Welcome to Montessori
Children’s Garden
Summer of Science
2015
Our classrooms are divided into
different areas including practical
life, sensorial, art, language, math, and
of course for this summer, science.
The teachers prepare the classroom
to integrate all of the areas for a
comprehensive approach to a subject.
The ingenuity and creativity of the
classroom is evident in all of the
lessons and the students thrive in the
experience. The lessons are rotated
between classrooms so you will find in
this newsletter what your child has
been studying in their class.
This is our second year of offering a
summer of science. This summer we
have Ms. Kat, our outdoor classroom
teacher, who spends all morning
outside with the children. Each class
has a full hour of outdoor play and Ms.
Kat facilitates their involvement with
the garden.
outdoor garden
classroom, Ms. Kat reports
In the
that the children have been practicing
their math skills through measuring
green beans and pea pods and then
eating them! They helped to make
scarecrows for the garden after
learning about dive bombing redwinged blackbirds. They harvested all
of the cherries from the tree to make
cherry pies. One day they made
volcanoes in the sand box. They have
been maintaining the garden by
watering and weeding. They are also
sampling all of the veges. One child
shouted from across the playground,
“I love broccoli!”
Extended day, Ms. Keely
reports that on Mondays, the kids get
to spend time outside playing with
sidewalk chalk and bubbles. Tuesday is
game day - we have been playing
colors and shapes BINGO. Each child
gets a prize from the game day
treasure box if they participate!
Wednesday is water day. We have two
kiddie pools, a "water slide," water
tables, and spray bottles. The kids
LOVE water day and ask daily if it is
going to be water day :) Thursday is
art day. We have learned to draw
caterpillars and butterflies, painted
bees and flowers, colored and painted
a fireworks crayon resist artwork, and
made patriotic wind socks! 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! The kids love
having that extra time.
In Ms.
Cathy and Ms.
Rochelle’s class, they learned
about beetles, grasshoppers and
crickets for the first two weeks of
school. They are now studying soil and
worms. In practical life they have
carrot cutting, baby washing and
“dirt” play dough. They are learning
that worms dig with their mouths, and
mealworms change into beetles. They
are also observing how well plants
grow in humus, sand, or clay.
mealworms turn into beetles. His
favorite thing to do on the playground
is climb the monkey bars. He likes
spiders because they bite and can
shoot webs. He likes playing with
Landon and Ben.
More interviews to follow in next
newsletter!
Alexandra, 4, is enjoying her summer.
She said that Ms. Kat taught her how
to water plants. She also learned that
animals like to eat worms. She likes
playing princess outside with Sloan.
Her favorite bug is the butterfly
because of all the different kinds of
butterflies with different butterfly
wings. Her friends are Sloan, Lillian,
and Emersyn.
Victor, who is 5 1/2 has learned about
fire drills and he learned that
Carter, 4 ½, has learned that he is a
big kid and he can help little kids. I
liked it when Jake “catched” a bug.
Carter likes to run around with
friends and chase. His favorite bug is
the spider because they shoot webs.
Fritz is his best friend.
Jayden, 3, is learning how to write his
name this summer. He learned that
worms are slimy. He likes playing on
the monkey bars and his favorite bug
is the lightning bug. His friend is
Lucas.
Ruby, 6, learned that beetles have two
sets of wings. She also learned that
the longest worm ever was as long as
our blue rug in school. If was found in
Australia. Her favorite thing to do
outside is lay in the hammock and play
on the monkey bars. Ruby says,
“Ladybugs are my favorite because
they look pretty to me.” Her friends
are Amara and Ben.
Amara, 5 ½, is learning about how to
read and she learned how to make a
plant (!). She likes climbing the
monkey bars and her favorite bug is
the beautiful butterfly. She likes
Isabelle, Eva, Ben and Ruby.
Owen, he says 45 but he’s really 3. He
says he learned Ms. Cathy and learned
that worms help flowers. His favorite
thing to do is play trucks and his
favorite bug is the pill bug. His
friends at school are Mommy and
Thanu.
Sophia, she says she’s 8 but really
she’s 3. She has learned to sit on the
white line at group time. She also
knows that worms dig with their
mouths. Her favorite thing to do
outside is play on the monkey bars and
her favorite bug is the buzzing bee.
She likes Gavin, Mason, and Ms.
Rochelle at school.
Evelyn, 3, has learned how to make
necklaces at school. She is also
learning about how to play. She likes
the playhouse outside and her
favorite bug is the “pignut” bug (?).
She likes playing with Mary and
Louisa.
Mary, 4, is learning addition this
summer. She is also interested in the
mealworms. She likes to learn new
things outside with Ms. Kat and her
favorite bug is the butterfly. She
likes playing with Alexandra and Sloan.
Nyla, 5, is learning about animals and
beads, she says. Her favorite thing to
play outside is the monkey bars and
she likes golden butterflies. She likes
playing with her friend Lillian.
Ms. Tina’s and Ms. Sasha’s
class is learning about spiders, ecology
and recycling. They are sorting
garbage vs. reclyling, sorting spiders,
and tweezing spiders. In math they
are stamping spiders, playing a dice
game and counting spiders. They are
singing Little Miss Muffet. In science
the children are learning about
ecosystems, trash vs. recycling, parts
of a spider, types of webs, how the
spider wraps prey, and what recycled
items can be turned into. In group
time the children are playing games,
crawling spiders, spinning webs. They
are also talking about what they
makes up an ecosystem. They are
singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider, Spider
in the Web, Going on a Picnic, and The
Earth is Good to Me.
More interviews to follow in next
newsletter!
