Sunnybrook Montessori School

Montessori preschool & kindergarten in New Hampshire's North Country

May 4, 2014
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Healthy Bodies

obstacle course

obstacle course

31 - recess rest time

recess rest time

All of the April showers this week will hopefully be bringing May flowers and green grass soon.  The rain cooperated nicely, stopping in time for us to get out for our much needed play yard time every day.  The children were so busy doing the obstacle course, building and playing in forts and houses, kicking the soccer balls around, playing T-ball, playing make-believe, digging in the sandbox and mud, and playing tag.

We concluded our study of Australia by learning about the Camel Cup races, held annually in July in Alice Springs, Australia.  The children enjoyed watching a short video clip of the 2013 races, seeing some of the crazy costumes, and listening to the Australian accent of the narrator.

tracing and cutting

tracing and cutting

working those fine motor skills

working those fine motor skills

x, w work

x, w work

writing

writing

writing stories about brother

writing stories about his brother

picture word match

picture word match

mancala

mancala

letter sound work

letter sound work

left, right, center

left, right, center

stamp game

stamp game

magnetic color block art

magnetic color cube art

dice addition

dice addition

cylinder blocks

cylinder blocks

color grading

color grading

clock work

clock work

Throughout the year we have learned about living and non-living things, plants and animals, and how we work together as a system to keep each other alive.  We have talked about the importance of plants and how we breath out carbon dioxide, which they breath in, and how plants breath out oxygen, which we breath in.  This week we began to talk about food, which we get from plants and animals.  We focused on the protein and dairy groups, which mainly come from animals.  We discussed the different types of meat that we get from the different animals, such as ham, pork, and bacon from pigs, beef steaks and hamburger from cows, and chicken from chickens.

a for apple

a for apple

work time

work time

afternoon writing

afternoon writing

animal house

animal house

bank game

bank game

cleaning

cleaning

examining the patient

examining the patient

At the science table, the classroom doctors continued to familiarize themselves with the medical instruments and hone their skills examining patients.

doctors at work

doctors at work

painting

painting

At the art table we completed our mother’s day gifts, created some lovely paintings, and made many fabulous drawings.

drawing Godzilla

drawing Godzilla

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

We celebrated a fifth birthday on Tuesday!  Happy birthday to our newest five year old!  Everyone loved the cupcakes in a cone that she brought to share.

yummy ice cream cone cupcakes

yummy ice cream cone cupcakes

feeling the mist

feeling the mist

Friday students were once again busy, busy, busy!  For science we had fun with dry ice, which we learned is frozen carbon dioxide.  We did two experiments with it.  First, we put two pieces in a latex glove and tied it closed.  As it melted, it turned back into a gas, puffing the glove up like a balloon until finally it popped, which was terribly exciting!  We also put some dry ice into the bottom of a glass pitcher and poured hot water over it.  This melted the dry ice, which bubbled up through the water.  The mix of hot water and the frozen carbon dioxide created a cool mist, which the children had fun swirling and capturing in their hands.

dry ice in glove 1

dry ice in glove 1

dry ice in glove 2

dry ice in glove 2

captured mist formed when hot water met dry ice

captured mist formed when hot water met dry ice

The Book book with Gerrie Scott

The Book book with Gerrie Scott

We enjoyed listening to Gerrie Scott read the Book book!

April 21, 2014
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Hippity Hoppity

MUD!

MUD!

This week kept us on our toes with spring sunshine, snowballs, mucky mud, jumping rope, kangaroos, obstacle courses, and Easter bunnies!

metal inset

metal inset

ocean additions

ocean additions

reading

reading

tower

tower

otoscope

otoscope

We were introduced to some medical instruments that we enjoyed using to examine and inspect our patients in the science area.  We became familiar with eye charts, a weight scale, stethoscopes, a tuning fork, an otoscope, a reflex hammer (on ourselves only), and a thermometer.  We began learning about healthy bodies, including the importance of exercise and how it helps build muscles, increase our lung power, and help our heart stay strong.  We also enjoyed a tasting experiment, during which everyone had the option to taste something bitter (small drop of coffee), salty (salt), sour (lemon wedge), and sweet (maple syrup we made last week).

chalkboard cleaning

chalkboard cleaning

keeping our classroom clean

keeping our classroom clean

 

counting tray

counting tray

 

folding washcloths

folding washcloths

future architect

future architect

greater than less than

greater than less than

mancala

mancala

At the art table we began working on a super secret mother’s day gift.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

We celebrated a fifth birthday this week.  Our birthday boy shared Oreo Cookies for his birthday treat, and walked the globe around the sun five times, once for each year since he was born.

afternoon work time

afternoon work time

an artist at work

an artist at work

Spanish word game

Spanish word game

We had a special visitor with Zeanny this week.  Her sister, who is a doctor in Costa Rica, joined us on Wednesday.  It was fun to have her spend the day with us.  For Spanish we song some familiar songs, and started to learn some new ones.

