Sunnybrook Montessori School

Our week was dedicated to preparing for Bring Your Family to School Night.  The students finished up invitations and family portraits at the art table.  We practiced giving a tour.  Each student chose three of their favorite materials to demonstrate for their families.  Everyone was quite excited to bring their families to school and show them what they enjoy doing while there.  It was great to see so many families.  Thank you for attending!
Firemen were busy putting out fires both on the playground and in the classroom.  We read about what to do if there is ever a fire in your house.  We practiced stop, drop, and roll, crawling underneath smoke, and calling for help so firemen would be able to find us.  We talked about developing an escape plan and arranging a meeting place with our families, and some children shared that they have already done this. The sensory table was filled with spherical black eyed peas, which were fabulous fun!  They were quite determined to roll all over the classroom floor, and the children (and teachers) were busy sweeping them up all week. We celebrated a fourth birthday this week. We counted four orbits of the earth around the sun while the birthday girl held the globe. After singing “Happy Birthday” she blew out the candle sun and everyone enjoyed the delicious Minnie and Mickey Mouse cupcakes. Yum!At the science table the children began to study New England wildlife, including moose, deer, skunk, bear, raccoon, coyote, beaver, bats, owls, etc.  They also enjoyed examining the beautiful glass gem corn and various rocks in the rock basket. For Friday science we began to learn about rocks and how they are formed.  We read that there are three types of rocks, each formed in a different way.  The first type we learned about is igneous rock, which is formed when molten rock from within the earth cools.  If it cools on the surface, it forms extrusive igneous rock, one type of which is obsidian.  We also learned about granite, an intrusive igneous rock, which cools under the surface of the earth.  We did an experiment to “make” igneous rocks.  The children grated crayons, then watched as it melted over semi-hot water (unfortunately not quite hot enough to be fully effective).  We checked back on them as they cooled to see that they had hardened.  We will learn more about sedimentary and metamorphic rocks over the next two weeks.

Fall is in full swing. The yellow leaves showered down on us as the wind pulled them from the trees and the children chased them around the yard. Chase was the name of the game for the week, in all variations and versions – freeze tag, word tag, tiger, zombie, vampire, and eagle attack tag, tag and sit, and straight up chase and tag. The balls have also been travelling the yard, and the new basketball hoop from the Phillips-Hanson family has been put to good use! Monday morning students accompanied Tammy to the library to enjoy some music from the North Country Chamber Players, featuring a cello, a viola, and two violins.  They were enthralled with the music and listened very attentively to the performance. (Sadly the battery in the camera died, so we have no pictures).

For Monday art the students read about Mary Cassatt, who is known for her paintings of families and family members.  Each of the children drew their own family portraits to display for Bring Your Family to School night next Thursday.
The art table was constantly busy.  The children used glitter pens to draw pictures on the Family Night invitations, created many paintings with the dot paints and water colors, created comics, and did lots of cutting, taping, gluing, and coloring.

We were excited to be joined by two new friends and one new teacher this week.  Everyone was enthusiastically welcomed and shown around the classroom.  They have quickly become part of the group, engaging in conversation and play.  Welcome new friends!

This week we began to discuss more in depth the people in our community and the various ways that they are helpful.  We examined the many items that we purchased at the farmer’s market on Saturday, including cards, carrots, dried apples, wool, maple syrup, and fresh apples.  We read the story Good People Everywhere about how people all over the world do kind and helpful things. On Wednesday afternoon many of the students helped to mix up a couple pans of apple crisp.  They particularly enjoyed chopping the pecans with the nut chopper and tasting the different apples.  Everyone was offered some for snack the following day. On Thursday we walked to the library where we met Assistant Fire Chief Stephen Jones.  He talked to us about what to do if there is a fire in our house, including staying low to the ground under the smoke, and setting up an escape and meeting plan with our families.  We watched him dress in all of his gear, including his oxygen tank and mask.  We heard how his voice changed with the mask on, and saw that although he sounds and looks different, his job is to help keep us safe.  After removing his gear, we joined him outside to check out the fire truck.  We got to see all of the compartments that hold the tools, the ladders, and the hose hook up.  Everyone who wanted to got to go up into the cab and check out the inside of the truck. For Friday science we read the story What is the World Made of? and we learned about liquids, solids, and gasses.  We did several experiments that demonstrated how liquids, solids, and gas all take up space (a tricky concept to understand).

