Lower Elementary had a very busy second week of school. We started Spanish, Sustainability, Yoga, Engineering, Music, Drama,Morning Mindfulness, and Maker's Space.
Work cycles were busy as well with many lessons and follow-up practice as students work toward mastery of new concepts and skills. Hope you all enjoyed looking through the work sent home in "Friday Bags". Please keep the loose papers and return the bag and work journal. Some students may have brought home a green folder. Please return it also.
Lessons and group work this week included: spelling, word study and grammar boxes, reading circles, comprehension and reading for concepts, Writer's Workshop introductory lessons, extensions with math materials, and geography continent maps and flag work.
Our favorite "Year-Long Project" binders were started. Many different topics are chosen by each student as to their interests in areas they want to explore. Facts and illustrations fill these notebooks and continue during the year.
We are looking forward to our trip to Rockmont in September. This is a wonderful opportunity for our children to practice independence while living as a community and experiencing the activities outdoors in a beautiful setting.
A Montessori Moment.... As a Montessori guide for many years, my role is to cultivate not just the intellect but the whole child. The Gift of Silence is so important for children and adults. I have been sharing exercises during our Peace Circle when we slow down, quiet our minds and bodies, and experience silence to nourish our spirit. We practice sitting still in silence and listening for sounds around us. Little by little, in the mist of this impressive silence we can hear the lightest sounds like the wind blowing outside our classroom or a chirping bird.
Sharing these moments together allows us to make room and slow down for inner experiences. Children need to have time to meander, sit by a stream, lay on a beach in
the sand, or ponder the night sky and practice silence.
I hope you all have a great weekend and Labor Day. Ms. Lynne