"at" words

“at” words

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Friday students had a busy morning with some reading and writing work, then did a quick science lesson/experiment about sound waves and how we use hairs and the eardrums in our ears to hear.  We had a special visitor pop in to say hi on her way to prepare for Easter.  We had a great time outside on an obstacle course that we built, and practicing our rope jumping.  After lunch the children were excited to finish our final chapter of Charlotte’s Web and watch the movie.

sound waves

sound waves

jumping rope

jumping rope

obstacle course fun

obstacle course fun

Watching Charlotte's Web

Watching Charlotte’s Web

Enjoy your April Break!

April 12, 2014
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Spring Has Sprung!

Friends

Friends

Yay for mud!

Yay for mud!

The sun came out and the hats, mittens, snow-pants, jackets, boots, and socks came off this week!  The glorious warmth melted the snow and ice, and the children had a wonderful time removing the layers, sinking into the mud, playing in the water, and saying goodbye to winter weather.

making mud

making mud

collecting water

collecting water

making a canal

making a canal

shoveling water

shoveling water

Bare feet!

Muddy feet!

We continued our study of Australia this week.  We learned about the didgeridoo, a native Australian instrument made from a tree branch hollowed out by termites, the boomerang, a throwing toy originally used for hunting, and aboriginal cave painting.

29 - Pitz Quattrone and Three Trees

Pitz Quattrone and Three Trees

On Wednesday afternoon we traveled to St. Johnsbury for a performance by Pitz Quattrone and the Three Trees.  We heard and learned about several instruments, including the didgeridoo, the Jew’s harp, the ney, the frame drum, and the oud.  The children enjoyed moving to the music in their seats, wiggling their bodies, hands, heads, and feet.

bank game

bank game

constructing houses

constructing houses

counting rod segments

counting rod segments

letter sound game

letter sound game

painting

painting

play dough

play dough

snack stories

snack stories

sweeping up the floor

sweeping up the floor

thump thump thump thump

thump thump thump thump

winding up the string

winding up the string

wooden word cards

wooden word cards

writing

Author illustrators at work

dot painting

dot painting

The students were busy with art making aboriginal dot paintings, drawing, creating books, making water color paintings, cutting, gluing, and coloring.

drawing

drawing

artists at work

artists at work

coloring

coloring

water colors

water colors

sensory table

sensory table

The sensory table was filled with water, rocks, and ocean animals of Australia.  The children enjoyed learning the names of the many animals, building them underwater houses, and swimming them around.

el camello (camel)

el camello (camel)

In Spanish we continued to practice animal names and do animal actions.  We talked about the Mer (sea) and many native Australian animals.

sleeping queens

sleeping queens

Friday students were busy as always.  They had fun playing a game of Sleeping Queens, then doing some writing and puzzle maps.  For science they cut open their celery from last week to see the xylem that carry the water up to the leaves.  Then we talked about sap running in the trees, tasted some sap, then set some to boil and watched the water evaporate and the sap thicken and darken.

practicing some tricky letters

practicing some tricky letters

puzzle maps

puzzle maps

sight word square game

sight word square game

April 5, 2014
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The Land Down Under

Creating our ocean

Creating our ocean

April brings us to the Land Down Under, where we encounter lots of unique animals such as the kangaroo, platypus, koala, emu, flying fox, kookaburra, lyre bird, dingo, Tasmanian devil, echidna, and wombat.  The waters around Australia and the Great Barrier Reef are also home to many types of ocean life, including the wobbegong shark, leafy and weedy sea dragons, the giant whale shark, and 1500 different types of coral.

April Fools!  Who is who?!

April Fools! Who is who?!

continent nomenclature

continent nomenclature

"e" book

“e” book

lacing

lacing

magnetic colored cube art

magnetic colored cube art

letter match & puzzle map

letter match & puzzle map

metal insets

metal insets

28 - reading

reading

sweeping under the snack table

sweeping under the snack table

weaving

weaving

ocean painting

ocean painting

The children began a giant ocean mural by using blue, green, and white paint to create water and seaweed.  They traced, colored, cut out, and attached various ocean animals.

making ocean animals

making ocean animals

cleaning up paint spills

cleaning up paint spills

What lives in the ocean?

What lives in the ocean?

ocean animals at play

ocean animals at play

We filled the sensory table with water, rocks, and ocean animals.  The children had a wonderful time swimming and splashing around and building homes out of rocks.

At the science table the children used stethoscopes to listen to their heart beats, tested their eye sight with eye charts, and weighed themselves on the scale.

weight check

weight check

pulpo caleinte

pulpo caleinte

During Spanish we played a fun new game, pulpo caliente (hot octopus), learned a song about pez (fish), and pretended to be different Australian animals.

pez

pez

Spanish parts of speech

Spanish parts of speech

How do plants drink?

How do plants drink?

For science, Friday students did an experiment to see how plants drink.  They added red coloring to water then placed several stalks of leafy celery in the water.  By the end of the day the tips of the leaves were tinted red.  Next week we will cut the stalks to see how the water travels up to the leaves.

writing work

writing work

racing cars

racing cars

silent e words

silent e words

Friday letter circling "k"

Friday letter circling “k”

fish book

fish book

cube art

cube art