Preprimary D
Miss Mahnaz and Miss Uma
Email:
mjaffry@golikethewind.com
March 2008 Newsletter
March was packed with new activities and facts. In Science, we performed an
experiment to see whether two liquids like ‘Oil’ and ‘Water’ mix together
completely to form a homogenous liquid or whether they stay separate as two
liquids. We mixed together red colored water and oil and checked to see whether
they mix together. Children saw that the density of water was different from oil
and therefore they did not mix. They saw the two distinct layers of ‘Oil’ and
‘Water.’
We studied the continent of
Europe, in Geography. We talked about popular places and food from the different
countries. Miniature monuments were passed on from France and the Netherlands at
circle time. A slide show followed with amazing pictures from the continent of
‘Cold’ Norway in the North, to ‘Sunny’ Spain, in the South. We shared pictures
of churches, museums and castles that Europe is so famous for. We have, in
addition, introduced ‘Land Forms’. Currently, children are learning what are an
‘Island’ and a ‘Gulf.’
Food preparation was introduced in the Practical life area. Children learned the
correct use of an ‘Egg Slicer’ and sliced their own egg for a healthy snack.
Besides, we have also introduced the ‘Food Pyramid’ and talked about healthy
food and the different categories of food groups.
‘The baric cylinders’ have been introduced in Sensorial area. Children have been
trying to match cylinders which weight the same.
In Math, we continue to build on the foundation of each child. In keeping with
the theme of Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day, our ‘Numeration’ area has
new counting material with ‘Shamrocks’ and ‘Easter Bunnies’ on an egg hunt.
Children seem to be so excited and eager when they see new activities to count.
In Language, we have introduced a fun way to reinforce our consonants by
introducing the ‘Consonant Bingo’ for our extended classroom in the afternoon.
Children have been thrilled with this activity. Soon, we are planning to
introduce the ‘Rhyming Bingo’ and ‘Vowel Bingo’.
‘Jack and the Bean Stalk’, was the story with puppets this month. Children were
enraptured with the story as it came to life with puppets.
Hope you all have a great Easter Break and thanks
for all your support!
Miss Mahnaz and Miss Uma
February News
February was the month for Valentines and
Valentine’s Day was an exciting time in our classroom. The children were busy
working on their special Valentine’s Day projects with Mrs. Skwiat. We also
discussed the significance of this important day with emphasis on the different
ways to show love and respect to others. We celebrated Valentine’s Day with a
card exchange and special snacks. Zachary’s mom worked with the kids on cookie
decorations for this special day. The children were very excited.
Thanks to our parents who have shared
Valentine’s Day treats with the classroom.
Our Practical Life shelf abounds with different
works in Reds, Pink, and Heart’s keeping in mind Valentine’s Day.
Children are exploring and enjoying newer
activities in the Math area. Our 4 and 5-year old children are sharpening their
number skills by working on their ‘Number Roll,’ with intense concentration and
focus, besides working on the 45 layout. Some have progressed to the Squaring
chain work. Our younger children are busy exploring their ’Numeration’ work.
‘Magnetism,’ is the topic on our Science shelf.
The shelf is teeming with work pertaining to this physical property. We have
presented a basic experiment to separate ‘Magnetic and Non-Magnetic’ substances.
In addition, children have been exploring other activities to determine whether
a substance is magnetic or non-magnetic. They have also been separating iron
filings from sand using a bar magnet. The look on their face is that of pure
delight when the iron filings get attracted to the magnet.
Another favorite on the Science shelf, has been
studying the parts of a frog, learning and exploring the life cycle of a frog
and sequencing the life cycle of a frog. They have learned a new term
‘metamorphosis’, to denote the changes from an egg through an intermediate stage
of a tadpole to an adult frog.
Grace’s mom, has kindly volunteered her time in
the classroom to listen to children read and Liem’s mom, has volunteered her
time to photocopying the books that children have read. We appreciate every
effort of all our parent volunteers, be it as ‘Ambassadors’ during our Open
House or in the ‘classroom with various activities’. Due to the efforts of
Dominic’s mom and Tori’s mom, we have all our books to be read, bound and ready
for use. We are truly grateful for your time and efforts.
