// Weeks of May 27 (Field Day!) and Jun 3 //
// Curriculum Update, Mid-May //
Week of May 20
Wheeewwww! What a week of celebrations!
Hooray for our Kindergarteners, who shared their words of wisdom with everyone!
Hooray for our Pre-Kindergarteners, who sang their hearts out for everyone!
Hooray for our caterpillars, who emerged as butterflies, stretched their wings and took off into the world!
There are so many metaphors that can be made-- here's to growing up and stretching our wings!
Week of May 13
Hello, Silver Room Families!
The week ahead is a busy one!
We welcome you to join us for our End-of-Year Ceremony on the 6th floor on Thursday morning. After the ceremony on the 6th floor, you are invited to a brief celebration of songs by the children in the Silver Room. We’re prepping the children to say goodbye to you after that, because we know so many of you need to head to work afterwards!
We *are* still aiming to go outside after that ourselves, weather permitting, so if your child wears something fancy for the ceremonies, please let us know if you’d like them to change clothes before we head out.
And by the way, this past week, we had a LOT of fun— we did get a turtle visit on Friday, and the children were still excited about that! Lucas the Box Turtle may come back for an outdoor visit in upcoming weeks. Children who brought in boots and rain jackets on Tuesday were able to get out for a little bonus recess puddle-jumping time, and the sun came out for a nice, extended recess and picnic on Thursday! This longer recess is great for several reasons: the children have made such gains in their academics this year, and in outdoor play, they have a chance to apply their learning-- they use counting, logic, spatial reasoning and problem-solving skills as they collect twigs and stones to build "castles" and "campfires"; they narrate complex stories about their dramatic play scenarios; they study the plants and look for insects, spiders and worms, talking about what they need and how to help them be comfortable based on what we've learned from our Cultural Studies activities and books. And for students working on their social skills, this more open-ended but tightly supervised and closely supported time allows them to devise, explore and re-devise games to figure out which kinds of games will work for everyone in the game, how to manage disagreement, ask for compromise, and come up with win-win alternatives. In many ways, and for many children, this social learning is the most challenging-- and so also the most important.
So, here's to recess! And picnics! And play!
// week of May 20 //
// week of May 13 //
Parent Association Meeting Notes
May 10, 2019
Ø HUGE, HUGE, HUGE THANK YOU FOR THE THOUGHTFUL AND CREATIVE TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK CELEBRATION~ STARTING THE DAY WITH CURBSIDE HELP AND THE ENDLESS TREATS HAVE BEEN APPRECIATED!!!!
Ø HUGE THANK YOU TO HOLLY (JETT’S MOM) AND JENNIFER (LUCAS AND ARI’S MOM) FOR ORGANIZING THE WEEK AND BEING INCREDIBLE PA COORDINATORS FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS. HUGE THANK YOU TO JULIA (HARRISON’S MOM) AND YASSMIN (AIDAN AND NOAH’S MOM) FOR AGREEING TO THE BE THE PA COORDINATORS FOR THE 2019-2020 SCHOOL YEAR
Ø THANK YOU for supporting the Book Fair ($6,500 was raised) and donating boots!
Ø CONGRATULATIONS to the HPMS Basketball Team for playing an incredible game verses Village Montessori~ we finally won (46 to 18). The UE team won against Stevens (18-16).
Ø Please enjoy the video on the HPMS balloon launch (yes, that’s really the curve on the Earth from the balloon launched by HPMS students). This project has been happening for four years:
· Year 1 ~ focus was on altitude
· Year 2~ focus was on creating an environment for an insect to go into space (balloon had a hole and ended up in a lake)
· Year 3~ focus was on creating an environment for a small mammal to go into space~ students had ethical concerns if it didn’t work so they changed it to using the air supply to launch a rocket (but no trash was to left in space)
· Year 4~ focus is on communication~ there will be a live stream on the 6th floor for K students and up to watch on May 21
Ø Upcoming Events (it’s that time of year!!!) ~ EOY Celebrations begin at 9:15 on the 6th floor unless otherwise noted:
· May 21~ Blue/Red Room EOY Celebration
· May 22~ Indigo/Yellow Room EOY Celebration
· May 23~ Orange/Silver Room EOY Celebration
· May 24-27~ School Closed for Memorial Day Weekend
· May 28~ Homework Discussion ~ 6 pm
· May 31~ Field Day (PLEASE KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE SUG!!!!)
· June 4 ~ Earth Room EOY Celebration at 9:30
· June 5~ Sky Room EOY Celebration at 9:30
· June 6 ~ Ocean Room EOY Celebration at 9:30
· June 11 ~ UE/MS EOY Celebration & 8th Grade Graduation at 6 pm on the 6th Floor
· June 12 ~ Last day of School
o PA Meeting ~ 9 am
o WEE & Bridge EOY Celebration at 11:15 am for Wee and Square, 11:00 for Circle and Triangle
o End of the Year Picnic~ “BYOB”~ Bring Your Own Basket & Blanket at 5 pm in Hamilton Park
o HPMS will provide plates, utensils, water and treats.
o Please bring food for your family (or buy dinner at the Farmer’s Market!)
· June 19 ~ Silverman Golf Tournament supporting HPMS
Ø Year Book is now available for purchase~ please keep an eye out for the SUG
Ø Discussion for next year…thoughts about fruit as the go to birthday snack (child shares their favorite fruit with the class) and changing the snack sign up (parents bring in one item once a week instead of enough snack for the class for an entire week).
// Week of May 6: Curriculum Update //
Thank you, All, for sharing your time and thoughts with us during Parent-Teacher Conferences, thank you for sharing books from the Book Fair with us to build our library, thank you for your warmth and generosity during Teacher Appreciation Week! We feel very appreciated!
