MAP Testing

Good grief. Let me apologize for getting the MAP dates mixed up TWICE! I clearly have Mommy brain. As a clarification, MAP testing started today. Everyone did fine! We will be testing the rest of this week and finish on Friday.

Solar System

Here a just a few of the ways our class is learning about the Sun's family!

Three part cards about the Solar System.

 The Sun's Family. A batik used to show the scale of the Solar System.

We used a rope tied off at various points to demonstrate how far the planets are from the sun.

The very first child all the way to the right represents the sun. The child all the way to the left represents Neptune. As you can see, the first couple of planets are very crowded while the others are very spread out.

Making a Solar System bracelet.

This little girl is loving our study of the Solar System. Especially Saturn.

Showing off her planet bracelet.

Blown Away

I am blown away by the amazing work my students did this week. Here is a sampling of their work.

First Day of School

It was awesome getting to know everyone better today. This group is so polite and curious. The makings of a great class! Here are a few quick pictures of our first day. As you can see, many of them wasted no time!

 Learning to fill out a work plan.

 What lesson do I want to do?

 Oh what? I'm just multiplying. No biggie.

 The hundreds board is a favorite.

 Trinomial cube. Very impressive.

This child was intrigued by these rock samples.

Open House

It was great to see everyone at Open House tonight! Please email me over the weekend if you have any questions about the packet! Thanks for coming.

Open House Night

Hi everyone. I'm super excited to meet everyone on Thursday! We're going to be talking a little about Lower Elementary Montessori and some things to expect for the coming year. Children are welcome to come on Thursday night. I've met them all and the presentation may be a little dry for them so it's not required. Let me know if you have any questions about the supply list! For a copy of the letter sent home, click "read more" below.

Twas the night before back to school...

Ok, so I know that the first day back to school for kids isn't until next Monday. But for us (ahem, teachers) it's tomorrow. I don't feel the same nervousness I do when the kids start back but there's definitely an anticipation in the air. It's like the nesting instinct new mothers get before their babies are born. I've been combing my house, looking for odds and ends to bring to school. "These pompoms would be great for an activity I want to do for fine motor skills." "Wow, that book would be great in my science area. Harrison won't miss it a bit."

One of the underlying themes of Montessori teacher training is for Montessori teachers to make their own materials. Our rooms and materials must be "aesthetically pleasing" (read: pretty). What is more beautiful than something homemade? Even if it's not as nice looking technically than something you could buy in a store.

Today I put the finishing touches on my Golden Mats. I made one for a lesson to teach the decimal system (ten units make one ten) and one for operations (adding, multiplying, etc). These mats are used with the Golden Bead material. This material is introduced in Primary Montessori and continues into Elementary. The one I made for operations is pictured below.

Again, this mat is used with the Golden Bead material to teach operations. For a video of a demonstration using the Golden Beads (and a similar but much more beautiful mat) please see the below video. This woman is showing a dynamic addition problem which is an addition problem with exchanging. Enjoy!