It was great to visit with you all at Parent Teacher Conferences!  I hope you’ve had a great Fall Break so far. We really enjoyed seeing all the home projects presented last week.  The kids did a great job!  I am so proud of their efforts and loved hearing the great variety  of topics that interest them. Here is just a tiny sampling of some of the projects that were presented:

Our field trip to Black Island Farms is coming up on Thursday.  We will begin at 9:30 at Black Island Farms and end by 1:45 at the same location.  If you haven’t already paid, please make sure payment is submitted to the school office no later than Wednesday.  They will accept a check or money order. The cost is $4.  Please send a lunch and appropriate clothing for the weather.  We are so excited for this fun outing!

Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for October 14-16.  They will go from 2pm-7pm in 20 minute sessions each day. During these conferences, I would like to meet with parents or guardians only. I ask that you please do not bring your children with you this time.  I will have conferences in the future which will include students.   Please click on one of the links below to sign-up.  I look forward to meeting with you all!

October 14, 2013

October 15, 2013

October 16, 2013

Yesterday afternoon, I allowed the children to choose a topic for their home-based project.  They should have brought home a purple slip showing the topic of their choice and the date they will present it.  I offered some suggestions and examples of how they could present their topic.  They should research their topic and have a visual aid to accompany it.  For example, they could display pictures and information on a poster or tri-fold board, they could create a power-point presentation, they could make a model, mobile, or any type of artistic representation. Some students have brought a food item to share that goes along with their topic.  I am really hoping for them to express their creativity through this project.  I want them to have fun learning about what interests them.  They should be prepared to report what they have learned to the class.  Usually these presentations are about 15 minutes to allow the student to share what they’ve learned and allow the other students to ask questions.  Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Here are a few updates:

• No school on Friday this week.  This is a professional development day.
• Our next show and teach will be Friday, October 4th.  Troy and Mason Pocus will be presenting.
• The online record-keeping system, Montessori Manager, is still in process. Thank you for your patience while we get it ready.
• Home-based projects will be due the week of Oct. 14-16.  The students will be choosing their topics this week.
• I sent home reading packets with most of the 1st graders. The students who should have brought one home are Lexie, Gareth, Jace, Mckenna, Caleb, John, and Vinny. Please make sure you read these books with your child every day, sign the sheet and return it daily.  I will be sending a new book home every week.

This weeks cultural lessons included Longitude and Latitude lines, learning about the various parts of the globe, the Geological timeline, more about the parts of the plants, fall leaves, and our continent study (specifically Arizona and Arkansas), etc.

Thank you to those parents who have been providing snack. We truly appreciate your efforts.  It really helps the kids keep their energy up so they can do their work. Thank you!!

We started Studio Friday yesterday morning.  The children rotated through music, art and P.E. classes.  During the afternoon we learned about Alabama and Alaska for our North America continent study.

The children have really been diving into their morning work cycle.  They’ve been getting lots of lessons in math, grammar, word-study, reading, spelling, etc.  Our reading specialists finished testing everyone’s reading levels and specialized reading groups will begin next week.

I will begin having the students do show and teach presentations next Friday. This is an opportunity for each student to teach the class about something that they enjoy.  It can be a hobby, talent, skill, craft, a special interest they have in something. an interesting item they’ve collected (not a toy), etc.  Each student can take about 5-10 minutes.   I will post the schedule for show and teach on the blog. We will start Friday with Kaliah and Caroline.

I will also be assigning a “Home-Based Project” soon.  These will be due the week of October 14-16.  I would like each student to choose their own topic based on an interest they have.  They will need to research their topic and will need to include a visual representation of what they’ve learned (e.g. a poster, a model, etc.)  I will provide a schedule as we get closer.  I love to see the variety and creativity that each student demonstrates with these projects.  Below is a link to a website that can help with this process.

www.kyvl.org/kids/homebase.html

The Fall Festival is coming up in October.  I hope you were all able to read the email from our room mother, Patty Sweeney.  I have posted the sign-up link on the blog.

We have been easing into our normal work cycle.  Returning students have been reviewing works from last year and starting new ones. Everyone has been receiving new lessons in reading, geometry, spelling, math, etc.

We have been incorporating cultural lessons into our daily work cycle.  The students have been learning about parts of a plant, the features of the sun, and the history of the beginning of the earth and solar system, and more.

Today our science lesson involved making bread.  The kids learned how yeast, sugar, and warm water form a gas which causes the bread to rise.  Then once it is baked at a high enough temperature it changes texture and becomes solid.  They all enjoyed the end result with butter and jam.

During our continent studies on Friday, the kids will be keeping a “suitcase” of interesting facts and information from their “travels” across the United States and other North American countries.  Their binder will be used as the suitcase.  If you did not send a 1-inch binder yet with your child please do so as soon as possible.  A few children are using a small folder as an alternative until they get their own binder.

Please remember to read with your child at home daily for at least 20 minutes.  I will post some suggestions for helping your child learn to read. I have also created a page of sight words for you to make into flashcards.

Have a wonderful weekend!

This week Ms. Sharon and I have really enjoyed getting to know each of the children better and discovering their unique personalities.  The children are meshing well and establishing close friendships with each other and working well together.  This past week we continued to go over new and old rules, class routine, and more of the “Great Lessons”.  I presented the History of Language lesson and the Hierarchy of numbers.  I will post a picture of the latter.  I’ve begun lessons in History and Botany which the kids have really enjoyed.  We also had a group lesson on nouns. We’ve been working as a whole class still, but next week we will begin more individual or small group lessons and presentations.

We started P.E. on Wednesday.  Please make sure your child comes prepared with gym shoes on that day, especially during the winter.  Snow boots don’t work so well on the gym floor : )  We will begin Spanish next week on Tuesday.

On Friday, I demonstrated several science experiments and allowed the children to participate.  They learned about the three states of matter, how to make ice colder than cold (ask them how it’s done!), and how gravity works using various forms of liquid.  I also taught them a music lesson using instruments which they all really enjoyed!  We also learned more about North America and specifically about Canada.

I’ve started discussing with the class the “7 Habits of Happy Kids”.  So far we’ve covered “Be Proactive”, “Begin with the End in Mind”, and “Put First Things First”.  Use these phrases at home with your children to encourage them to make these a habit.