Metal Inset Work

First I have to say thank you for being patient with me. My dad is out of the hospital and feeling much better!

"Hot Work" Metal Insets

The metal inset table will be out all year. We will change and add shapes, but because it has so many benefits, we want children to work with it often! Because there are not as many paper projects coming home, it is nice to see the metal inset papers in the backpack. The children can choose to trace the inside of the frame or the outside of the inset...or both! It is fun to use different colors or see the beautiful shapes. You will also notice that there is a nice variety of shapes, 10 in all (We have started with 5). Within this work, the children are learning about shapes, colors and most importantly they are getting ready to write letters! There are many variation to keep the work alive and new each time. They can add vertical and horizontal lines, they can turn the inset for different shapes or color in the shapes to gain control and strength in their hands.

Here is "E" tracing the circle inset.

Christmas Songs

We are getting ready for our little Christmas performance! Here are some songs you may hear-

Santa's Hammers

Santa works with one hammer, one hammer, one hammer.
Santa works with one hammer, then he works with two!
...then he works with three!
...then he works with four!
...then he works with  five!

They progress with hand movements starting with one hand to leg, then both hands then a foot stomps and then a jump for both feel and then five hammers included a head! I think you might have to see it to get it!

Santa's Coming
(tune of Frere Jacques)
Santa's Coming, Santa's coming!
Sleigh bells ring, sleigh bells ring!
It is Christmas Eve! It is Christmas Eve!
Ding, Ding, Dong. Ding, Ding, Dong!

Parent of the Day

I wanted to share with you the fun we had Friday morning. Mr. Phillips brought in his guitar and played while the children were working...with a couple back up singers as well! Then at circle time we added some bells and reindeer headbands for a great sing-a-long! I think our favorite song was Wiggle, Wiggle from Yo Gabba-Gabba! (click for video of the song)

We are looking forward to making a craft in the afternoon class this week with one of our Grandmothers!

Parent of the day can be whatever you make of it. We would love to hear about a trip you have taken, share a family recipe, a favorite craft or songs! It is such a great opportunity to be part of your child class and make memories that will last!

Just a side note- I will be out of the class Monday (12/13) and Tuesday(12/14). Mrs. Bromley will take over my position and Ashley Noeker will be there to help out. She filled in for me for my maternity leave last year. I should be back on Wednesday.

Songs from the Class

With all our snowman talk this week, we have two new songs to share with you!

Snowman Hokey Pokey (to the tune of the Hokey pokey).

You put your snowman up, you put your snowman down,
You put your snowman up and you shake him all around.
You do the snowman pokey and you turn your self around,
That's what it's all about!

You put your snowman in front
You put your snowman in back,
You put your snowman in front and you give your knee a whack.
You do the snowman pokey and you turn your self around,
That's what it's all about!

You touch your snowman to your head,
You touch your snowman to your toe,
You touch your snowman to your head and you shake it to and fro,
You do the snowman pokey and your turn your self around,
That's what it's all about!.

The Snowman
A chubby little snowman had a carrot for a nose
Along came a bunny and what do you suppose?
That hungry little bunny was looking for his lunch...
And he ATE that snowman's nose. .nibble nibble. .CRUNCH

Gifts for the Class

I hear so many friends of children in school wonder about what they should get their teacher for Christmas. Well, I have an idea! Since we are such a new program it would be a wonderful gift to give a piece of material for all the students to use! We will put your families name on it to remember as children use it year after year!

Here are some ideas-

Trays, bowls, pitchers
Transferring objects
45 interesting items for counting (see lesson below!)
Animals from around the world (Joann's has the tubes of animals)
Science kits
Cultural books and objects

If you are an on-line shopper Montessori Outlet  has a great selection of materials. Some on our wish list are-
Cut out numbers and counters
Large wooden Number Cards
Ten Board (USA print)
Golden Bead Material (any kind)
5 sets of Bead Stair
Teen Bead Box
Addition Snake Game
Mystery Bag with Geometric Shapes

Cylinder Blocks

It seems that this weeks, the Cylinder Blocks have been off the shelf a lot! This work was here on the first day and will be on the shelf through the end of the year. Since the children have worked with them often, we brought in a new extension...a blindfold! The children now have to use their sense of touch to complete the work. It is very interesting to see how they use their hand to find the correct holes.

