Sunnybrook Montessori School

 Our final week of school passed very quickly.  We enjoyed our outside time playing games together, collecting caterpillars, playing with rain water, picking flowers, and having a final lunchtime picnic.
 For the last Monday art activity, the children made paper.  We learned that paper comes from trees, which are cut down, ground up into pulp, and rolled on big rollers to create paper.  We recycled used paper by ripping it up, blending it in a blender, then pressing it out to dry.

 The kindergarten students and some Monday preschool students made their insect projects – diagrams of an ant – to wrap up our study of animal classes.

 At the art table the children made frogs and butterflies from paper plates that they painted last week.  They attached legs or antennae and tongues made from blowers, which was the truly exciting part.  Students also did some shape printing with various round and rectangular objects.

 On Wednesday we had some very exciting guests!  Duco the police dog came to visit with Officer Ladd.  We learned that Duco’s job is to help find people who may be lost and to help Officer Ladd stop bad guys.   Officer Ladd trains Duco to search and to jump and bite, and as a reward for doing as he is told, he gets to play with his favorite toy.  They demonstrated some of the things that Duco can do, including jumping way up high to grab things with his back teeth, and going through and over obstacles.

Thursday, our last day of school, had everyone busy preparing for the presentation and graduation.  The students helped carry out and set up all of the projects on the playground, and then had fun running and playing with their friends.  At the end of the morning we read the story Miss Rumphius, about a girl who grows into an old lady and at her grandfather’s request does something to make the world more beautiful.

 The children did a fantastic job singing the songs for the performance and the kindergarten students did an excellent job reading their animal reports.  It was a bittersweet day.  It is hard to say goodbye to our friends that are moving on, but it has been such an amazing experience watching them progress and grow over the years!  We wish you the best and you will truly be missed!

The trees are green and the insects are buzzing.  It was nice to have the shade from all of the leaves on this toasty week.  We spent lots of time outside enjoying the weather.  The children were busy singing and dancing, playing tag, tilling up our garden, and making up lots of fun stories and games.   We finally planted some flower seeds in our garden, with hopes that they will grow while we are away for the summer.


We found and observed many insects this week, including a dead bumblebee, ants and their larva which we dug up in the playground, some large Six Spotted Tiger Beetles wandering around the classroom, lightning bugs, and of course some caterpillars, flies, and mosquitos.

At the art table the children made some chalk and buttermilk drawings.  The buttermilk makes the chalk brighter and shinier on the paper, creating a nice effect. They also began making butterflies by painting the paper plate wings. Some of the butterflies were quite colorfully decorated.



The students had a wonderful time scooping melon balls out of watermelons.  They dropped them into little cups then used a toothpick to eat them.  Some of those children got very, very full of watermelon!



A light table was set up and the children enjoyed building with the Magnatiles on it throughout the week.  There were some pretty impressive structures erected, and it was neat to see the different colors created when the Magnatiles were placed on top of each other over the light.



As we began to wrap up the year during circle time, we added more kind deeds to the kindness chain, then hung it over the chimney for students to add links during the final week.  We played an insect guessing game with the magic box.  When the insect was described, the children used the clues to determine which insect was hidden inside. We had fun doing the parachute and the ribbon sticks and dancing around.  The children have been singing their animal songs daily so they will be well prepared for the last day presentation.  We also read the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and the children enjoyed playing with the Three Bear’s House during work time.  Everyone was anxious to have an opportunity to use it, but the children worked well together taking turns and waiting patiently.





On Friday, the students examined their bean plants that sprouted from the seeds they planted several weeks ago.  It was quite exciting to see how much they have grown, from one small white bean, to a plant with roots, a stem, and leaves.  They drew pictures of their bean plants in their science notebooks, then  took them home to plant.  We spent a lot of time outside playing on the green – visiting the wolf, dancing and singing on the gazebo, and playing Frisbee and toss.  We made thank you cards for Gerrie Scott, who will be reading to us for the last time on Monday.   We finished the day by planting some pumpkin seedlings sent in by Grammy Riff, so hopefully we will have some beautiful pumpkins in the fall.

firemen

Despite the chilly air the children were thrilled to be outside moving. The energy was flowing. They played tag, Frisbee, baseball, and did lots, and lots, and lots of running!

rocking

typing up her presentation

Monday students had a very busy day. The kindergarteners began typing up their animal presentations, finished up their continent pictures, and everyone began making their mammal dioramas. They also did some art. Who knew a salad spinner and coffee filters were so much fun! They were very prolific artists and were capable demonstrators of the process for the students on Tuesday.

