The new year has meant new friends for the students of Rosa! We welcomed two new children into our class in January, and plan to welcome two more in February. It has been so lovely to see how our returning students have truly welcomed their new classmates, from handing them classroom materials to giving them hugs to pointing out where to sit at lunchtime. We also continued our snow theme in January, with naming and matching works featuring Arctic animals, and sensory and art works featuring snow paint, sparkle snow, and snow dough.
The month of February will bring a continued focus on counting works, and as many more songs and stories about trains as we can find! Our Rosa students devour every new train book we bring into class, and our wooden train track set is still one of our most popular works.
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December was an exciting month in the Rosa class! Now that so many transitions and self-care skills have been mastered by our toddlers, they've focused more of their energy on individual classroom work. This lets us observe even more, and create work that captures their individual interests and develops their individual skills. One of the best examples of this is the group train work that we brought into our class in December. Introducing a group work like this allows the children to work on developing social and language skills, such as negotiating shared space and asking for materials, in addition to the cognitive skills they're building by planning out a train track and fitting pieces together.
We did have to say goodbye to two more of our students in December, who both moved up to EC, and will be very much missed by their classmates and teachers. In January, we plan to continue with winter activities, stories, and songs, as well as introducing more complex math works into our classroom. Many of our students have recently been interested in counting, as well as identifying "two" wherever they see it. We'll be singing counting songs during Circle Time, capturing that interest in "two" by matching pairs of gloves, and sorting by small, medium, and large. We'll also be welcoming two new students into Rosa in January! Happy New Year! November was a wonderful month in the Rosa class! It has been such a joy to watch our toddlers grow more and more comfortable in their daily routine. All of our Rosa students have mastered transitions such as putting on their inside shoes, clearing their plates after lunch, and gathering their belongings before going home. The children have also grown more comfortable with each other; we've observed lots of real conversations between them, especially during snack and lunch. We added our class photo to our collection of framed family photos, and many of the children have enjoyed pointing to and identifying each member of the class.
New sensory experiences were another November highlight. Our sensory bags, filled with hair gel and small objects and tightly sealed, have been extremely popular, as has mixing cornstarch and water in the sensory table. We also introduced a matching scents work, which has delighted the children. They love dramatically smelling the bottles and announcing the scent! We started with orange, peppermint, and lavender, as these are very different and easily identifiable scents. During December, our focus will be on the seasonal change from fall to winter, and how the days get colder and darker. We plan to brighten up this month by bringing potted flowering plants into our classroom, and teaching the children more about plant care. We'll be bringing snow into our classroom as well, through sensory activities, winter songs, and art projects. We're looking forward to a joyful December! October was a month of settling into a routine, although there were still a few significant changes for the students of Rosa. Two of our students moved classes, one to Celeste and one to EC, and we said goodbye to Ms Erica. We also welcomed Ms Kristie into our class, and introduced an autumn theme for many of our classroom works, stories, and songs. Our two falling leaves songs were a big hit, and our basket of silk autumn leaves continues to get used every day. The students love singing the songs to themselves as they drop leaves over their bodies! We also enjoyed the first of our hopefully many visits to the Nature Trail, with its expanse of hills to climb, goats to feed, and leaves to collect.
During the month of November, we plan to continue with our autumn theme; we've already begun painting pumpkins. During Circle Time, we will introduce a number of songs and stories that focus on squirrels and acorns, and we hope to spy a few real ones outside. The children will also continue to work on their self-care skills, an area in which our Rosa students have already made quite a lot of progress. Last week we realized that every one of our students can successfully take off and put on their own shoes! The month of September brought a new teacher, new classmates, and new work to the students of Rosa! We've worked on establishing consistent routines, amidst all the newness, so the students feel safe in that they know what to expect each day. One of our most important routines is morning Circle Time, when the entire class gathers as one to sing a few songs and read a book or two. We always begin Circle Time by singing "The More We Come Together" and naming each child. The purpose of Circle Time is to establish a sense of community among the children, an important ingredient for classroom harmony.
October will bring many classroom works that focus on the fall season; we have already brought in a variety of small pumpkins and gourds for the children to explore. During Circle Time, we plan to begin reading and singing about the changing colors, falling leaves, and cooler weather that characterize the fall season. All of our Rosa students have been working on the important self-care skill of putting on their own coats with the "over-the-head-flip" method, which should only become more important as the weather gets colder! Hello, Rosa Friends!
