We discuss the importance of our work. It is important to ask questions and search for answers, using research tools. At our field trip to the Florida Museum of Natural History our different groups had to solve a puzzle of bones. The children put together actual bones of a sea turtle by working together using the skills and reference material we provide in the classroom and at the museum. We got an up-close look at fossils and dinosaurs on our field trip to the Natural History Museum. It is exciting to see what each child discovers. Some other notes The Garden: It’s about time to plant our garden. Sometime in March we will be asking for volunteers to help provide plants and flowers for our garden and to assist taking small group rotations down to the garden to help plant and tend to our school garden. Some nice plants to plant this time of year are strawberries and potatoes. Gerber daisies and Chrysanthemums make nice flower choices for decoration and herbs are especially nice to bring in for tasting events, such as the upcoming Mother’s Tea. The Kanapaha Spring Garden Festival is coming up March 23-24. It is a lovely place to get local plant species. Creative Projects: Our students are picking up some great sewing skills. Ms. Susie always has time to start a child on a sewing project. Much skill and concentration goes into this art. We encourage the students to have an ongoing sewing project. These life-long skills will stick around and be passed to next generations. This is the best time in a child’s life to get confident in art, sewing, and public speaking. A recent study shows a child at the age of eight makes up his or her mind whether they can be good at the arts or not! Creativity is fuel for the mind and so we encourage these activities. In our Montessori classroom children learn many skills that are not taught much anymore. We sketch, paint, knit, crochet, and learn to sew on a machine. We use embroidery techniques and make quilt squares to include just a few. The arts are not much of a focus in schools anymore but educators are realizing the value it brings to the child’s learning experience. *We are discussing the possibility of making a class quilt this year to auction at our Mother’s Tea. We have some great ideas for the quilt and whoever wins the bid takes the quilt home and we continue to put the money into our classroom for more enrichment activities. Classroom Update: We have recently made some modifications to our classroom. We added and subtracted some of our shelving and desks to create more work space at many different levels. We are so happy about the improvement it has made to the flow of our classroom. This design also encourages students to become more responsible and take ownership in their role as a classroom citizen.
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