Around the World with our Discovery Class

We had a hole in our week that we wanted to fill with a class. Thursday afternoons became our "Discovery Class". Every Thursday, we travel to another Continent and study different countries and cultures. We talk about languages, traditions, clothing, animals and our favorite is FOOD! We have become quite the culinary group with our new and exciting recipes! So far this year we have made Irish Soda Bread, West African Lime cake, Egyptian candy, quesadillas with homemade salsa, Pavlova, and pasta from scratch! Today we had cheese tasting and chocolate fondue (we were in France!)

Here are some pictures from our adventures!



Trying and rating different cheeses. Brie and Colby were a a hit!



Trying our hand at an Eiffel Tower with marshmallows and toothpicks!

The boys arcitecture!

Nothing better then chocolate fondue!

Our sugar cube pyramids! There are so many things you can make with food!

For Africa, we made drums and Lime cake...this round table is one of our favorite places!

I had to add this one...they decided to give Mrs. Bromley some love!

African masks

Making Salsa. Pumpkin cutters are perfect for children to use. They cut the food and not little fingers!

For Australia, we made Pavlova (it is like a meringue) with yogurt and berries on top! Yummm!

So good!

New Work!

As I learn new lessons, the best thing to do it use it right away. Here are a few new lessons we have introduced this week.

Mrs. Bromley and "C" are working with Compound Words. There are pictures of compound words with a basket of objects. The child says the word and find the two words that make up that word in the obects. For example the word football, the child will find a foot and a ball to put them next to the card! It is also fun to guess the word by looking at the objects and finding the picture that matches!

This group of children are playing Bingo! Their game boards have the letters on them and the caller picks a letter from the bag for the group. Games are a great way to have children working together, having fun and LEARNING!

"B" is working the the "I Spy" box. There are objects in there and we identify them by the initial sound. "I spy with my little eye, something that starts with "sss".

 

This is our new teen board. It is a wonderful way to introduce the numbers 11-19 with the symbol and quantity. We use the colored beads and golden beads to let the children build the numbers. They can start to see the relationships between the numbers.

Addition is a fun activity to do with a friend. There are many steps, but it is always fun to work together. Each of the children set up the small numerals on a mat. We then build each addend with the small numerals on a tray.

Then it is off to the "bank" to build the numbers with the golden beads. This picture shows that we had three bankers ready to help!

Each child builds their number with the golden beads on the rug. Here is the number 4738 + 3251

Then the two children add their golden beads together and place the larger wooden numerals for each place value. When all beads are added up, the answer is right there! It is very fun to watch the golden bead grow. What a great introduction to addition!

Our Annual Daddy's Day!

Last Saturday, we hosted our Daddy's Day! We were thrilled with the number of Dad's, Uncles, Grandfathers and special guests that came to share a special day and make wonderful memories. We had lots of activities for them to work on and the homemade ice cream was delicious! Here are some pictures of our day!

Working together with locks and keys.

Building a truck.

working with gears.

Every guest gets a homemade tie! This Dad was presented with three!

A group rolling homemade ice cream!

Making sundaes with our yummy ice cream!

Even girls should know how to tie a tie.

Back to back beading.
"J" is telling his dad what color and shape bead to put on his string to match his without looking!

Busy...Busy!

I am sorry I have not posted much recently, as you know I am in the final months of my Montessori training.  As we are winding down, the work load is filling up!

I am enrolled with the Buffalo Montessori Teacher Education Program. It is AMS affiliated and MACTE accredidated. This two year program meets Friday nights and Saturdays and two weeks in the summer.
Click to find out more about AMS.

Currently, I am working on the finishing touches of my Math Albums (Math and Language fits in two 3" binders!). The album is a collection of lessons in a subject. I keep them at school since I use them all the time. Each lesson is detailed with the aims, both indirect and direct, and step by step process of each lesson. In addition we are required to illustrate and or take photographs of each lesson. They pictures are great reminders of the layouts of each lesson. Please feel free to look through the albums to see the details of any lesson or subject area.

I thought I would share a couple of pictures of my classmates as we are presented the lessons. Even though it is a lot of work, we do manage to have fun too!




We are presented and practice every lesson. This is the Table of Pythagoras.




Sam and Meagan are practicing the Seven Exchange




Meagan and Patti are demontrating back to back beading.




I am Patti's "child" as she demonstrates Pennies and Horses.