3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 04/28/25

Dear Parents,

We are sure you are enjoying the bright Spring season! It's hard to miss the colorful blooms all around us. It is also timely to start our flower unit study, where the children will be learning the facts about flowers, such as the different types of flowers, their shapes and colors. The older students will learn the names of various flowers and make their own booklets. The younger friends will enjoy the Montessori flower puzzle activity to learn the parts of the flower. We will then dissect various flowers to understand their parts and functions. We are excited for warmer weather so we can see more flowers bloom on our trees and in our gardens!

To celebrate Earth Day, our students planted sunflower seedlings, as well as zinnia and wildflower seeds in our garden. They are eagerly expecting to see the "flowers of their labor!"

In continuation of our study about birds, our class is in the process of conducting a group science experiment using vinegar to dissolve the shell of an egg thereby creating a bouncy egg. 

All our little artists are excited to welcome their families and friends to our Annual Art Show on May 1.

Have a wonderful week!

-Morahs Uma, Kara, Kenzie, Chaya

3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 04/21/25

Dear Parents,

Welcome back! The children were so happy to see their classmates and the newly hatched quail chicks. Quail chicks are born with open eyes, and they are good eaters. Our friends are wondering about the quails' diet to support their rapid growth. Also, the students learned that the favorite diet for quails include soft body bugs like spiders, caterpillars, crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, and more. The quail chicks have the ability to walk and run right away and they are social birds. Gimmel friends are enjoying these adorable chicks and love to observe their activities. 

Children are inherent learners. In a Montessori environment, the children follow their curiosity learning through hands-on exploration and discovery, focusing on observation, experimentation and drawing their own conclusions about the world around them. As we mentioned before, the Montessori science curriculum covers a wide range of topics studying plants and animals.

Mammals unit studies were added to our science shelf. Mammals can be found all over the world from the freezing tundra to the scorching desert, and even in the ocean. The well known mammals in and around the house are dogs, cats, horses, cows, and humans. Our students will learn the characteristics of mammals, such as they are warm blooded, some have fur and rather than laying eggs, they give birth to live young. Our older friends will learn the characteristics of their favorite mammals, such as horses, dogs and cats, and about their diet.

In treating animals with care, children get to practice grace and courtesy. They get an opportunity to learn that different pets require different care in handling. In Gimmel, children take turns to feed their class pet fish (Goldie biscuit) and now our quail chicks give them another opportunity to learn about caring for animals.

Our students are excited for our annual art show on Thursday, May 1. Colors play a crucial role in creating art. Exploring different color combinations can lead to unique and unexpected results adding a sense of creativity. Please save the date for the popular art show created by our children.

Have a wonderful week!

-Morahs Uma, Kara, Kenzie, Chaya

3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 04/07/25

Dear parents,

We start our short week with model Seder, singing songs and listening to stories with Morah Chaya. Our kindergarten friends are so excited for their trip to Rockwern academy to celebrate and experience Passover!

In our Montessori environment, we try our best to bring the elements of nature from our beautiful earth into the child’s universe. Our science curriculum covers a wide range of topics. Studying plants and animals and their life cycles are going ahead at full throttle.

Our Gimmel room is active with the lifecycle of Quail eggs. We are expecting the chicks to hatch in 16 days. This activity has triggered the students' curiosity to learn all the facts about quail habitats. Also, children are so happy to see the parsley herbs sprouting and they are excited to take the seedlings home and grow them in their own garden.

Our Gimmel friends are constantly talking about their travel plans, meeting friends and families during the upcoming spring break. Enjoy the spring break, take time to plant a tree or a garden, walk along a creek or a river, enjoy open air picnics and read a book with your children in the great outdoors. Such experiences are endless and the results of time spent in nature gives the children a sense of peace! 

We want to thank the Westheimer family for providing the quail eggs for our bird unit study.

Have a safe and fun spring break and a wonderful Pesach!

-Morahs Uma, Kara, Kenzie, Chaya

3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 03/31/25

Dear Parents,

Warm April greetings! The warm spring weather is perfect for us to grow our herbs such as parsley, basil, thyme and mint. Also, we are in the process of planting indoor flower and vegetable seeds. Children always enjoy planting and watching the sprouts grow.

