In Ms.
Kat’s world outside in the
garden and in the playground the plants are
going crazy! If you haven’t seen the hay bale
garden yet, take a few minutes to look. The
rain (and Ms. Kat) has provided us with a very
lush garden this year.
Montessori
Children’s Garden
Summer of Science
July 2015
These are busy summer days here at
Montessori Children’s Garden.
The children have spent so much time
outside which is what summer’s all about!
They’ve been learning all about the garden and
the insects that inhabit them.
Ms. Keely Extended/late day
On Mondays, the kids get to spend time
outside playing with sidewalk chalk and
bubbles. We had one Monday when it was too
hot to go outside, so the kids got to make
chalk art on black paper indoors! Tuesday is
game day - we have been playing alphabet
BINGO. Each child gets a prize from the
game day treasure box if they participate.
Wednesday is two kiddie pools, a turtle
sprinkler, water tables, spray bottles, and a
bubble machine. Water day is still the
favorite day of the week for most kids! They
really love playing in the water. Thursday is
art day. The art projects for July included a
firework craft, a hanging fish, an octopus
puppet, painting whales, crabs, and fish, and a
body tracing and coloring project! Friday is
movie day - the kids choose a movie and also
have the option of books or coloring sheets
and we have popcorn! Every day of the week
we also spend lots of time outside!
Here’s a list of some of the things that the
children have done with Ms. Kat outside this
past month.
 Litter Hunt (sorted recycling)
 Harvested, peeled, and prepared
turnip and potato casserole, ate it on
a blanket outside.(picnic)
 Pressed flowers to make bookmarks
 Made a camo bird blind and watched
baby robins on the playground
 Harvested and ate beans from all the
colors of the rainbow.
 Planted cool season veggies (radishes,
lettuce, peas)
 Painted terra cotta pots to make bird
baths.
 Learning when to pick tomatoes
Ice Cream Party
We’re planning an ice cream social for the
last day of school. We’ll be serving ice cream
under the pergola so please join us for a cold
treat when you come to pick up your child
from school.
Friendly Reminder
If you are returning in the fall full tuition will
be taken out on the first of August for the
fall session.
Good luck and thanks to all the families
leaving Montessori at the end of the summer.
We’ll miss you!
Ms. Cathy/Ms. Rochelle
In the first part of July the class
studied about ants and bees and the
water cycle. The final two weeks of July
was spent learning about spiders and
recycling. In practical life the children
were “sifting” ants out of the rice and
putting “bees” in their hives using
tweezers. In math the children have been
playing a bee game and counting ants in an
ant farm. They learned the words thorax
and abdomen for the parts of the ant and
what a cell in a beehive is. There’s a mini
water cycle hanging on the back door
showing condensation, precipitation, and
evaporation.
They’ve been singing “I’m bring home a
baby bumble bee” during group time.
Lydia, 4, has been playing with water this
summer and enjoying it. She likes her
shoes and pants, she tells the teacher.
She likes the monkey bars outside and
butterflies are her favorite insect. Her
best friend is Camila.
Gavin, 3, likes learning how to make
cherry pie. He likes going down the slide
at school. His favorite bug, he says, is his
puppy (?). His friend is Isabelle.
Eva, 5, is reading a lot this summer. She
also learned that worms like the dark.
She likes the monkey bars outside and
the little bar, too.
Camille, 4, is enjoying her summer and
says she is learning how to do tricks on
the monkey bars. She also learned that
holding a bug will tickle her. Her favorite
thing outside is the monkey bars. Her
favorite bug is the worm because of their
slow tickles. She likes playing with
Everest and Louisa at school.
Emersyn, 3, says she likes the Herman
the worm song. She also learned about
hot dog, she says. She loves butterflies
because they are so pretty. Her favorite
thing to do is the monkey bars and her
favorite friend is David and Griffin.
Ben, 5, is enjoying his summer. He
learned that worms live underground. He
also learned that you can use a straw to
get a cherry seed out. His favorite place
on the playground is the sandbox. His
favorite bug is the beetle-the one with
the big pinchers. His friend at school is
Victor.
