We are into our second month of school, and our students are settling in beautifully! They have had most, sometimes all, of the preliminary lessons, and are now on track to do what we call "extensions." This is a step in our lessons that encourages our students to get creative, ask questions, try a different way. Extensions encourage repetition of a lesson without having to do the exact same process over again. And repetition can help build mastery of skills. This week, the four- and five-year-olds are beginning to journal every morning. It will be the first classroom work they do. The journal topic is drawn and written on the board, and our students copy it as much as they can. If they can write their name, we ask them to write it on the page with their drawing. If they can copy the word(s), we ask them to do that. If they can write the date, we ask that they copy the date. If a student can do all that, we might ask them to compose a sentence of their choosing about the journal topic. This is important writing practice, from pencil control, to letter formation, to organization of thoughts. The teachers use this time to assess where each student is when it comes to penmanship and fine motor control. The photo below is our journal topic for tomorrow, which Miss Teresa drew at morning circle. Watching a teacher (try to) draw is also a good lesson in doing your best, even if it's not as perfect as you'd like it to be! Last week, we culminated our apple unit by having an apple tasting. Split into two groups, our students tasted a piece of Macintosh, Red Delicious, and Ginger Gold apples, then voted on their favorites. Both groups decided that Red Delicious was the overall favorite! This exercise helped us learn about eating manners, waiting to take a turn, and of course, counting and comparison of numbers! On a final note, we are aware that it is runny nose season, and we are stocked up on tissues to accommodate our students. Please, if your child has a runny nose, and no other symptoms to impede them from coming to school, send in extra masks. Once they are wet, masks are uncomfortable and ineffective. Thank you for your help!
This coming month, we will be learning about deciduous trees and how they change in the Fall, parts of leaves, and our animal focus is on mammals.
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Ms. Teresa is just one of the three fantastic teachers in St. Mary's Montessori Children's House! |