Important dates to remember:
Friday, February 15th: International Festival. Come and check out the incredible diversity of
countries represented at GLTW through this magnificent event. Event starts at
6:00 PM.
Mid-Winter break holidays:
School will be closed on February 28th and 29th. If you
need special daycare, please remember to sign up on the sheet posted outside the
classroom door.
School re-opens on Monday, March 3, 2008.
Thanking you for your continuous support.
Miss Mahnaz and Miss Uma.
January News
Welcome back after our Christmas break! We hope that you all enjoyed the break.
It seemed like the children were extremely happy to get back into the classroom
after the break. We would also like to welcome all the new children and their
families, who joined us in January.
Many of you know that in a Montessori class the
children learn at a different pace and in different ways. Some children may need
to be shown, some children may learn by hearing the information and some
children need to do it. In our class, we are able to expose all of our children
to these different methods of learning in an inviting, stimulating atmosphere,
using the Montessori methods and materials.
In our Practical life area, we are trying to
master spooning, scooping, tweezing small beads, squeezing, using sponges,
different types of basters, both big and small. Many children seem to enjoy
pouring, both dry and wet. It is amazing to see children concentrate on
stringing small beads and make a necklace or jewelry. All these activities help
a child gain co-ordination, concentration, order and develop their fine motor
skills.
As always, we are continuing our practice of
math and have introduced new math lessons, like bead stairs, the decimal beads
demonstration tray, (it gives the concept of one unit, ten units, one hundred
units and one thousand units). The decimal cards are also on the shelf and the
teen board. Children are exploring and enjoying these activities. A new work
with counting beads has been introduced to help children count from 11-20.
Children are also busy discovering the sensorial
shelf. They have been refining their tactile senses by use of the fabric basket
and rough and smooth objects.
In Science, we have introduced new science
lessons, like parts of the turtle. Children have been co-relating the parts of
the turtle, 3-part matching cards with the object of a turtle. A new work called
‘Solids and Liquids’ has also been introduced. A big ‘Thank You’ to Mr.
Frank Gurka, who has graciously donated a microscope to our school through the
PTSA.
In Geography, we have introduced the next
continent - ‘Africa’. We are sure you must have heard your child sing the song
called “Pole - Pole…. Go slow, go slow……” to introduce the different animals
that inhabit the continent. Find out all about the camel and particularly the
2-humped kind and the very funny sounding name of a monkey, native to Africa! In
addition, we had another slide show to introduce the different physical and
cultural peculiarities from the continent of Africa. Children have learned about
the River Nile, the Pyramids, the deserts of Africa (Sahara and Kalahari), the
mountain called “Kilimanjaro’, which the equator cuts right through Africa and
the name of the tribe that lives in the Kalahari Desert is the ‘Bushmen’. To tie
into this study, our art has focused on making foam animals from Africa, along
with the very colorful hats called ‘Kufi’ with the help of Mrs. Abby Skwiat. We
have also talked about the very colorful beaded jewelry that the people from the
‘Masai’ tribe adorn their body with.
We celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, by
congregating in the Gym and having a prayer and a song. The whole school
reverberated with the song.
In the classroom, we had a presentation on
Martin Luther King, Jr. and we discussed his legacy and the rights that he
fought for, non- violently.
Our circle time, as always has been a time for
listening and sharing. Grace and courtesy has always been a part of our sharing
time.
”Show and tell” has been a time for sharing
interesting facts, and children are building their vocabulary by describing, in
detail, the objects or pictures they bring to share with us.
Thank you for taking the time to attend our
‘Moving up Night’ on the 22nd of January.
Reminders:
·
Our school will be dismissed at
11:45 am on the 31st of January as we will be having Parent
Conferences.
·
No school on January 1st
due to Parent Conferences.
·
Daycare is available on these
days. If you haven’t already signed up, please do so at the earliest.
