Dear Parents,

We took some time to reflect on parent-teacher conferences since we had some requests from parents to help with individuals in their home life.  We all know how kids can act entirely different as soon as they walk out the door, so sometimes it is helpful for us to hear about these behaviors in order to help in addressing any issues.  This week, we  spent some time to talk to the kids about how respect is not just something that we practice at school, but throughout the day.  We took a break from the work cycle for a couple of days to focus on lessons on respect to others, caring for ourselves, and caring for each other.  In addition, we gave reviews on material where kids seem to be struggling to use properly, and we also spent plenty of time learning new lessons.

Other requests from parents included a list of songs that we sing, so we gathered some links of our students’ favorite songs that have been taught this year.  You will always be able to find these links under the “Extra Extra” category on our drop-down menu, titled “Songs We Sing.”

Some parents were also curious about how we discipline and how to apply Montessori discipline at home.  We have added two 15 minute videos that you are welcome to watch whenever you have time, located under the “Extra Extra” category on the drop down menu:  Montessori Parenting Tips.

Favorite Works of the Week

Letter Mugs 

The children were excited to find that we added more tiny objects to our letter mugs.  While our students enjoy playing with the objects, there is a method of taking the objects out:  As they take the objects one at a time from the mug, our students are taught to trace a sandpaper letter, pronounce the letter sound, and say the name of each object.  We periodically check in on them to make sure that they are getting their sounds right.    

Land & Water Forms

The kids are just loving our animal models added to the land and water material.  During lessons this week, we talked about some places that we can find these land forms and what types of animals you might find there.  Some examples on maps that were shown included the gulf of Mexico, the peninsula that makes up Florida, the Great Lakes, and Greenland (“the world’s largest island”).  While this was a lot to take in, it was hard to say how much they would remember until we saw them during the work cycle putting the animals in their proper places.  One child who was using the lake work pretended it was part of the Great Lakes and also had the island work out that represented Greenland.  As she began to add the animals, she asked a teacher, “Which one do I add the fresh water fish to?”  How observant!

We will leave you with some more images of students working on other popular works below. 

Enjoy the weekend!

Angelique & Carrie