salad spinner art

checking out the ants

Everyone was very excited to set up the ant farm and watch the ants throughout the week. They helped Tammy pour in the sand and wet it. After putting the ants in the refrigerator for ten minutes they were ready to be transferred into the farm. Every day the children observed the progress of the tunnels and watched carefully as the ants worked to pick up the sand in their jaws and move it out. We even saw them remove the dead ants and cover them with sand. By Friday they had made many tunnels in their new home!

ant tunnels

We read about ants and learned some very interesting facts in the book Are You an Ant?. Did you know that they squirt acid out of their behinds and that birds collect them and place them under their wings to kill the mites? We found out that this is a common practice called anting. Great for the birds, but not so great for the ants!

table work

puzzle race

puzzling

story writing

making birthday cards for Ms. Jaime

On Thursday we were treated to a delicious birthday cake to celebrate Ms. Jaime’s birthday and everyone made her birthday cards. So yummy! Thank you Jaime!

insect goggles

watering the beans

hugs for the Wild Thing

We also had a visit from Believe in Books and one of the Wild Things from Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. Most of the children were excited to give hugs, but some of them kept their distance from the terrible yellow eyes, terrible teeth, and terrible claws.

dancing time

dioramas

Friday students were very busy again. They finished typing up their presentations, continued to work on their dioramas, did some math and reading, got some energy out on the playground, and made some paper airplanes. They also had some entertaining conversations. Here are snippets from a couple of them:
LS “Did you know that Miss Lyn is actually a disguise? She is really an alien. She has green scaly skin and antennae.”

later . . .
JF to LS “When you grow up I think you will be an artist because you are a really good artist.”
LS “No, I am going to be a rescuer. I will rescue animals and humans and everybody that needs to be rescued. Everybody and everything! And I will wear superhero clothes and a mask.”
MR “Me too!”
LS “Then we all put our hands together and say, “We’re a team!”” All the children put their hands together and shouted, “We’re a team!”

outside time

What a glorious week we had running, chasing, throwing, catching, picking flowers, making dirt stew, biking, and having an overall great time with our friends. The children were so full of energy this week that we made sure to spend lots and lots of time outside.  We set up an obstacle course on Thursday, and the children had a lot of fun bouncing on a hoppy ball, trying out a hula hoop, jumping through rings, tossing bean bags, walking with marbles on spoons, walking the balance beam, spinning on the dizzy disc, and crawling through a tunnel.

tossing beanbags through the rings

finding earthworms and putting them in the garden

This time of year always amazes me with the strength of the friendships that the children have made with each other and the enjoyment they get from just being together. I can see how much they have grown and the progress they have made in all areas. I love to just watch them interact, share their knowledge, work through challenges, solve problems, and communicate with each other in productive, positive ways. It truly is a joy to know these young humans!

afternoon story writing

scent jars

jack straws

Holton rower pour painting

For Monday art the children made pour paintings in the style of Holton Rower. They were very cool! Everyone was excited about the process and the end results.  The children could not wait for their art to dry so they could take them home.

On Tuesday many of the students made foot paintings.  It was either a love it or not art activity, so most of the children that chose to do it did several, while other students stayed as far away as possible.  At the art table the children also used a hexagon punch to punch out hexagon shapes, which they could use to create cells in a beehive.

foot painting

hexagons (great motor work!)

insects examination

We continued to learn about insects, particularly bees and butterflies. We read several books about bees, and learned how important they are to our survival. Their role as pollinators makes them responsible for much of the yummy food that we eat. We also read the book, Butterfly or Moth? How Do You Know? We learned that butterflies have long, thin antennae, while moths have short feathery antennae. Butterflies have smoother scales as they are diurnal, and moths, who are nocturnal, have furrier scales to keep them warm. Butterflies rest with their wings together, and moths rest with their wings lying flat. We also enjoyed the story Gotta Go Gotta Go about a monarch caterpillar who knows he has to go to Mexico, but is not sure how he will get there.

We have been preparing for the last day performance and graduation by practicing the songs we will sing. The Monday/Friday students have been very busy finishing up their animal presentations, and we have been tweaking the format of our presentation, working out where we need to make changes and improvements.

climbing at Colonel Town

Friday students were so busy finishing up projects for the year that we never made it to science time. They have been requesting a visit to Colonel Town Playground for several weeks, so we decided to spend some time there on the slides, the train, the swings, and the climbing dinosaurs. They particularly enjoyed making several runs down the long silver slide before heading back to school for a late lunch and starting on their mammal dioramas.

making a picture of best friends