Stone Soup

"Soup from a stone, fancy that!"

Several different versions of Stone Soup were read to the class during afternoon circle. Included were versions by Ann McGovern, Jon J. Muth, and The Real Story of Stone Soup  by Ying Chang Compestine.

During writing time we wrote our own recipes for stone soup and we drew our favorite meal on a paper plate and wrote about it. After writing time we came together for a circle to share our drawings with everyone.

Finally Stone Soup Day arrived! 

We scrubbed the stones that we collected the previous afternoon. 

We collected all of the ingredients that were brought by our friends. 

We washed and chopped the vegetables and herbs. 

We enjoyed our stone soup meal together! 

Bagel Moon Faces

This morning for cooking time we made bagel moon faces.First we prepared the vegetables. Then we assembled our bagel moon faces. We used cucumbers, carrots, and tomatoes for ears, eyes, a mouth, and a nose. We used sprouts for hair. 

 

 

 

Rock pose "I am grounded, I am silent, I am still, I am a rock"

Yoga is not only a fun exercise, but it also builds concentration. Research suggests that yoga and meditation help people to be better in academic studies. We enjoy making our bodies look like animals and nature while building coordination and concentration. We have practiced dog, cat, cobra, elephant, warriors I & II, rock, tree, mountain, pretzel, and sun salutations

Busy Fall

Hi Everyone!

The fall is flying by! It was wonderful chatting with you all at conferences. As always, feel free to email, call, or send a note in the morning with any questions or information to aid your child's experience in the classroom. The Fall Festival was a huge success! We had a great turnout from the Meadowbrook community and met families from our larger community who came for the open house. I especially enjoyed watching a few of the primary students decorate their parents faces at the face painting table! Thank you to everyone who contributed to the festival.

Thank you to everyone who has brought flowers for the classroom! Many children have chosen the flower arranging work and have taken great pleasure in caring for our classroom by decorating with their arrangement.

I'm sure many of you have noticed the lovely flower boxes around campus. You may not know that these boxes have maintained all season long by Ina (Matt's mom). Anna and I are very grateful for all of her hard work & for donating flowers. Please remember to thank her next time you see her.

Ames' 5th birthday

Ewan's 4th birthday

 We began our sewing work with a group "sewing circle". The first and second year friends sewed two foam pumpkins together and added stuffing before sewing them closed. The third year students began their sewing by practicing with a circular stitching board. They then attempted designs with an orange pumpkin shaped sewing board. The children were very proud of their finished projects.

On Friday mornings, we have been cooking our snack to share.

We read the book Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper. It is about three friends making pumpkin soup together. It illustrates the difficulties that can occur with friendship. The Cat slices up the pumpkin, the Squirrel stirs in the water, and the Duck tips in just enough salt. But one day the Duck wants to stir instead, and then there is a horrible squabble, and he leaves the cabin in a huff. The Cat and the Squirrel start to worry about him and begin a search for their friend.

peeling potatoes

peeling an onion

Finally we joined the elementary classroom to share our pumpkin soup.

Many of the children have been very interested in the math work available and we are happily moving along through the math sequence. Each of the children are moving at his/her own pace through the sequence from working with the number rods, to numeration work and one to one correspondence, and then to the bead chains and linear counting. This work prepares them for the work with the operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). 

Two of three math shelves

working with the teens boards

 

one to one correspondence with a sets basket

counting a squaring chain

one to one correspondence with the sets boxes

The children are also very interested in any work that leads to writing. Wednesday and Thursday afternoons are devoted to writing time. We read at circle and then the children choose  independent writing work. Sometimes they chose to work on themed paper. We have used leaf themed paper, pumpkin paper, and solar system papers. They are recording their work in sensorial, math, and language. Many of the children have also chosen to copy books and information from our pre-cosmic education unit on the Universe. The Universe boxes were introduced to the children at circle. This is a lesson to show the children their place in the Universe. The Universe boxes are nesting boxes, the largest showing the Universe, then the Milky Way Galaxy, then our Solar System, Earth,  North America, The United States of America, Maine, Freeport, Meadowbrook Montessori School, and then in the box of Meadowbrook Montessori School is someone very, very special.

Universe box work 

Our work with the Universe Boxes led to a unit on stars and galaxies. We talked about how Earth orbits the Sun, which is the closest star to Earth. We are now working on learning about the planets in our solar system. We have been singing a Solar System song.  The lyrics to "The Family of the Sun" can be found here.

matching work with models of the Sun and planets.

A few more photos of classroom work.

writing words with the moveable alphabet

knobbed cylinders

matching color box II

punching out a star with a push pin

Crawdad Song

You get a line and I'll get a pole, Honey, (Honey) You get a line and I'll get a pole, Babe. (Oh Babe) You get a line and I'll get a pole, We'll go fishin' in the crawdad hole, Honey, Oh Baby mine. Sittin' on the bank 'til my feet get cold, Honey, (Honey) Sittin' on the bank 'til my feet get cold, Babe, (Oh Babe) Sittin' on the bank 'til my feet get cold, Lookin' down that crawdad hole, Honey, Oh Baby mine. Yonder comes a man with a sack on his back, Honey,(Honey) Yonder comes a man with a sack on his back, Babe, (Oh Babe) Yonder comes a man with a sack on his back, Packin' all the crawdads he can pack, Honey, Oh Baby mine. The man fell down and he broke that sack, Honey,(Honey) The man fell down and he broke that sack, Babe,(oh Babe) The man fell down and he broke that sack, See those crawdads backing back, Honey, Oh Baby mine. I heard the duck say to the drake, Honey, (Honey) I heard the duck say to the drake, Babe, (Oh Babe) I heard the duck say to the drake, There ain't no crawdads in this lake, Honey, Oh Baby mine.