This is a great time of year in a Montessori classroom— foundations that have been laid really begin to gel, and all of a sudden, first-year students start getting the hang of their sounds and building teens with the beads, children who have been quiet observers at circle for most of the year suddenly feel emboldened to deliver presentations on planets or sing solos, Kindergarteners who have had reminders to “help a younger friend” on their work plans for the last two months start doing it spontaneously and graciously.
And, of course, we’re spending a lot of time observing nature and applying our zoological learning. Outside, we’re noticing the worms, bees and birds; indoors, we’re watching with amazement as our caterpillars double and redouble their size! As of this writing, the children are also working hard to earn a visit from Ms. Michele’s turtle, Lucas, by remembering how to use careful, safe feet and quiet voices indoors. Stay tuned!
// Teacher Appreciation Week //
// curriculum update: May 3 //
Happy Book Fair & Parent-Teacher Conference Week!
We’ve spent the week reviewing social growth goals, from being helpful, to being responsible, to being kind— and noticing where these concepts often overlap. Whether you’re at a party with friends, in the park with earthworms, or in the classroom with our **new baby caterpillars!** there is always another opportunity to practice these respectful actions.
And yes, our Painted Lady caterpillars are here! We’re so excited to observe them as they grow!
// week of April 29 //
// before & after spring break: look how much we have grown! //
// It's April! //
After a few April Fool jokes on Monday, the Silver Room got straight back into the serious work of pouring water, matching rhymes and, yes, digging for dinosaur "bones" and "fossils" (carefully crafted from clay by Ms. Rachelle). Indoors, the students have been very studiously learning about dinosaurs from books and from each other, and the younger friends have been admiring the K students' dinosaur projects as they come together.
Outside, we've been spending a lot of time in the park itself, exploring around the roots of trees and examining the progress of the flower buds. We've noticed that many of the daffodils in the Children's Garden have bloomed, heralding spring with their yellow trumpets, and that many of the trees are also budding out. We've noticed that the cherry trees have round, reddish or green buds and the maple trees have fuzzy reddish or golden buds. We've also noticed that things look different just about every time we go outside! Spring is such a season of change-- we're happy we get to spend time observing these cheerful changes together!
// Week of April 1 //
// Week of March 25 //
Thank you to all who joined us for the HPMS Winter Gala! It was a BLAST!
// What we have been up to these days... //
Week of February 24
It happens every February: growth spurts! Some children suddenly reveal their gifted pitching arm, others’ spines suddenly seem so long and their limbs so lanky, others realize they can solve a conflict with a friend with much less help from adults, do simple addition or count to 100 by themselves, or blend sounds together and read! What!
Did these things really happen overnight?
Or were they slowly happening every day in tiny increments until one day they became wonderfully obvious?
Who can say, but we’re so excited either way!
While Dr. Montessori can’t exactly get credit for the pitching arms or lengthening limbs, she would be proud of the hard work the children have been putting in day after day with the classroom materials, on their own and in their lessons. This daily practice is what helps them to push forward and upward, much like the seedlings on our windowsill. Everyone has their own timeline for learning and growth, but what we know for certain is that they each, in their time, thrive in Montessori!
Week of March 4
Wow, we can feel the cold weather down to our bones!
With “feels-like” temps below 25F again, we’ve been stuck inside — but with so many new works being introduced, it’s been just fine! We’ve been productively busy all week long!
We’ve refreshed our Practical Life shelves with new works to challenge our fingers and build the stamina and dexterity of our hands, so if the children come home talking about their “muscular fingers,” and doing body-builder flexes with just their thumbs, it might be because we’ve been talking about how strong their hands are getting!
We’ve also been introducing lots and lots of dinosaur and prehistoric animals activities! The children have been very busy using a variety of matching works including memory games and dino dominoes, jigsaw puzzles of varying levels of difficulty, to categorizing activities which help the children learn which prehistoric beasts were carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. There’s such a great deal of interest about these ancient animals that we have many more activities and works planned— stay tuned!
One more thing: we have a dino-themed Book of the Week: Oh Say Can You Say Di-No-Saur?: All About Dinosaurs, by Bonnie Worth and illustrated by Steve Haefele. This book is perfect for us right now because the children are all so excited about dinosaurs AND our K students are literally working on All About books of their own in Writers’ Workshop! Hooray for cross-curricular overlaps!
// Weeks of Feb 25 & March 4 //
For any Birthday Celebrations.... please be aware:
// Curriculum Update: Week of Feb. 18 //
Our weather roller coaster continued this week, with temperatures in the 50s on Monday and then snow and ice on Wednesday, followed by more warmth and sunshine on Thursday— wow! What a pleasure to see so many children out and about in the snowy neighborhood with their friends or siblings!
Speaking of which, please remember that we do try to get outside as often as possible, and certainly we do on warmer days, even if there are puddles or slush. On such days, it’s so important to dress for the weather and/or have full changes of clothes available— socks, pants, underwear included (remember the ephemeral joy of sliding down a wet slide in winter? Initially exhilarating, then quickly just ...cold and wet). Inside shoes are also key items on mucky days, as the children spend so much time working at mats on the ground.
Indoors, the children have been taking care of the marigold seedlings (two of which have sprouted their first pair of true leaves!), making hearts to add to our tree in the hallways, and thinking of things the enjoy about school for a Montessori Week project. Kindergarten students have also become very interested in two new topics: a study of real bones Ms. Michele found on a hike (one friend thinks the bones are from a dinosaur; another friend thinks they are very clearly too small to belong to a dinosaur, but could not offer specifics— we sense a research opportunity....!), and units of measure. The boys have been using rulers and protractors to measure parts of triangles, and have decided that they’d like to measure more things, using more tools, in upcoming weeks. Stay tuned!
// Presidents' Day Week //