Krishna, 5, has been enjoying his
summer learning about bugs. He
learned that is a bug is flying then the
bug gets caught in the web and then
the spider bites it. He’s also learning
about mealworms. He says, “One time
I saw a mealworm shed it’s skin. It
turns into a darkling beetle.” (He’s
right!) His favorite thing to do outside
is play with Addie and water plants
with Ms. Kat. His favorite bug is
Daddy Long Legs. His friends are
school are Addie and Kaelyn.
John, 4 ½, learned that all spiders
don’t make webs and the spiders eat
bugs. He also learned that
earthworms feel with their tiny hairs.
His favorite thing to do outside is
catch Ms. Tina. His favorite bug is the
mosquito because they suck blood.
(What’s not to love?) His friends are
school include Abram, Griffin, David,
and Gabi.
Ross, 4, learned that spiders have 8
legs and he learned about earthworms.
They eat soil, roots, and crumbs. His
favorite thing to play outside is Ninja
Turtle and build stuff. He also likes to
plant with Ms. Kat. His favorite bug is
the spider and his favorite friends
are Gabe and Easton.
Manav, 3, learned that spiders can
jump and spiderman can “pew pew” and
that worms wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.
Manav likes to play on the slides
outside and his favorite friend is his
brother Karan.
Gabe, 4, learned that if earthworms
get dry they could die. He also
learned that spiders can make and live
in different kinds of webs, like a
funnel cone web. He likes to play hide
and seek outside. His favorite bug is
the spider-the wolf spider. His friend
is Ross but he’s on vacation.
Abram, 4, learned that mealworms like
the dark. “Some spiders make webs,
but some don’t. Some hunt for food. I
saw a grass spider at my house. A
dark fishing spider in our class.”
Abram likes going in the garden. His
favorite bug is the tarantula. John is
his friend.
Halimah, 3, learned that spiders jump.
She also claims that earthworms like
at her house. She likes the monkey
bars on the playgrounds and her
favorite bugs are the green ones! Her
friend at school is Jane.
Jane, 3, learned that spiders crawl
and have 8 legs. When asked what else
she has learned she responded,
“Earthworms. No legs. They crawl.”
Her favorite thing outside is the rain
barrel and going down the slide with
Halimah. Her favorite bug is the
ladybug and her friends are Finley,
Halimah, and playing tag.
Addie, 5, learned about spiders, eight
legs, two body parts, 2 or 6 or 8 eyes.
She also learned about earthworms
that they can sometimes grow their
body back. (Actually not true) Her
favorite thing to do outside is make a
spider web. Her favorite bug is the
Daddy Long Legs. Her friends at
school are Krishna, John, Holden, and
Abram.
Ms. Emily and Ms. Liz’s
class has been learning about bees and
ants, beetles and weather, and the
water cycle. They are using an
eyedropper (bees mouth) for water
transfer, and cleaning a beetle. In
group time they saw the water cycle
by heating water, and they acted out
the actions of the guard ant, queen
ant, etc. They’ve learned about the
life cycles of insects, the parts of the
insect, and the habitats. They
observed ants in an ant farm and
captured a goliath beetle.
One child informed the teacher, “I
can’t listen to you because you’re not
the queen bee.”
Another child said, “I’m glad I’m not a
dung beetle because I don’t love
poop.”
Tarun, 5, is learning about insects and
that they have six legs. He also
learned about bees, ants, and beetles.
He likes playing Curious George
outside and his favorite bug is the
ladybug. He likes playing with Sam,
Jack, and Jayden.
Addison, 4, likes having two birthday
parties this summer. She’s learned
about one queen bee. Her favorite bug
and her favorite thing to do outside is
ladybug! She likes playing with Micah
and Grant at school.
Everest, 4, likes playing with Addison
at school and her favorite bug is the
ladybug. She also is very good at the
monkey bars on the playground.
Reece, 6, is having a good summer.
She’s been learning that beetles have
4 wings. She likes playing house
outside with Alice, Jane, and Riley.
She does not have a favorite bug, well
maybe, a firefly.
Alice, 4 ½ almost 5, has been learning
about insects and that spiders are not
insects. She likes playing house
outside with a lot of friends, Addison,
Reece, Riley, and Millie. Beetles are
her favorite bugs.
Mason, 4, is learning about bumble
bees this summer. He likes playing a
kitty cat game outside with his
friends Luke, Everett, Addison, Grant,
and Micah. His favorite bug is the
milkweed bug.
Everett, 4, says, “Yep. I’m having a
good summer.” He’s learning about
butterflies. His favorite thing to play
outside is fire truck with Micah and
Grant. His favorite bug is the
butterfly.
Micah, 4, is learning about bumble
bees. He knows that insects have
three body parts, the head, the
thorax, and the abdomen. He likes
playing fire truck outside with Grant
and Everett. His favorite bug is the
firefly.
Grant, 4 ½, is learning about insects
and beetles. “They fly. Bees sting and
girls (girl bees).” His favorite thing to
do outside is going down the fast slide
when there is rain on them. He has a
lot of friends-Everett, Micah, Landon,
Addison, Mason, and Tarun. He likes
all of the bugs in the world.
Sydney, 4, is enjoying her summer
learning about bugs and beetles. “We
had a ladybug. They are nice and we
had a beetle in our class and he didn’t
like the plastic box.” She likes to play
everything outside. Her friends at
school are Griffin, Addison, Eleanor,
and Naomi. Her favorite bug is the
ladybug.
Luke, 3, likes being at school and he’s
learned about guard ants. He likes to
play with Jayden and Mason outside.
Griffin, 4 ½, has learned that ants
smell each other and that bees sting
and that there is one queen bee. His
favorite thing to do outside is the
slide. His favorite beetle is the dung
beetle. He likes playing with Grant,
David, Victor, John, and Landon.