New Year & Elementary Excitement

The new school year is about to begin and I'm so excited about the changes in the Elementary classroom. We are welcoming some new students to class as we grow and share the Montessori philosophy.

First, we are moving into our new classroom with windows on two sides. Students will have access to the gardens as usual. Inside the classroom, we have a new Spanish shelf to incorporate the lessons taught by Ms. Lourdes as well as a new Peace area for children to relax and read. Another new addition to the elementary classroom is the Teacher Presentation table for lessons. Some of the lessons that will be expanded this year in the curriculum will be in the areas of language and writing.

One of the areas that we will focus on during the beginning of the year is the Montessori concept of the Five Great Lessons. Follow the link to learn more about it.

~Rachael Turner

Examples of Lessons

Phases of the Moon is a Montessori cultural lesson which demonstrates the various degrees of illumination of the moon relative to its position to the earth and sun.

The Language "Mini Environment". Students arrange miniatures of animals or people, which are labeled with name cards. Parts of speech are represented by a specific symbol chip, which are placed above the name cards. Beginning with simple nouns and articles, students gradually integrate adjectives, verbs and other words. This student has recently learned about conjunctions, which are represented by the pink rectangle.

The North America Continent Map. Geography in Montessori is presented in practical and appealing manner, using finely crafted puzzles of continents, countries and oceans. The students remove the puzzle pieces, solve the puzzle, then place small tickets which display the names of major geographical entities.

Animal Three-Part Cards allow the student to study animal anatomy. Students match a diagram card highlighting a section of the animal with a card which names the section. A third card describes the function of the section. A guide book serves in assisting the student. After the initial lesson, students draw their own diagram of the animal in their Cultural Journal, labeling each part. Just a few examples of phyla covered in these lessons include the mollusk, poriferan, echinoderm and nematode. The student in the picture is working on an arthropod lesson.

Bead Bars are used to teach math facts. They can be used to perform both addition and multiplication problems.

Elementary Newsletter May 8 - 22

Our class newsletter has been posted. It contains information on the following:

*Bible Lesson
*Physical Sciences
*Weekly Readers
*Music
*Art
*PE

Elementary Class Newsletter, April 20 - May 1

Our class newsletter has been posted.  It contains information on the following:

• Bible Lesson
• Physical Sciences
• Weekly Readers
• Music
• Art
• PE