This last month flew by and we are almost into the summer season! Just like in April, the toddlers had a lot of fun singing and learning about the earth and "The Earth Goes Round the Sun" song is still a popular request at circle time! The children also enjoyed making special gifts for Mother's day! Flower arranging was also a big hit and the children enjoyed looking (only with their eyes) at their friend's floral arrangements. We are very excited to welcome the warmer weather which will mean more outdoor time and water play inside and outside of the classroom. During the month of June we will be focusing on "water". More pouring works will be available and will take different fine motor skills to complete. we will have cups with no handles, with handles, pouring from a larger pitcher into a smaller cup, and scooping water from one container to the other using a ladle. We will also have a baby washing work out as well as chair washing out on the front porch (weather permitting). The children will also be using blue and green in the art area as well as water colors to paint with. At circle we will continue reading and singing "Baby Beluga". This month we will also be creating a special gift to show our fathers just how much they are loved! We are also welcoming Jack and his family to our classroom. Happy Father's Day and Happy Summer! -Erica and Sara Puzzles of all shapes and sizes were explored and put together for the entire month of April. A shape puzzle was a favorite among many toddlers as they were able to identify shapes that we found and talked about in our Architecture Shape book. Other popular puzzles were a small knobbed vehicles one and a more complex fire truck one. We talked about Earth day and learned some new songs about the earth and peace. Both of these include hand signs that that toddlers have been very interested in replicating themselves during circle time. At times, our friends in Rosa can even be seen singing these songs during morning work time to themselves and occasionally at lunch. “The Earth goes round the Sun” is often requested multiple times during circle and “Peace like a River” is a song that often calms the group as a whole. We also have read the book I Love You, Sun I Love You, Moon by Karen Pandell and illustrated by Tomie dePaola. Towards the end of the month we began to work on a multi-step project that has incorporated our sense of touch and several fine motor skills. The toddlers have been especially excited to see what their friends are working on and talking about the colors they are working with. They are excited to share these gifts with their loved ones! In May we will talk about flowers and plants we see in the classroom and outside around campus. We will also work on gross motor activities that get our friends moving safely around the classroom in various ways. This last month we were so excited to welcome Riley to the classroom. She has really settled into the environment and the children have enjoyed working with their new friend.
This last month we also focused on the color green. Green was seen through out the classroom on the art shelf as stickers, a tissue gluing work, and green play-doh! Around the classroom, green was featured in a sorting work and a water pouring work! This month we also starting flower arranging again. The children have really enjoyed pouring the water in the vase, arranging the flowers, and then putting their creations around the classroom. We've been focusing on "using our eyes" to look at the arrangements instead of touching. In April, flower arranging will continue. Thank you to all the parents who have brought and who are bringing in flowers! We will also be focusing on all the things the spring season brings! We will look at the blooming nature outside, along with reading books about and talking about spring during circle time. The Rosa classroom will also be focusing on our fine motor skills. For the younger children, beading will be available using wooden pony beads and a pipe cleaner. For the older toddlers, we will have a pin-poking work available with teacher supervision. We will also continue water pouring, spooning (scooping an object from one bowl to another and back again), and small knob puzzles. Enjoy the beginning of this spring season! -Ms. Sara and Ms. Erica February brought new friends and new activities to Rosa!
We welcomed new friends to our room. Arka, Autumn and Ethan have brought many smiles and laughter to our room over the past month. To celebrate friends both new and old, we made a friendship salad. Several fruits were brought in to create this yummy and colorful salad. Many of the toddlers helped to prepare the fruit before we all shared in this healthy snack. A favorite book has been Germs are not for Sharing by Elizabeth Verdick. The toddlers can often be seen looking at this book themselves or requesting it during circle time. We have been working on making sure our coughs and sneezes are covered, as well as getting a tissue when we need to wipe our noses. Remembering to wash our hands with soap and water to wash away those germs has also been a work many toddlers have been focusing on. Spooning has been another popular work the toddlers have been seen spending lots of time with. We will continue to spend time spooning items next month too. Popular items to spoon have been small colorful pompoms. Next month we will spend time exploring different shapes and counting items around us and different counting works. Several green art items will also been seen as we welcome in March! The month of January brought new friends, both big and small, to Rosa. We welcomed Caleb, Henry, and Sohan to our classroom. We welcomed Ms. Erica as well. It has been fun to get to know our new friends and all of the different personalities they have to offer to our room!
We spent time talking and reading about colors. Two popular books were Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh, which showed us how different colors can be mixed together to make new colors. We also spent time looking at Pantone Colors, which showed us many different shades of the same color. The toddlers became more aware of colors in their environment both in and outside of the classroom. Throughout the day, toddlers could be heard asking their friends if they needed or wanted a hug. Questions about emotions could also be heard. Many of the older toddlers are starting to recognize when one of their friends is happy or sad. We have been talking about how it is respectful to ask our friends these things before going up to them when they might want space instead. In February we will spend time working with different spooning activities that incorporate the warm colors of the season. We will also read new books and create many projects using heart shapes. |
Ms. Tara
Lead Teacher Archives
June 2018
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Montessori Children's House
5003 218th Ave. NE Redmond, WA 98053 Phone: 425-868-7805 [email protected] For Records Requests, please reach out to [email protected]. |
Founded in 1987
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