This Week in the Tulip Room

It’s been another busy and fun week! With only 19 days left of school, we are beginning to feel the rush of the “things we haven’t done yet!”.   These next 19 days will be a whirlwind for sure and will go by in a flash.

This week we got a new farm table in our classroom, it is nearly 100 years old and was found in Cincinnati in a consignment store owned by a lady who moved to Cincinnati about 10 years ago from our very own Center Grove area! We also got our other new pets! Two African dwarf frogs, they are super cute and the children are excited to have them.

With Rehearsals and practices for the spring program we didn’t have a lot of time to do our normal things and look forward to performing for you this Sunday.  We did however squeeze in an educational and interesting Recycling presentation given by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. We all learned a lot about what could and couldn’t be recycled and are now inspired to visit our local waste treatment facility for a tour. The recycling committee is working on putting this together.

It was the first week of running club. We learned stretches and running manners and rules this week while walking our one mile course and then we were challenged to walk 1 mile 2 other times before the next meeting. We will practice foot form and begin running 1 minute, then walking 3 minutes for one mile.

Coming up- we will begin our Relay Recess and fundraising activities. Relay Recess is a program designed for elementary students by the Relay for Life, a fundraising event that benefits the American Cancer Society. It focuses on sun protection, healthy eating and exercise as a way to prevent cancer.  We will culminate these activities on the last day of school by hosting a “Mini-Relay”, where the students will have a small field day and walk a track for 24 minutes (representing the 24 hours of the Relay for Life event). This will all take place at the park and it will be a half day and last day for all!

Before that time, however, we have trips planned to the Zoo, to study the biomes, on May 22^nd and an Indians game, for Baseball in Education, on May 13th.  We will also be sending 3 more sets of 2 students to the Refuge and will be taking some children on small outings to pick up supplies for their Spring Committee projects.

Mark your calendars for May 11^th 1-4pm; Center Grove Montessori will be hosting its first community showcase.   At the showcase there will be local vendors, as well as Montessori materials and materials made by the children.  The Tulip Room will have a table, selling homemade birdseed and snacks.

Elementary Encore must have 5 students ,registered by May 10^th and we are just one shy of that so please register soon! We would love to spend some extra individualized time with your child!

Think warm thoughts and let’s get this spring weather started!!

This Week in the Tulip Room

Another busy week has passed way too quickly! We spent a busy week working on learning songs for our program, working in our spring committees as well as preparing for and hosting our classroom pet presentations. Back in the fall we had to part with our guinea pigs due to allergies and we posed the challenge to the students that if they could make a good case for getting a new pet then we would be able to welcome another (besides Boomer the fish) into our classroom. Much research was done on allergies, food, housing, cost, care and needs of many different animals. Then on Wednesday the presentations were made, each child had 5 minutes to present and 5 questions from the audience, then the voting began with each child allowed 2 votes. It was a close race and we ended up with two new animal friends! First Jayden will be bringing in his dog, Jasper,  each Friday to spend the day in our room, then Kate was able to place an order for two African dwarf frogs! The children have really taken ownership of these pets and we hope to add more animals in the fall with the wish to have an animal representing each class of the Animal Kingdom’s vertebrate phylum.

As we look at the calendar we can’t believe it is so near time for so many things! First coming up on the 28th is our spring program at 2pm in our old location, Old Smith Valley United Methodist church. We will begin decorating our shirts on Tuesday so be sure your child has their white shirt to school ASAP.

Second the school will be hosting a community fair on May 11th and the children will have their own booth, selling snacks and bird seed, watch for sign up times soon! We could also use volunteer greeters and runners (who might check to see if vendors need water or snacks) so we will be asking students who might be interested.

As some of you know, the Relay for Life is an event I am heavily involved in (I am the chair person for the one in Martinsville) and during the month of May we will work on some cancer education as well as fundraising projects and we will culminate those activities with our mini-relay event that will take place on the last day of school, which will be a half day and be held at the park.