Sloan, 3 1/2 , says she learned about
tornados this summer. She also learned
how to pick up worms and that worms are
good for the garden. Her favorite thing
to do is play on the slide. Her favorite
bug is the ladybug because they are cute.
Her friends at school are Alexandra and
Lillian.
Her favorite bug is the Daddy Long legs
and flies because they can fly real fast.
Her friend at school is her sister Sophia.
Lillian, 3, says she likes to look at worms
because she can touch them. She likes to
play in the sandbox. “I make “jelly” pies in
the sandbox.” The bubble (!) bee is her
favorite bug. Her best friend at school is
Alexandra.
Fritz, 4, liked learning about the
weather. He also learned that volcanos
have hot lava. He likes playing
transformers outside with his friend,
Carter. His Favorite bug is the firefly.
“I love it when it lights up!”
Isabelle, 3, says, “Oh, yeah!” when asked
if she was enjoying her summer. She likes
learning about worms because she can
look at them in the box at school. She
also shared that she eats chicken at her
house. She likes it when it is chalk day
outside. Her favorite bug is the green
water fly. Gavin is her friend.
Lucas, 3, likes playing in the garden with
Ms. Kat. He likes robots and chasing kids
outside. His favorite bug is the fly. His
friend at school is Amara.
Ms. Tina/Ms. Sasha
In Ms. Tina’s and Ms. Sasha’s class they
have been studying beetles. They made a
bug trap outside with different kinds of
food to catch the bugs. They’ve also been
learning about different clouds, types or
weather and predicting the weather
every day. In practical life they made
lemonade and experimented with blowing
bubbles and blowing paint with a straw.
Julia, 3, is enjoying her summer. She likes
running and playing in the sandbox when
she goes outside. Her favorite bug is the
bee, she says. She likes playing with
Manav. She likes learning about spiders.
Naomi, 5, has learned not to be afraid of
spiders this summer. She also learned
that mealworms have stripes, they can
sleep, and they change. Her favorite
thing to do outside is the monkey bars.
She also likes doing new activities with
Ms. Kat like pick beans. Her favorite bug
is the butterfly and she likes playing with
Rilynn.
Katelyn, 4, is enjoying her summer. She
learned that spiders play a lot with their
mommies and daddies. Some can bite. She
also learned about ants, fire ants, the
ones can bite you. Her favorite thing to
do is play with Tenley outside and taking
field trips to the garden with Ms. Kat.
Her favorite bug is the ladybug.
Esme, 5, is enjoying her summer. She
learned that earthworms dig with their
mouth to make tunnels. Esme also learned
that spider webs are sticky to catch flies
and other bugs to eat. She likes playing
with Naomi. “I do a lot of stuff with
Naomi. I like to make sand volcanos with
Ms. Kat.” Her favorite bug is the ladybug.
She likes Jackson, too, but he’s not at
school.
and the flower pictures. She likes all of
the bugs, especially the black widow. Her
friend is Krishna.
Easton, 4 ½, likes spiders. “They make
webs, curvy, sticky and really really stick
webs.” He also learned that earthworms
live underground and eat leaves, grass,
and soil. Easton likes to play everything
outside. “I like planting the garden with
Ms. Kat.” His favorite bug is the ladybug
and his best friends are Gabe and Ross.
Finley, 3, says about earthworms. “One
time we saw earthworms. No legs. No
ears. But a mouth!” She learned that
spiders like to eat flies. Her favorite
thing to do outside is to go down the big
slide with Jane on her tummy. Her
favorite bug is the light bug.
Tenley, 3, learned about spiders this
summer. “Spiders make messy webs
sometimes. They crawl all over the place.
Some spiders make webs everywhere.”
She also learned that mealworms like
apples. She says she likes everything
about being outside. She especially liked
pulling radishes with Ms. Kat. Her
favorite bug is the spider but only the
ones who are nice. My best friend is
Katelynn.