Miss
Mahnaz and Miss Uma
December Newsletter 2007
In the month of December, we had
many exciting things happening in our classroom, besides “snow and storms”. In
Geography, we had wonderful presentations by two of our parent volunteers. We
had a slide show presented by Miss Uma on North America. Through these
presentations, children saw the different countries that make up the continent
of North America, monuments, people, food, etc. They saw wonderful pictures of
scenes from Canada all the way to Panama. Also presented, was the continent of
South America with focus on monuments, places, rainforests, dances, countries,
the wonders of the “Galapagos Islands” off the coast of Ecuador with the amazing
diversity of plants, animals and birds that Charles Darwin studied when he
proposed the “Theory of Evolution”. Ask your child about the “ABC” dance from
South America! “A” stands for the “Argentinean Tango,” “B” stands for the
“Brazilian Samba” and “C” stands for the “Chilean Cueca.” Children were taught a
new concept of the “Equator” and how it cuts through “Ecuador (which means
“Equator” in Spanish) in South America and divides the earth into two
hemispheres. There are many interesting activities that have been set up in the
“Geography” shelf, which highlight all the concepts of “South America” that have
been mentioned. Children have been enjoying learning all these facts.
Many of our children have been
focused on working on “puzzle” maps of different continents and pin punching the
different countries after tracing them by themselves. Continuing on the
presentations on the continents, Mr. Bruce Mackay (Elizabeth’s dad) shared a
wonderful presentation on the continent of “Australia”. Children learned about
the wonders of the “Australian” landscape. They also learned about the
“Boomerang,” and the “Diggery Doo,” which is a musical instrument made from the
bark of a tree used by the “Aboriginal” tribe native to Australia. The children
danced to a tune from the instrument.
We all miss our friend,
Elizabeth, in the classroom as she moved back to New Zealand. A farewell party
was arranged by Lizzy and Emily’s parents on the 14th of December. It
was a touching sight. A scrapbook of “Class Memories” was presented to Lizzy
from our classroom with snippets from each child on their special time with
Lizzy.
In the science area, Mr. Frank
Gurka (Jordan’s dad), shared his wealth of knowledge on “Germs” with a slide
show. Children had a lively discussion on “Bacteria” and “Viruses” and how we
see them only with the help of a special instrument called the “microscope”. Mr.
Gurka brought in a special microscope for the children to see samples of
bacteria. Children were very excited to see the “purple dots” of bacteria under
the microscope. A bacterial plate was presented to the children with bacteria
from the “air.” He also demonstrated the correct way of “hand washing” and ways
to prevent infections. In addition, we have been focusing on “Parts of the Fish”
and children have been busy making their booklets and also examining a model of
a fish to understand the parts better.
A reminder: School re-opens
after the break on Monday, January 7th, 2008. Please remember to send
all winter apparel back for your children, labeled after the break.
We hope you have enjoyed the
special gifts from your children for Christmas.
We wish each family a warm,
peaceful Winter Break and a Happy New Year. See you all in 2008!!!
Ms. Mahnaz and Ms.Uma
November Newsletter 2007
Welcome back and trust you all
had a good Thanksgiving break. Hope you liked the Thanksgiving Invitation that
your child(ren) made and their thoughts on what they were thankful for. We read
stories on the history of the first Thanksgiving feast. It was followed by a
wonderful presentation by Mrs. Kimberly Klapp on the origin of Thanksgiving in
America. Your children made corn muffins and pumpkin pies for the Thanksgiving
feast hosted by our classroom. It was truly a time to be thankful for all the
wonderful support from all the families in preparation for the feast. We enjoyed
having you all on this wonderful and special occasion.
Halloween definitely seems like
a dream to us now. We do have a memory of costumes.
Everyone was looking fabulous in
his or her costumes. Mr. Yong Chen, was kind enough to burn DVD’s of the
Halloween parade and present a DVD to each family. We had tremendous support
from Mrs. Melissa Rian and Mrs. Patsy Rowley with the arts and craft work for
Halloween.
Grandparents’ week was a
success, thanks to all the grandparents who came and spent their quality time
with their grandchildren.
Everyday there are new
activities in the room. In the Sensorial area, we have presented the Triangular
box, Hexagonal boxes and Rectangular boxes. You will probably hear some new
words like ‘Trapezoid’, ‘Quadrilateral’, ‘Rhombus’, ‘Hexagon’ etc. that the
children make with these boxes. Also, they have also been introduced to the
monomial, binomial and the cube of the trinomial.
