April | 2021 | Primary 3

Dear P3 Families,

First and foremost, we would like to thank you for you generous donations for our service project for the Lullaby Connection. Ms. Melissa, our grade level head, had to make two trips to deliver the goods as we were overwhelmed by the amount of diapers, wipes, and baby clothes! Thank you so much! Please check your emails for photos of your donations being delivered to those in need.

Can you believe we have less than a month of school left! We have had a wonderful month learning about Birds and South America! We had an in-depth study on bird eggs, and were pretty amazed on how much there was to your everyday egg! Have you even heard of the chalazae (ka-lay-zuh)? That’s the white string that holds the yolk in place in the center to keep it from bumping into the shell! We learn something new everyday!

Looking up close at the albumen, yolk, chalazae, and inner and outer membranes

See that string? The chalazae holds the yolk in the center of the egg

The children also loved learning all about the animals of the Amazon Rainforest, and we even had fun activities on the 4 different layers and the living things found in each one. We have also been working a lot on continent puzzle maps. It is such a fun way to learn about the different countries!

Our kindergarten students have been focusing a lot on place value to prepare them for first grade, and many have started 4-digit operations using the golden bead material and the stamp game. All students have been working hard on their sounds and reading as well!

Important Dates:

Friday, 5/14: Field Day 10:00am-11:00am

Wednesday. 5/19: Kindergarten Moving Up Ceremony 1:00 pm

Friday, 5/21: Last day of school!

May Studies:

Insects

Invertebrates

Africa (People, Plants, Animals)

We look forward to an amazing remainder of the year!

Sincerely,

Primary 3

Many of you are familiar with Montessori’s 3 year cycle. However, many still wonder why our classrooms are combined within a 3 year age group. Did you know Montessori starts at 0-3? This is the Infant/Toddler program, which is not offered here at FMS. Your children, however, are in the next group up, which is the Early Childhood or Primary Class, which is also known as the 3-6 classroom.

The easiest explanation for this is that children in their specific multi-age classroom are all in a similar plane of development, yet they all still demonstrate distinct individual experiences, preferences, social roles, and learning, and the the interaction hits multiple points of their own growth. They allow the children to learn at their own pace and to learn from each other.

When your child starts as a pre-schooler, maybe 3 or close to that, they are given an introduction to all things. The focus for a pre-school student is to acclimate to their learning environment, find their place amongst their peers, work on grace and courtesy, and most importantly, gain confidence and independence.

During their Pre-K year, they are now familiar with classroom rules and behavior expectations. They have gained some confidence but are not quite ready to be a class leader. This is the time where we focus on repetition and practice of lessons in all academic areas of the classroom. Our goal for them is to be self-directed in the classroom, moving from one work to another during their independent work cycle.

The third year is their Kindergarten year. This is the year we want them to gain mastery of all the skills practiced during their pre-school and pre-kindergarten year. We challenge them with more advanced work, practice time management skills to complete their academic goals for the day, and we help them with leadership and conflict resolution skills. While we often want to rush mastery, the Montessori three year cycle allows the children to develop at their own pace, ensuring that it is authentic and truly internalized.

We hope this gives you a clearer picture of why our classrooms are structured this way, as well as the main goal for each primary year.

We just finished our studies on Asia and reptiles, and have begun learning about the continent of South America, birds, and the environment. Ms. Jo talked about the Philippines and all its beautiful islands, as well as her hometown, the crazy city of Manila. The children learned how to dance the “tinikling”, a traditional dance using two bamboo sticks.