December at Marlowe

December was a short but action-packed month at Marlowe! At the beginning of the month, Ellie brought in a giant horseshoe crab and nest for show-and-tell. (Note the iPhone for size comparison.) We loved having them in our class and seeing real examples of the items we see on cards and in books. 

We spent the better part of the month making presents for our families and learning carols and The Night Before Christmas. 

The children had so much fun welcoming their mommies and daddies into the classroom to show off their songs, poem, and lessons. 

I will admit that the last week of school, everyone was getting excited about the upcoming break. However, as seen on this four-year-old's journal entry, who can blame them?

The last day before break was Pajama Day! 

This day is a school-wide favorite for students and staff alike. 

On a completely different note, I was sitting behind this sweet group of children during music hour, and I couldn't help but take a quick snapshot of the moment. 

I love how so many of our children have grown up with each other here at Marlowe. It is so much fun to go back and see how they have changed over the years. 

I hope you all are enjoying the break, and I can't wait to see you all in the new year. 

November at Marlowe

Sheep on the playground? It's true! The children found many sweet animals to love on the playground earlier this month when our beloved petting zoo came for a visit.

In preparation for the big day, many of our children worked with our vertebrate puzzles and learned and labeled their parts. 

(Left picture is of a young three-year-old, and the right is labeling by a four-year-old). 

And, our older children received a lesson on parts of speech (article, adjective, noun) using the farm.  

This month, one of our science experiments was growing corn stalks from indian corn. I was delighted by how well  it turned out. Our pumpkin plants also ended up sprouting many seedlings. 

We made scarecrows, "Trees of Thanks", turkeys, and several yummy treats. 

 Ms. Mary brought fun instruments for us to play and taught us some turkey tunes. 

We received lots of lessons and spent our mornings working hard!

As a side note, parents are always surprised by how neat the classroom is when the come in. I think they are sometimes skeptical when I tell them that the children clean it themselves. :)

We look forward to seeing you all next week for Daddies and Donuts and Afternoons at Marlowe!

Spooky Time

The first nine weeks of school came and went in a flash! Our theme this month was Harvest Time: The Plants Around Us. The children learned about the importance of plants. We reviewed, drew, matched, and labeled parts of the plant and its life-cycle. 

We dissected one pumpkin for viewing and removed the seeds of another. Pumpkins produce so many seeds, that we were able to plant some back in the pumpkin, some outside on our playground, and even take some home to grow. So far, all of our seeds have sprouted!

One of our talented room mothers brought in roasted pumpkin seeds for us to taste and even made a sensory basket for us!

We were very busy preparing for Halloween. We made several art and food crafts and learned several spooky songs.

 We also spent our mornings practicing old lessons and receiving new ones.

On Halloween, our sweet costumed bunch stayed busy. 

Happy Halloween!!