Sunnybrook Montessori School

The cold winds limited our outdoor time, but we got out every day at least briefly to expend some energy and soak up some fresh air.  Most of the children didn’t even seem to notice the cold as they busily shoveled and pulled each other around in sleds. At the art table the children used droppers to drop paint onto paper then used straws to blow the paint around.  They had a lot of fun and created many colorful works of art. We had snow in the sensory table once again, which, unlike the snow outside, could be molded as it began to warm and melt.
The bear cave that the students created last Thursday was very busy all week.  There were lots of bears and puppies making good use of it. Clementine peeling and eating was available all week as a practical life activity.  After washing hands for snack, the students were welcome to enjoy one (or two).
We continued to learn about food and where it comes from.  We read about grocery stores and the various departments in the store where we can find different kinds of foods.  We learned about the produce department, the meat department, the dairy cooler, the bakery, frozen foods, and all of the aisles housing canned and boxed items.  We started reading the book, Where Does Our Food Come From?, which talks about the various food groups.  We began by learning about grains, which are the seeds of different types of grasses.  We focused on wheat to begin with.  Lyn told the story of the “Little Red Hen”.  We are looking forward to baking our own bread next week! For Friday science we read about the sense of sight.  We talked about various characteristics that we can use our sense of sight to explore.  Color is one characteristic that can only be distinguished using our vision.  We played charades.  Each child chose one thing to be or do, then acted it out.  We raised our hands until we were called on to share our guess about what the actor was being or doing.  Some of the things we saw were a bunny, a fish, a flat tire, a sea shell, and a fire engine.
Books we read:

The Supermarket by, Gail Saunders-Smith

Winter by, Sian Smith and Rebecca Rissman

Where Does Our Food Come From? By, Bobbie Kalman

Today is Monday by, Eric Carle

Calendar by, Myra Cohn Livingston

Good Bread by, Brigette Weringer

Little Red Hood by, Marjolaine Leray

Seeing by, Rebecca Rissman

Walter the Baker by, Eric Carle
Songs we sang:

A Ram Sam Sam

Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

Green Jelly Bean

Jump Jim Joe

If You’re Happy and You Know It

The Hokey Pokey

Four Seasons Every Year

Five Days of the Week

Twelve Months of the Year (another Lyn original)

January, February, March and April

May, June, July and August

September, October, November and December

There are twelve months of the year

Today is Monday

I Like to Eat Apples and Bananas

Who Are the People In Your Neighborhood?

In order to help the process of using the bathroom and getting dressed to go outside, the class has been divided into three groups which stay together with the same teacher each day.  As we have gotten into the routine, things are moving more quickly and easily, which will hopefully streamline the process and get us outside faster.  This week, despite the cold temperatures, the children were anxious and ready to be out shoveling and sledding and moving their bodies. For Monday art the children took turns drawing with crayons on a warm griddle.  They discovered that they had to draw very, very slowly for the crayons to melt.
At the art table during the week the students used mittens to paint.  Some children really enjoyed it, while others stayed far away! (unfortunately we missed getting pictures of this glorious activity).

The new classroom arrangement was quickly mastered and encouraged the children to slow down.  To reinforce this classroom expectation, everyone walked slowly around the room, consciously attending to the way a walking body moves.  We noticed that our arms swing less, our knees stay lower, our steps are closer together, and our hearts beat slower than when running.
To begin learning about food and where it comes from, we each shared our favorite foods, everything from strawberries to cake.  The following day we shared where our food comes from.  Where do we get it?  The children listed everything from the garden in the back yard, to restaurants, to grocery stores, to the farmer’s market, to plants and animals.  We will continue to learn all about where food comes from over the next several weeks.

We spent some talking about emotions, particularly anger, and how to handle strong feelings.  We reiterated that it is okay to get angry, everyone gets angry about things, but it is the way we manage that anger that is important.  We talked about what happens to our brains when we get angry – that the reasoning part of our brain stops working when the emotions part takes over, so it is important to walk away and calm down before trying to have a discussion or solve a conflict.  We discussed ways we can be attentive to other people and their feelings, as well, and how to make amends when we have hurt or done something unkind to someone. The children were very engaged and thoughtful and full of ideas and suggestions.

Thursday afternoon the children had a lot of fun painting the bear den.  They were covered in paint from head to toe, but they really enjoyed painting then cleaning up the floor and chairs when they were finished. What a mess they made!
For Friday science we explored another of five senses – the sense of touch.  We drew attention to all of the properties of an object that we could explore using our sense of touch; temperature, weight, shape, texture, hardness, wetness, sharpness, etc.  Each child used only their hands to explore and describe the properties of an item, then guess what it was based on how it felt.  Everyone used a variety of descriptors and easily identified their objects.

Stories we read:

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik

Somtimes I’m Bombaloo by Rachel Vail

Understand and Care by Cheri Meiners

Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart

Touching by Rebecca Rissman

Songs we sang:  (see last weeks’ post for additional links)

Boom Chicka Boom

Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

Four Seasons Every Year

Mr. Sun

Ram Sam Sam

Open Shut Them

Jump Jim Joe

Green Jelly Bean

If You’re Happy and You Know it (Our version)