In the area of language, our
shelves are growing with new work. We practice sounds everyday. Children are
truly enjoying the mystery sound work. Some of our children are now blending
sounds to read words and some are reading books as well. It is truly exciting to
see this big leap in their reading skills. Children are improving with their
writing skills as well We have introduced ‘Opposites’, beginning sounds with
‘Stamps, ‘Association Cards, ‘Words and Pictures’ association. A puppet show was
presented on the poem “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly……..”
In the area of Math, we sort and
count using a variety of materials .The children have also been introduced to
the concept of the odd and even number. The Mystery Number activity is an
important part of our day, the child counts and records (in secret) objects in a
box. These objects change everyday so there is an element of surprise .In
addition, some of our children have progressed to the 100 board and 45 layout
work.
In Geography, we have introduced
the continent of North America. We are learning the names of the different
countries in the continent of North America. Children are coloring pictures of
flags of the different countries in North America and also the animals in North
America. Some of our children are also pin- punching the maps of the continents
and countries of North America. A slide show, featuring the important
geographical features, monuments and people of the different countries in the
continent of North America was also presented.
“Make things sink, then float”
was the theme for our science experiment this month. Children were shown how,
though a ship is so big and heavy, it floats, yet, a small light object like a
marble sinks. We gave the children the concept that the weight of the object
does not matter. Whether an object ‘sinks’ or ‘floats’ depends on how much water
it ‘displaces’ or pushes aside. Children had so much fun doing this experiment
with us.
Let’s get ready for winter, as
the colder weather approaches make sure your child stays warm and comfortable at
school. Dress them with warm clothes and make sure to send mittens, gloves, and
hats, snow pants and snow boots .Please ensure that they are waterproof and
please label everything.
REMINDERS:
If you require special daycare
for the Christmas through New Year break between 12/26/2007-12/28/2007 and
1/2/2008 -1/4/2008, sign- up sheets for which are posted outside the classroom
door.
Thank you for your continuous
support.
Ms. Mahnaz and Ms.Uma
October
News
Dear Parents,
“Pumpkin time is here again, its time to
play trick or treat……….”, Children have learned this song for Halloween. Fall
season makes learning fun. We went for a nature walk and practiced our
observation skills through talking about the changing colors of the leaves and
how they fall to the ground, and observed the different types of shapes, size
and colors of leaves. We made a collage of leaves that we collected on our
nature walk. Children have also done a leaf rubbing activity and pin punching of
leaves.
We are discovering new things everyday; our
classroom is building a caring atmosphere. We encourage children to be helpful
and caring to everyone.
Our hands and
minds are busy exploring all curriculum areas.
In Language we have been working on
‘Phonetic Groups’ and associated objects and pictures with their beginning
sounds. Our book corner is always busy. Children are developing their letter
formation and their large motor skills by tracing alphabets and writing on an
easel and on a big sheet of paper. Mystery Sound is one of the favorite
activities. We have introduced story telling by using felt pieces as a fun way
to enhance children’s language and communication skills. This month’s story was
“Five Little Speckled Frogs”. The children enjoyed the story.
Using Halloween as a theme, we put many
counting activities on the Math shelf to make it more fun, attractive and
inviting for the children.
We have a matching activity related to
knobbed cylinders in the Sensorial area. Children are also learning the
different colors in the rainbow and building their own rainbow with felt
stripes. We have also introduced the Geometric Cabinet.
Our class has been doing ‘gluing projects’.
Now we have started using scissors in the room for cutting. We have reached the
time when safety reminders are a constant element in our instructions. We also
talk a lot of times reviewing the ‘cycle of activity’ (a Montessori phrase) that
is find your space, engage in ‘work’, clean the work area and finally, put the
activity away. In Practical life area, we have been practicing stringing and
lacing activities.
We have introduced and talked about ‘Living’
and ‘Non-Living’ things. We have also learned about parts of ‘leaf’ and parts of
‘tree’ in the Science area.
Our Parent’s night was a big success. Thanks
to all the parents for attending. We appreciate you for coming to the
Parent-Teacher conference and sharing your insights with us on your child’s
progress.