Our popular farm animals unit study has been added in our language curriculum. The farm is used as a language resource in the Montessori environment. It provides a platform for  a range of activities including language enrichment, vocabulary, grammar and of course reading. The farm set materials include a barn and miniature farm animals. This is a great Language activity for every level. Our younger friends will identify the animals with the I spy approach, while our older friends will label the names of the animals, and our kindergartners will continue to learn nouns, verbs, and other parts of speech that might be used on the farm. They will then proceed to build longer sentences using the words from the lesson. 

Our Kindergarten group has been showing great progress and independence in reading. Their enthusiasm and comfort level with comprehension skills are notable. As Morahs, it is heartening to see this momentum! At this time we want to again thank our wonderful, loving Morah Paula for her time in listening to and guiding our children with their reading assignments every Wednesday. Our students enjoy reading with her!

Have a wonderful week!

Morahs Uma, Kara, Kenzie, Chaya

3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 03/25/25

Dear Chai Tots Families,

The start of spring season is perfect for the students to observe the activities of birds and connect with their bird unit lessons. We always enjoy learning about birds, from eggs to feathers to nest. There is a lot to explore, for example, comparing the colors of eggs, relating to the types of birds, their unique techniques in building nests in and around the backyard, and learning about various types of birds around the world. In our art area, we look forward to the children spontaneously creating art inspired by observing birds in nature!

The Montessori Bead Cabinet is a quintessential Math material, which provides concrete experience to practice counting the bead chains. Our young, three-year-old friends are attracted to the beauty of these colorful glass bead chains long before they are ready to use the bead chains. They develop a respect for the materials and understand how special they are. Often three-year-olds will watch in awe as their older classmates learn how to carry, layout, count, and label the bead chains. Four and five-year-olds solidify their understanding of the numbers as well as quantities from units to tens, to hundreds, to thousands. Eventually the focus of work with the bead chain shifts from linear counting to skip counting (multiplication) as children begin to focus more on the labels that indicate the end of each bead bar. This concrete learning paves a way for future understanding in the lower Elementary classroom. We are witnessing our kindergartners choosing and completing these activities with independence and confidence and even documenting them! Their “Aha” moments are a joy to behold!

Our study of Europe, the second smallest continent, continues with a lot of interest in creating flags of various countries and locating them on the map of Europe. Also, our older friends are engaged in lively discussions about food, artists and famous landmarks in Europe, using references from books.

Thanks to Ben, Zach, and Jojo who provided beautiful flower bouquets for our flower arranging activity!  

Have a wonderful week!

Morahs Kara, Uma, Kenzie, and Chaya 

3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 03/17/25

Hello, wonderful preschool families! We hope you all enjoyed the Purim festivities!

We are happy and thankful to officially welcome the spring season this week!  The warmer temperatures and sunshine filled days have definitely been lifting everyone’s spirits.  The children are certainly enjoying spending more time in our outdoor environment, playing, learning, and observing nature.  As we observe the herb seeds and sprouts spread their roots and grow inside our classroom, we are also noticing the first signs of the trees and plants reawakening outside!  

In the math center, the children are learning about all things money!  We are practicing identifying, sorting, and naming coins.  The older children are also beginning quantification, using different coins and bills to compose specific amounts of money.  This can be a complicated concept for children to understand, but they are having so much fun with it!  This is a great opportunity to create a connection between home and our learning at school.  Whether by inviting your child to help with paying for items at a store or creating your own pretend shop at home to buy and exchange goods, you can easily model and practice the concept of money with your children!

In the Geography area, the children continue to explore different landforms and bodies of water.  Currently, they are comparing a lake to an island, a gulf to a peninsula, and an isthmus to a strait.  The kindergarten students are even beginning to locate these geological features on our globes and maps!  This study has definitely led to a heightened interest in our puzzle maps.  The children have been hard at work with the puzzle maps of various continents and countries.  Some are even carefully working to create their very own maps, meticulously pin punching, labeling, gluing, and painting.  This often takes days of work, but the beautiful results are certainly worth the effort!

As a reminder, this will be a four day school week, as we head into a long weekend for our late winter break.  

We hope you all enjoy the long weekend!

