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Welcome:
 An Event Filled Spring at Absorbent Minds!
The last five weeks of school was filled with excitement for the summer, many fun events and some tearful goodbyes. As our school year came to a close, I look back with a grateful heart. I am thankful for the opportunity to have known these fine young students. I have watched them grow and develop socially and academically throughout this past year. I am also thankful for all of our superb families, who have supported our teachers, our school and these extraordinary children. Most importantly I am thankful for our talented Staff who work so very hard to prepare an exceptional learning environment for our students where they feel safe, loved and inspired to continue learning.
Moms n Muffins
Our First event for the month of May was our annual Moms N Muffins. Every year, we plan this event to show our appreciation to all of our amazing mothers here at Absorbent Minds. It was great to see our students enjoy this special breakfast with their moms, friends, and teachers. Students were particularly excited about the chocolate muffins! Thank you to all of our Moms and Grandmas who attended and who have shown our teachers and our school great support throughout the school year!
Akron Zoo
Lions and Tigers and Bears... OH MY! In May, our students and families were off to the Zoo for our final field trip of the year.Our classrooms were filled with excitement as students arrived the morning of our trip. Once arriving at the Zoo, our first order of business was to attend a private class to learn about Scales, Feathers and Furs! (Reptiles, Birds and Mammals) We learned many interesting facts about each animal, their babies, prey and what makes them a reptile, bird or mammal. We ended the class by taking turns petting the shell of a turtle! 
Next we were off to explore the Zoo! We saw giant turtles, leopards, penguins and even jellyfish. It was exciting to see our students experience the joy of learning and to observe all of the amazing animals living on the same earth as we do.
Thank you to all of our parents who volunteered their time and vehicles in order to make this trip possible!
Family Picnic
After two weeks off of school, our families got together for our 5th Annual Absorbent Minds Family Picnic. It was a beautiful day for great food, great fun and great fellowship. It was truly a pleasure to visit with Absorbent Minds alumni, current students and even new families joining us next year! Thanks for coming out to Waterworks Park to see us!
2011/2012 Enrollment
Student classroom assignments, schedule confirmations, school calendar and additional forms will be mailed out this week. Please contact me at kelly@thesmarterkids.com if you have any questions or changes in your contact information. We only have a handful of spots left for the upcoming school year. If you have not yet turned in your enrollment forms, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible. We are looking forward to a great year!
Have a fun and safe summer!
-Kelly |
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Cooper's Corner:
In May we had a lot of fun learning about farms, the environment, the sea and music! First we talked about what life is like on a farm. We focused on the farmer and his responsibilities. The students had fun playing a board game called Old McDonald's Farm Game. Next, we discussed the many sights we can see on a farm from the harvest, the animals, the equipment, etc. We placed a Mystery Farm Bag in Sensorial. The bag had items that had to do with a farm. The students picked an item and gave clues about it so that their partner could guess what it was. The next topic was farm equipment. We discussed various farm machines and their purpose. In Language the students labeled a diagram of a tractor and its parts. The children also learned about agriculture, and the various foods and products that come from a farm. In Science the students named and sorted many types of seeds. Lastly, the class had a great time learning about all the animals that live on the farm. We learned how each one contributes to the success of a farm! After defining what environment is the children described ways they could help keep it clean and safe! In Art the students made lovely Earths out of coffee filters and water colors. We discussed recycling and the different types of materials that can be reused. The students kept busy sorting various recyclable items and then placing them in the appropriate bins labeled glass, steel, aluminum, paper and plastic. Also, we touched on wind and solar energy. We talked about why we should conserve energy. At the line the students worked on a graph titled Wasting and Saving. First, the class made a list of ways we waste energy. Next, they came up with clever ways to save energy instead. Lastly, we discussed pollution in both air and water. The children collected various garbage and litter. They used the litter for a Science work. We made a pond and fish. Each time the students littered they took out a fish. Once all the fish were gone the students cleaned up the litter from the pond and proudly gave back the habitat to the fish! How did all that salt get in the oceans? Oceans and salt