This Week in the Oak Room

With the beautiful weather, we have been spending a lot of time outside! The pea plants we planted in our gardening area are sprouting nicely, the strawberries have started to grow, and the children are really enjoying finding bugs and noticing all of the life that is buzzing around them.

Friends helping Emery find slugs under the stumps.

Only 4 days left, and boy are they going to be fun!

We are planning on having a water fun day on Tuesday afternoon.  The children will need to bring their bathing suits and a towel.  Please do not have them wear their suits, we’d like for them to have a dry set of clothes for changing into when we are finished.

We will be celebrating summer birthdays on Wednesday.  We will look at birthday book pages of our friends and have an ice cream party!

Last day of school – May 23rd Thursday. 

The last day of school will be at WESTSIDE park off of Main Street. 8:30 – Noon. Don’t forget to pack a lunch!  Parents are encouraged to stay.  We will be doing Relay for Life games and activities.   Bathroom WILL be open!

Child quote of the year:

Maisie: “Miss Holly, you’re the best.”

Note: Maisie has said this to all of us teachers and Brenda throughout the year, every day. We’ve had three years together Maisie, and we’ll miss you!

This Week in the Oak Room

Visual proof of why we must always remember

that children should be treated as individuals

Our first taste of Africa…fried plantains. Yummy

Notice for the coming weeks:

Penny Race!!

Going on now until May 17th!!

The Tulip, Oak & Maple Room are racing to fill jars with Pennies!

Who will fill their jar first? Who will fill the most jars?

Hat Day!!

Friday May 10th, for a minimum 50 cent donation

your child may wear a hat to school!

Last day of school – May 23rd Thursday. 

The last day of school will be at WESTSIDE park off of main street. 8:30 – Noon.

Don’t forget to pack a lunch!  Parents are encouraged to stay.

We will be doing Relay for Life games and activities.   Bathroom WILL be open!

Child quote of the week:

Ava Shirley: “I was thinking he was saying something, but I guess he just had an idea and wasn’t saying the idea but just saying.”

This Week in the Oak Room

Last week we celebrated Earth Day in the Oak room. We learned a lot about what we can do in our community to help keep a clean environment.  We took a “trash” walk and collected trash from the area around our school and in the field where we play.  We couldn’t believe how much trash people just leave on the ground! Gross!

Thanks to all of our families who were able to take the time out your weekend to attend the “Green Spring Sing,” planned by the elementary students.  We were happy to participate!  We are so proud of how well the children did with their songs and how brave they were for standing on stage in front of so many people!

We will begin tasting food from Africa this week.  When we asked for suggestions, the children responded with “everything.”  We’ll start with fried plantains and sugar cane and go from there!

We are beginning our study of eggs and birds this week.  We are in need of washed egg shells for the egg shell crushing job please.  Any donation would be appreciated.  This is always a very popular work in the classroom.

A special thank you to Miss Cecily for the wonderful DVD of the children.  We watched it together, and the children seemed to really enjoy seeing their pictures as well as those of their friends.

Child quote of the week:

Luke: “Are you going to help me or just keep sitting there?”

Miss Holly: ”Nope. You can do it.”

This Week in the Oak Room

Caterpillars and butterflies were featured this week in the Oak Room.  The children made beautiful pictures and enjoyed jobs all about these creatures that remind us of the magic of Spring! We talked about the life cycle of butterflies and how the Monarch travels all the way to Mexico.

The children have spring fever!  We are spending a lot of time outdoors and will be incorporating some class work to be done outside for the rest of the school year.  It is very important that children spend a significant part of their day in the fresh air and around nature.

An interesting online article about this topic can be found at: http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=275

Dr. Montessori was known to often take materials outside to work in the sun and fresh breezes whenever possible.

This week we talked a lot about the food pyramid and how important it is to eat food from each group at every meal.  Why? For balance and a healthy body! We also discussed trying new foods and read a story about the “two-bite” club, where the children tried two small bites of a new food, and usually liked it! Please let one of the teachers know if your child has tried something new, and we can form our own “two-bite” club.

A few items to note:

Earth Day program: Sunday April 28^th at 2pm. We hope to see everyone there.

Child quote of the week:

Miss Darci: “Collin, where does your brother go to school?”

Collin: ”Kindergarten.”

This Week in the Oak Room

As you can see, we are so happy it is spring!  We have been enjoying a lot of outside time; playing, having lunch, and exploring to celebrate this wonderful change of season.

Everyone returned from spring break with a renewed vigor, so we have seen a lot of work happening in the Oak room!  Thanks to Mr. Adam for a fun music session with his steel drum, and to Miss Jeanie for her relaxing yoga activities.

We have begun our study of Africa and will continue to focus on this continent through the rest of this year.  This is a region of our world rich with exotic animals and interesting food and music.  We have begun by reading “Anansi” stories.  These stories feature a tricky little spider names Anansi who learns lessons through his interactions with his friends and neighbors.  Anansi is a well known character in African children’s stories.  In the coming weeks we will be learning a new African children’s song as well as tasting some food from this area of the globe.

In our science area, we are studying food groups and how important good nutrition is in our lives and for our bodies.  We will be introducing the children to the “two-bite” club, which is a program designed to encourage kids to try new foods.

A few items to note:

Due to recent concerns our neighbors have expressed about the safety of children in their parking lots, we are asking our parents to please use our parking lot only when dropping off or picking up your children.  We understand that it is a tight area, but if we work together, we can keep everyone safe.

Earth Day is coming soon.  We are planning a school-wide spring program, please look for more information from Brenda for the activities we will be doing to raise awareness of our responsibility to take care of the world in which we live.