The Hokey Pokey

It was great to return to school after the break.  Everyone seemed happy to be back and ready to get back into things. Winter finally arrived and all things winter were the theme of the week! The sleds and snow shovels were put to good use.  Friends took turns pulling each other around or running, jumping in, and gliding.  As it was too cold and dry to form a proper snowball, piles of snow gradually decreasing in size were formed to create sleeping snowmen.
For Monday art the afternoon students braved the frigid temperatures to make ice art.  They poured water into trays and cups and added color and strings.  When they froze, we hung them from the tree in the playground, being careful to position the heavy ones within the tree fence so they would not fall on any heads! The art table had ice paint for the children to paint with. The sensory table was filled with snow.  We observed it change from dry, fluffy snow to wet, malleable snow as the warm air gradually melted it.  It was fun to wear mittens and play with snow inside. We celebrated two birthdays on Tuesday – a 4^th and a 5^th.  We enjoyed counting for the birthday boy and girl as they orbited the sun with the earth.  Before enjoying the delicious batman and vanilla cupcakes, we sang happy birthday in celebration. When we sat for circle time, the children discovered that each triangle had a name on it.  Everyone had fun finding their own name and sitting on their own triangle.  We reiterated the circle time expectation of raising hands to speak, and introduced how to make the toilet sign in sign language so that the teachers will know when someone needs to use the bathroom.

This week we discussed winter.  We read and talked about how the tilt of the earth changes the amount of daylight that parts of the earth get depending on where it is in its’ orbit around the sun.  The changes in daylight cause the earth to cool off as the days shorten then heat up as they lengthen.  We talked about what type of weather we get when it is winter.  We discussed snow and ice and what different animals do in the winter, such as hibernate or migrate.  We also talked about how people and other mammals stay warm.  We put our hands in a bucket of ice water and held ice cubes in our bare hands.  We then tried holding ice cubes with a blubber mitten to see how some animals have a layer of fat that helps to keep them warm.  We discussed how to dress for the outside and learned a song about what order to put our winter clothes on.

For Friday science we began to talk about senses.  This week we explored the sense of taste.  We learned about bitter, sour, sweet, salty, spicy/hot (piquance) and Umami (savory/meatiness).  We taste tested a variety of foods and discussed which categories of flavors they were, including maple syrup, lemon juice, chocolate powder, salt, pickles, grapefruit, apple, dried cherries, apricots, orange, chocolate caramels, salted almonds, black pepper, and lime juice.
In the afternoon the students helped to rearrange the classroom. They rolled and moved rugs, moved tables, swept up dirt hidden under rugs and shelves, pushed the piano to a new spot, and moved materials. Our classroom looks very different now!
Songs we sang:

A Ram Sam Sam

Four Seasons (A Lyn original)

There are four seasons every year (x3)

Caused by the tilt of the earth

Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall (x3)

Caused by the tilt of the earth

If You’re Happy and You Know It  (our own version, which gives strategies for dealing with negative emotions)

Sad – get a hug

Frustrated – walk away

Angry – take some breaths

Days of the Week

Boom Chicka Boom (we do high voice, low voice, loud voice, quiet voice rather than the traditional version of styles)

ABC’s

The Snow Pants Song (tune of Frere Jacques)

Snow pants first, snow pants first

Then your boots, then your boots,

Put your jacket on; put your jacket on,

Hat then mittens, hat then mittens

Open Shut Them (first two verses)

Mr. Sun

Books we read this week:

Seasons of the Year by, Margaret Hall

Yo! Yes? by, Chris Raschka

Snow by, Uri Shulevitz

Time to Sleep by, Denise Fleming

Over and Under the Snow by, Kate Messner

Tasha Tudor’s Five Senses by, Tasha Tudor

Tasting by, Rebecca Rissman

The feel of winter was not really in the air, as temperatures stayed above freezing, bringing rain rather than snow.  We took advantage and continued to bike, dig, and rake, and of course run, run, and run! Monday students went up into the chapel for the first time to practice their skit for the winter performance.  While up there, they took a tour around the room and examined the stained glass windows with beautiful colored pictures, mostly of flowers. For art, they used the windows as inspiration to create their own “stained glass” art work.   They drew pictures on black paper, which I carved out, then they covered the spaces with colored plastic.  When placed on the window, they created a lovely scene. Our circle times were once again dedicated to practicing for the winter performance, which we did upstairs in the chapel.  The children practiced lining up in order, filing onto the stage, singing, filing off, and quietly sitting in the pew to watch the Monday/Friday students practice their skit of The Mitten.  It was exciting to be in the big beautiful room, but they were respectful and attentive and sang loudly so that all of the spectators would be able to hear them.
Sugar cookies were the big project this week.  On Tuesday a large group of students helped to measure, combine, and mix the ingredients.  When we had formed a nice dough, we placed it in the refrigerator to chill for Wednesday, when each child chose two shapes to cut and cook. Pajama day finally arrived on Thursday, bringing a great deal of excitement and the fun of a giant tent.  The children decorated and ate their cookies, watched popcorn pop then enjoyed munching it up, and mixed up hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows.  They constructed with the Magna-tiles, played their favorite card game “Sleeping Queens,” read stories, did puzzles, and drew pictures.

On Friday the children went upstairs to practice for a final time, then returned to the classroom to do some work before heading out to play.  Everyone was excited for the performance and ready for winter break, so they had a quiet afternoon hanging the button wreath ornaments for the families, playing “Sleeping Queens,” making flowers for the quiet game, reading stories, and playing house.

The winter performance was a huge success!  The children were very entertaining and truly did an exceptional job with all of the songs.  Thank you so much to all of the families who attended.  It was wonderful to see so much support for the children!

Some books we read this week:

Penguin by Polly Dunbar

Winter is Coming by Tony Johnston

Five Ugly Monsters by Tedd Arnold

The Twelve Days of Christmas Illustrated by Jan Brett

Twas the Night Before Christmas Illustrated by Matt Tavares

The Polar Express by Christ Van Allsburg

Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Ruben