Recently, I stood in the middle of the Pre-K 2 classroom and watched in wonderment at the sheer joy and focus the children exhibited.  Already a month into the 2009 school year and I can tell it’s going to be an amazing year of learning, sharing and building a classroom community Maria Montessori would be proud of.  There is an eagerness and ferocious appetite for learning new lessons and expanding on the foundation we laid last year.  We couldn’t ask for a better class.

The new pre-K 1 and pre-K 2 division is working wonderfully.  Teacher Mary has created a fantastic classroom environment for integrating the younger children.  Everyone is working toward a rapid normalization and friendly cohesiveness.  Hopefully, all of our parents will have the opportunity to visit and check out the classrooms during our Fall 2009 Open House, Tuesday October 27th at 6:30 pm.  Everyone is welcome and encouraged to meet and greet the teachers as well as other parents!

Please forgive the huge lapse in time since the last blog update.  Yes, there is a giant chunk of the year with many events and interesting childhood experiences not recorded.  This year,  look forward to more timely postings and more daily spotlights from the everyday classroom.  Next up… recap on our very first auction fundraiser, the annual pumpkin patch trip, story time inside a secret “tiger” tent, and a virtual tour of the 2009 classrooms.

Thank you for all your parent interest in the blog.  This is going to be a great year!

We just wrapped up a learning unit on Community Helpers.  “Little minds” are so eager to explore the possibilities of what to be when they grow up.  It’s amazing how quickly their answers change when they are presented this question for the future.  So, this week, we invited parents to join us by sharing what they do as a community helper.  You can imagine the enthusiasm the kids had and how often they changed their minds as each opportunity presented itself.  We were visited by police officers, a sales person, a florist, a librarian, and a nurse.  The children had great questions and were enthralled by each guest and their particular tools of the trade. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of some of the really cool guests.  Bummer!

 Kimberly’s Daddy, Joel, brought in all kinds of cool tools used in his job as a salesperson.  The kids were eager to feel all the squishy, fluffy and soft car detailing equipment.  Some of the hand mitts looked like bright crazy puppets.

 Savino’s Mommy designs flower arrangements as a florist.  She brought in flowers and let us feel and smell all the pretty blooms.

 Then she made an arrangement for us to show us how to balance the foliage.

The finished bouquet was beautiful.  Each child got to take home one of the floral stems too!

Accompanying our guest speakers, the children were able to explore different jobs through dramatic play.  A definite highlight was playing grocery store with all of the donated empty food boxes and packages.  It was interesting to watch different packages being sorted and arranged as though they were being stocked and displayed in a market aisle.  Thanks to all the parents that brought in the grocery items.

Who needs holiday decorations, Santa Claus and Christmas carols to have a festive gingerbread party?  Not us!  We have definitely had enough of the snow which is why our annual holiday gathering got postponed until January.  I don’t think that stifled anyone’s creativity.  There was a lot of merriment circling through our packed school.  A lot of nibbling of sweet embellishments too! 

 I guess eating the treats is half the fun!

 Check out some of the finished creations… pretty spectacular!  

 This just shows that even if the weather throws us off, our amazing families at NTMC are committed to the events that make our school a special place.

For the pre-K classroom things sort of slow down for the winter break.  The little kiddos concentrate on celebrations and customs from around the world and making holiday crafts.  International food week is definitely a highlight.

However, if you are a school aged kiddo, winter break is usually a time to enjoy time off from school and experience some of the season’s recreational experiences.  There is no better activity than gliding around on ice to celebrate winter and the joys it has to offer!

Here they come zooming by.  Hey, I heard that if you need any tips on the ice, Teacher Lisa is the one to ask.  She might have some fancy foot work for ya!

Ahh, watch out, it’s hard to stop with a couple of blades strapped to your feet!

I bet if he lets go, the ice rink walls will fall down.  Better keep holding on!

There’s nothing like a friend with a big puffy coat to save you from the cold hard ice.