Sunscreen: please apply sunblock at home in the morning.  We are happy to do an afternoon application, but your child needs bring in their own to be kept at school, in spray form only.

Child quote of the week:

When asked what she did for spring break, Maisie responded:

“I hung out with my mom. It was a blast!”

Way to keep it real Maisie!

This Week in the Oak Room

Welcome Spring!  Even though it doesn’t feel like it, the first day of spring was Wednesday!  We all have spring fever and are going outside when the temperature crawls to higher than 32 degrees.  We have enjoyed observing the children keeping track of the temperature throughout the day and making predictions about how high it will get.  The children keep us well informed when it gets high enough for outdoor play. We are looking forward to warmer days and our upcoming spring planting!

Your children continue diligently completing so many jobs in the classroom.  Please remember that your children are particularly sensitive to language development at this age range.  A change of seasons is an ideal time to keep giving them new vocabulary and talk about the changing environment around them.  We all lead such busy lives, but it’s important to model for our children the ability to slow down and notice details around them and assign words to what they see.

After we return from spring break we will be traveling to Africa in our geography area of our classroom.  If any families have any items or artifacts to share or display, they would be greatly appreciated.

A reminder: conferences are next week.  Thank you to all of the families that have already signed up. We look forward to discussing all of the children’s progress with you.

Child quote of the week:

“You can remember a turtle is a reptile cause it will rip your head off.” – Luke

“Only through freedom and environmental experience is it practically possible for human development to occur.”

Maria Montessori

This Week in the Oak Room

Yet another fun week in the Oak room!  These students maintain a level of enthusiasm for their work that is truly fascinating to watch!

We are continuing our study of snakes.  We discovered this week that the shortest snake is called a “thread” snake (4” long) and the longest is called a “reticulated python” (20’ long).  We measured these two lengths with string during circle and were surprised by the difference.

We also saw several slithery artistic creations…

Very nice Collin and Emery!

Some of our older students started their “number rolls” this week.  I’m sure some of our parents have heard a lot about them; they are very popular.  This is a reinforcement exercise for practice writing numbers and place value.

Child quote of the week:

Ava Katona:  “But that’s not real.  It’s make pretend.”

 “ The child’s progress does not depend only on his age, but also on being  free to look around him.”

Maria Montessori

This Week in the Oak Room

We were all so busy in our classroom this week!  The children are showing so much interest in all areas of the classroom and completing so much impressive work!

We took a trip to “Suessville” this week to recognize and celebrate the impact Dr. Suess has had on children’s lives and learning with his exquisite rhyming books. We completed several Suess related crafts and had a fun birthday party in his honor on Friday.

 Young children love the illustrations and occasional silly words in these books and really respond to the cadence of his written word.  Rhyming is an essential skill in language development and word building, so cuddle up with your little one and read some Suess together!

Child quote of the week:

Brady:  “Grandma and Grandpa took me to school today.”

Darci: “Why?”

Brady: “Mom and Dad are going on vacation.”

Darci: “Where are they going?”

Brady: “To the airport.”

“The child, in fact, once he feels sure of himself, will no longer seek the approval of authority after every step.”

Maria Montessori

This Week in the Oak Room

Welcome to our new student, Stella.  We all look forward to getting to know our new friend!

A special thanks to our older children who were very kind showing Stella around our room and helping her with our daily procedures.  A beautiful example of why mixed age grouping is so successful!

We are in for some fun in the Oak room this week!  March 2^nd is Dr. Suess’ birthday!  We will be reading some of his wonderful books, making Suesstastic crafts and having a special birthday party for this very special author.  A lot of the children really enjoy his books, so please take some time to read one of his books together at home!

We will continue to study Asia in our geography area, beginning our focus on the country of Taiwan.

Snakes, snakes, snakes. They are cool (blooded, that is).  We will begin a science unit on snakes this upcoming week.  If any of our families have an actual live snake as a pet, we would really enjoy a visit from them!  We look forward to finding out about what snakes eat, where they live and what kind we could find in our own back yard!

Thanks to all of our families that passed the word about our open house this weekend.  We had a great turnout and were proud to show off our beautiful school!

Child quote of the week:

“Just a minute Miss Holly.  I have to tell some friends they are too loud.” – Grant

“Of all things love is the most potent.” – Maria Montessori

This Week in the Oak Room

What a busy week!  We had so much fun celebrating Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day!  We had a dragon parade, made lanterns, exchanged Valentine cards and had a m&ms with our bingo game.  The children really seemed to enjoy these celebrations!

Our first messy science Friday was a huge success!  We made Oobleck (recipe below).  This is an interesting concoction that feels like a solid, but changes to a liquid.  Super messy, but really cool!  Our next experiment was making a balloon blow up with baking soda and vinegar.  Ask your child how they did this!  Everyone had a turn.  And finally, the older children made their own bouncy balls.  I was skeptical, but it worked!  Science is awesome.

Our Darci will be returning on Wednesday.  The children really missed her, so please assure your student that she will be back soon.

We focused on our “peaceful” classroom this week and also talked more about acts of kindness.  We read a book about a teacher (“Mrs. Rule”) who challenged her students to “show and tell” an act of kindness they performed at home.  We decided we would do the same for our class.  If your child performs a kind deed or act at home over the long weekend, encourage them to share it with us on Tuesday!

Oobleck Recipe

1 cup water

1.5-2 cups corn starch

Food coloring for color

Mix all ingredients and enjoy!

Child quote of the week:

“You look like my mom dancing, and that is not a good thing.” (insert “sprinkler” dance motions) – Luke

“ No adult can bear a child’s burden or grow up in his stead.”– Maria Montessori