Hello! One of the comments I love to hear from students the most is “Wow, that was a fast day!” It always makes me think of “time flies when you’re having fun.” Well, the time has definitely flown. I cannot believe we have been in school for over a month! We have packed a lot of engaging lessons into a short amount of time. Please enjoy the photos from a variety of subject areas.
In Language, as you will see from the photo, we are building a strong foundation to put in a lot of Upper Elementary knowledge. Students have been reviewing and learning new grammar symbols and symbolizing sentences. The more we learn, the more colorful the work becomes! We use the same shapes students have learned in previous years. For example, the noun is a pyramid shape to represent one of the very first structures ever built, the Egyptian Pyramids. It is black to represent the basic element of carbon. The verb symbol is a red circle to represent the energy from the sun. Soon students will begin to build upon this knowledge and learn that there are a variety of verbs, including irregular verbs, auxiliary verbs, and linking verbs. We are also reading the Roald Dahl book, Danny the Champion of the World. Each day we read a chapter and answer comprehension questions from the reading. It’s an exciting book with a great message.
In Botany, as you will see from the photo, we are learning about the needs of plants. Last week we learned there are several minerals such as potassium, sulfur, and calcium in the soil plants that need to survive. One thing we love about science is learning gigantic words. Next week we will learn about hypotropism. The following week we will learn about thigmotropism. In Upper Elementary, our brains are still extremely curious about these big words and we love to discover what they mean.
In Math, as you will see from the photo, we are expanding on knowledge from Primary and Lower Elementary. Students are making connections, while using the same engaging materials they have used through the years. We used our hundreds board to color in multiples one through ten. In the next lesson, students discovered the commonalities between those numbers. Eratosthenes, an ancient Egyptian Mathematician, was the first to discover these composite and prime numbers. Our lesson last week was to make a Sieve of Eratosthenes. Next week‘s math lesson is called infinity street. Students will discover a visual way to remember extremely large numbers. We will continue to build on the foundation that Montessori materials have set.
In Culture, as you will see from the photo, we have been learning about the Earth. Our First Great Lesson told the story of how the Earth was formed. The Second Great Lesson told us of the Earth settling down and life coming to Earth. In October, we will continue with the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Great Lessons. While Lower Elementary gave us a basic idea, we delve deeper into these Great Lessons with new and exciting experiments and lessons.
In the last photo, you will see a S.T.E.M. lesson that we did today. Each day, we like to carve out time to put on our engineering hats and build while thinking like an engineer. Today’s engineering mission was to build a bridge out of materials such as string, tape, paper clips, and straws and then test how many marbles the bridge could hold. It has been fun to observe students grow in all of these areas and challenge themselves each day. I applaud them for their hard work and willingness to take risks and grow their brains.
I am looking forward to our first parent education night on October 17 at 5:30 PM. Our topic will be “Bringing Montessori Home with Practical Life Lessons at the Upper Elementary Level.” One tip you could start to practice now is to let your child pack their lunch. Even helping with the grocery list and participating in grocery shopping is a great practical life skill to teach your child. Hope to see you October 17 and thank you again for all of your love and support.
Ashleigh
