Student Portfolios

Creating the future, without fear.

// Week of Nov. 26: Curriculum Update //

November 29, 2018  /  Michele Spiezia

We were thrilled to have a great turnout for the Harvest Celebration! Thank you all for donating supplies and food. The children enjoyed preparing and eating the soup with their classmates. We thank you for taking the time to attend and hope that you all enjoyed some warm family moments during the break. 

      In a last nod to autumn, a sandpaper leaf rubbing activity was presented. This work requires the student to hold the crayon in a different way while using pressure to produce a leaf shaped rubbing. While doing the leaf rubbing, students can learn to discern between the shape of maple, beech,  oak, and willow leaves while building finger and hand strength and hand-eye coordination.  

    In preparation for our study of animals in winter and Hibernation Day, we are beginning to talk about hibernation, migration, and adaptation. 

    As mentioned in our parent-teacher conferences, the students are becoming more independent in their self care and more socially interactive and affectionate with each other. Some small group lessons and games are being introduced as many children are moving out of the parallel play stage and derive a great deal of pleasure from working together with their friends.

// This week at HPMS //

November 20, 2018  /  Michele Spiezia

The Circle Room teachers were so happy to have an opportunity to meet with parents and celebrate each child’s progress in school so far this year. It was such a pleasure to meet face-to-face without any distractions.

         This week, the children were introduced to the sandpaper letter “m”. They practiced sounding out the phonetic letter sound and examined corresponding objects. As an extension to Color Box 1 primary color matching work, a “Bring Me” game was introduced in small groups. In this game, each participant hunts for one  red, one yellow, and one blue object in the classroom. This sort of activity combines curriculum concept reinforcement with movement. Some students adapted the game to play on their own with colorful results!

         Apple slicing food preparation work was introduced. This work is very popular and allows students to prepare and eat their own healthy snack!

         A big THANK YOU to all of the families who contributed Book Fair books to the Circle Room.  We received all of the titles on our wish list!  

// Curriculum Update: Week of November 5 //

November 08, 2018  /  Michele Spiezia

This week in the Circle Room orange paint,  pumpkin songs and autumn art activities were introduced.  The class stood in wonder while observing the beautiful red leaves adorning Hamilton Park’s trees.  Our daily walks to the park give us lots of time to appreciate the changes that the season brings. Additional clothing gives the opportunity for new lessons in self-care. User-friendly outdoor shoes and boots help to build independence and self-confidence.

          The children were thrilled to participate in making a healthy apple, cucumber, and kale juice child-friendly juicer. They also enjoyed drinking the juice - many asked for second servings!

          The first birthdays of the school year were celebrated in a very special Montessori  fashion, with the Earth making it’s way around the Sun for each year of the birthday child’s life!  We look forward to celebrating many more as the school year progresses.

//Curriculum Update: Week of October 29 //

November 01, 2018  /  Michele Spiezia

This week the Circle Room students had fun learning more about pumpkins! In addition to counting pumpkins, scrubbing pumpkins, and exploring the color of pumpkins, we had a chance to cut one open and see what is inside a pumpkin!  The children were invited to look at, smell, and touch the flesh, pulp, and seeds. They helped to scoop out the pulp from the inside to clean out our pumpkin for carving. 

             After learning about different emotions as displayed on pumpkin faces, it was decided that our classroom jack-o-lantern would be given a happy face!

             As a final celebration, the students enjoyed hunting for mini pumpkins at a pumpkin patch in Hamilton Park! Happy Halloween!

// Week of October 22: Curriculum Update //

October 25, 2018  /  Michele Spiezia

     This week in the Circle Room  orange paint,  pumpkin songs and autumn art activities were introduced.  The class stood in wonder while observing the beautiful red leaves adorning Hamilton Park’s trees.  Our daily walks to the park give us lots of time to appreciate the changes that the season brings. Additional clothing gives the opportunity for new lessons in self-care. User-friendly outdoor shoes and boots help to build independence and self-confidence.

          The children were thrilled to participate in making a healthy apple, cucumber, and kale juice with a child-friendly juicer. They also enjoyed drinking the juice - many asked for second servings!