Morahs Kara, Uma, Kenzie, and Chaya 

3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 03/10/25

Hello, wonderful preschool families!

This week, we continue to be busy in preparation for a joyful Purim celebration! We start our week with a Hamentashen bake! Such fun to join together to create batches of these yummy and festive treats! In the classroom, the children are hard at work handcrafting puppets to represent each of the main characters in the Purim story.  Using paper plates, yarn, paper, markers, and more, each child has chosen and created their own unique representation of each character. With their new puppets, they are eager to perform the Purim story for you at home. We will close out our week with the long anticipated Purim dress-up day! For weeks, we have been hearing whispers of plans and ideas of costumes to wear for this special celebration!  

Our learning is shifting focus this week, from the great expanse of space to the unique and beautiful attributes of our own planet, Earth. The children have been invited to observe and compare a variety of natural gems and minerals, utilizing a magnifying glass for careful inspection. Varying in texture, size, density, and color, these precious stones inspire such wonder and curiosity. We will create our very own volcanic eruptions, through the traditional science experiment using baking soda and vinegar. This will be the introduction to our learning about all of the different landforms and bodies of water found on Earth.  

Europe will be our continent of focus this month.  To begin, we will explore the languages, foods, currency, flags, attire, and culture of different European countries. We will also look at the rich and varied topography found across Europe, including lowlands, mountains, rivers, islands, peninsulas and coastlines, taking special note of the four main geographical regions; the Alpine region, Central Uplands, Northern Lowlands,  and Western Highlands.  

We are excited for another week of learning and fun!

Morahs Kara, Uma, Kenzie, and Chaya 

3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 03/03/25

Hello, wonderful preschool families!

We will be welcoming the month of March with an extra fun week of activities.  The week kicks off with Pajama Day on Monday.  We invited everyone to come to school in their coziest pajamas, ready for a snuggly day of reading in celebration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Many children brought a favorite book or to read and share with the class.  Along with enjoying books together, we will create our own Dr. Suess characters utilizing paper plates, colorful paper, and paint.

On Tuesday, we are excited to welcome back “Mother’s Nature,” this time with a presentation on birds!  Through music, puppet shows, and interactive projects, she will guide the children through an in depth look at our fine feathered friends.  This lesson comes at an opportune time. With the spring thaw beginning, the children have been observing a lot of bird activity out of our classroom windows.  From the return of large groups of geese to robins gathering materials for nests, our local birds have been active!  We are sure this lesson will inspire more curiosity and careful observation.

We will also be talking all about Purim this week!  With the holiday quickly approaching, the children have already been planning costumes and discussing favorite Hamentashen fillings.  This week, we will read the story of Purim, sing songs, and begin crafts in preparation for celebrations next week!

We are so happy to be welcoming March, and hoping the warmer weather is here to stay!  Let’s make it a great week!

Morahs Kara, Uma, Kenzie, and Chaya 

3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 02/24/25

Hello, wonderful preschool families!

This week, we will continue our exploration of South America!  The children are enjoying creating leaves for our rainforest tree.  Their focus and concentration as they work to cut or pin punch the outline of leaves is truly beautiful.  It is definitely a challenging task, refining their fine motor strength and coordination!  As we begin to hang some of the leaves from the ceiling, we hope to give a sense of the dense layers of the tropical rainforests to the classroom.  

Of course, one of the most interesting aspects of the rainforest is its many inhabitants.  The diverse collection of animals that call the rainforest home range from colorful poison frogs to powerful gorillas.  The children will have the opportunity this week to paint their own poison dart frogs, choosing their own unique color and pattern.  We will add the frogs to our rainforest tree.  They will also be invited to use a set of rainforest animal stamps, thinking about which layer or layers of the rainforest they’d likely spend most of their time in, the forest floor, understory, canopy, or emergent layer.  The older children will also be encouraged to print the names of the animals and rainforest levels.

We are excited to see that temperatures are on the rise again this week.  We are hoping to enjoy some time in the outdoor environment.  Be sure to send coats, gloves, hats, and footwear to keep your child comfortable as they play!

We hope you all have a wonderful week!

Morahs Kara, Uma, Kenzie, and Chaya 

3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 02/17/25

Hello, wonderful preschool families!

