Catching Up With Our Five Year Olds ~ Part 2

Here is Part Two of our post discussing the work our five year olds are doing in our classrooms.  These pictures were taken during the last week of October and the first two weeks of November.

Les Animaux De La Ferme ~ French Materials in the Classroom

Our French Language program is a vital part of the Montessori curriculum at our little yellow school.  Each day the children engage in small group French lessons with our French teacher.  Many graduates of our three year Montessori program attend French Immersion programs for grade one as they have both a very strong French and English base on which to build upon.

In the following pictures, J. and L. are working with Les Animaux De la Ferme vocabulary cards.  The cards were introduced prior to our trip to the farm at the end of October.

J. and L. are setting out Les Animaux De La Ferme vocabulary cards.  They are reading the names of the farm animals in French and matching the labels with the corresponding picture.

This is what the work on their mat looks like.

They each made their own booklet.  This is part of a booklet.

Skip Counting with the Bead Chains

This is a picture of the Bead Chain Material Cabinet.  This material illustrates the squares and chains of numbers from 1 to 10.  The chains sitting on the shelves illustrate the squares of numbers while the hanging chains illustrate the cubes of numbers.  The top shelf holds boxes which contain colour coordinated numbered arrows for the squares (short boxes) and cubes (tall boxes) of numbers.  The child must be familiar with numbers 1 to 100 for the short chains and 1 to 1000 for the long chains. 

This material is used for many different purposes in the Montessori casa (preschool) classroom and in the lower elementary classroom.  Children often begin work with this material at the age of 4.  At the simplest level, it is a counting exercise to practice the order of numbers.  That after 39 comes 40 etc.   

At the next level, this material illustrates skip counting, counting by ones, twos, threes, etc. all the way up to counting by tens.

Towards the end of the casa program and in the lower elementary, this material is indirect preparation for the memorization of the multiplication tables.

This material also illustrates the squares and cubes of these numbers and their relationships with each other.

K. is working with the Cube Chain of 4. 

K has set out the number arrows and is setting out the appropriate number arrow as he counts the beads along the chain. You will notice that every fourth bead has an arrow.

This is part of his completed work.  K. has been shown that the first four parts of this chain can be folded to make a square. 

K.'s completed Cube Chain of 4.  The chain can be folded into four squares.  The four squares can be placed on top of each other to form the cube of four.  The cube of four is placed at the end of the chain.

The bead chains are a very popular activity in our classrooms.  The children consider this very big work and are always so pleased with their accomplishment.

Reading Books

Children begin reading in the Montessori classroom between the ages of three and four.  At our little yellow school, children make their way through sequenced readers in addition to the Montessori Language activities in the classroom.  Children who are reading read their books each day at school with their teachers and take their books home to read with their parents.  Once they have completed our sequenced readers they are able to read chapter books and factual books.

In this picture P. is reading his reading book.



Phonograms with the Small Moveable Alphabet

The Small Moveable Alphabet is used to practice reading and spelling skills.  It is most often used to help children identify phonograms in words.  Phongrams can be single letters, such as "y" in "candy", but are most often two letters that come together to form a completely different sound such as "sh" in "ship".

G. is working with the "ow" Green Phonogram Box and the black and red Small Moveable Alphabets.  He is spelling the words found in the box and isolating the phonogram using the red Small Moveable Alphabet.  This is one of many Montessori Language exercises designed to assist children with the identification of phonograms in reading materials.

French Materials

Les Animaux De La Ferme ~ French Materials in the Classroom

Our French Language program is a vital part of the Montessori curriculum at our little yellow school.  Each day the children engage in small group French lessons with our French teacher.  Many graduates of our three year Montessori program attend French Immersion programs for grade one as they have both a very strong French and English base on which to build upon.

In the following pictures, J. and L. are working with Les Animaux De la Ferme vocabulary cards.  The cards were introduced prior to our trip to the farm at the end of October.

J. and L. are setting out Les Animaux De La Ferme vocabulary cards.  They are reading the names of the farm animals in French and matching the labels with the corresponding picture.

This is what the work on their mat looks like.

They each made their own booklet.  This is part of a booklet.

Catching Up With Our 5 Year Olds ~ Part 1

Our classrooms are buzzing with the joyful sounds of children engaged in meaningful, challenging work.  Here are some of the activities our five year olds are working with.  These photographs were taken during the last week of October and the first week of November.

(Note:  The Montessori casa/preschool program is a three year program with children enrolling before the age of four.  The children in the photographs have been with us for anywhere from 2 1/2 to 3 years.)

Writing Numbers to 1000+

R. is challenging himself to write his numbers to 1000 and beyond.  In the pictures below he is writing his numbers from 301 to 400.  He is currently writing his numbers in the seven hundreds.

Writing Stories

Our five year olds always have so much to say and story writing is one way of expressing themselves.  Here is J.'s story about her dog Milo.  She is using the Story Alphabet.  This material enables children to practice their spelling, organize and express their thoughts as well as introduce them to the proper use of capital letters and punctuation.

J.'s story on the mat.

 

J. has copied the story from the mat onto pink-lined paper.  She has also drawn a picture.

A very proud looking J. with her completed work.

