Greetings, Gumbo Limbo Families,
February was a busy month on campus and in class. Here are some of the highlights:
Parent education was well attended. It was a pleasure to share information regarding the kindergarten year (presented by Ms. Karthi and Ms. Casey) and give lessons in the Gumbo Limbo classroom.
- The love and play primary event was a fun-filled morning of games, bouncy houses, crafts, and general, all-around fun. Thank you to all volunteers!
- The Gumbo Limbo bake sale brought in almost $800! We are so very grateful to everyone who baked, sold, set up and cleaned up. I will place the first order for science and geography books and materials this week. We are in need of maps and other Montessori materials, which I am pricing out to get the most bang for our buck.
- Friendship Day in the primary program looked like this: Each class presented to the others handmade Montessori materials. The Banyans gifted us with a lovely patterning material made with colored hearts. This material is a prereading activity with left to right orientation and following a pattern. The Kapok class presented us with a beautiful and aromatic herb garden. This science material allows us to observe and care for living things, and sensorially enjoy using sight, smell, and touch. In turn, the Gumbo Limbos presented each class with a classification material for small/medium/large. We rolled the clay, cutting and painting five different shapes to sort.
- Several staff members, myself included, attended a 12-hour training on the Orton-Gillingham Reading Program by the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education. Interestingly, some of the methods (e.g., using a sand tray for letter formation) have a very Montessori feel. We will be meeting to discuss how to implement what we learned into our own programs.
This week, we start our cultural immersion study. In the Gumbo Limbo classroom we are focusing on the continent of South America. We will start simply with the puzzle map, naming each country and talking about its location on the continent. We will move on to talk about different countries, biomes, peoples, animals, plants, food, and arts. Please keep an eye out for information regarding the at-home project each child will take part in.
In March, we will move away from our study of the body and into other vertebrate and invertebrate animals. The children have enjoyed making their own body maps. Younger children enjoyed drawing in and coloring themselves. Older students drew in organs and bones, and labelled them. We continue the season study with an introduction to Spring. We also continue with land and water forms, time, and directionality.
As always, I am available by appointment should you have specific questions about your child’s progress. Simply email me at suzanne@montessorikeywest.com.
Mark your calendar:
March 2-6: Literacy Week: Book Exchange
March 12 and 13: Bake Sale — Toddler
March 1215: AMS Conference, Dallas, TX
March 16-20: Spring Break — No School
March 23: Professional Day — No School
Peace,
Ms. Suzanne and Ms. Jill
