Week 14: The
countdown begins!
Dear parents,
As the month of December arrives, I want to remind everyone
that the children should have a warm
jacket, a hat, at least one pair of mittens. A family had generously donated some yard mitten holders as
a work to sew mittens together. If
you are interested in having your child’s mittens sewn together, let us know by
placing mittens in a bag with a written paper and we’ll create a work. Other dates to keep in mind is that our Solstice celebration will take place on
the day before Winter break (Thursday December 21). However if the weather that week
appears bad we will celebrate on the Wednesday before the break. I will send out two emails (one on
Monday and the other on the night before), reminding everyone that the children
are welcome to wear their pajamas.
This week to summarize, we began our study on the water
cycle. The children enjoyed more
winter works in the practical life and cultural sections. And some of our students were given
lessons on planning their day.
Monday: At
circle time, we read the story In November, by Cynthia Rylant, which described
the seasonal changes. The wok
cycle began as the children explored many of the new works. Today’s highlighted work is the
yarn spindle work. A child using
the work, described the work “like using a kite.” The work is a long piece of yard attached to a thin cylinder
that the child can unroll and reroll, strengthening their wrist turning motion
and concentration. Other popular
works include baric tablets, knobless cylinders, letter writing, dreidel game,
and the atomic board.
Tuesday: At
circle time, we marked the 60th day of school. Today’s highlighted work Snowflake
Stencils. Like the metal insets,
carefully tracing the snowflake insets increase the coordination and
concentration while preparing the hand for handwriting. Other popular works include clockbook,
snowflake chopsticks, candy cane transfer, and color spinner. We also enjoyed Spanish class with Sra.
Rosa, and sang our continents song.
Wednesday: At
morning circle we read The Water Hole, by Graeme Base, which using math
explores what happens at a small water hole as more and more things depend on
it. Today’s highlighted work is
the “faces” of the geometric solids.
This is a traditional Montessori lesson that sorts the geometric solids
based on the 2-dimensional face of their sides. It develops organization, concentration, coordination and
independence as well visual discrimination as a child matches 3-d solid to a
2-d planar surface. Other popular
works include calendar making, North American map and puzzle, snowflake
chopsticks, and scooping works. We
also enjoyed our music class with Mr. Wolfe and starting singing some
traditional holiday songs.
Thursday: At
morning circle we talked about where the water went in yesterday’s story and
brought out the water cycle mat.
Using wooden arrows and pictures we started our initial talk about water
flowing into a lake or ocean, then evaporating into the clouds, then either
raining or snowing back down to land. We finished up with the “Water Cycle Boogie.” Some students were invited to start on a weekly
organizational lesson. They still
have free choice to choose their work, but I’m asking them to write down 2-3
challenging work goals which they want to try to accomplish that day. This
valuable experience develops organization, concentration, coordination and
independence. Other popular
works include cube chain, snowflake insets, letter making, geometric solids,
beading candy canes and cursive writing.
Friday: At
morning circle we discussed the new month (December) and discussed our new
weather chart that also has a countdown to Christmas. We now have a lot of numbers we are keeping track of: the date, the days that passed since
the start of school, the countdown to Christmas, and the countdown till Ms.
Katie’s baby could arrive. Today’s
highlighted work is beading candy canes.
It’s an early sewing work that is just fun for all ages. Using pipe cleaners and pony beads, the
children manipulate beads in a pattern and then bend the pipe cleaner into a
candy cane shape. I imagine
everyone will have many candy canes decorations around their houses this year,
based on how quickly the beads are disappearing and the joy it brings to the
children to create their own ornament.
Well that sums up another week at GVS! It doesn’t feel like December (to me at
least) but the holidays are upon us.
Thank you!
Ms. Becky
Important dates to remember are:
December 19- Community meeting
(Our class is hosting so hopefully everyone will be there)
Decemeber 21- Our Solstice Celebration
(With a snow date for Wednesday Dec 20th)
December 22- Jan 2 – No School for our Holiday Break.
Jan 17- Family Night 6:30-8:00
Also Special Photo credit to Ms. Melissa, who just got a new camera.
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