Unexpected circumstances stepped in this week and provided a learning opportunity to demonstrate that if you are flexible and creative, you can truly be grateful for all the food we have and minimize waste of these precious resources.

The children in our classroom have a “snack day” on a monthly calendar so that they may bring in food to share with their classmates. This week (and last) we received a bounty of fresh fruit. With the addition of a donation from one of our teachers, we ended up with ripe bananas, grapes, pears, and several pints of raspberries. Because I always try to stress that we never want to waste food unless absolutely necessary, I had to alter plans for cooking and snack preparation. And I’m OK with that. Keeps me on my toes!

The children requested pancakes, so the raspberries became a delicious sauce. The grapes and pears became a yummy fruit salad, and the bananas were perfect for a loaf of banana bread.

(Additional teacher challenge: We have numerous dietary restrictions this year, so I am getting to know all about cooking with gluten free ingredients. I am currently running into consistency issues, but I will keep at it and post my results.)

Enjoy the following photos from out “waste not, want not” week.

New Recruits and Old Pros: Cooking again!

At August 24, 2017
By CGMontessori
In Blog, CGM BLOG, CGM Parent News, Oak Room
0

We’re back for another school year in our Montessori community, and these kids are ready to cook! Our returning friends went straight for the kitchen to see if anything had changed, while our new students followed to explore the tools and gadgets.

Given the success of our cooking endeavors last year, I changed very little in the environment. I found a bigger shelf in the garage, and after a quick coat of fresh paint, we had a much more flexible storage area…

I also added a few more child-sized stools to keep under the counter so the children could just pull them out for a visit with friends while waiting for items to bake. This was a really “social” time last year!

Since my veterans were ready to jump right in, I asked them to choose what recipe would be good to show our new students. The answer, of course, was muffins. We settled on blueberry.

Front of the recipe card.

And the back. Laminated, of course.

Necessary ingredients. I find it easier in the beginning to have these ready to go.

I take an extra step to simplify by clearly labeling the measuring tools.

Time to bake!

Well, the muffins were a hit! A little “flat,” but they seemed quite proud of them. I found that the students from last year very helpful when explaining the kitchen procedures to their new friends. This was a relief for me, as I didn’t have to do so much policing and could stand back a bit and observe.

Later in the week, we had quite a bit of fruit left from snack, so what better to use it up than some fruit salsa? (My “go to” for a lot of cutting practice!) This is a very flexible recipe that can incorporate any fruit you have on hand. Just add a squeeze of citrus and a dollop of jam and voila! Of course they remembered the cinnamon chips from last year, so we baked up some of those as well.

Delicious, of course!

We took our chips and salsa outside and spread out some blankets. There is nothing better than fruity snack on a sunny day and some time spent getting to know one another.

My goal for this year: Since I have introduced the cooking area and practice to several students last year, they are quite comfortable with “process.” I am going to move on to my “second year” phase where lessons will be added to educate the children about where our food comes from. For example, how it’s grown and where, how it gets to us, as well as vocabulary such as “organic” and “GMO.”

I feel it is important that children understand that their food doesn’t just “show up” on the grocery store shelves. That they have a connection to the earth through the food that they eat, and therefore a responsibility to respect and care for what sustains us. I can’t wait to learn with them!

-Miss Holly

Cooking: On Their Own

I made a decision this week. I have a couple of 5 year olds that are reading well and able to complete large projects on their own. So the logical step is taking their math and reading lessons to the kitchen.

(A side note: My older children have small daily work plans to assist them in constructing their work cycles.)

I surprised Carson and Amy with “Bake Banana Muffins” for their “math” section of their daily plan. They were even more excited when I informed them they would be on their own with the baking, the only assistance being with the oven.

I was confident they could handle this. The results were great, but the best part was what we all learned during the process.

I had all of the ingredients they would need out on the counter with all of the utensils and bowls ready as well. I decided to eliminate the step of fetching all of the needed supplies, feeling it wasn’t the lesson we needed to be focused on. My goal in this exercise was to have them read, measure, complete the recipe, and enjoy the result.

First, let’s start with the recipe. I hand-wrote the cards, laminated them and put them on a metal binder ring to keep the pages in order.

My notes during my observation:

1. There was a long discussion about who would be reading the recipe. One of these students is a stronger reader, one is a new reader. Strong reader thought they should read all of it. New reader said that was not fair and they should at least have a chance. After some consideration, they decided to have the new reader try first and ask for help if they needed it.

2. This recipe called for coconut oil, which is solid in the jar. They tried to pour it into the measuring cup, but realized that it was not liquid. They then tried to put the measuring cup into the jar but it wouldn’t fit. They were truly perplexed and asked for my help. I just shrugged my shoulders and smiled. It took over 5 minutes of frustration and a little arguing before Amy had her “a-ha” moment and grabbed a spoon.

3. A snack break was needed after the coconut oil measuring.

4. There were a lot of questions about terminology. What does a “smashed” banana look like? What does “combine” mean? What is a “mixture?” I soon realized that I wrote these recipe cards with my knowledge of cooking vocabulary and not theirs.

5. With numerous breaks, this recipe took 1 1/2 hours to complete. I won’t bore you with the cleanup process and the complaining that went with it. However, they were able to finish. The muffins were delicious and they were so pleased to have made them all by themselves.

Amy “smashing” bananas.

Carefully measuring.

Another observation. No “clean as we go” happening here.

They were delicious!

