Dear Parents,
Welcome to May! This is an exciting month filled with many special events.
The children had a wonderful experience at their own Chai Tots Art Gallery during our annual art show. Your presence and appreciation added luster to the children's sense of accomplishment and mutual admiration. We witnessed our students enjoying their own artistry and also complementing their peers whole-heartedly. Their joyful expressions and laughter filled our school. This event again underscores the peaceful, multi-age group benefits in a Montessori education!
Learning about money is an important aspect of mathematics and economics, and this concept of money is often presented in the Montessori environment. Dropping coins into the Tzedakah box is always the first favorite activity for the children when they enter the Gimmel room. Children are experiencing the coin-polishing activity in the Practical area, using a salt and vinegar solution. Our younger friends enjoy sorting the coins based on size, while our older friends are working on learning the names and values of the different coins; this also includes a study of combining smaller value coins to get bigger values, such as 5 pennies make a nickel. Most of all, the kindergartners love exchanging coins for dollars with their Morahs. This is similar to the Montessori Golden Bead Bank Game.
Gimmel friends are able to notice a lot of roly-polys, bees and flies active in our backyard. This is the ideal time for our unit study on insect life and the main focus is on butterflies - their types, colors and life-cycle, which emphasizes the metamorphosis from egg to adult butterfly.
Our graduating kindergarteners are working hard on their research, referring to many books, and collecting the facts for their presentation. Their enthusiasm and commitment to navigate the facts is admirable!
Have a wonderful week!
-Morahs Uma, Kara, Kenzie, Chaya