Whoa, watch out, here comes the super ice patrol.

Looks like everyone had a blast.  Thanks to Lisa for taking some pictures of these memories on ice.

Wow, what a wild winter we’ve had so far.  On a positive note, it sure has put everyone in good holiday spirits.  The kids always get excited by the delightful scene of fluttering snowflakes.  On the other hand, it has postponed some of our festivities such as the gingerbread party and has made getting from place to place a little more difficult.  For all brave enough (with 4-wheel drive) the center has been open for winter break.

On behalf of everyone at North Tacoma Montessori Center, we wish you a safe and Happy New Year!

Oh what a feast we had this year!  We have so much to be thankful for and there’s no better way to start giving thanks than to celebrate our amazing NTMC families.  By the vacant look of our sign-up sheet, we were a bit worried that we’d have tons of left-over food, but boy were we surprised at the final turn out.  Not only did we have moms and dads, but we had several sets of grandparents too!

The tables were beautifully decorated by little artistic hands, whose turkey place mats accented the lovely centerpieces.  Heaping plates of delicious homemade food were passed around.  If you tried the butter and cranberry sauce, you would have been pleasantly surprised that our aspiring little chefs created those sides.  As well as food being passed around, there was also a creative cookbook Teacher Lisa put together showcasing some of our students’ favorite foods.  There were some very interesting, if not funny, culinary descriptions.

Not a tummy was left hungry.  Speaking of hungry tummies… this year we were able to put together two lovely baskets of food for our adopt-a-families so thank you to everyone who donated something.  It’s a wonderful gift to give our kids the opportunity to give back to the community.

Yum Yum!

I don’t think we could have had a better start to this year’s holiday season!

Thank You!

Tinkerbell must have played a little joke with her fairy dust because this year’s Harvest Carnival had some unusual friends attend.  Hey Tink, where did you put all the kids and teachers?

 Oh, there’s a policeman maybe he can find the kids.  Nope, no kids around here just a turtle, ladybug, monkey and… hey is that a princess riding a little unicorn? The policeman keeps the carnival characters under control or else he writes you  a ticket… he’s very generous with the tickets if need be.

 This party’s gettin’ started with a little game of musical chairs.  The DJ looks to be a lady ostrich rider.  There’s some crazy autumn energy in the air!

 Have you ever wondered how spooky spiders are made?  Well, here’s a little secret… unicorns and witches make them out of paint… it’s magic.

 Hey little Ladybug, dare to put your hand inside the “scary feely box?”  Prepare to experience some creepy slimy nastiness!  Mu ha ha ah!

Doctor Disaster, the mad scientist, explains how to toss the bean bag at the Alien Spider’s web… don’t knock him down or he’ll get really mad!

These little critters/superheros are awaiting some face painting action to add some final touches to the masquerade.

Dance, dance, dance at the toddler costume ball!  There sure are some cutie-pies.

 After the carnival, the spooks hit the streets.  Pirate Stephani pushes the buggy in the seasonal rain.  Nothing stops this crew, not even the nasty weather.

The festival processional makes its way, musical merriment announcing their arrival.  Somewhere in the crowd a Goddess looks on making sure the little masqueraders get more treats than play tricks.  No tricks were played on her!

Little munchkins stay dry.  Tinkerbell must have told them to be wary of rain washing off her fairy dust.  An untimely revealing would ruin harvest costume party fun.

 Thanks to all the parents that brought treats to share or helped volunteer at the carnival.  This year’s party was a success.

My first experience visiting Terry’s Berries with the kids, opened my eyes to the world of cooperative farming, organic style.  Now it is one of my most looked forward to trips during the year.  Kids need to know where their food comes from… not just the store, but that a farmer pays a lot of attention to growing the apples we usually select from a shiny pyramid stand in the produce section.  I love listening to the answers the kids give when asked, “What do we need bees for?” or “What do chickens give us?”  So here are the pictures of the much loved adventure out River Road.  Boy, did we luck out with the weather.  Both the Pre-K and School Age group had the most amazing autumn days!

