// Weeks of May 27 (Field Day!) and Jun 3 //
// Curriculum Update, Mid-May //
Week Of May 20
This week in the Triangle Room our caterpillars have finally transformed into beautiful butterflies. The children were excited to see them feed on oranges and flutter their wings. At the end of the week, we will release our butterflies in the communal area of the park.
This week is the last week for our Specials. In Spanish, we learned a new song called “Mariposita “ which means little butterfly. We also reviewed our numbers, colors and days of the week in Spanish. In Music, Mr. Sebastian played many favorite song sung throughout the year. A new favorite song we learned in Music is called “Bumble Bee, Bumble Bee”. Our Movement time was spent mostly outdoors. We continued to run with our friends, learn how to kick and throw the ball.
We also had fun tie dyeing our shirts for Field Day! The colors we chose to dye with are light blue, dark blue and green. The shirts will remain in the classroom until next Friday.
Week of May 13
What an exciting week this has been for our Triangle Room friends! The children were amazed to see the caterpillars finally forming their chrysalis’. As the children prepare for the transformation our caterpillars, they are also busy preparing for the End of the Year Ceremony. They have been learning two songs called “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and “De Colores” in Spanish which means many colors.
In the Practical Life Area, the children are beginning to work with the coffee grinding work. This work allows them to strengthen their fine motor skills . The coffee that they work hard to grind are put into a ziplock which can be taken home.
// 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 //
This week we continue to learn about the life cycle of the butterfly. In circle time, we introduced a new work where the children can explore each stage of a butterfly. Children were also able to observe the caterpillars and see how big they have grown in size. The children await the next phase of metamorphosis: the chrysalis. A new song that we learned to help us learn about the life cycle of a butterfly is “There’s a Little Caterpillar on a Leaf”.
We have begun to explore the life cycle of a flower, starting from a tiny seed to a beautiful flower. We planted our own flowers in a pot and added soil and water. The children are excited to take these plants home and share them with their families.
Thank you to all our families for their generosity during “Teacher Appreciation Week”. We truly appreciate all your hard work.
We wish all a very Happy Mother’s Day. Have a great weekend!
// Teacher Appreciation Week //
// curriculum update: May 3 //
This week in the classroom, we continue our exploration of insects. In the Art Area, the children have enjoyed using the stamp work using butterfly and dragonfly stamps. We will soon introduce the life cycle of the butterfly, as we patiently await for the arrival of our caterpillars.
Fo the Art Special, the children have enjoyed creating caterpillars using circular sponges to apply the paint and q-tips to create the caterpillar’s hair and legs and finishing it up by adding some googley eyes.
A special thank you to HPMS Friends and Family Association for donating the caterpillars.. We are excited to learn about the many changes of the caterpillar and its journey to transform into a beautiful butterfly.
We want to thank all the parents for taking the time out to meet to celebrate their children’s progress. Also, thank you for all the book donations during the Book Fair. The children are excited to share and read them with each other.
// week of April 29 //
// before & after spring break: look how much we have grown! //
// It's April! //
As we enter the new month of April, we continue to learn about Spring and the many changes it brings. In the Art Area, we have been busy crumpling paper tissue paper and glueing it on to our tree to create a cherry blossom tree. Other fun seasonal art activities that our children have been enjoying are counting and stamping flowers and creating a flower using a stencil and a sponge.
This week we introduced the many different types of birds using the Object-To-Picture matching work. This work increases their knowledge about birds and increases their vocabulary while preparing them for reading. Some of the birds that we exploring are the woodpecker, blue jay, cardinal and robin.
// Week of April 1 //
// Week of March 25: Curriculum Update //
It’s exciting to see how much our children have learned and have continued to learn in the classroom. We’ve introduced many new works and added extensions to previous works. An extension to the Metal Insets was added this week. We’ve added more colored pencils in the Language Area for tracing and filling in the geometric shapes. We’ve also introduced the letter sound “t” using the Sandpaper Letter with matching objects.
During circle time, we played the Silence Game, which is a Montessori activity that develops self-control and an awareness of the sounds around them. We also read the booklet “When I Make Silence” by Jennifer Howard which aids children to find their “inner peace” when they make silence.
// Week of March 25 //
HPMS is celebrating World Down Syndrome Day on March 20! Wear your jeans and/or silly socks, too.
// This week.... //
During “Work With Your Child”, the children were excited to show their parents many of the classroom activities. It was wonderful to see the children taking the role of teacher and guiding their parents through each activity. Thank you so much for visiting classroom and making it such a memorable experience.
In the Art area, we have been busy with our seasonal art activities. We introduced our rainbow coloring art, where the children use guide to color the rainbow with markers and use their fine motor to crumple up tissue paper to glue on to a four leaf clover.
In the Sensorial Area, we introduced Sound Cylinders where the children match the cylinders to the same sound when shaken. This material allows the child to improve his/her auditory senses in controlled and engaging way and allows them to practice sound discrimination.
// Week of March 11 //
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 25
Through daily practices of hanging their name tags on the tree, upon arrival and drinking from their own cups with their labeled names, the students are able to recognize their names with little or no assistance. In the language area, we introduced a children’s picture/ name matching work which aims to recognize their friends in the classroom, making the connection between picture and word.
We have also been working on tracing the letters of our names. This pre-writing skill reinforces name recognition and develops a strong pincer grip and emphasizes the use of fine motor skills.
Another skill that was introduced this week was the scissor cutting work. We are focusing on practicing hand placement, opening and closing with safety scissors. Some children are able to cut along the line across a strip of paper.
Week of March 4
We started the month of March celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday. We made our hats from the book “The Cat in the Hat” and the children colored in the red stripes and wore their hats proudly around the classroom. In circle time, we read Dr. Seuss books “The Cat in the Hat”, “The Foot Book”, and “Hop on Pop”. All these Dr. Seuss books and more are available to explore and read in our library.
The children explored many new seasonal works in the classroom. A new favorite work in the Practical Life Area, was the toothbrushing work. This work contains a large dental teeth model and a toothbrush using baking soda to clean the model. This activity teaches children to practice good oral hygiene and strengthen fine motor skills.
In the Cultural Area, the children are exploring living and non-living things. They are given a set of objects and learning how to match the objects into living or non-living things. Also, looking around their environment, some children are able to distinguish which things are living and non-living.