This week we also began some discussion about spices. The end plan is to put together a garam masala spice mix to make an indian dish. We started with cinnamon. we examined the spice in stick and ground form. I accompanied this exploration with a lesson about how cinnamon is grown and harvested, where it grows and how we use it. Next week, cardamom.

Our cinnamon grating work.

Cooking in the Montessori Classroom: Everyday Food

Or should we say: “Every day, we made food.” That’s right, the kitchen was working this week! We kept it casual and got messy every day last week. As I reflect on the lessons we covered, I’m really glad I just decided to go with the flow, so to speak.

September Maple Room

Maple room is getting in routine. We learned all our inside and outside rules, we learned how to take care of ourselves, others and our materials. We learned to take care of our nature like birds, animals and trees. We also talked about cleanliness, washing hands and staying healthy. We are taking full advantage of this beautiful weather and are doing activities outside. So nice to see full‐day students getting into their lunch, nap/or work routines.

In September, we’ll be doing lots of activities involving apples. In science we will be learning about fish and other sea creatures. In geography, we will be learning about our atmosphere and we are going around the World (continents and oceans). Thanks for bringing in healthy snack every day.

If you are interested in volunteer opportunities, please sign up a volunteer sheet by Mr. Fred or Ms. Jama. They will schedule you in our room. You can take some projects home with you too.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Important Reminders

09/05 (Labor Day) – No school
09/21 – Picture Day
09/26 – Vaanya’s b’day

Thank you!
Ms. Jyoti

May Maple Room

Can’t believe that I’m writing my last newsletter of this school year. It was an year of fun and learning for all of us.

A big thanks to all who took some time out and supported our international fair and silent auction! Thank you for the delicious food and sharing some amazing artifacts. It was a huge success.

Next Month, we will be learning about colors, butterflies and all about the continent of Africa.

On May 25th, we will celebrate all our summer birthdays (Alexa, Elizabeth, James and Ms. Goli). The school will provide ice-cream and the birthday kids will bring their favorite toppings. More information coming soon….

I wish Maple room families a safe and fun filled summer break! My best wishes to all the students who are moving to other schools and I look forward to seeing all the returning kids in August. More information on orientation and back to school night will be posted soon.

Important Reminders:

Mon. May9th – Shun’s 4th b’day
Fri. May13th – Dexter’s 5th b’day, Cook out and open house (5PM-8PM)
Wed. May25th – Summer birthday celebrations (Alexa, Elizabeth, James and Ms. Goli)
Thurs. May26th – last day of school (Half-day)

Thank you

May Oak Room

Welcome May!

The Oak room loves spring. We have been spending a lot of time outdoors, witnessing and experiencing nature and its changes this season brings. Young children have such a natural love of nature and it brings us great joy to watch their observations and explorations of their outdoor environment.

We wanted to send out a special thank you to our families and students who helped make our international fair and silent auction a success. It was a beautiful day of visiting with friends and enjoying what each classroom had put together for the continents of the world. Our silent auction raised over $1,000.00, which will be allocated to a CGM scholarship opportunity.

May is a busy month at CGM. The following are upcoming events and activities:

Elementary Cook Out and Open House – May 13, 5-8 pm.

This is a restaurant style cookout organized by our elementary classroom. The children serve customers, make the food and expedite the orders. Just like a real restaurant! We are also using this as an opportunity to open our building for family and friends to tour our beautiful school; so if you know of anyone looking for preschool/elementary school options for their children, please invite them!

Thursday, May 26th is our last day of school. This will be a half day for all students.

Dismissal times are:

Oak Room: 11:30 am
Tulip Room: 11:45 am
Maple Room 12:00 pm

On Wednesday, May 25th, we will be celebrating summer birthdays with an ice cream sundae party! Children whose birthdays fall during our summer break may bring in their favorite ice cream topping for the celebration.

Please Note:

We will be spending more time outside this month. If you would like your child to wear sunblock, we will be happy to apply it for our afternoon time outdoors. We ask that all sunblock brought in is in spray form and labeled with your child’s name.

We understand that this is a very busy time for our families with work and numerous after school activities. Please help us keep our children safe in the school parking lot by approaching our building slowly and showing courtesy to those that are also trying to get children in and out of the building. If we all take our time and remain aware, we can work together to make sure everyone arrives and leaves in a safe and peaceful manner. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation!

“The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the Earth.” – Maria Montessori

March Maple room

hello spring

My favorite season spring is knocking on the door and Maple room is bustling with lots of activities. Short working month and so much to do. We will be celebrating Dr. Seuss b’day and St. Patrick’s Day. We will be learning about spring season and birds. In geography, we’ll be learning all about Australia!

I would like to welcome Alec’s brother, James Martin (2 yrs. Old) in Maple room, and we are glad to have Mishika back!!

Also, please don’t forget to schedule your conferences with Ms. Brenda. We would love to talk about your child’s progress and the next year’s plans with you.

As I had mentioned in my February newsletter, that in May, CGM will be having a Spring Intl. Fair and Art Auction. Our room will be displaying information and artifacts from Asia and South America. If you are interested and can volunteer in planning out this creative event, then please let me know.

Imp. Reminders

March 2^nd – Dr. Seuss b’day

March 14^th-18^th – Parent Teacher Conferences

March 18^th – St. Patrick’s Day

March 21^st – April 2^nd – Spring Break

April 4^th – School Resumes

Thanks and enjoy your Spring Break!

Ms. Jyoti

Office Email Information

Unexpected opportunities create “fruitful” experiences in the classroom