Friday, November 30, 2012

Home away from home...

Friends at Namaste settle in to longer work periods as the weather gets colder. Fingers crossed for more snow! 

 Tracing the letters while saying their sounds helps build motor memory--preparation for reading and writing.

 Watching friends stimulates interest and helps the information begin to sink in.


 Love multi-age classrooms. Older friends teach younger friends.

Friends have been cruising through these new initial sound materials.



Control of error--no need for teachers to come and "check" work. Children feel a sense of control and pride in being able to complete their work and check all by themselves. These cards have little symbols on the back. After the child completes his/her work, he/she turns over the cards to see if all the cards match up. If they do not, they simply correct their own error without being told they were "wrong". Brilliant.

Getting creative with the knobless cylinders.

 Reading to Dad at our annual tea party.

 Mom and daughter love tea!

 Showing off his love of numbers to Mom and Dad.

 Using the wood and bead representations of thousands, hundreds, tens, and unit to count to 9,999! With this material, children become familiar with the different hierarchies of numbers and their quantities. They also experience a visual and physical impression of number values.

 Multiplication...
 ...mathe"magicians"!

Sneak peek at our morning work period in the math area. Great example of different age groups learning different mathematical concepts all within one beautiful classroom!

Continued work with fine motor muscles--using a garlic press to squeeze out water in the sponge

Cutting out snowflakes to glue in his snowglobe.

Brown stair/pink tower combo with the marble.

Labyrinths help calm the body and center the mind. Read THIS to learn more.
Now you know why  our new logo is a labyrinth with a heart as the central point!

Sequence cards--beginning, middle, and end. These can be used as conversation cards as well. After completing the sequence we tell the stories together. 

Learning to count by tens. 

Writing numerals with dry erase and sandpaper letters. 

We had Pajama Day and breakfast at school! We put fresh flowers out to make our classroom feel even more beautiful.

Prep for breakfast: Pouring OJ.

Folding napkins.

Making fresh whipped cream.

Waffle batter.

Scrambled eggs.

A well rounded breakfast for two!
Protein, fruit, and a whole bunch of love.

Enjoying eggs with Bridgid!

"This is just like a breakfast at home."

Toddler friends...working together and cooking together









Wednesday, November 28, 2012

A Thanksgiving Celebration Filled with Gratitude


A Thanksgiving celebration filled with gratitude.
"Each of us is one small flame, but together we're ablaze."









Monday, November 19, 2012

Parts of a Cell: Upper Elementary Students Use Art Skills to Model Science Concepts


Upper Elementary Students  ( 9- 11 year-olds) have been studying the parts and functions of plant and animal cells.


As frequently happens in our classrooms the areas of science and art intersect.
With some basic art supplies the teachers and students were all set to take what they had learned and make something beautiful.

Using white  glue,wax paper, a variety of yarn and string, pipe cleaners, glitter, and some beads they created models of cross sections of plant and animal cells.


Here are a few examples drying on a tray and below a student identifies some parts of her cell for me.





When completely dry these cell models make awesome (and educational) sun catchers.










Friday, November 16, 2012