Welcome new families and returning families! We had a great first week of school and enjoyed meeting new friends and learning the expectations of the classroom. We practiced using our walking feet in the classroom, choosing work and returning it to the shelf, carrying and rolling out a mat, walking around each others work, saying excuse me and turning the pages of a book carefully. The children were very eager to try new activities and revisit some of their favorites.
On Tuesday and Friday morning, Zeanny visited and did a Spanish lesson with the older children. They worked on colors and parts of the body. Spanish lessons for all students will be Tuesday mornings and the Kindergarten will get extra practice with an additional lesson on Fridays. Thanks Zeanny!
Some books we read this week: The Kissing Hand, Our Peaceful Classroom, The Mixed-Up Chameleon and 999 Tadpoles. We sang two songs about friendship, played our rhythm sticks, maracas and the really BIG drum at music. We did two yoga poses at circle: “Mountain”and “Butterfly”. See if your child can show you!
Over the next couple weeks we will be learning more about our classroom, talking about fall and thinking about family/community. Our family/community unit will start by learning more about ourselves and one another. This week we learned that everyone has a name and it’s our own distinct sound. We made macaroni name collages and our older students practiced writing their names the “Kindergarten way” (first letter upper case and the rest lower case). To help us with this unit, please decide with your child one item he/she would like to share to help us learn more about him/her. It does not have to be complicated, it can be a special toy or a picture of a family pet, etc. Your child can bring in their item on Wednesday or Thursday this week and we will share them at circle.
Thanks for a great first week!
Montessori Moment:
Montessori believes that all children are capable, and by allowing them to do things for themselves they will experience joy and develop confidence and self-esteem. As your child begins to become comfortable in their morning routine, have them show you how they take off their shoes, put on their slippers and hang up their belongings.
“Any child who is self-sufficient, who can tie his shoes, dress or undress himself, reflects in his joy and sense of achievement the image of human dignity, which is derived from a sense of independence.” -Maria Montessori