Also on the 22nd of May we will be taking a trip to the zoo! We will spend the day there working in our biome research teams, bringing biomes to life! We will be in need of at least one additional driver but all are welcome to come! We need to order tickets so please RSVP to Brenda by May 10th.

Elementary encore currently only has three students registered. In order to take place we will need to have 5 registered by May 10th. So please sign up soon!

Also running club will begin next Wednesday, hope to see you there! Which brings me to my biggest revelation….It is almost summer! The children will all change grade levels, new friends will be coming and our classroom will grow again!

Thank you for making us such lucky people!

This Week in the Tulip Room

Whew! What a week! I can’t believe that we have only been back from Spring Break for one week! The children came back with such a hunger for work! In addition to our work we have created Spring Committees; each student is a member of a committee that is planning a spring activity. For some of these activities we will need to go shopping or price comparing, so just know that your child may leave the school building at some point for a short period of time during these next few weeks with either Ms. Brenda, Ms. Kristen or Ms. Melissa.

We have also started practicing for our Spring Program, which will take place April 28^th at 2pm at Old Smith Valley United Methodist Church. Along with our performance we are asking each family to contribute one canned good as “admission” to help stock our local food pantry, The Refuge.  Also if you could, please send in one white t-shirt for your child to decorate for the event, by Friday, April 19^th.

This week we were lucky enough to experience a visit the Indiana Statehouse to learn about our government and the history of our State as well as the Indiana State Library and tunnels in between. We also received a visit from Ms. Melissa’s exchange student, Susi, who is from Germany, but has a German mother and a Turkish father and was able to share the culture of Turkey with us.

Coming up we will be finishing up or Plant studies with a (insert drum roll here) “Plant Party”! We will be sampling different parts of the plant and having some fun! Then on we will move to the Animal Kingdom for some studying of vertebrates and invertebrates.

Beginning Wednesday, April 24^th

Ms. Melissa will begin an after school running club. If your child (or yourself) is interested in learning more about running please see Ms. Brenda to register and fill out a release form. We will discuss the culture and manners of running, hydration, skin care, warm-up, stretching, run/walking to build to running a distance- beginning at one mile and possibly moving to distances. Parents are welcome to join!

Some things to note:                                                                                       

Spring is here & with it we will begin learning about team sports. Please be sure your child always has on or has access to tennis shoes because anytime the weather is nice we will be playing a sport in “the field”.

Also with the breaking of the weather we will be spending as much time as possible outdoors; eating lunch, having lessons, reading time, line time, rocket math & folder time, will all be spent outdoors.  We have added sunscreen to our “personal care” shelf, but please have your child apply it in the mornings as well as to be hydrating themselves in the evenings and mornings.

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.

This Week in the Tulip Room

What a short week! With a unique snow day on Monday and a half day on Thursday, I feel like I didn’t get to spend much time with my friends! Also I was out Tuesday observing a school in Ft. Wayne called Oak Farm Montessori. It is a beautiful school that houses infants through 8th grade in a farm setting. I gave a small presentation to the children about the school and encouraged them to research Montessori schools in areas they are vacationing, visiting or know people in. There is no better place for me than a Montessori place; all those I have visited have welcomed  me with open arms, like a long lost relative and are always willing to share ideas and experiences. I feel blessed to be a small part of this amazing, worldwide community.

So this week we were educated about our sister Montessori schools, worked on finishing up our work plans and a group visited the refuge again. We would like to donate an item each time we visit so next month we would like to bring some macaroni. Next time you go shopping please throw an extra box of mac and cheese in your cart and send it with your child.

With this new idea and parent teacher conferences we are reminded again of the amazing people we are blessed with, both short and tall. Thank you for entrusting us with your children and for allowing us to feel like a part of your families. As a celebration of our final day together before break we had an indoor picnic, the children made a salad bar, fruit salad and grilled cheese sandwiches, it was a lovely last & half day. Have a safe and warm spring break!

This Week in the Tulip Room

Fun Time Friday took on a new twist this week, with partner work! Ask your child about Fun Time Friday, we look forward to it all week!