Rilynn,4, learned about spiders. “You can
touch them, but you don’t have to if you
don’t want to. They can walk and can make
a web.” She also learned that earthworms
can walk and eat food like apples. She
likes playing outside on the monkey bars
with Naomi. She also likes to do water
stuff with Ms. Kat. She likes all insects!
Kaelyn, 5, learned about spiders. “There
are some jumping ones. The black widow
is poisonous.”
She also learned that mealworms like
oatmeal and apples. “They shed their skin
and turn into darkling beetles.” Kaelyn
says she likes everything about the
outside. She liked making the scarecrow
Holden, 6, has learned about spiders. “I
saw a huge web at my house. It was really
gigantic and messy. They catch food in
the web.” Holden also learned that
earthworms love to dig all the way to the
bottom of the worm house. “It’s wetter
down there.”
His favorite bug is the darkling beetle.
When asked who is friend is at school, he
replied, “It used to be Everett.”
Karan,5, learned that spiders come in
different shapes and they can catch a lot
of flies. He also learned that earthworms
like to be dark and wet but mealworms
like dry and wet.
He likes to play semi rangers and robot
fishing with Holden outside. He likes
making volcanos with Ms. Kat. His friends
are Everett and Holden.
Ms. Emily/Ms. Liz
In Ms. Emily and Ms. Liz’s class the
children have been learning about
spiders and recycling. In practical life
they are cleaning a spider, sorting
spiders by size and color and sorting
recycling. They are learning about the
life cycle, parts of the spider,
different kinds of spiders, and that
spiders have 8 legs. They are talking
about spiders in Iowa and water
spiders in group time.
Riley, holds up 3 fingers, when asked
how old she is. Riley nodded her head
when asked if she was having fun this
summer. She actually nodded her head
when asked if she was learning about
insects and if she liked to play
outside. When asked who her friend
was at school, she pointed to her
sister, Reece.
Eleanor, 4, likes learning about insects
and worms. She learned that insects
have 6 legs and that ants make
tunnels. “I found them on my bike
ride.” Her favorite thing to do is play
hide and seek and climbing on the
monkey bars. Her favorite bug is the
bumble bee. “My friend at school is
Everest.”
Everest, 4, has been learning about
recycling. “You can’t recycle a kitty
cat.” Her favorite thing to do is the
monkey bars outside. Her favorite bug
is the ladybug and her friend is
Addison at school.
Louisa says she is only 4. She has been
learning about spiders, ants, bees, and
beetles. “I know that beetles have
pinchers. I learned that every time
you wake up the teachers put
sunscreen on you. Bees sting people
and ants bring crystals to their
queen.” “My favorite thing to play
outside is on my playset papa made.”
Her favorite bug is the beetle. Her
friend is Juliette and Nathan.
Jack, 5, is enjoying his summer and
Adventureland. Jack has learned
about baby Monarch caterpillars.
“That’s an insect.” He likes playing
power rangers and stuff outside. His
favorite bug is the monarch butterfly.
His friend at school is Sam because
he invited me to Des Moines. “They
have a raging river.”
Sam, 5, is enjoying his summer. He’s
been learning about spiders and ants
and recycling. His favorite thing to
play outside is Transformers. His
favorite bug is the caterpillar. His
cousin and friend is Jack.
Landon, claims to be 5 ½, has learned
about insects and spiders this
summer. He learned that they poop
like the caterpillar. He likes playing
with his puppy outside. His friends at
school are Mason, Sam, Jack, and
Micah.
Addison, 4, has learned that ladybugs
have sings. She also shared that ants
crawl on her shoe. “On my purple ones
and that tickles me!” She likes to
plant things outside and play with her
mommy and daddy. Her favorite bug is
the ladybug and her friend is Everest.
Millie, 4, is enjoying her summer. She
learned that ants make tunnels and
bees make honey. She has also learned
about recycling. She likes playing on
the monkey bars and her favorite bug
is the fly. She plays with Rilynn, Luke,
and Sydney.
David, 5, is enjoying his summer. He
likes bumblebees the best because
they sting! He says he likes playing
Diaper Boy outside with his friend
Griffin. His favorite bug is the bumble
bee.