Sunnybrook Montessori School

We read and chatted about the story We Are All Alike, We Are All Different then Monday students were introduced to self-portrait painting. We looked at some self-portraits by famous artists, particularly Frida Kahlo, whose primary subject was herself. We observed that the portraits were realistic and accurate, and discussed what eye, hair, and skin color we would use when creating our own self-portraits. The students looked at themselves in the mirror, drew heads, hair and facial features, mixed colors, and painted. Other children began working on their own self-portraits through the week, and we have begun a portrait gallery in the literacy area.

We read farm stories and sang some songs, including Old MacDonald, to prepare for our upcoming Harvest Festival. We discussed, read about and practiced a fire drill.

Makenna brought a special red instrument, uke-Larry, from Hawaii in on Thursday and we listened while she sang “In the Jungle” then we joined her for “Old MacDonald,” “Five Green and Speckled Frogs,” and “If You’re Happy and You Know it.

For Friday science we read about and discussed Living and Non-living, then sorted some items by whether they are alive and need air, water, and nutrients and can move independently, or not.

We spent our first week becoming familiar with the classroom, new friends, the routines, schedule, and expectations. There were so many new things to do and see! As we get into the year we will continue familiarizing ourselves with the environment and work on building and navigating relationships through targeted group and individual lessons and conversations. Some interactions and routines students began to practice were how to get a teachers attention when she is talking to another student (setting a hand on her shoulder), how to get another students attention when you have something to say (saying their name and maybe a gentle touch), how to show someone you are listening (looking at their face), how to take turns (asking, “May I have a turn when you are done?”), how to take out a mat and work and set it up, how to set up snack and lunch, how to line up and go outside safely, and how to respect others work by walking around their work mats.

We celebrated two birthdays. Our first friend introduced the Montessori Birthday Celebration by holding the globe and walking around the sun five times, once for each year she has been alive, while we counted her orbits and listed the seasons. She shared gold, purple, teal, and white mermaid cake pops with everyone.

Our second birthday girl was so excited to celebrate her day! She carefully held the globe and orbited the sun four times before we serenaded her with the Happy Birthday song. We enjoyed the pink cupcakes with blue frosting she baked as an after lunch treat, some of us getting blue from nose to chin in our endeavors to gobble them up.

We were introduced to a variety of percussion instruments and took turns playing various drums, rain sticks, maracas, guiros, etc.

During Friday science we discussed planet Earth, where we live, and that it is make up of land/earth (rock, soil, etc.), water, and air. We felt the sandpaper globe and found the rough spots of land and the smooth blue water. We then used the land, air, water mat to identify and place animals by where they travel and live.

Susan, we will miss you dearly as you move on to your house in Vermont for your second “retirement,” which you came out of to teach at Sunnybrook 4.5 years ago. There are just not enough ways to thank you for EVERYTHING you have brought to Sunnybrook.

Families, I imagine you all have seen the amazingness that is Susan at work. We were so fortunate to have her join us for four amazing years after she moved to the North Country from her life in Middlbury, VT where she founded and ran the Aurora School for 20 years.

Over these four years she has brought so much to Sunnybrook. Her wisdom, her experience, her deep knowledge about SO MANY things, her passion for and knowledge of music, her quick wit, her amazing songs and song making up abilities, her fabulous plays and performances, her energy and enthusiasm, her igloo building skills, her compassion and passion for children, her positivity, her love of learning, teaching, and exploring, her many strategies, skills, curriculum ideas, and activities, her open heart and mind, her strength, and her ability to see the best in those around her and challenge us to be and do better with those areas where we struggle. She has been an amazing teacher, mentor, and friend to all of us. She will be so missed! Thank you, Susan, for a wonderful four years. I so wish it could be more, but we know you will be loving life in Vermont with your family and friends and wonderful house and garden and your Sunnybrook apple trees to remind you of us. THANK YOU!!

For Monday art we read Right Outside My Window by Mary Ann Hoberman, then the children selected frames, measured paper to fit, then drew what they see right outside their windows. There were some exceptionally detailed drawings and they were sure to color the whole page, including the sky and grass, leaving no white space behind.

Zeanny joined us Tuesday morning for our final Spanish group. We sang the como estas song, the family song, and the finger counting song. We closed our eyes while Zeanny hid the cheese behind one of the family members then took turns guessing who ate the cheese. Zeanny then read the story Mortimer by Robert Munsch. We all love the parts where the family members go “bump, bump, bump” up and down the stairs, and when Mortimer loudly sings when he is supposed to be sleeping. To wrap up the morning we used the egg shakers to follow Zeanny’s directions. Thank you Zeanny for another wonderful year of Spanish!

During sign language Rose read and signed Llama Llama Red Pajama then we all sang and signed the “Butterfly, Butterfly, Fly, Fly Away” song. Thank you so much Rose for coming every Wednesday and teaching us sign language! We learned so many signs and had so much fun!

Kindergarteners reflected on their year and all the things they learned – so many things! Some of the things they shared were: how to do math, how to count by tens, listen to the teachers, to share toys, to take my time, to listen to my friends, to write new letters, to freeze on 50, etc. They then each decided what they learned as individuals then drew an illustration to show that and wrote a sentence about what they learned. Some children even asked to do several pages and make a book out of them. On the last day, day 170, they finished painting and counting the fence all the way up to our final day.

We did some art, jumped on the trampoline, cleaned and scrubbed, collected more insects and toads and slugs, took out bubbles for bubble blowing, went on some hunting adventures, and spent time playing with our friends and enjoying our last days.

We had some student photographers use the camera and they took some fun and silly photos of friends that absolutely needed to be shared.

On our last day of school we learned all about bees and the jobs they do! We read Bee then watched several brief videos about bees. We watched a queen bee laying eggs, a time lapse of an egg hatching and metamorphizing from a larva to a pupa to an adult bee, a video describing the 9 different bee jobs, and one about the jobs of the worker bee. We then played the bee game. Everyone chose a job, then got busy feeding the larva, fanning the hive and honey, laying eggs, guarding the hive, taking out the dead bees, cleaning the cells, and forraging for pollen and food, taking pollen from flowers and leaving pollen at other flowers and bringing some back to the hive. We changed jobs and tried doing something else for a while.

For our final goodbye we watched a video of the story Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney, about a young girl who decides she wants to travel to far away places, and when she is old to live by the sea. Her grandfather tells her that is all well and good, but she must do one more thing. She must do something to make the world more beautiful. When she is older and has travelled the world and lives by the sea, she finally finds a way to make the world more beautiful. She spreads lupine seeds all around as she walks each day, and in the spring there are pink, and purple, and white lupines everywhere they go.

Thank you for sharing your children with us. Thank you for your patience and flexibility as we navigated this year. Thank you for all your support and cooperation. We will those who are moving on and are looking forward to return of everyone else. Have an amazing summer!