Creeping Spring

Sharing Spring with one another! Creeping crawling friends are being discovered on our playground and the children are so excited. At our school we have three ground rules: Be Safe, Be Gentle, Be Kind it is heart warming to see these ground rules in action on the playground in relationship to a SLUG, WORM or ? *Parent note: When we come in from the playground we all wash hands :)

May Day Celebrations!

If your child was here at school yesterday (Friday April 29th) then you know about one of my favorite days of the year: May Day!
Yesterday we made May Day baskets and cut flowers to put in them.  Your work as parents is to continue with the plan when you return home....I'm quit sure your preschoolers will NOT let you forget!
The way it works is your child hangs their May basket on the door knob of a neighbor or friend, rings the doorbell and runs and hides.  We play acted this out at school yesterday and the kiddos were very excited to participate with you all at home.
To make a May Basket of your own:
Cut a large paper circle in half, use the half circle to form a cone shape (overlapping the straight side of the cut circle) next staple or glue your edges together, attach a handle by either again stapling or gluing or punch holes and thread a piece of string, ribbon or a pipe cleaner through to create a handle.  To see how click here:
May Day basket making

In a past Montessori Mama post I created a list of ways to enjoy May Day.  I thought you might like reading them.  Just click on the words: May Day Celebration List and it should open up.   

Enjoy your May Day friends, especially you Barlow!  Happy Birthday Little Guy.
PEACE
Jennifer

Spring Eggs!

Paper mache eggs I discovered how to do online, more fun to paint then to create. 

Look what Sam found!  The kids have LOVED finding and hiding plastic eggs around the playground!  This never gets old apparently.  The Friday before Easter Max hid the eggs for the kids to find and ever since then the eggs seem to be part of the playground.  I love watching the older children help their younger friends find eggs; it's very sweet.  

 Seed catalogs seem to arrive every day and what beautiful photos they have in them!  Perfect for spring flower collages.  This craft was simple and quick to pull together:
flower pictures to cut out
a marker to draw stems and leaves with
glue sticks
scissors
and a big piece of paper
When these beauties are finished I plan to mat them and hang them at our new school!

PEACE friends,
Jennifer

Summer?

Even though I am presently wearing a sweater, I'm thinking ahead to warmer days. Below are this summer's week long themes.  A child does not have to sign up for all five days to attend and the cost is the same per day as it is now. If you know of a family who might be interested in Helping Hands Family School, please send them my way.

 

1.) June 20^th ~ June 24^th Construction Week                                   

2.) June 27^th ~ July 1^st Outside the Cardboard Box

3.) July 5^th ~ July 8^th Dinosaur Week                                          

4.) July 11^th ~ July 15^th Once Upon a Time Week

5.) July 18^th ~ July 22^nd A Bugs Life Week                                     

6.) July 25^th ~ July 29^th Wonder Land Week

7.) Aug 1^st ~ Aug 5^th Under the Big Top Week                           

8.) Aug 8^th ~ Aug 12^th Let’s Splash Week

9.) Aug 15^th ~ Aug 19^th Space is the Place Week                        

August 22^nd ~ Sept. 5^th CLOSED

2011~2012 School Year Begins Sept. 6^th

For more information about our program please email Jennifer at zodijen@gmail.com

World Map Making

Two happy friends completed their continent maps this Friday!
This is a very big job indeed.  It takes much focus and concentration to complete and many breaks are needed.  Throughout the completion of these maps, days passed and many other activities were enjoyed. More photos of this process can be found, here:
Montessori Mama.  Enjoy~ Jennifer

Spring Has Sprung!

It could be the wagon rides and the shrill, joyful sounds children make that welcome the new season along....it could be the quiet appreciation of velvety flower petals found in a bed of last years leaves.....perhaps it's sitting in a lawn chair in the sunshine with a good friend that ushers in Spring?

Either way, I'm so happy Spring has arrived! My sincere apologies for the amount of MUD your children are bringing home in March. It just can not be avoided and it seems that preschoolers are drawn to mud. Speaking of March....a few belated birthday wishes to Sam K and Rosabella turned 4 this month!
In PEACE, Jennifer

Snow Much Fun!

click to enlarge photo collage

The spray bottles are filled with water and a drop of food coloring = instant snow fun!