water were the first topics of discussion in our Under the Sea theme. The students were fascinated to learn that most of the salt in the ocean comes from rocks! The class conducted a salt water egg experiment. The children could observe how an egg floated in the salt water and sank in the fresh water. We learned about various fish and ocean creatures. The students had fun playing a number fishing game in Math. Which is the biggest animal on Earth? We learned the characteristics of four whales including the blue, the humpback, the orca, and the beluga. In Language, the students put together a story booklet of the four types of whales they learned about. They also had fun making paper whales in Art. Next, we explored shells! We learned about and observed various types of shells. In Math, the students started with 20 shells on a grid. They rolled dice to take away (subtract) shells and then count how many they had left over. Beach day followed! The kids had a blast playing games with their beach towels, dancing to the Beach Boys and eating snacks like seaweed surprise and ocean potion!  I know it's only rock-n-roll but we like it! (a lot!) The students started the Music Mania week by learning about the four musical instrument families. In Language the students observed pictures of various musical instruments and then classified the instrument by its proper family name. Each day a new type or genre of music and an artist were introduced. First, we listened to the orchestra and asked the students to name how many instruments they heard. We introduced Classical music and Mozart. Next, a little history about the keyboard/piano. We practiced a major scale on Mrs. Cooper's keyboard. We introduced Rhythm and Blues and Pop. We talked about the King of Pop Michael Jackson and danced to some Jackson 5. Nikki Custy (Sean's mom) came and played her fiddle just in time to learn about folk and country music! We learned about Dolly Parton, Patsy Kline, Jonny Cash and Bob Dylan. A little history about the harmonica and then Mrs. Cooper played hers. It was fun walking the line to "I Walk the Line" by Jonny Cash. Next, we discussed rock and roll and how it has evolved through the years. The guitar and drums were introduced and we listened to the Beatles, Elvis and Jimi Hendrix. The students learned that Jazz originated in New Orleans in the early 1900's and is a unique mixture of composed and improvised music. The class had fun testing this spontaneous sound in class. We placed various instruments in the Sensorial area and asked the children to create their own unique compositions! We listened to Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. Ms. Knight introduced the clarinet and brought hers to share with the class! After a brief discussion on Jamaica and the origination of Reggae music we listened to Bob Marley. In class we made a graph of all the types of music we had learned about and took counts of likes and dislikes for each type. Rhythm and Blues and Rock held the highest votes! We concluded this chapter by learning about musical technology throughout the years. The students learned how people have been able to listen to and enjoy music throughout history from radio, to records, to eight tracks, cassettes, and Cd's. We learned that the first record player was called a phonograph and it had to be cranked by hand to turn. Mrs. Cooper brought in her record player and showed the kids how to use it, but more importantly they had a blast dancing to it!  The final week of school we had fun reading fairy tales and recreating them. We used costumes and props to bring the stories to life. We had a puppet show and enjoyed some crafts. The children had a lot of fun on Field Day especially during the water activities. Thank you to everyone who helped plan this day! It has been a great school year and we learned a lot! It was a pleasure having each of the children and getting to know all of the families. Thank you again for all of your support throughout the year. Have a fun and safe summer!
-Mrs. Cooper
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Mr. John's Corner:
Line Time
We started out May with learning about the circle of life. We discussed life cycles. We talked about the frog and toad. We learned that a frog's life starts in a jelly like cluster of eggs. When the eggs hatch we have tadpoles which grow into a frog-let which has a half frog, half tadpole appearance. The frog-let loses its tail and becomes an adult frog. Then the frog lays eggs....and so on and so on... We talked about the creature that goes through complete metamorphosis, Ms. Michele's favorite animal, the butterfly. The life of a butterfly starts with eggs. The eggs hatch and we have caterpillars or the larva stage. The caterpillars munch on leaves get fat for a long rest in their chrysalis. We found that a butterfly comes out of a chrysalis and a moth comes out of a cocoon. After a period of time in the chrysalis, a butterfly emerges. The butterfly lays eggs, the eggs hatch into caterpillars, caterpillars spin a cocoon/chrysalis, a butterfly or moth emerges from the chrysalis or cocoon. We read "Gus" which is about a caterpillar who was fuzzy, ate a lot, slept in something like a sleeping bag, and came out with beautiful wings.