          The first birthdays of the school year were celebrated in a very special Montessori  fashion, with the Earth making it’s way around the Sun for each year of the birthday child’s life!  We look forward to celebrating many more as the school  year progresses.

// Week of October 22: Photos //

October 25, 2018  /  Michele Spiezia

// Week of October 15: Curriculum Update//

October 19, 2018  /  Michele Spiezia

In early September,  we introduced the concept of grading objects by size using just five of the cubes of the Pink Tower. Now, many of the children are able to grade all ten cubes with ease. As the students are becoming more adept at discerning differences in size, more challenging Sensorial materials, such as the Knobless Cylinders are being introduced. Along with a demonstration of the steps involved in using a particular material, our presentations always serve to reinforce basic Montessori foundational principals, such as showing respect for the classroom materials by handling them with great care. 

            As the last days of apple activities are drawing near, the children are creating a red apple art project which serves to introduce the use of a “glue spatula” or “glue brush” for spreading liquid glue. The students are strengthening their fine-motor skills by rolling tissue paper into small balls that they glue on the apple outline.  Please look for your child’s finished apple art project hanging in the hallway outside our classroom. 

           We look forward to sharing information about the all areas of the classroom with you on Curriculum Morning, this Saturday, October 20th.

// Week of October 15: Photos //

October 19, 2018  /  Michele Spiezia

// Curriculum Update, week of Oct. 9 //

October 11, 2018  /  Michele Spiezia

This week reminded us of how far the Circle Room children have come in being able to separate calmly from their parents upon arrival. Returning after a four day absence, most students said “goodbye” without any tears at all. The few who had a more difficult arrival quickly became engaged in new and familiar classroom activities, forgetting their despair.

            We were excited to sing songs about peace while gazing at flickering LED candles on Peace Day. The children had a chance to learn how birthdays are celebrated in our Montessori classroom when we celebrated the school’s 12th birthday! We sang “The Earth Goes Around the Sun” twelve times! 

             Sensorial work, such as the Pink Tower, helps train the students’ senses to recognize differences in attributes such as size.  The Circle Room children are eagerly exploring these materials without realizing that being able to discern differences in similar things is valuable groundwork for later Mathematics.

//Curriculum Update: Week of October 1 //

October 04, 2018  /  Michele Spiezia

         We were so happy to welcome many parents to Back-to-School Night last week! It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know each other better, to pass on important information about upcoming events, and to brainstorm ways to make the classroom experience the best it can be for every member of the Circle Room community. 

          These days, the classroom is a fairly quiet environment for most of the morning with just a low buzz of activity and very little crying. It is a very different setting than the one many parents many have observed in the first few weeks. The students now choose their activities and move through the environment with calm assurance; they are beginning to internalize order of the classroom.  Many children are able to spend longer concentrating on their work and to receive lessons that require short periods of undivided attention.  Little by little, more challenging activities are being introduced. 

          We are enjoying our Specials and the children are developing a sizeable repertoire of songs learned at Spanish, Music, circle time and while walking to and from the park. A new song that we are singing in class is “Autumn Leaves Are Falling Down. ”

// Week of Sept. 24: Curriculum Update //

September 27, 2018  /  Michele Spiezia

This week, we welcomed in the season of autumn, began our Specials schedule and continued  our exploration of apples. 

      We made note of the name of the new season and talked about some seasonal changes that will occur. We will delve deeper as the season progresses.

        On Monday, we had a  chance to say “Buenos Dias!” to Mr. Hassan, our Spanish teacher and on Thursday, we sang and kept time with Mr. Sebastian, our Music specialist.  We learned about walking through school hallways in an orderly fashion and practiced ascending the staircase with care as a start to our Movement curriculum. 

       The students expressed their preference for their favorite type of apple during our apple tasting circle time activity. Each child’s preference was recorded and displayed on a chart.  Each child can see his or her name with a picture of the apple type they liked best. They can count how many children liked each type of apple. The apple chart is a fun way to expose students to early graphing!