Three families joined us for our Farmer’s Market Field Trip on Saturday, October 3rd, which was a beautiful sunny fall day.  First we visited with Melissa Grella, the market manager, and her husband, Kyle van der Laan, who is a Sunnybrook alumnus and our Board President.  After posing for a picture we went around to meet many farmers and examine the goods they had for sale.  We met David and Andrea Craxton and purchased some cards from them.   We met farmer Shawn Conant, where we were treated to some delicious raspberry treats and dried apples.  We purchased some carrots and dried apples from him to enjoy for snacks at school. Next we met Crestin, who was selling wool that he had sheared and died.  We chose several colors to use for a felting art project later in the year.
  We took some time to listen to the musicians on the bandstand and do some dancing before moving on to meet Jeremiah, who sold us maple syrup.   Finally we visited the apple sellers, where we saw a demonstration of an apple peeler and were given delicious mac apples to eat.  We purchased some honey crisp and some Cortland apples for baking.  Yummy!   Thank you to the farmers who grow and produce our food and wool!

Wow this was one busy week!
The weather kept us on our toes.  Monday weather pulled us outside all day with a picnic and outside work in the afternoon.  Tuesday we had fun under the clouds and sprinkles.  On Wednesday the pouring rain kept us in for our first indoor recess, which the children enjoyed, as we pull out different toys and games.  Thursday was just right for the harvest festival, and the cool air and breezes kept us moving on Friday. During Monday art the children were introduced to still life painting, which many famous artists created.  Still life paintings typically use food or flowers for subjects (Picasso’s Still Life with Pitcher and Apples & van Gogh’s Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers).  As we focused on the harvest season this week, our subject matter was harvest vegetables; carrots, potatoes, and winter squashes.    Throughout the week all of the children had the opportunity to paint their own still life art.
The excitement of the week made bodies and mouths want to move, so circle times included lots of moving songs, some short discussions about the seasons and the harvest when we pick the last of the fruits and vegetables and put the gardens to sleep until spring, and a few engaging stories.  Our songs this week included, “Four Seasons Every Year” (A Lyn original), “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” “The Hokey Pokey,” “Jump Jim Joe,” and “Way Up High in the Apple Tree.”  We read The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood, and Big Bad Bruce by Bill Pete. On Wednesday morning many of the children helped to mix up some pumpkin muffins for the harvest festival on Thursday.  They put the liners in the tins, cracked eggs, and opened the pumpkin, then they measured, poured, and mixed.  When the batter was ready, they scooped it into the tins to bake.  Boy, were they yummy! For Wednesday lunch the afternoon students were treated to a super special Scorpio’s pizza party by the Hanson-Phillip’s family.  Everyone was so excited!  They loved their pizza, salad, and vegetable sticks so much that many of them had seconds and thirds.  When they were full of pizza all of the children made thank you pictures, many featuring pizza, themselves, or the Hanson-Phillip’s family. Thursday morning passed quickly as the children drew pictures of themselves and their friends on their Sunnybrook T-shirts, popped pop-corn, and fit in some work.  When it was time, everyone was ready and excited to get outside to enjoy the Harvest Festival snacks, games, and art activities.  Some children enjoyed snacks right away, others tossed bean bags, balanced mini pumpkins on their heads, hopped in a sack race, played ring the pumpkin, or did a bean scooping race.  Some children created leaf rubbings or did apple, carrot, celery, and squash prints.  The children enjoyed showing their families the games and activities.  Thank you to everyone who sent in a snack or was able to come participate. Afternoon students had the privilege of meeting Sue Rouillard, who subbed while Lyn attended a meeting. Sue spent two years as a teacher at Sunnybrook in 2011-2012 & 2012-2013.  We are excited to have her join us again as a third teacher on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings for the remainder of the year.

For Friday science we studied apples, more specifically, we TASTED apples!  We sampled Gala, Cortland, Macintosh, Fuji, and Granny Smith.  Some were tart and some were sweet.  The children had lots of good describing words.  They compared the coloring, size, flavor, and texture of the apples and they each picked a favorite.  It was a yummy study!