First, a look from a little over a week ago: The students of the Children's House had a marvelous Halloween celebration! There were stations for cookie decorating, lots of festive art projects, and a special friend named Jack was carved!
Now we are in full swing in November. One change that is happening is that, now that the 4-year-old students have learned about the rules and routines of choosing work and asking for lessons, they are now expected to choose from the math area, language area, and science or geography area every day. The children are learning quickly where those shelves are, and are now beginning to explore work that might be outside their comfort zone. Sometimes, they choose, and sometimes, teachers invite them to lessons. It's another layer of our expectations to make sure that our 4-year-olds get the skills they need to be successful in Kindergarten. Of course, 5-year-olds continue with their weekly work lists. Additionally, every child in the classroom is assigned a job every two weeks, to help our room stay tidy and run smoothly. We're all learning to take responsibility for ourselves, our learning, and our room! We are also adjusting to the free breakfast and lunch program. Please keep an eye out for the St. Mary Buzz for the deadline to order lunch for the week ahead. Breakfast is delivered to our classroom daily. As you've probably seen, these consist of bags containing cereal, some kind of cracker or cookie, and a fruit or juice. As I explained in our last newsletter, we are incorporating this food into our self-serve snack in the classroom. We've broken up the bags so that children may choose one item for their morning snack (or 2, if it's a juice and a food item). We have found that it is simply too much food! So we have been sending home the bags daily, so as not to waste it. Don't worry, we still have LOTS of snack in the classroom! For each family's snack week, we are more likely to ask for classroom supplies and perhaps one kind of fresh fruit or vegetable (that can be served whole, or sealed in bags, due to sanitation concerns). Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. This month, we are learning about winter squash. Last week, we introduced five different kinds. We have learned the names of butternut squash, acorn squash, hubbard squash, spaghetti squash, and of course, we know about pumpkins .These squash are on the shelf for observation and exploration. Right before Thanksgiving, we will predict what each of these will look like inside and cut them open to see if we were correct!
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Ms. Teresa is just one of the three fantastic teachers in St. Mary's Montessori Children's House! |