Greetings, Spanish Limes Families,
For the past two months, the Spanish Limes have been immersed in their afternoon enrichment studies. We have had several experts share their careers and passions with us. Community members visited weekly to share their cultures, language, and history. Your child has had an introduction to drama, and even put on an impromptu play for the primary students of the famous fable “The Tortoise and the Hare.” They learned from a professional photographer the history and evolution of cameras. Nursing students from the College of the Florida Keys gave demonstrations on myriad health topics, from bike safety to healthy eating. We are grateful to have such a variety of professionals share their expertise with us.
As we head into the month of November, we will begin to settle and normalize into a weekly enrichment routine:
Daily — we will begin making connections and meeting every day from 12:35 to 1:15 p.m. with our Kindergarteners for Reading Buddies. This is a great opportunity for the Spanish Limes to get to know their community and practice developing reading skills.
Tuesdays and Fridays, — Coach Paul continues to work with us on our coordination and give basic introductions to all levels of sports.
Wednesdays — Ms. Caroline returns to teach us Drama.
Thursdays —Ms. Jennifer offers Spanish as our foreign language curriculum.
We are still looking for an art or music teacher, on Mondays from 1:20 to 2:00 p.m., so if you know anyone in the community who may be interested, please contact me at sally@montessorikeywest.com.
The Second Great Lesson was told in the beginning of October. This story is called “The Coming of Life.” It is accompanied by the Timeline of Life: a long impressionistic chart, printed in vibrant color, illustrating many of the events discussed in the story. We explored how life changed by having cells that compartmentalized. We discussed each period, what “era” means, and the animals that were dominant at that time. We looked at the armored fish that were slow and heavy, and the sea scorpion that could crunch through any armor with its claws. The fish evolved and grew skeletons inside their bodies, this made them quicker. Life evolved again, and amphibians appeared. They lived their lives on water and on land, but found fewer predators on land and evolved. Reptiles appeared, and they lived life mostly on land so they became dry and scaly. Reptiles got bigger and bigger, and one group developed with special hips: dinosaurs. Dinosaurs died out and the mammals took over; they were huge, like the wooly mammoths. They developed fur to withstand cooler temperatures. We talk briefly about humans at the end, as this is another story …
Parent-teacher conferences and student-led conferences are the 8th and 11th this month. Please sign up on SchoolCues, or email me personally if you need a different date. At these conferences we look at your child’s strengths and challenges, and set goals for the year. Looking forward to meeting with you all!
Best,
Ms. Sally and Ms. Sarka
