Work in the Montessori Class

We have so many victories to celebrate because our students are doing a variety of work and are inspired through our presentations and student collaborations. For example the students are writing in cuneiform signs after making clay tablets as the ancient Sumerians did. One difference is that the girls are allowed to go to school here. In those days only boys were permitted to attend school.

Money is always an interesting topic. Besides the value of coins, we are learning who is pictured on the coins. This is an open door to the history of money in the US and what people used long ago for trading. Even salt was used as payment in Rome. Why was salt so important? This is intriguing to ponder and understand the value of salt especially before refrigerators were invented.

The microscope has provided us with a lot of beautiful nature images. We are studying the parts of leaves and that has led some of the students to want to look up close at nature. The leaves are full of tiny building bricks, crystalline and interesting. We also enjoyed sautéed beet greens. Yummy leaves!

In January we truly enjoyed our literature, “Stone Fox”. We were all riveted to our seats as the nine year old entered an adult dog sled race to save his grandfather’s farm by winning the first prize money. The story had a surprise ending. Your child can tell you what happened.
Now we are immersed in our next adventure book, the classic “White Fang” by Jack London.

Science Fair Kudos

Wow! Congratulations to the students who participated in the science fair. The topics were so interesting and the displays were beautiful. We all learned a lot! Thank you parents for supporting your children in so many ways! They are budding scientists! We also enjoyed some of the presentations in our classroom. The students' public speaking skills are improving! Great!

Support the Wonderful Third Year Students

The third year students are planning their ocean adventure trip at a YMCA camp.
They are selling bagels this Friday before school to help them with the expenses of their Spring Camp Surf trip. They will also have an after school bake sale. Parents are paying for a portion of the expenses and this will help defray some of the cost. Thanks!

Home Dictionary for Elementary Students

Please have a good child friendly dictionary at home. For the younger children this means larger print and some pictures. I have samples in the classroom. We will be doing dictionary work ongoing. Encourage your child to look up words occasionally from her reading or any word that they do not know the meaning. Elementary students are fascinated with new words.

Here are some words from our "White Fang" reading that most students were not familiar with: casket, gloomy, yearn, litter, sufficient, instinct, dim, harsh, accustom, fascinate, fierce. You could look up some of these words with your children using the guide words at the top of the page.

Sleeping Beauty Ballet Thursday

We are leaving for Symphony Hall at 9:15 AM and returning at 11:45 AM. This is a reminder since we arranged this last semester. Students are preparing themselves by reviewing the grace and courtesy lessons of how to be a good audience, theatre etiquette and how to walk in the city. Thank you parent chaperones!

Valentines Day

We will have a picnic lunch at 12 noon on Friday and a valentine exchange (optional) at playground time. Next week we will learn how to make pink pancakes using beets from our garden.

Class Helping Hands

* Parent volunteers to make class copies and materials
*Maple syrup
*Top fin Large Filters for the turtle tank
*Ricotta Cheese * Heat lamp light bulb for the turtles
*Colored sponges * Dawn dish soap
*Box of whole wheat pancake mix * Cinnamon
*Cascade dishwasher Detergent * Bottle of olive oil

Thank you for your support. We will keep an updated list on our classroom door.