Ms. Jalee and Ms. Vanessa

Happy Saturday!

We let our butterfly go Tuesday. What a beautiful sight to watch it take flight. The kids loved it and clapped as it took off. What a wonderful experience.
   “We are all butterflies. Earth is our chrysalis.” – LeeAnn Taylor

We had a wonderful day Thursday with our International Day of Peace Celebration. Andrew Kutt gave a wonderful assembly and taught us a lot of fun songs. I purchased his CDs for our classroom so we could learn more songs. As a school we all made pinwheels for peace. We had an enjoyable time doing this in class. Unfortunately, ours got ruined by the sprinkles before there were able to be moved. We will be making more this week that the students can take home and show you.

Our plant experiment is finished. We analyzed the plants as best we could. It was a bit difficult because they started to smell so I put them outside. A day or two later we had that really windy night and all but one of the plants blew over. Three of them even blew out of their pots. But we were able to deduce that mild did the best and vinegar did the worst. We used the scientific method to do this experiment.

This Friday is a half day. Teachers will have professional development in the afternoon. Please arrange for your child to be picked up at 1 pm.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Take care.

Jalee

Our butterfly has emerged! It was so exciting to get back from the weekend and see the darkened cocoon gradually becoming transparent.

I checked the cocoon at about 3:40 and then when I looked at it again at 4, there was a butterfly. I was hoping it would emerge when the kids were around or at least when I was watching so I could record it for the kids. But it is still an amazing thing.
This Sunday, The 21st is the International Day of Peace. On Thursday we will welcome Andrew Kutt of the Oneness Family Montessori School. Andrew has nearly 30 years of Montessori experience and a passion for music and peace. He is the author of Living in Harmony and many articles. We are excited to have him come and share in celebrating peace. As a school we are making pinwheels for peace that we will attach to our fences. We made them today and the kids loved them. They all wanted extras so they could make more. I told them I would put the template on the blog. There is a page for the pinwheels at the top.

Other exciting news. I just got a new hamster for our class and a Beta fish. This will be exciting and new for the kids.

Thanks for all your support.

Jalee

Hello All,

Big news of the day, Ms. Marleen and I walked the 5k this morning to help raise money for the red woods. But more exciting then that, Dallin ran it in just over 19 minutes. Way to go! It was a lot of fun. Thanks to all who could come help support the 6 graders.

As many of you may have heard there is a pretty aggressive virus going around called enterovirus. I have posted information about it at the top of the page. We are constantly giving lessons and working with the children to keep their hands washed and not spread germs. Please help us in this endeavor by giving reminders at home as well.

Home projects are due in two weeks, the week of the 29. It is a presentation on a talent, hobby or something the students likes. This will help us get to know them better.

We had a great time making solar ovens with Ms. Nicoletta’s class. Thank you to all who were able to donate things for this. There will be pictures posted as soon as we get back all the photo release forms.

On that note, I sent home a photo release form on Thursday that you will need to sign and return. It is printed on green paper. I also sent home a letter with information on Montessori Compass. Montessori Compass is the way we will be keeping our records this year. The letter sent home was a brief explanation of it and how to log on as a parent. Please let me know if you need another.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Ms. Jalee

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to the back to school night last night. I felt it was a real success. In case you weren’t able to make it, here is a quick update. If you are willing to help out in the classroom with reading, parties, presentations, or otherwise please let me know. Also, don’t forget to sign up for snack. The link is to the right.

I took pictures of all but a few of the kids smiles and posted them in the classroom as a guessing game. Here is how it turned out

We have also been learning the scientific method by watering plants with different liquids. We are using root beer, milk, vinegar, orange juice, and apple juice. The vinegar is doing the worst and milk is doing the best.

We have also had a student and his dad donate a cocooned caterpillar to our class. We are going to do some research on it keep it until it emerges as a butterfly. Then we will release it.

Don’t forget that next week is the 5K Run for the Redwoods. Check in starts at 7:15 and the run starts at 8. Please come and support the 6th grade field trip. Sloane, Ms. Marleen, her husband, her son and I will be walking it. Come join us.

Tuesdays we have P.E. so if you can help your child remember to wear shoes they can comfortably run in, that would be great.

Thanks for all you do. I will have the information for the first home project for you on Monday. Take care.

Ms. Jalee

Wow, I cannot believe the first week is already over. It was definitely a fast paced, crazy, awesome week.

As many of you know we got a new assistant this year. Her name is Ms. Marleen. She has a great background in Montessori and is adding a lot of great things to our classroom. She is from Germany and will be teaching us some words in German. I am very excited to have her in our classroom. This week we did a lot of team building and grace and courtesy lessons and activities. We will continue to do these throughout the year. Today we read a book called Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed. It is a book about how one little girl’s good action led to others paying it forward. We will continue to do more things with this book the next couple of weeks. We also read The Crayon Box that Talked and discussed how we are like a crayon box in our classroom and need to work together. If we did not have everyone of us our classroom would not be complete.

Quick reminder to familiarize yourself with the dress code. The link is at the top of the page or on the school’s website. Next week I will be sending home dress code infractions and we will have to call you to bring a change of clothes if necessary. Thank you for your cooperation with this.

The run for the Redwoods 5K is September 13. This is a fundraiser for the 6th grade field trip. There is a link at the top of the page if you would like to register to participate. Please join us. You don’t have to run. You can walk or skip or jump or just come and help. Here is the link as well. Run for the Redwoods- registration form (2)

Have a great weekend.

Ms. Jalee

Hello Everyone,

What a wonderful week we are having! I always forget how crazy and exciting the first couple week of school are. So much to do.

Just a reminder about the dress code. A few things we have noticed throughout the school: All shirts and pants/shorts must be a solid color. Also, no opened toed indoor or outdoor shoes. This is due to safety issues on the playground and in the classroom. If you have any other questions regarding the dress code there is a link at the top of the page you can go to.

Thanks for all you do.
Ms. Jalee

Less than a week left before we start school. Just a few housekeeping items.

First of all, I need to sincerely apologize for a goof up on the supply list. I failed to put a 3 ring binder on it. It can be 1-2 inches and also binder dividers. If you have already dropped off supplies, just get the binder here when you can. We won’t need them until we start cultural which will be about the 3rd week of school so it is no rush to have them.

For all level 1s and new students: On Friday is new student orientation from 1 – 1:45. We will be getting the students familiar with the classroom, locker and bathroom location, and doing some fun get to know you games. If you are unable to get your child to this, we will just plan on seeing them Monday.

Saturday morning starting at 8 is a pancake breakfast and playground upkeep. It is approximately $5 a person. It is the same price as last year. I would love it if you could come. I will be there with Baby Sloane and I hear the pancakes are delicious.

This year’s 5K is on September 13, 3014. With this date fast-approaching, we are having a planning meeting on Wednesday, August 13, at 4:00pm. It will be at the school. We will be firming up our plan of action and dividing up job duties. If you’re unable to attend the meeting but would like to help with the planning of this event, please let Dore Elmer know and she can let you know what you can do! Anyone is welcome to attend or help. This is a fundraiser for the 6th grade field trip.

School starts next Monday, August 18th. It will be early out every day next week so plan on picking up your child at 1 pm. Don’t forget to sign up for snack. The link is http://wejoinin.com/sheets/rizyn.

Don’t forge to check out the August newsletter. http://mariamontessoriacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/August-2014-Newsletter.pdf.

See you all soon!

Jalee