The hunt is on for the perfect pumpkin.  Surely there is an orange round beauty for these sunny friends.

Oh, Boy!  Did we forget to mention to choose a size you can carry!  Look out for slippery pumpkin skin and small hands!

Pomme de terre is French for potato.  It means apple of the earth.  After picking apples from the trees, the kids get to dig through the dirt for rosy red potatoes.  What a neat correlation.

This is Farmer Amy.  She is explaining how to feed the chickens and that little fingers look the same as pieces of bread to hungry eyes with beaks.  Let’s see how many little fingers stay behind the fence.

Boots, boots for everyone, even in the sun.

Ready for the hay ride.  Teachers are not allowed, bummer!

Posing with a pumpkin.

This little picker has been munching on some sweet, juicy, red berries.  M-m-m!

The older kids got to pick some little ears of corn.

Terry, of Terry’s Berries, gave the school-age group a personal tour on her awesome tractor.

 And that concludes another fun filled trip to Terry’s Berries.  The kids really enjoyed it and so did the parents and teachers that went along.  Can’t wait until next year.

Autumn is a wonderful time of year.  The air is crisp, the sunlight has a sharper quality that enhances the leaves as they turn.  There’s something spicy in the air that calls upon harvest parties, hay rides, pumpkin scones, woolen sweaters, and apple cider.  MMMM, apple cider.  The next month or so leading up to Thanksgiving is a time full of harvest celebration and exploration of the season through the senses.  What a perfect time to combine the letter sound “a” and study the season’s bountiful harvest fruit…  the apple.

 Here is a break down of our aaaaaapplesauce aaaaaadventure as explored through the senses:

 Thanks to the school-age kids, they picked the apples from Teacher Kate’s tree.  The question of the day for them was, “How many apples does it take to make three pounds?”  That’s how much we needed for the recipe.  We picked way more than we needed! Phew!

  Also, thanks to Papa Chuck, Malia’s Grandpa, who brought us a really cool apple peeling tool.  What a fun way to peel an apple.

Feel the cool water washing off the firm, round apples.  Look at the glistening color of their outer skin.  These apples were a mottled mix of greenish yellow and reddish orange.

Wash,

  Wash,

Peel,

Peel,

Peel in a perfect spiral and feel their stickiness!

Listen to the chop, chop of cutting the apples.

Smell the cinnamon added to their sweetness.

Around and around we stir in the sugar… not too much.  Hee hee.

After it heats up in the big crock pot we all get to taste.  Yum yum.

Here is a picture of the Apple Sauce Express train.  Kids are inventive as they await their turn to help.

Also this week a trip to visit the grandmas and grandpas and Tobey Jones.  We sang so sweetly. Wink, wink!

Stay tuned to see pictures of our annual Terry’s Berries fieldtrip.

What a successful week we had back doing lessons.  It is going to be a great year with a great group of kids.  About half of our preschool class are veterans of the Montessori structure and are raring to jump back into the open atmosphere of exploration and concentration.  The other half of new-comers exhibit an aura of shear delightful curiosity when presented with the new materials.  It will be an excellent balance.  All the teachers were ready to say farewell to the summer, well, maybe not the weather, but the classroom is back in order and it feels nice.  Here are some pictures of one of our first circle times as well as a virtual tour of our Montessori learning centers.  Welcome back to everyone!

Singing, “Good Morning To You!”

Stories, songs, games and more…

Sensorial shelves are packed with interesting works to stimulate visual, tactile, auditory, olfactory, and gustatory senses and form a foundation for language.  This is essential learning through exploration!

More sensorial…

It is amazing to explore the world with the Geography tools.

 
In the Cultural area children are curious about science, history and geography.

 Here, Math is fun.

Language

Practical Life is learning to do things in the everyday for themselves.

Come by and check out our awesome learning environment!