Sunday, June 18, 2017

Art & Pirates

What a busy past two weeks! We had lots of new little ones enter our classroom for the very first time. Camp is such a wonderful introduction to school. It's more relaxed and jam-packed with tons of fun. Our young twos received lots of lessons so they could get oriented in our classroom and have activities to keep them busy in between all of our projects and camp-themed events.
By the beginning of our second week, everything calmed down and the children got into a really great rhythm. 
Our first theme was art. We typically study famous artist and try to copy their works.  However, this year, we decided to change things up a bit and studied different art techniques. 
We started with paper mache. 
I highly recommend the recipes we used. The first layers were half water and half flour, and they dried extremely hard. The final layer was one part flour to five parts water (brought to a simmer on the stove), and it dried clear. 
We made an edible necklace.
We tried our hand at quilling (paper filigree).
We printed a cloth using the batik method. 
The children also did a lot of color grading work. 
Pirate camp was geared toward the landlubber with an eye for adventure. 
Everyone knows that geometry and astronomy are essential to navigation, and if you are unfamiliar with maps, how do you know where to sail? 
It is always a good idea to be familiar with local wildlife. 
Also, captains need to know how to spell in order to maintain their logs. 
You see? Every successful pirate needs a firm Montessori education.
Our swashbuckling buccaneers found doubloons (gold coins), walked the plank, swabbed the decks, 
and danced every day. 
Science camp is this week!! Get your goggles ready. 

Saturday, June 3, 2017

May at Marlowe


May started with a bang!! We hosted two shows of Peter Hart and his puppets. He introduced us to some new puppets and brought back some old favorites. 
We invited our mommies into our classrooms and recited some poems, showed off our favorite lessons, and gave them some sweet keepsakes. 
We each made our own tie-dye t-shirts to wear for Field Day!
 And, even though Field Day was rainy, the weather didn't stop us from our silly games!!
Ms. Mary returned from three weeks abroad and brought back stories and songs from all over Europe. 
The Miami Circle campus hosted its first ballet recital, and our sweet ballerinas put on an adorable performance. 
After months of hard work, our super readers got some awesome medals and trophies!! 

SIX children read over 1,000 books this year. More than one of the trophies were for children who were three when school started in August and read over 100 - and up to 1,000 - books. 

What kind of books are these children reading? Little House on the PrairieMatilda, The BFG, hundreds of childhood classics, biographies, and other non-fiction works. 

Thanks to all the mommies who wrote down all of those books!
Our last two weeks are the most unstructured of the year. We are always so busy trying to fit in all of our extra-special events. However, my little worker bees were busy right up to the last day of school. 
They wrote letters to distant family members, added really BIG numbers, read lots of books, gave some little friends lessons, and loved on each other.
In the last few days of school, six children wrote 13 books (both non-fiction and fantasy) and did all their own research. 
These are three of the stories written - with no final corrections - by some of our pre-K students. 
This is what Montessori is all about! We're teaching independence, instilling a love of learning, and giving the children the freedom to go as far as they can go. 
The results are always astounding!

Cheers to another wonderful year, and lots of love to our graduates as they enter this new and exciting chapter of their lives.