
Color Hue Tablets: organizing colors from darkest to lightest
Red & Blue Cylinder Boxes: grading material & comparative/superlative vocabulary
Binomial Cube
Knobbed Cylinders: grading material & language around dimensions
Sound Cylinders

Language

Tracing Letters: lesson on tracing letters in dry star pasta
Intro. to Metal Insets: pre-writing activity on how to trace inset shapes
Beginning Sounds: introducing alphabet sets through phonetics
Intro to Letter Mugs: within each mug contains tiny “beginning sounds objects” for a (lowercase) letter. Children learn to say each object while matching it to the appropriate letter.
Intro. to 3 Part Cards: Montessori Nomenclature Cards – cards with pictures & words for matching & learning vocabulary words

Botany

3 part Cards for Flowers
Wooden Flower Puzzle
How to Build Plant Puzzles off to the Side of the Frames

Grace & Courtesy / Respect for Self & Environment

Ground Rules Review
Safety Around the Classroom: focus on mirrors, scissors, glass & fish Tank
Feelings Lesson on Kindness, Responsibility, & New Friendships
Using Our Words & Not Physical Aggression: including the dangers and consequences of biting, pushing, hitting

Miscellaneous / Montessori Inspired / Inventive Works

Rainbow Puzzle
Bead Sorting & Threading
Finding Order when Putting Puzzles Together: wooden puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, and more

Lessons Given to Advanced / Intermediate Students in 2022

practical life

Napkin Folding
Zipper Frame
Sweeping Work

Math

100 Cube Work
100 Board
Teens Board
Fraction Cards
Math Beads: sorting & organizing
Math Addition Work with Number Rods
Tens Board
Gem Addition Work & Writing Extension
Skip Counting with Felt Cards
Skip Counting by 10s & 100s

*Montessori 100 Board Lesson with Ms. Lauren*

Sensorial (refining the senses/ geometric solids materials including some direct & indirect math extensions)

Red Rods: maze extension
Color Mixing Paddles: extension with light board
Binomial Cube
Trinomial Cube

The Trinomial Cube is a complex puzzle box of 3 layers, including many steps such as organizing and shape recognition through the process of disassembling and rebuilding the puzzle. In the Primary Studio, the practice of the material can help in sharpening one’s memory, building problem solving skills, and refining dexterity. In Elementary levels, children learn an algebraic equation with this material.

Language

Letter Booklets & Writing Activities
Beginning Sounds Reviews
Metal Inset Extensions: indirect artistic writing preparation
3 Lettered Word Building with Nouns (note: the vowel is in the center of the word, for example: cat, dog, pin, mat)
Letter Sorting: z, y, x (lowercase)

Geography

South America Puzzle Map
North America & a Closer Look at the United States of America: maps, cultures, landmarks, etc.
Puzzle Map of Africa Countries
African Countries: lifestyles, landmarks, agriculture, etc.
Puzzle Map Reviews
Continent Coloring Pages

*Puzzle maps are rebuilt on a control paper that helps children to build location recognition*

Sciences

Skeletal Puzzle
3 Part Fossil Cards
Moon Phases Book & Puzzle

Grace & Courtesy / Respect for Self & Environment

Behavior at Home vs. School: ways to apply our school ground rules at home
Ways to be Helpful in Class
Cozy Area Lessons on Self Regulation
Exclusion & Considering Others’ Feelings
Expanding Friendships & Learning from Others
Kindness & Inclusiveness

*Self-regulation lesson with Ms. Rachael on breathing approaches with visual guides*

Miscellaneous / Montessori Inspired / Inventive Works

Chess Introduction: pawns motions

Lessons Given to All Students in 2022

Art

Daily: Art Activity Pages
Communal Art Collages
Pin Poking: learning to take a push pin and poke holes around a tiny shape to “pop the shape out of the paper,” for building coordination and refining the pincer grip
Lessons on Impressionism, Expressionism & Modern Art