South America here we come! Home to the world’s most diverse biome, the Amazon rainforest is next in our geographic journey. We will explore the different levels of the rainforest including the varied plants and animals found in each level. The children are currently collaborating to create a floor to ceiling rainforest tree. They’ve been meticulously cutting and pin-pinching leaves in vibrant shades of green to adorn the branches and create a ceiling canopy!

In anticipation of spring and in honor of the birthday of the trees, each child planted fresh grass seeds in small pots last week. Working the soil and holding earth in our hands provided us with a calming, grounding experience. Now we take turns watering, monitoring sunlight, and observing for signs of sprouting. We eagerly await! We are looking forward to spring’s return.  

Flower arranging is back, and our classroom tables have never been more beautiful! This practical life activity assists children in developing their ability to discriminate visually and to exercise judgement in size and capacity. Thank you for sending in bouquets for us to use at school. Want to try flower arranging at home? Gather various small vases or glasses and fresh flowers– cut at different lengths. You will help to develop your child’s sense of aesthetics and attention to detail and creativity, all while fostering a deeper connection to nature. How proud they feel when they lend their creativity to enhance their own space! 

We wish you a wonderful week ahead!

Morahs Kara, Uma, Kenzie, and Chaya 

3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 02/10/25

Hello, wonderful preschool families! 

This week, we will continue learning about and celebrating the trees and nature.  We will be incorporating treasures from nature into our math, art, practical life and language lessons.  In Math, the children will be encouraged to sort and quantify items such as pine cones, seashells, leaves, and flowers.  While working with these special materials, they will also be encouraged to explore and compare the size, texture, shape, and even scent of the items.  In art, we will offer a “pick your paintbrush” painting station, with an assortment of natural items to paint with.  This could include anything from twigs to leaves, flowers to fruits…we can’t wait to see what the children create utilizing these natural tools and their imaginations!

In Practical Life, we are excited to reintroduce the ever popular flower arranging station.  For this activity, we will ask each family to bring in an assortment of fresh flowers for a specified week.  The children will then be able to use these colorful flowers to create arrangements to brighten up our classroom.  From choosing the perfect blooms to carefully trimming the stems with scissors, the children relish in the creative expression and independence that this activity allows.  It also brings some much needed color and life to our indoor environment during the cold and dreary winter months.  Thank you in advance for helping us to provide weekly flowers for the students!

Tu B’shvat is this Thursday! We will be sampling five of the seven special species that Israel is known for: grapes, dates, olives, pomegranates, and figs.  The children will also be offered the opportunity to taste a variety of dried fruits and nuts.  We will revisit the parts of trees and how all of these foods grow.  We are immensely grateful to the trees, to nature, and for all of the nutrition and sustenance these foods provide for us!

We hope you all have a wonderful week ahead!  

Morahs Kara, Kenzie, Uma, and Chaya

3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 02/03/25

Hello, wonderful preschool families!

Happy February!  This month, we will begin exploring outer space!  The children are so excited to learn all about the planets, stars, and beyond!  This is always one of the favorite units of the year.  The children are already singing the planet song in anticipation!  We will begin this fun unit of learning with another visit with Jane from Mother’s Nature.  The kids had so much fun with her last time, and we cannot wait to see all that she has in store for us on Tuesday!

We are also continuing our study of trees this week, as Tu B’Shvat nears.  The children have been hard at work, carefully tracing and pin punching different shapes and sizes of leaves.  The concentration and fine motor coordination as the children focus on this precise task is truly beautiful.  They are taking such care as they work collaboratively to create something special for our classroom.  They’ve also been working to identify the different parts of the tree, comparing types of tree, and learning about all of the many ways trees help us and our Earth!  We’ve even been able to observe out our classroom windows how trees provide food and shelter for the local wildlife!

With the warming temperatures, we are hoping to continue to get outdoors more often!  Thank you in advance for sending weather appropriate clothing and footwear for your child.  After a long, cold January, they are so happy for any time we get to spend outside!  

We hope you all have a wonderful week ahead!

Morahs Kara, Uma, Kenzie, and Chaya

3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 1/27/25

Hello, wonderful preschool families!

