Good Day, Mates! On a recent Thursday morning, the Kindergarten class celebrated the exciting continent and country of Australia. We learned all about Australia’s animals, geography, people, food, towns, and cities. The children baked a delicious Australian dessert, Strawberry Cream Bread, and we also sampled fruits that are grown in Australia’s hot climate. The class also made Australian flags and colored a map of Australia. Focus and joy could be seen on the children’s face

As a special project for St. Patrick’s Day, the Seedlings class decided to do some experimenting with white daisies and food coloring. During our morning circle we filled a vase with water and carefully added a few drops of green food coloring. We then placed the white daisies into the vase and put it up on a safe shelf for the children to watch over the next few weeks. The children all took turns pouring water and adding drops of green food coloring into the vase. They each

As the winter season comes to a close (hopefully!), one of the most obvious skill sets that has developed with each of the children is the ability to dress and undress themselves for outdoor play. Despite many mornings of the playground being an ice rink, or it is just too cold to be outside, the children have practiced and mastered getting their gear, getting themselves dressed for recess and getting their gear back into their cubbies after recess. During some of the organi

As part of our current Botany study in science, we are focusing on flowers. Holly brought in an array of flowers to show the children including tulips, daffodils and hyacinth. Her presentation was interactive as she allowed the children to smell the freshly cut flowers. “What do they smell like?” she asked. One child, exclaimed, “They smell like honey!” Earlier in the school year, the children studied Living and Non-Living things. As a review, Holly asked the children, “Is a

Throughout the year in the Seedlings classroom we are constantly preparing the environment including rotating works on the shelves. Some of the most popular works come from basic household items. With a little imagination, you can put together a purposeful work for your child at home with items in your recycling bin. One work that came out at the beginning of the year was a slotted container with poker chips. The vessel was a recycled coffee container with a slit made in the

Many sounds and noises can be heard in the Pre-Primary classroom during a morning work-time; friends visiting with one another as they work, chairs being pulled out and pushed in, inanimate objects being given voice and sound by children, and teachers talking with children. Another sound that can be heard is the “plink, plink” of the Tap-a-Tune piano. This work can be found on the Music shelf and encourages children to explore music through matching colors. They first get o

“Let’s count how many days left until the 100th day of school!” Every morning at circle time, inevitably, a child would make this request as the anticipation of reaching the 100th day drew closer. 10 more days, 7 more days, 1 more day… The children planned what they would bring in for our “100s Museum” and practiced counting by 10’s with excitement. On this special day, bags of carefully sorted items began to arrive to add to our museum. 100 Legos, 100 seashells, 100 stickers

“The rain goes into the brook, the brook goes into the stream, the stream goes into the river all the way out to the sea. The sea goes into the ocean, the ocean wide and free. Evaporate, precipitate, it all comes back to me.” As part of our current science curriculum, the children explored the vast concepts of weather. Recently, Holly used paper illustrations accompanied by song to teach the children about the water cycle. The lesson was interactive, which allowed the childre

Language development as well as children’s reading and writing readiness occurs throughout the Montessori curriculum. Across the curriculum, children are introduced to many works that build auditory and visual discrimination skills as well as will enhance concentration and motor skills that will be used when reading and writing. Discussions are held, stories are read, songs are sung and word games are played to develop language skills, phonemic awareness skills, story langu