We are really starting to see the results of the Rocket math (timed memorization testing)! We’ve had 4 students move levels this last month. When a student passes a level they have the option of researching a science based rocket experiment. Both Grant and Caden researched experiments and have been waiting for a decent day to set them off. Mr. Johnny came in to build Caden’s rocket with him Friday and we set them off in the afternoon. The Mentos/soda fountain was beautiful and the Air/Soda bottle rocket was such a thrill that we did it three times!  Can’t wait for our other two friends to research their experiments!

Every other Wednesday we are sending two children from our classroom to the Refuge food pantry, and the children are immensely enjoying it. All children will get a chance to go before the end of the school year.

Reminder that this Thursday (28^th),  we have a ½ day and will dismiss at 11:30 a.m., before we dismiss we plan to have a small “Welcome Spring” picnic, with provolone/pesto grilled cheese, fruit and veggies. Then we are out Friday and the next week for Spring Break.

Summer Camp & Elementary Encore

Both of these fun, summertime adventures are open for registration and have must have a minimum number of child registered to occur, please if you are planning on registering for these do so soon!

We are so thrilled! At this point our ENTIRE classroom is returning next year and we have three coming from the primary room! We are so excited and only have a few spots still available. 

This week in the Tulip Room

We have been aMAZEingly busy these past few weeks!

We had an aMAZEing time learning about labyrinths, through stories, building crafts and activities! We had a Fun Gi party! The children “became” fungus, by making their own costomes, we had everything from the Morel to penicillin to yeast and much more. We played Fungus bingo, made fungus Alfredo & mushroom bread, played fun-tionary (pictionary with fungus) and started some fungus observations and experiments! It was a super FUN(GI) time!

It’s been so long since I’ve blogged that we have had big work Thursday as well! Check Facebook for pictures. Soon we will begin a Unit on Personal Hygiene. If you are interested in seeing my lesson plans for this let me know, especially if your family has any personal preferences about soaps, lotions, etc.

Open enrollment has began and our class space is filling up quickly! We are happy to have so many of our friends back next year as well as to be welcoming a few from the primary classrooms! If you know of any families who are interested encourage them to sign up soon!

Also just around the corner is Spring Break and Parent Teacher conferences. We will be having conferences on the 28th (this will be a half day for students) and our first full day out for Spring Break will be the 29th. Come on warm weather, we are ready for you!

This Week in the Tulip Room

These humans never fail to amaze me! They came back from holiday break a month ago, ready to work, which is normal, but it seems that the internal motivation never ends sometimes!! They want to work! They want to learn! They want to learn to deal with social & emotional issues on their own! They want so much and we are so happy they do!  With this being a new month, new work plans were on the agenda for Monday and they were hungry for them. They came in ready to tackle their new lists and it has continued all week,  new lessons and practicing asking our friends for help as well as recognizing those who do kind things, were at the top of our list this week (and maybe we snuck in some fun water lessons).  I really feel each and every day that we are blessed to be surrounded by such amazing, kind, smart and unique people.

This next week brings Valentine’s Day and in the Tulip Room we are wishing to follow our winter holiday season theme of “Giving without getting”, by making valentines for others. We have a call in to our local nursing homes and hospitals to see who we can bring valentines to. But for now, if your child wishes to purchase valentines, we would ask that they do so knowing it isn’t going to themselves or their friends and that we are taking them to the public; to those we have helped before or to those who do kind things for us. So your child may purchase or chose a valentine of their liking to bring in on the 13^th, but we will assemble and deliver these to others, with no plan of receiving anything in return. On the 14^th the guides are planning an informal party for the learners.

Wow, presidents day is just around the corner and there will plenty of president work on the shelves, but don’t forget we are out the 18^th, which brings us to more than the middle of the month and more than halfway through re-enrollment time.  Check with Brenda for more details or questions, but for right now we are excited every day to see the re-enrollment list of those returning and those progressing from the Primary Room.