The Puzzle Maps

M. is exploring the Puzzle Map of Europe with the use of the atlas.

In the Montessori classroom, children are introduced to the Land and Water Globe, the Continents Globe and the Puzzle Map of the Continents when they are 2 1/2 to 3 years old.  When they can identify all of the continents, they are free to explore the Puzzle Maps of each individual continent as well as their own country.  Emphasis is placed on learning the names of the countries in our home continent of North America as well as learning the names of the provinces and territories of Canada.

Using the Dictionary

M. is using the dictionary to find words beginning with certain letters.

The Subtraction Finger Chart

L. is using the Subtraction Finger Chart to solidify her knowledge of her subtraction facts. 

L. has taken a subtraction question from the box of questions.  The question is placed above the board '12 - 7 =  '.  If she knows the answer she can say it and use the board to confirm it.  If she does not know the answer, she places her right finger on 12 and her left finger on - 7.  She then moves her right finger down and her left finger across until the two meet at the answer, 5.  She then writes the question and the answer in her math book.

Part Two coming soon.

Scenes From Our Halloween Party

On Monday, October 31st both classrooms of children came together for our Halloween party.  Here are some pictures from our day.

Some of the half day children in their Halloween costumes.

Our Halloween feast!



The full day children in their Halloween costumes.

Happy Halloween!

Three little pumpkins drawn by a three year old.

A bat painted by a five year old.

Thanksgiving ~ Taking the Time To Say Thank You

I love the Thanksgiving long weekend and the opportunity it brings for my family to spend time together.  We could not have asked for more beautiful weather here in our little corner of the world.  Thanksgiving is also a day when I stop and consider all the blessings in my life, both large and small.

In the classroom, Thanksgiving provides us with the opportunity to highlight what it means to be thankful.  While our youngest members find the concept difficult to grasp, our older students can name many things in their lives that they are grateful or thankful for. Some of the things they are thankful for are friends, nice teachers, and their families.


In the full day classroom, each day provides us with an opportunity to reflect on our thankfulness.  Everyday before lunch we sing the following song:



Thank you for this wonderful day, for home and friends and happiness.

Help us to do the things we should and to ourselves be true and good.

Thank you to all the children, parents and extended family members who make our days at school so enjoyable.  We are thankful that you are all in our lives.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Little Red Jewels From Our Garden ~ Our Potato Harvest

Last May, the children planted seed potatoes in our school garden.  (See In Our Garden Post - May 2011)  We watched as green stems and then leaves began to sprout, grow and eventually wither away.  At last it was time to harvest our potatoes, but where were they?

With shovels in hand, the children started digging the earth and turning over soil.  Squeals of delight rang out as the children saw the little red jewels emerging from the soil.

While some children dug, others quickly scooped up the potatoes, brushed off the soil clinging to them and ran to put them in the wagon.  Our back garden was filled with joy and laughter as the children dug and harvested the potatoes, feeling the hard potatoes and relishing getting  their hands dirty in the fertile soil. 

When all the potatoes were harvested, we were able to fill up the wagon twice.  Each child was able to take home some potatoes to share with their families.  They were delicious!

Our potato harvest occurred during the first week of school.  As our new and returning students interacted with each other and the natural environment, we could see this delightful group coming together to form a lovely Montessori community of children.  

Letting Our Lights Shine ~ The Dawn of a New School Year

As I sit her on the dawn of my 18th year as a Montessori teacher, the feelings I am feeling are similar to those I felt on the dawn of my first year.  There is the nervousness, yet also an overwhelming feeling of excitement and wonder as I look forward to working with the children and parents and experiencing all the delights and challenges that a new school year brings.

I am reminded of something that we experienced here at school last year.  After an unseasonably warm fall, the half-day class found a wooly bear caterpillar out on the playground.  We prepared a jar and watched as it spun a cocoon.  We set the jar outside for the winter.  In the spring we brought the cocoon back inside.  Slowly, but surely, something emerged from the cocoon.  It was a white tiger moth!

After watching it dry its' wings, it began to move about in the jar.  It was time for it to leave us.  The whole school went on a nature walk outside and found a lovely place to relocate it.  Among the budding trees and blossoming forget-me-nots, the children gathered around the jar as we opened the lid.  The moth was hesitant and did not want to leave.  It was torn by the uncertainty of the world beyond the opening of the jar and the safety and comfort of the jar it had called home.  After a few minutes of flying to the opening and back to the bottom of the jar, the moth finally took the step and flew out to a new life!



At the beginning of each school year, my thoughts also turn to our recent graduates and all our former graduates who are beginning a new school year.  I am reminded of A. and how he cried in the car all the way home from his graduation because he didn't need a new school for grade one.  He wanted to stay at our Montessori school.  Or of D. who told us that although he was curious to see grade one, he really wanted to stay at the little yellow school.  Or of C. who told us that he would visit us every week until he went to highschool.  He couldn't remember if he said highschool or University, but he would visit us every week.  C. stayed true to his word and made his first post-graduation visit this past week as we were getting the school ready for the new school year.  We look forward to seeing him every week.  Change is difficult and takes us out of our comfort zone, but ultimately, change is an exciting part of life.  Our students know that they are always welcome to come back to The Children's Montessori Academy to pay us a visit, and we are honoured that they have continued to do so since we began in 1999.

As we waited for the moth to fly out of the jar, we all sang the following song.

This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine.

This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine.

This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine.

Let is shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Here's hoping we all let our lights shine this school year.  From our little corner of the world to yours, here's wishing everyone a fantastic school year!