The second week of May was a great time to talk about the seasons. We started with spring and talked about how it gets a bit warmer but we get a lot of rain, and plants and flowers start to come out. Then we talked about summer and how it is hotter because the earth tilts closer to the sun and the days are longer. This is when plants grow tall and flowers are in full bloom. Autumn, or fall, comes next and the weather gets a bit chillier. The leaves turn beautiful colors then fall to the ground. The final season is winter and it is the coldest season of the year. The earth is tilted further away from the sun and the days are shorter. We end up getting snow in the winter.
Next, we put on our space suits and got ready to explore our solar system. We started with discussing the planets nearest to the sun then worked our way to the furthest reaches of our solar system. Mercury is our first planet and is the closest to the sun. Venus is the second planet. Even though it is further away from the sun it is the hottest planet in our solar system. The third planet is near and dear to our hearts. It is the planet earth. It is the only planet in our solar system that has life. The next planet is Mars and is known as the red planet. The next planet is the biggest planet in our solar system and has a big red storm that has been raging for centuries. That planet is Jupiter. Saturn is the next planet and has really cool rings around it that are pieces of rock and ice. Uranus is next and it spins up and down instead of side to side like all the other planets. Neptune is the last planet in our solar system. I did not forget about Pluto. Oh! Poor Pluto. Pluto was once a planet but now has been demoted to a dwarf planet.
The last week we talked about being safe. Children were reminded to always stay close to their safe side adult, always look both ways before crossing the street, never talk to stranger or go near wild or unfamiliar animals. We also reminded them that police officers and firefighters are our friends.
Cultural Subjects The last few weeks of class we learned how to count to 10 in our 17th and final language of the year which was Hungarian. We counted to 10 in English, Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic (in a Lebanese dialect), Italian, Russian, Romanian, Hebrew, Korean, Swedish and Tagalog (spoken by a third of the population in the Philippines). Kindergarten This month the kindergarten students were introduced to the conjunction. The conjunction is like a bridge that connects two sentences. The three conjunctions we learned about were "and, but, or". We also went over that a preposition is a "where" (not a "werewolf"). These are words with sentences as the ball is IN the tree or BY the road. We learned what punctuation is used at the end of a sentence. We use a period (.) when we are stating something. We use a question mark (?) when we are asking a question and we use an exclamation mark (!) when we show excitement or a lot of emotion. I introduced the students to the rules of capitalization. We learned that words at the beginning of the sentence, the word I, and proper nouns need to be capitalized. The kindergarteners brushed up on their knowledge of the interjection. The interjection adds emotion to the sentence but we did find out that if we eliminate the interjection from the sentence, the meaning of the sentence really does not change. We played Mad Libs and ended the kindergarten year by watching School House Rock - Grammar Rock. Super Heroes I wanted to thank everyone who donated a bag of groceries to Good Samaritans Hunger Center. The children had a fun time loading the bags into the van. It was another opportunity to teach the art of giving to those in need. Science When we talk about "states" of matter, we usually talk about the three types: solid (like a rock), liquid (like water) and gas (like the air we breath). A mixture of cornstarch and water make what is known as a suspension. When you squeeze a Cornstarch Suspension it really feels like a solid because its molecules line up. But it looks like a liquid and acts like a liquid when no one is pressing on it because the molecules relax. This is another state of matter, called a suspension (It can act like a liquid, or, when pressed like a solid). The students punched, poked and grabbed a mixture of water and corn starch. They were confused and amazed how the concoction looked like milk or ice cream but when they tried to grab the mixture it was more like a solid. We ended the school year learning about Absorption. We poured equal amounts of water into a cup that contained a few pieces of paper towels and one cup that had a diaper. I took the proverbial bullet for the students and poured the excess water from the paper towels over my head. The students were reluctant to have the cup with the diaper "pour" on their head. I did have some brave souls who volunteered and their hair stayed dry. They even stayed dry after I poured more than two cups of water on the diaper! -Mr. John |
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Ms. Courtney's Corner:
Spring was in the air in Ms. Courtney and Mr. C's class during the month of May. It was nearing the end of the school year and there were a lot of fun activities we participated in.
