Welcome to the Olive Room The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experIENCEs. Maria Montessori

After counting the ballots, the undisputed winner is the Sugar Cookie with sprinkles! Of course, we enjoyed eating some!

November is the month of giving thanks!

We gathered around a campfire and talked about Native Americans. We talked about how the Native Americans lived in the past. Their lives are much different today. They were hunters and farmers, and how they respected the land [Mother Earth]. Native Americans speak many different languages just like some of us do in our families. We discussed how the English colonists known as Pilgrims celebrated the colony’s first harvest and friendship with the Wampanoag people. We also took a moment to share what things we are Thankful for.

A few Thanksgiving activities:

Tweezing the colorful kernels of Flint Corn [maize] off of the cob.

The children gobbled at the idea of doing counting with this Turkey theme.

Working on addition.

Practical Life:

Leaf raking was the favorite work these past weeks. But first be a tree and drop your leaves.

The children used a size appropriate real hammer and wooded golf tees as nails to practice hammering. Safety first - goggles must be worn when hammering.

Transferring plastic acorns and leaves using a Strawberry Huller.

The Snapping frame is now available to choose. With the dressing frames the children have an opportunity to practice over and over helping with their independence of taking care of themselves.

Sensorial:

The Botany Cabinet three drawers of leaves was introduced. This work is used to help children visually discriminate shapes that are found in nature. Also, it gives the children a tactile impression of each shape by tracing an inset and matching socket.

There are 3 sets of control cards. The control cards are (1) filled in shapes, (2) thick lines and (3) thin lines. The shapes are matched to the control cards.

Shape Sorting:

Language:

Individual Language lessons are ongoing throughout the school year. We begin with the sandpaper letters which allow children to physically trace the shape of each letter while they say its sound [phonetic], not its name.

The Montessori philosophy is to follow the child. This method allows us to know where each child is at with their learning progression. Once the children learn some of the phonetic sounds, they use objects or pictures and match beginning sounds.

Some of our friends are using The Moveable Alphabet. The Movable Alphabet is used to blend letter sounds to compose words. We start with phonetic: consonant – vowel – consonant word families. The short vowel /a/ sound is introduced first. Bat, hat, mat, sat; man, can, ran etc... With these rhyming words only the first sound changes the other two stay the same.

The Moveable Alphabet is being used to build words where the children complete the ending sound of the word.

Geography:

The continent map has been presented as we continue reviewing the names of our seven continents of the world.

The colored continents on the Colored Globe correspond with the continents on the Continent Map. While working with the World Map coloring sheet the children match the colors of the continents. This consistency helps the children to recognize the continents.

After learning the names of the seven continents, we begin exploring each individual continent. Our study begins with the continent we live in North America. North America is the color orange on our Continent Globe and Map. North America is dominated by its three largest countries: Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Central America and the Caribbean are usually considered part of North America.

We learned that every country has their own flag and each country’s flag is different. It is the most important symbol for the people who live there.

With many of the coloring pages a control sheet is used so the children understand to color realistically. It helps the children notice details.

Birthday celebrations:

Happy Birthday wishes to Vaun and Lucia!