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September | 2008 NEWSLETTER |
 Brandy's Corner:
Hi and welcome to the first issue of the Absorbent Minds Newsletter. We are excited to use this as a way to communicate with parents and families the fantastic things that are happening in the classrooms at Absorbent Minds. First I want to thank all of you for your encouragement and support through the first month. The children have adjusted well to being in the routine of school and we teachers are "back in the swing" of developing the "smarter kids" of tomorrow.
Each issue of the Absorbent Minds Newsletter will contain a monthly review of the things that have happened in each classroom, a summary of the topics we have discussed, an overview of Spanish and Sign Language as well as an educational tidbit about Montessori and our philosophy.
~Brandy. |
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 Cooper's Corner:
Welcome everyone to a new and exciting year of learning!
We have been busy this month getting all of the students acquainted with the classroom and materials. We have had discussions on safety and the rules that both teachers and students are expected to follow in class.
The theme for September has been classifying animals. In the first week mammals were introduced followed by birds, reptiles, fish and most recently amphibians. By recognizing basic characteristic traits of various animals the children have learned how to categorize animals into the five main groups. Some favorite activities have been animal booklets, labeling animal parts and animal charades.
Although various works are presented to the children each week we would like to discuss at least one in our newsletter. In Geography the children were introduced to the land forms; islands and lakes. They were able to see pictures of each, label each part and compare the differences between the two. The students really enjoyed tracing, cutting and labeling their own lakes and islands.
Thank you everyone for all of your patience and support. We know the first weeks of school bring much change and adjustment for everyone. Please do not hesitate to approach us with any suggestions or concerns.
~Mrs. Cooper
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Mr.  John's Corner:
The beginning of the school year has brought a fresh enthusiasm from both the teachers and the students. It was nice seeing old faces and welcoming new students to the school. Miss Brandy and Mr. John are having fun reintroducing the staple activities in the Practical Life, Sensorial, Math and Language areas. In addition, we are very excited introducing the new materials we received this year. It is a pleasure to see the Montessori philosophy take action in the classroom.
We are very proud of the Kindergarteners for stepping up and becoming leaders and mentors in the classroom. Everyday we see older students setting good examples on how to behave and showing the younger students Montessori activities that they have already mastered.
This year we have introduced "snack time." This is a great learning experience for the students to learn how to prepare and serve snacks to others. It is amazing to witness children slicing apples and carving a watermelon for their classmates.
During the past month we have talked about mammals, safety, United States of America and families. We went on a filed trip to the neighborhood fire station. During safety week we learned about crossing streets, traffic signals, and safety figures. When we talked about the USA we explained how the current 50 states originated from 13 colonies. We even learned a song! We discussed US landmarks and national holidays. The children had fun creating and/or coloring the flag from the 13 colonies as well as the current flag.
We have introduced new twists to the curriculum this year such as research projects and journal assignments for the Kindergarteners. We have made science more exciting by introducing the scientific method to the children and performing experiments such as eggs floating in salt water (density), and vinegar and baking soda inflating balloons (chemical reaction). We are glad to hear that some students have done these experiments at home with their parents.
Mr. John gives us Fun Facts of the Day. Here is one for you: "Did you know there are more chickens on Earth than humans?"
~Mr. John
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Other Topics:
 Little Racquets:Welcome to the Little Racquets 2 week update! We are building motor skills and confidence, learning teamwork and having a ball! Over the past few weeks, we have sampled the following pretennis and tennis activities:
- Warm-up skills: catching and throwing the smiley face balls, shuffling around our "tennis court", and identifying letters, colors and shapes on the racquets.
- Hitting forehands off of stationary cones with lady bug, rainbow, star, foam and spinner balls (ribbon attached) helped us focus on the forehand groundstroke.
- Our Little Racquets "coaches" taught us a forehand progression drill which allowed us to hit several balls over the net from various distances.
