Dear Families,

The last 2 weeks of school before the break were filled with discussing Christmas and Kwanzaa, doing art projects where the children decorated Christmas trees and gingerbread cookies, and making a “stained glass” Kinara, and listening to holiday music and stories. The children all seemed very excited about the holidays and had a lot to share! They also worked on their fine motor skills and independence by spooning and pouring holiday bells, using clothespins to hang matching pairs of mittens on a clothesline, practicing zipping and buttoning their coats and putting on their mittens and hats (and masks!) by themselves. Many children are developing number sense and are working on one to one correspondence using the bead stair and playing the memory game. Some children have started learning teens and were introduced to the teens board where they learned to add units to a ten. In language we worked on sequencing a story (what comes first/ last) and matching sandpaper letters to objects with the same initial sound. They were also introduced to a Montessori activity called Picture Story in which they choose a picture they like and tell a teacher about it as she dictates. This encourages story telling skills and also helps the child to make the connection between the spoken and written word. Eventually they will be writing these on their own!

Warm regards,

Ms. Jess, Mrs. Pascal, Ms. Nancy & Ms. Randi

 

Our theme is: Winter and Colors

Art:

Geese migrating

The Mitten collage, based on the book by Jan Brett

Building a snowman collage (recognition of order small, medium, large)

Primary color collage based on the artist Mondrian

 

Cultural Arts/Geography:

Land and water globe

Sorting air/ land/ water

 

Language:

Picture story

3 part cards- parts of a penguin (matching pictures and words)

Handwriting skills using a sand tray, chalkboard, or paper

I Spy

Sandpaper letters and objects

Advanced inset designs- using shapes to make a unique design

 

Math:

Memory Game- looking at a number, remembering it, then going to get that many items from a nearby basket

One to one correspondence and number recognition using the Bead Stair 1-10- precursor to learning teens and also addition

Teens Board and teens frame #s 11-19

Introduction to addition

 

Practical Life:

Lacing cards and shoes

Cutting skills

Zipping coats, putting on hats, gloves, and masks independently

Folding cloths

 

Science:

Sorting plants and animals

Study and care of a plant

 

Sensorial:

Sound cylinders to enhance auditory discrimination

Color tablets- grading colors from dark to light