Few reminders:
Wednesday, October 31st
–We will have a Halloween celebration in our
classroom. The children are welcome to wear their costumes (no scary or super
hero costumes). We will be having ‘Craft Projects’ and special treats in the
classroom. Children will walk to the gym to join all the other classes for a
‘Halloween Parade’. Parents are requested to come to the gym to watch and enjoy
the parade and take pictures if they like,( please send change of clothes for
your child if he/she stay for all day). After the parade, the class routine
stays as usual .
Nov 5th- 9th:
Special events are planned for ‘Grand Parents’. Details will be sent with an
invitation in your child’s mailbox.
Thank you all for your continuous support.
Miss Mahnaz and Miss Uma
September Newsletter 2007
Welcome back to our returning students and welcome to the
class for new students. We have enjoyed getting re-acquainted with all of the
children in our class. They are getting used to a new environment, new
classmates, and new teachers. Don’t be surprised by little information from your
child. Much of what we do is hard to describe in this short letter. We focus on
becoming a caring and independent individual. We are learning to work together,
respect each other and have confidence to work alone. Thank you for bringing us
your beautiful children.
We have a brief description of how our day goes. Our day
starts with Circle Time, where we read the calendar, take attendance, sing and
demonstrate the new work in the classroom. We ensure proper care of the
materials as well as facilitate exploration of the activities.
In the first week of this month, we were orienting the
children on our most basic ground rules like slow and walking feet, quiet
voices, carrying the work with two hands, using rugs for work spaces and taking
turns to talk. Ask your child how he walks and lines up for gym!
We have started learning work in the different areas of our
classroom:
The Practical Life/Everyday Living shelves have
activities both for relaxation and building their large and small motor skills
by using the materials of hand transfer, spooning, tonging squeezing, twisting,
rolling and folding napkins. As a part of this exercise, children have also been
learning to clean the table after lunch time is over.
In the Sensorial area, we have presented knobbed
cylinders, which illustrate ten varying diameters. We have added materials that
help varying widths, heights and lengths for grading according to size like the
pink tower, brown stairs, red rods, and knobless cylinders. Color tablets,
geometric solids and shapes have also been added to the sensorial shelves.
In the Language area, children have different
puzzles, sorting shapes activity, sorting colors activity and matching pictures
activity. Rhyming basket has been set on the shelf, which is designed to help
the children hear the similarities in beginning and ending sounds of words in
the language area. The first set of letter sounds have been introduced to the
children. They are helped to learn the letter sound rather than the letter
names, which will help them to make an easier transition into the reading
process. Some of our children are into their second and third sound boxes. And
some children are reading, too. We have been working extensively on pre-writing
and writing work. Children are also practicing to write their first name on
tracing paper, each child has their name written on a card. They pick their card
and work on their name independently.
Numeration dominates the Math section. Much of our
work involves counting objects. We are looking forward to helping the children
recognize and associate numerals with the quantities. Some of our children are
counting in the teens and have progressed to the decimal system.
We have introduced Solar System, “The Planets”. Various
activities pertaining to the Solar System have been very popular. Land, Water
and Air have also been introduced and activities related to the three forms have
been immensely popular in the Geography area.
As a part of our Art project, we made a scarecrow for the
school’s Fall Festival. Every child helped make the face, the body (by stuffing
a bag with the newspapers) and decorating the scarecrow’s clothes, it turned out
to be a wonderful community effort.
Few Reminders:
- Our class is not ready for children to come in before
8:35 AM, as it is the teacher’s preparation time. If you bring your child
early, take him/her to the daycare or please stay outside the classroom (in
the big room).
- Snack List will be given on Thursdays prior to the date
to bring in snacks.
- Your child’s Birthday will be celebrated in the
classroom. A letter will be sent home well in advance with the update of
celebration. Parents are welcome to attend if they would like to. We celebrate
at 10:00 a.m.
- Our Enrichment classes are scheduled on every Monday.
Music 9:15 -
9:45 a.m.
Gym 9:45 -
10:15 a.m.
Spanish 10:15 -
10:45 a.m.
* (Make sure your child is
wearing appropriate shoes for Gym)
Feel free to call between 8:00 – 8:30 AM or 3:30 – 4:00 PM,
if you have any questions or concerns.
Thanks for your support.
Miss Mahnaz and Miss Uma