In conclusion, we have improved our coordination, kept our hearts beating strong, learned some tennis technique and worked on balance and footwork games. We especially love to play ABC forehand, duck, duck goose and walking our imaginary "dogs". We have had a ball participating in the Little Racquets program with our friends from our class.
Helpful hint: If possible, please feel free to toss any size ball to your child over the next 2 weeks on the driveway, patio or basement. Step 1: Turn them sideways with their racquet back and low near the knees. Step 2: Toss or roll a ball to them. Step 3: Call out "bounce...hit!" Practicing this technique will allow them to feel comfortable with a racquet in their hand while trying to connect with the ball.
 Fire Station Field Trip:We took our first field trip on September 16th to Cuyahoga Falls Fire Station 1, which is in our back yard. Teachers, students and parents walked over for a guided tour and an up-close look at what firemen do at work. All the children had the opportunity to meet many firemen and shake their hands. Fireman Zach put on his suit for the children to see. Many of the kids were fascinated with the glow in the dark stripes. He explained that in a fire you need to trust the fireman because he is there to help you and not to be afraid of him even though he is wearing a big mask. The firemen taught us about fire safety, Stop Drop & Roll, and calling 911 in an emergency.
All of the students walked through the back of an ambulance and saw where the firemen sleep, eat and hang out at the fire station. I think their favorite part was sitting on the fire truck.
Thank you to everyone at Cuyahoga Falls Fire Station 1 for showing us around!
Spanish:
Hola Amigos! Spanish has been great fun during the past few weeks. We have been learning two "Good Morning" songs during the past few lessons. The words and pronunciations for these songs have been sent home for you to practice! The children have also learned a few commands and vocabulary words, as well as greetings and counting. We also learned how to say "my name is" in Spanish. Ask your child to teach you what they have learned.
 Sign Language:The first 2 weeks of sign language have been great for the kids! We are starting out slow with signs all of the teachers can use in the classroom. You might have seen your children signing, "Good morning" or "Please". I really encourage you to learn from the kids and use these basic signs around the house. If you have any questions at all, PLEASE stop by and ask Ms. (Kate) Brown in the mornings. I also plan to start sending home vocabulary lists once we have accumulated a few more signs.
The kids are really excited to learn, so I like to give them a chance to ask questions before the lesson begins. They really enjoy learning animal and command signs. My favorite part is getting the children to use their facial expressions. In sign language, facial expression is very important to communicate the meaning of a sign.
My goal over the next few weeks is to get the students comfortable using their hands to communicate. I also want to introduce them to the Deaf community and Deaf culture. It's very important to me that our students learn about diversity at an early age.
~Ms. Brown
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| Montessori Tidbits
Simply put, Montessori is a method of education; but it is so much more. Developed by Italian educator, Dr. Maria Montessori, the method is built upon the idea that children develop and think differently than adults, they are competent beings and capable of self-directed learning. Using specially designed materials to facilitate each phase of development Montessori focuses on everything form motor skills to concrete knowledge to abstraction.
Dr. Montessori observed children in the environment she created and noticed they developed through what she called "sensitive periods." This can best be understood as thinking of a child's brain as being programmed to learn certain things at certain times in his or her development, but not all children are at the same stage of development at the same time. For this reason, Dr. Montessori prepared the classroom environment so the children could choose the material they wanted to use each day. To the untrained eye this looks like chaos, but it is really self-discovery in the classroom.
Maria Montessori believed that each child is born with a unique potential to be revealed, rather than as a "blank slate" waiting to be written upon. For this reason she developed the method of self-discovery within the classroom. Dr. Montessori believed in preparing the most natural and life supporting environment for the child, observing the child living freely in this environment and continually adapting the environment in order that the child may fulfill his or her greatest potential, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
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Themes of the Week
Franks / Kotradi Class
9/29 - Transportation
10/6 - Transportation
10/13 - Food Groups
10/20 - Healthy Habits
10/27 - Skeletal System
Cooper / Brown / Busa Class
9/29 - Transportation
10/6 - Transportation
10/13 - Food Groups
10/20 - Healthy Habits
10/27 - Skeletal System
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