During the first week of May we prepared for our Field Trip to the Symphony. The students started with learning about the parts of the orchestra. We began with the percussion instruments which include the tambourine, cymbals, drums and piano. The children had a hands-on opportunity to make their own music with a keyboard in the classroom.
During Preschool Lesson Mr. C helped the children make their own tambourines. We also learned about the stringed section of the orchestra. The violin, viola, cello bass, harp and guitar were the main instruments we talked about. The class learned that in order to play the violin, viola, cello and double bass they need a magic wand called a "bow" to create the beautiful sounds. The bow is made of white horse hair. The students learned that some of the stringed instruments need to be held differently to play them correctly. The violin and viola are placed under the musicians chin while the cello, bass and harp are played with the musician sitting on a chair. Of the instruments we studied, the class enjoyed the deep, "bullfrog" sound of the double bass the most. Most of the girls enjoyed the lovely sounds of the harp. This instrument has 47 strings and 7 foot pedals. The class also had the opportunity to experiment with Mr. C's guitar as well as a fun guitar in the classroom.
As we continued to prepare for our Field Trip to the Akron Symphony the students also studied the woodwind and brass section of the orchestra. We pretended to play flutes in class and learned that this instrument get played with the musician holding the instrument to the side and blowing into the mouth hole. We also learned about the piccolo, clarinet and saxophone. During work time, the children enjoyed the sounds of many jazz musicians while we studied this group of instruments.
The last section of the orchestra we studied was the brass, which creates the loudest and most exciting sounds in orchestral music. We learned about the trumpet, French horn, trombone and tuba. Most musicians in a marching band play brass instruments. These types of instruments have either valves for the players' fingers or a slide that is used to create sound when played.
After this week's lesson the children were well prepared for the exciting Field Trip to the Akron Symphony's Concert for Kids. The show was fun and the children enjoyed both listening to and learning more about the instruments. The entertaining cast put on a show stopping performance of The Little Engine that Could.
Our next lesson had a Spring theme. We started the week out with learning the life cycle of a butterfly. This amazing process starts in a tiny egg laid by the Mommy butterfly. The egg grows for a few months then hatches. Out of the egg crawls a chunky worm with legs called a caterpillar. The caterpillar grows and eventually molts their old skin. This occurs several times and eventually the caterpillar hangs from a branch and molts one last time. This time a hard shell forms around the caterpillar and it becomes a pupa. The pupa stays in the shell growing and changing each day. In about 2 weeks a beautiful butterfly crawls out. Its wings are soft and wet. While learning about this process the children pretended to be butterflies emerging from their shells. They flew around the room drying their new wings and discovering a new world. They decided that by flapping their wings the air would dry them and they could fly faster. The classroom butterflies were able to fly anywhere in the world now! Henri decided he would fly to Rockne's for lunch while Lily was on her way to the beach. Allie wanted to fly south to Florida and celebrate her new life in Disney. Isabelle was headed directly to North Carolina and wasn't going to make any stops on her long journey!
Along with the butterfly the class also learned about the life cycle of a frog. A frog's life starts in an egg typically in a pond or body of water. Each egg is wrapped in a clear jelly to protect it while they grow into tadpoles. As the tadpoles get bigger they wiggle their way out of the jelly and into the water. During this stage the tadpoles have gills to breathe through and they also have a tail. The tadpoles continue to grow and form buds by their tail which turn into back legs. At this point two additional buds form by the tadpole's head, which develop into arms. The tail eventually begins to shrink and the tadpole becomes a frog-let, half-tadpole half-frog. As the frog-let grows he develops lungs to breathe with and once his tail completely shrinks he is officially a frog! This life cycle was very fascinating to the students. We were lucky enough to bring in a frog for the children to touch and observe.
During this week the students also had the opportunity to learn about how a seed changes to plant. We read many books, sang songs and made crafts about this process. The children also had the chance to plant their own seeds. I hope all of your seeds have produced many yummy vegetables!