Below you will find a demonstration of how the work is presented. You will notice that there is no language used and the pincer grip that she uses to hold the cylinders. The only thing I would add to this lesson is to model tracing the bottom of each cylinder as well at the holes with two fingers in a counter-clock wise motion. This motion will help use the muscle memory to make the connections between the difference in size. We use counter-clock wise movement because letters such as "c" or "a" are made with that movement. This work is a preparation for writing as well as training for the senses.

Cylinder Block Video

Snow Day!

I hope you all enjoyed the early Christmas present of a snow day. We had a fun day around the house making forts and watching Christmas movies!

Since we were home all day, I started working on an extension for some work you may have noticed in the class. In the Sensorial area, we have a set of blue Geometric Solids. The children learn the names of these shapes. I am working on some cards to go with them to classify familiar objects with the solids they may see at school. For example, a drinking glass is a cylinder and a tent is a triangle-based Prism.

When the children work with the solids, Montessori uses a teaching method called the "Three Period Lesson". The three periods are
1.) Name the object ("This is a cone.")
2.) Point out the objects from a small group ("Which one is the cone?")
3.) Have the child name the object ("What is this?")
A child can move through the periods at their own pace. They need to hear the new vocabulary many times for them to be able to use it. You may hear a teacher tell a child "Can you put the cone on your head?" Can you turn the cone over?" "Can you pass the cone to your friend?" The child is using their sense of touch manipulating the object as well as hearing the word over and over again.

It is always exciting when a child reaches the third period!

Welcome to the First Post!

In an effort to communicate with our families more, we are sending home weekly newsletters. I want to include lots of information so you can have an inside look at our class. I decided that I would like to go  a step further and create a blog so you can get even more updates and include even more information!

I hope you enjoy being "A Fly on the Wall" for our class!
Here is a copy of the second issue of our class newsletter-

New class offered for students

With so many changes happening we are constantly reassessing what is best for the students. At our last Board Meeting, we decided that the classes work best with a smaller number of children. We currently have our Tuesday and Thursday afternoons available. We would like to get an idea of who would be interested in switching to an afternoon class on Tuesday and Thursday. This would be the same as the other classes but allow for even more individual lessons for the children. Please complete the attached response and return it to school so we can move forward with the plans. This will not register you for this class, but we will know that there is an interest. Once we have a complete class we will notify you of the change. This new class will happen after the holiday vacation. Please see a teacher if you have any further questions.

"Hot Work" Counting 1-9 with Objects

This is work that is out all year long. There is a basket of 45 objects (last month it was gourds and this month it is beautiful ornaments!). The children unroll a rug and bring over the number cards with 1-9 on them. They place the number one on the top left of the rug and then take the basket over to the place where the ornaments are and place one in the basket and bring it back. They place one ornament next to the number one. Then they flip over the next card, two and place it under the one. They then walk over to the ornaments and put two in their basket and return to the rug. They continue with this until they have counted out all the numbers to 9. In the end they have a rug filled with 45 ornaments! This work has so many benefits-

·          They can visually see the numbers grow as they move down the rug

·          They are moving a lot! They have to walk back and forth from their rug to the objects

·          They have to remember as they are walking what number and how many to bring back (this is called distal memory)

·          It makes the connection between numerals and quantity

·          There are so many opportunities for repetition To master the skill!

Stone Soup was a Success!

Thank you to everyone that attended our first School wide Stone Soup! The children had a great time scrubbing, chopping, peeling and eating the soup! Having your kids help with food prep is a great way to teach many fine motor skills as well as introduce new foods. During the week of prepping the food, the students had an opportunity to taste test many new vegetables…even an avocado! It was fun to see their faces as they experienced new foods!

Songs we are Singing

Melting Snowmen

Here's a snowman round and fat; (make circle with arms)
Out comes the sun and melts his hat. (touch head)
Here's a snowman with a scarf of red;
Out comes the sun and melts his head. (touch head)
Here's a snowman, fit as a fiddle;
Out comes the sun and melts his middle. (touch stomach)
Here's a snowman who waits for dawn;
Out comes the sun and he's all gone!