Also we are offering an Elementary Encore…it’s the second act to the “Kristen and Melissa show”, that your children experience every day, this summer, so if you feel your child could benefit or would really love some extra time in the classroom sign them up soon (it’s love, laughing, learning & fun)! Brenda has more info!

This Week in Tulip Room

What a busy few weeks we have had! As happens with breaks, everyone came back refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to work and so everyone wanted a lesson on something new!  I realized all of a sudden that I haven’t been blogging or getting pictures because these learners are hungry for new things and there hasn’t been time for picture taking! Thankfully this week we settled back into our routines and into our more familiar work and into some changes that were made.

The children really seem to love the new “Reading time” that we have carved into our schedule. Each day we stop everything we are doing to read for 30 minutes, including Ms. Kristen and I! I am so excited to have this chance to read the things they are reading or getting ready to read, as well as re-read some things I read when I was their age. This gift of reading time has really helped some, finish books and others, finish work during work time, knowing that they will have time for their reading.

We also began student led spelling tests. Ms. Kristen and I test the older students (3^rd-5^th) then they test the younger ones. They love it and it is the essence of Montessori, with older learners teaching the younger ones. We swell with pride at the amazing people they are and how they become more amazing every day. With this we have seen a surge in student led lessons (i.e. older students giving lessons to younger students as opposed to a teacher led lesson) and are impressed every moment with the maturity, peace and love in the classroom.

This past week we were happy to host a “Walk through Math” and were very happy with the turn-out! I know there were many who wished to be there but couldn’t so we have posted pictures on CGMs Facebook page so you can see the set-up.  Ms. Kristen and I showed lessons with each of the four operations and how we show the child to move the materials to paper. Anytime you would like a lesson please feel free to ask one of us, we would enjoy it immensely!

Our New Year’s goal is to have your child ready at pick-up time. Sorry that we are slow on this but in February I intend to put my all into it! So, just a reminder that pick-up is from 3:00-3:15. At 3:16 they will be sent to aftercare. After 3:15 is an important time for teachers to prepare the classroom for the next day. Thank you for your partnership in this!

Re-enrollment is just around the corner and begins in February, watch for more info!

Basements are Chilly!

As hard as we try, our basement is just chilly! Please have your child bring in a fleece or sweater to leave here at the school and wear during school hours. Thank you!

Tulip Room This Week

In the tulip room we continue to celebrate holidays around the globe, visiting Sweden and making St. Lucia buns was a hit last week and making latkes, lighting the menorah, learning the dreidal song and reading Hanukkah stories this week.

We will have a christmas gift opening party Wednesday, as well as celebrate the Mexican holiday of Los Posados with a taco bar. Some mexican puppet friends, visited our classroom on friday and gave us our food assignments. If you haven’t seen these, please ask your child or check their backpack! We are doing this pitch-in style, feel free to send a snack or a lunch on Wednesday if you are concerned that your child won’t care for the food, or don’t if you know your child will be satisfied with the taco bar.

We sincerely enjoyed our caroling at the nursing home so much that we decided to carol local businesses! We found that to be a blessing to us and the businesses! In addition to our acts of giving we are hosting 3 Days of Giving. The tulip room is practicing 3 days of giving in honor of the giving season. The first day of giving we gave to those who do things for us; the library, the field, the businesses who let us trick or treat them and all those special people who come to teach us so many wonderful & interesting things. The second day involves making a gift for one of our family members and the third is a random act of kindness (which is attached). This gift is to be given to someone who won’t and/or can’t ever give anything back. Please help your child find the appropriate person or place to gift this too. This act of giving came home with your child, if you haven’t seen it yet please ask them about it, if you have any questions let us know. In a world of getting it is so wonderful and peaceful to see the children participating in the thrill of giving, their faces light up so much when they see the joy they are bringing to others.

On Wednesday the children will be bringing home their green folders which contain fun work as well as follow up work to lessons they have had, we ask that you spend some time with your child over break finishing up this work, it will keep them well practiced as  children. Thank you so much for blessing us with the honor of spending each and very day with your children, we consider it a blessing beyond any to know such wonderful people.

Have a safe and happy holiday break!