Water and Friends

Long ago--in December-- the Montessori children purchased backpacks and filled them with colored pencils, crayons, pencil sharpeners, and small notebooks along with a carefully drawn "note" for their rafikis (friends) in Kenya. Our hope was that these backpacks would help our friends attend school regularly.

With the help of Lloydie Zaiser and her organization, KEST, our backpacks were delivered to Nymbani Village in January just as the new school term began.

Mrs. Zaiser visited Montessori to share some pictures of her delivery. While the Kenyan children were very excited to receive new backpacks--and maybe the only backpacks they will ever have--she had to actually teach them to wear it on their backs!

Our rafiki sent thank you notes to us! They practiced their third language--English-- to write to us!

When Mrs. Zaiser visited the PCDA Maasai village school she brought 91 new pairs of shoes for the children.

We were very interested to see the children dressed in their uniforms and wearing their new shoes. Each child kept the box as a treasure chest!

Happy children!

Happy feet!

Look carefully at this picture. Next to school kitchen there is a new cistern as well as new gutters and pipes! The Woods water management project is now providing water for cooking and washing.

Our "Pennies for Water" collected $127.00 for this water management project.

Thank you Montessori Families!

Our seventh grade leaders are teaching us more about the importance of water, especially in African villages.

and asking if we will join them to finish the project by working to raise money to provide a generator, more pipes, and a system of water troughs. We said, "yes!" It fills our buckets to help others!

Montessori is going to collect pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Our jars are ready!

"Let there be joy in our laughter, love in our thoughts, hope in our lives, and peace in our hearts."

Faces and Places

The Lunchers visited The National Gallery of Art for a long anticipated tour of "Faces and Places."

Landscapes allowed them to look at places. 

They looked "west" at Green River Cliffs by Thomas Moran

and found Native Americans traveling home at sunset.

They found Claude Monet's Japanese Bridge!

What lines and shapes did Monet use for his water lilies?

The Impressionists broke the rules! 

They painted outdoors, trying to capture the light and colors of nature.

Sketch books helped the Lunchers record what they saw.

Look!

Look closely!

Can you find color, line and shape?

Meet the Washington Family!

What does the artist teach us about George Washington?

Picasso used shades of blue to show feelings in Le Gourmet.

We can sketch vertical lines like van Gogh!

He used thick lines of paint for the background in Lady in White.

Draw a background and foreground in your sketch book!

Then, add the details.

There is so much to see in a painting!

Use your senses like an artist!

Fall in love with art!

Be an artist yourself!

We say, "Love what you do" in Montessori!

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist when you grow up."

                                                    --Pablo Picasso

Montessori Meets Rain Forest Animals

Wildlife Ambassadors brought rain forest animals to Montessori on February 3!

Sarah is an umbrella cockatoo. She eats fruit and nuts with her curved beak. She is smart, social and talked whenever we talked!

Milo is a blue-tongue skink.

Fingers up!

Milo feels cool and smooth.

Milo lives on the ground, eats insects, eggs, and fruit.

He scares enemies with his bright blue tongue-- or drops part of his tail to escape!

Bananas are his favorite food. We love bananas too!

M II loved meeting an Australian reptile!

Charlotte is a Chilean Rose-hair Tarantula.

Some of us were a little wary of visiting spiders!

Charlotte makes cricket milkshakes for dinner! She uses her hairs to pick up vibrations and also to protect herself.

Charlotte is from South America.

Scarlet is a red-footed tortoise from South America. She is only three years old!

Scarlet eats mostly green plants, but occasionally eats insects and worms.

A snake--oh my!

Meet Jada, a ball python from Africa.

She is beautiful!

Her markings help her camouflage

so she can hide in the rain forest understory.

Ready to be a zoologist?

Ready to travel to the rain forest?

These are amazing creatures living in all levels of the rain forests--all over the world. We were happy to meet a few of them! They remind us that we need to be "keepers of the earth" so we all have a safe and healthy place to thrive.

" Always remember you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world".   --Harriet Tubman