As we enter this final week of January, we are hoping for some warmer temperatures and sunshine!  We are definitely looking forward to those first signs of spring.  In preparation for Tu B’Shvat, we are beginning to learn all about trees.  We will compare and contrast the size, coloring, leaf shapes, and bark texture of various trees, learning to identify some varieties native to our area.  The children will also learn about the different parts of a tree and the tree life cycle.  We will be keeping a close eye out for the spring awakening of the trees in our outdoor environment!

This week we are also beginning to learn about the human body!  We will take a closer look at all of the systems in our bodies, and how they help us live and grow.  Of course, learning the best ways to take care of our bodies is important too!  The children will get the chance to practice brushing a model set of teeth.  We will also take a closer look at our cardiovascular systems.  Before and after activity, we will monitor the beating of our hearts.   We will then utilize a science experiment to see up close how the heart pumps blood to all of the parts of our body…so cool!

As the weather has warmed up, if only ever so slightly, we do hope to spend more time enjoying our outdoor environment.  During this time of year, outdoor time tends to get a bit messier.  Please be sure your child has a footwear and warm outerwear for chilly fun outside, and a weather appropriate change of clothes or two…just in case!

We hope that you all have a happy and healthy week!

Morahs Kara, Uma, Kenzie, and Chaya

3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 1/21/25

Hello, wonderful preschool families! 

We hope that you enjoyed the long weekend, whether by enjoying the wintery weather or staying cozy and warm indoors.  With the active weather cycles we’ve been experiencing, we thought this would be a great week to dig deeper into what causes different types of weather.  In the science area, we will take a closer look at the water cycle, utilizing experiments to explore both condensation and freezing.  It will be fun to carefully watch and observe the icicles outside, as we learn about these concepts inside.  The slow melting in the sun and refreezing with the dipping evening temperatures has definitely been bringing curious questions and imaginative ideas from the children!

We will also take a look all the way up to the source of all of this rain and snow, the clouds in the sky!  After learning about how clouds form, we will start to compare the different types of clouds.  What can we learn or predict about the day’s weather by examining the shapes, colors, and textures of the clouds overhead?  We will even learn the names of different types of clouds!

With the arctic cold and snow keeping us inside more than usual, we are extra thankful for music and movement time in the big room and artistic exploration in our classroom.  It has been fun to dedicate more of our focus to these experiences.  The children are enjoying painting on snow with colored water, painting snowmen at the easel, and using spray bottles to create unique color explosions with bleeding tissue paper.  We love seeing the children express themselves through these activities!

We hope you have a happy and healthy week ahead!  Stay warm!

Morahs Kara, Kenzie, Uma, and Chaya

3-6 Gimmel Peek at the Week 01/13/25

Hello, wonderful preschool families! 

The focus of our start to 2025 has certainly been the beautiful winter wonderland outside!  The children are loving all of the sparkling snow!  We have been both seeing it through the classroom windows and bringing it into the classroom for exploration and fun.  In the art area, we are inviting our young artists to create colorful creations on a canvas of fresh white snow.  They love using droppers of colored water to “paint” the snow, mix new colors, and experiment.  In the area of biology, after reading a book about animals in the snow, the children are using miniature animals to examine and compare the tracks of different animals.  With all of this snow, we are excited to incorporate it into a variety of lessons!

With the blanket of snow outside, the birds are drawing our attention more than usual.  It is so interesting to watch their busy activity, fluttering in and out of the trees and searching for food. Through books and observation, we will take a closer look at the birds that stay here in Ohio for winter, as well as those that migrate to warmer temperatures.  The children will get to compare the feet and feathers of different birds, noting that you can tell a lot about a bird’s behaviors and preferences simply by looking at their feet!  We will also create some bird feeders to hang in the trees outside for our feathered friends!

We do get a brief reprieve from cold and wintery weather this week, if only in our imaginations.  We are looking forward to a visit from Mother’s Nature this week, during which we will learn all about the ocean!  We will discuss all of the creatures that call our world’s oceans home, learn about the different oceans of the world, and examine the importance of protecting our oceans.  We are hoping this day of ocean exploration will put us in the mindset of a warm and breezy beach day, if only for a bit!

We hope you all stay warm and cozy!

Morahs Kara, Uma, Kenzie, and Chaya