Wishing you all a Happy and Peaceful New Year 2017

A child had strawberries for dessert in her lunch. However, this is all she ate.  When asked why she doesn’t eat all of them, her answer was, “I don’t like the green part.”   Well, if your child has the same concern, this is an interesting—and fun—way to get the calynx (the green part) off of the strawberry.

For lunch, a child had this huge “heart-shaped” strawberry with a calyx cut off.  We were wondering, how did this happen?!

One day, guess what our children discovered more about what they have in common?

At the end of last year, the moms arranged for a class party in the evening for all the families. They also invited Santa to join in the celebration!  The children, as well as their siblings and parents, all had a great time.

On January 20th, the Montessori children had “Fun Day” with the Elementary School children.  The theme was Poetry and Rhyme. Like our mixed-age classes in Montessori, the children enjoyed various activities with Grades 1 to 4.

“Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” 

The children had a busy and exciting month of December.  They practiced for the combined Montessori, Elementary and French School concert that began at 6 in the evening on Dec. 9th, Friday.  The Montessori children opened the program on the stage of the Saint Maur Fine Arts auditorium, singing  “Mary’s Little Boy Child” and “Jingle Bell Rock” in front of a full house, gaining valuable experience while sharing the joy of Chirstmas.

On the last week, Mr. Agnew, the school’s religion teacher, invited our children to the Chapel to share the Christmas story.

The children also enjoyed a pizza luncheon.

Christmas craft-making was also a lot of fun.

For this season of gift-giving, as when the three kings brought incense, Frankincense and myrrh to baby Jesus, the children learned  how to give cards and presents, how to receive them, and what to say to each other in the exchange of gifts and written Season’s Greetings.  They also discovered how to hold the present with both hands, practiced looking into the person’s eyes, and express simple phrases such as “Merry Christmas. This is for you” and “Thank you, (actual name). Merry Christmas”—all with a smile.

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Please have a memorable, fun-filled, and meaningful Christmas holidays with the family, your relatives and dear friends. We look forward to a great second semester in 2017, which will be in the Year of the Rooster.   Merry Christmas to you, one and all!

“Thank you for the food we eat, thank you for the world so sweet.
Thank you for the birds that sing, thank you, God, for everything.
Thank you for my family, thank you, God, for loving me.
For each and every child, I pray
And thank you for this special day.  Amen.”

(“Thank you prayer,” adapted by Josephine Page)

Everyday is a special day.  Children are growing daily—socially, emotionally, academically, and physically.  They laugh, cry, play, learn together, and help each other.  In a mixed-age environment of Montessori, inside and outside the classroom, there is “Collaboration and Communication,” as is the school’s theme this year.

Thanksgiving Day is a time to reflect on all the wonderful things that God gives us. The children took turns in sharing what they are thankful for.  Mommy and Daddy, friends, jumping spiders, rainbows, lunches, warm beds, boots, and so many other people and things.  Each child made a turkey puppet for “Happy Thanksgiving”.

In November, 13 of the first graders from 1P and 1G came to our classroom to share the stories they had written.  Among them were 7 students who were in our class last year.  They each were happy to be back to share with their former classmates. My, have they grown in just one semester! They were proud to be in their school uniforms and to read to their younger friends; they felt older and more responsible in being back.

Related to reading, we had Sena’s dad volunteer to come by to read a story to the children at an Early Dismissal day on Wednesday.  We enjoyed listening to a parent read to us.  We’d love to have more moms and dads come and share a story.

Time for recess now. Let’s go out and play!

The Montessori approach has been referred to as “peace education”; and even Gandhi, for example, had praised Montessori’s approach to world peace. The children in our class have been talking about how we can be happy and peaceful in the classroom, on the playground, and at home. We talked about what we can do or say to show how we care about each other and our environment.

What can we do if we see our friends in need of help or feeling sad?  We read a book, Our Peaceful Classroom, by Aline Wolf, which talks about the Montessori classroom.  The illustrations were drawn by Montessori children from all over the world.

The children are learning the song, “Teaching Peace,” by Red Grammer.  They are singing and using sign language.

(chorus) “Teaching peace all the world around, you and me every city every town,
One by one in our work and in our play, we are teaching peace by what we do and what we say.”

(verse) “It’s up to us to show we care, reaching out to everybody everywhere,
Heart to heart and friend to friend, Circling all around the world and back again.”

(verse) “So take my hand and come along, it’s time to sing the world a brand new song,
So sing it loud and sing it clear, all together now so everyone can hear.”

The older children are learning the names of the regions of Japan, such as Kanto where they live, and making a map.

As part of the Montessori Language area of study, children try matching the initial letter sound of a word to the picture.

Or making a pattern with acorns and walnuts from our Practical Life shelf.

Another activity is on Numbers and Counters.

The school is now in full swing from half-day to full-day until 3 pm. Despite the lingering heat and humidity, the children are full of energy, excited in choosing their work to do alone or with partners, cooperating with friends from 9 countries, helping each other to learn and discover. Our class has spent time talking about each other on the topic of “All About Me.”

We recently participated in an all-school (up to Grade 12) earthquake drill one week, fire drill the next, and lockdown drill the following week. All children handled it very well.

A four year-old helping a two year old to button her smock.                    

Drawing “my family”

Discovering, touching and comparing shells.

Coloring my own shoe

Sorting colors and shapes

Designing with different shapes

Addition Strip Board

Cooperating to complete the Cylinder Blocks

Our classroom in action