Merry Christmas!

'Tis the season to celebrate!  And, all kinds of Montessori work has been happening in the classrooms as well.

                                    Printing ornaments with paint and design stamps.

                                            Embossing designs using the light box.

                                                     Painting trees at the easel.

                                           Sponge printing Christmas trees.

                                               Labeling Christmas objects.

                                          Using cookie cutters with Magic Foam.

                                          Using tongs to sort Christmas ornaments.

        Creating parts of books: parts of a trumpet, parts of a violin, parts of Santa, parts of a Christmas tree.

                                         Cutting paper designs using a template.

                                           Using a magnet to transfer and count bells.

                                        Using glue and sequins to decorate Christmas trees.

                                         

                                                    Sewing Christmas trees on burlap.

                  Sewing on felt with real needles to make bell and stocking ornaments.

The Montessori children also have enjoyed many holiday stories. They have learned songs and poems as well as created and wrapped secret surprises for their parents. Shhh! We won't tell!

KayDee Puppets shared their "Santa's Workshop" tale on December 13th. We also met Mortimer Mouse. He tasted our ears--peppermint? chocolate chip? marshmallow creme? cherry pie?

All the children made Magic Reindeer food. They had to measure and mix for Santa's team!

          The children decorated bags for the "Cup of Joe" faculty service project--adding paint or stickers or drawing trees, stars, and snowmen to add a bit of cheer to breakfast at the shelter.

Setting up the manger.  Don't forget baby Jesus!

Listen for your cue! Musical instruments add festive sounds.

The Montessori staff joins me in wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We appreciate all your gifts, especially the gift of sharing your children with us. We are truly blessed!

"Anyone can find places, but the finding of people is a gift from God." --EM Forester

Jambo Kenya!

Today Montessori learned to say hello-- "jambo" and thank you--"asante" in Swahili!

                        Mrs. Lloydie Zaiser from KEST came to teach us about Kenya.

                          We studied the globe and found North America and Africa.

We learned it takes one whole day to get to Nairobi--17 hours in a plane plus one flight change and a lot of waiting in London. Kenya is far across the Atlantic Ocean!

 

                                   The Kenyan flag has four colors and a Maasai shield.

             Maasai shields are made of cow hide, and wood. They are painted with beautiful designs.

                                        We could see the cow hide on the back!

Kenya is famous for its animals! We used story telling baskets to play an animal sorting game to figure out which animals ate meat and which ate plants. The people eat both in the US and in Kenya! Did you know "water is life" in Kenya?

We are sending backpacks to our "rafiki" (friends), the children of Nyumbani Village, so that they will be able to go to school.  We are including drawings and colored pencils for them as our Christmas gift.

Asante to all our parents for helping us share a bit of Christmas joy!

Meet the Brass Family!

The Montessori children have been exploring the science of sound this week.  They learned that sound travels in waves by dropping a stone into a bowl of water. They learned that sounds are caused by vibrations using a tuning fork to see and feel its vibrations. Now we are investigating how musical instruments make sounds and even change pitches with the Montessori Bells as well as the violin, flute, clarinet, and the brass instruments. We are also wondering how Mozart, Beethoven, and the Beetles wrote music!

       Mr. Broome brought his euphonium (tenor tuba), trombone, and trumpet to school Thursday.

He showed us how the mouthpiece works.  He needs to buzz his lips to make the sound.  It takes practice!

                              The trumpet is smaller and plays higher notes.  It is loud!

                                           The trumpet has valves that change the pitch.

        The trombone has a slide to lengthen the tube and change its pitch. We liked hearing it slide!

Tubas have very long tubes that curve.  They also have valves.  They can play very low notes!

                           All of the brass instruments have a bell.  Tubas are biggest!

                                   Mr. Broome played "Jingle Bells" and we sang along!

        It takes practice to play an instrument well--just like writing, reading, skiing, or riding a bike!

                     Thanks, Mr. Broome! Now we all want a trumpet for Christmas!

You can join Mr. Broome and about 100 tuba and euphonium players at The Kennedy Center Millenium Stage for "Tuba Christmas" on December 18 at 6 PM.