We had our first full week learning the routines of the day and settling into the flow things.  The children were introduced to several of the Great Lessons of the montessori cosmic curriculum.  They explored the idea of how the universe was possibly made, how long the earth existed before man was on the earth, and were very excited to see our cosmic nesting boxes.  These boxes give representation of their place in our universe.  They were introduced to our continent study of Europe this week.  We also began our cultural lessons.  For those of you who are not aware, our cultural subjects in the montessori curriculum include: history, geography, zoology, physiology, physical science, and botany.  Many of your students may have expressed to you our need for classroom plants for our botany lessons.  I have created a wish list page on our blog, this is a place where you can see what kind of things we could use for our classroom.  I recently included some information regarding our need for plants.  Our routine this year will include having cultural lessons in the morning with the goal of tying them into our math and language subjects throughout the day.

We worked on math assessments this week and the students where given their U of U reading test.  We are continuing to work on our grace and courtesy, which is foundational in the montessori prepared environment.  In establishing strong grace and courtesy, your child will be more successful during their work cycle.  Your children are learning how to choose a work, use a rug, move through the classroom, respect work, restore work, work with others, and have respect themselves, others and their environment.  We are continuing to work on our team building and learning more about one another.

Your children are all so unique and wonderful and bring such a delightful quality to our classroom.  I am grateful we have the parameters of the montessori curriculum in order to allow each of them become the unique person their are meant to be.  I enjoy discovering their potentials and helping them find outlets to utilize them.