The following week we prepared for yet another fun-filled Field Trip to the Akron Zoo. The children learned all about many different types of animals. We discussed habitats, or homes and why they are so important to each type of animal. We talked about protecting the environment in order to save animals and what we can do to keep animals from becoming endangered. We learned about animal families and their young and what they do to take care of them.
We also discussed the important job a zookeeper has. They are a vital part in an animal's life and sometimes have to take the place of an animal's parent. Zookeepers are responsible for feeding, bathing and taking care of each animal living in the zoo. They work hard on creating a natural habitat for each animal and making them feel comfortable. Most of the class agreed that it would be fun to become a zookeeper when they grow up!
The last few weeks of school we focused on creating fun memories in the class. One fun event that was held in the classroom was Beach Day! The kids brought their towels and enjoyed a day of summer fun. We went fishing, played beach ball games and also had fun hopping from towel to towel to the sounds of the Beach Boys! We drank Ocean Water (blue juice) and ate Swedish Fish and Whale Crackers! The school year ended with so many fun days and cherished memories.
I appreciate all of my beloved students and am so thankful for all of the special moments I was able to share with each one of them. Thank you, parents for your continued support and patience this year. I hope you all enjoy a safe, fun summer.
- Miss Courtney
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June Spotlight:
Field Day
by Mr. C
 Our final day of fun at Absorbent Minds Montessori School was an adventure from start to finish. Thanks to our parents, family and friends helping out, the entire day was an experience our students won't forget anytime soon. Starting in the classroom our friends made "Watch Me Grow" flowers with their school pictures from the beginning of the year and photos taken over the past few weeks of our school year. I can't speak for every classroom on this, but in Ms. Courtney and Mr. C's room we constructed a "pretend" campfire and made one of my personal summertime favorites, Smores!
Afterwards, we moved to our gym to take on activities that exercised our skill, strength and endurance. There was the ring toss, corn hole, little tikes Coupe Car derby, bean race, and hula-hoop pass challenge. Each of these challenges stretched our students to the limit. Later, in the afternoon sunshine, we had our grand finale; all of the wonderfully filled water balloons came into play. The sponge relay race served as a warm-up to what would become a wet and wild afternoon, mostly for me.
Tears were shed and hearts were saddened, again mostly by me, as the water balloon toss became a "let's blast Mr. C" activity. In conclusion, everyone had a great time and we couldn't have ended our school year in this way without all of you.
Thank you for your help, if only for 5 minutes, if only in spirit, this wouldn't have been possible without all of you.
2011 Kindergarten Graduation
by Kelly Andamasaris
On Friday, June 3rd parents, families and friends of our 2011 Kindergarten class joined together to celebrate the accomplishments each of our graduates achieved throughout their time here at Absorbent Minds Montessori School.
Dressed in their caps and gowns, our Kindergartners blasted off into outer space! Two of these exceptional students played Astronauts who flew on their pal, "Rocket" around the Milky Way Galaxy exploring and interviewing each of our planets represented by our knowledgeable Kindergarten Students!
After their performance concluded, Mrs. Cooper, Mr. John and Ms. Courtney presented our students with an award honoring their unique strengths and shared a few thoughts reflecting on their personal experiences with our Kindergartners and their confidence in their future successes!
Next, Ms. Brandy presented each Kindergartner with their well earned diploma and announced them official graduates of Absorbent Minds Montessori School!
It was a very moving evening. Our teachers and staff feel truly honored having had each of these students in our program and wish them the best in all of their future endeavors.
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Upcoming Events
Meet the Teacher Nights
Mrs. Cooper
Monday, August 15th
6:30-7:30 pm Ms. Courtney
Tuesday, August 16th
6:30-7:30 pm Mr. John
Wednesday, August 17th
6:30-7:30 pm
NEW Parent Orientation
Thursday, August 18th 6:30 pm
Supply Drop Off
Monday, August 22nd
12:00- 1:00 pm
First Day of School
Wednesday, August 24th
Ice Cream Social
Friday, September 2nd
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