Welcome back P3 Families!

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Spring break.  This week we began our studies of the rain forest.  It has been interesting for the children to explore the different animals and the layers of the rain forest they live in.  Our friend Bella did a presentation of the animals for our students as well.

We have also started our South America studies.  We will begin to look at different places and animals of South America in the upcoming weeks.

Our friends have enjoyed working on creative map works this week.

This month’s Practical Life area has sparked the minds of our students.  We have introduced a mopping work (which may come in handy in the future), a work to test gravity, and the children have even made their own quesadillas!

Chloe’s family did a cooking project with our class before break, where the children made yogurt parfaits! Yummy and healthy!

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Our friends have completed our Spring planting, hopefully we will soon have a beautiful garden!

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Before spring break, Gianna’s mom did a presentation about dinosaurs and our friends did a special dinosaur dig!

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We have had many birthday circles the past few weeks.  This is a special tradition in a Montessori classroom.

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Fun times in P3!

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Our April Studies Include:

Rain Forests

South America

Environmental Awareness

Birds

Earth Day

Important Dates to Remember:

Monday, April 13th-Friday, April 17th: Teacher Appreciation Week

Wednesday, April 15th: Springs Preserve Field Trip, Depart FMS @ 9:15, return @ 11:15 (please wear school shirt and comfortable shoes for walking)

Friday, April 17th: PTO Family Kick-Nic

Wednesday, April 22nd: Earth Day

Snack and Flowers Provided By:

April 7th-10th: The Ghaneian Family

April 13th-17th: The Sady Family

April 20th-24th: The Joe Family

April 27th-May 1st: The Lemos Family

Monthly Volunteers:

Cooking Project: The Coleman Family

Hands-On-Activity: The Sady Family

Circle Presentation: The Robinson Family

Practical Life Supplies Provided By:

Corn Tortillas: The Smith Family

String Cheese: The Singh Family

Paper Plates: The Robinson Family

Daisy Seeds: The Dannin Family

Planting Soil: The Kirner Family

Dixie Cups: The Sady Family

Hello P3 Families,

If you have not done so already, please sign up for a time slot for Parent/Teacher Conferences being held on Thursday, March 5th (Afternoon Only) and Friday, March 6th (Full Day).

We have finished up our ocean studies for the month of February.  The children learned about numerous types of ocean animals including the Manta Ray, Octopus, Lobster, Sea Turtle and the Humpback Whale, and they even created an ocean mural in the classroom. Our Kindergarteners have been working on ‘Ocean Research’, taking their studies further into the different sea creatures.

We had to say goodbye to our wonderful friend Annie.  We wish The Perry Family the best of luck on their move, we will miss you guys!

Parent/Child night was a huge success!  Thank you everyone for attending, we had a great turnout!  This is such a special event for your child to show you all of the exciting materials that they enjoy using in the classroom.  I hope that this evening brought some insight of their daily work and joy.

Our students had the wonderful experience of making strawberry jam with Mason’s mother.  They began by cutting the strawberries (by themselves), squishing the strawberries, and stirring in the sugar.  After the mixture was heated, the jam was placed in the cutest mason jars and brought home to share with their families.  Thank you Dannin Family for this lovely cooking project.

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Thank you to The Tyler Family, The Robinson Family and The Michel Family who made Dr. Seuss Day fun and exciting for our students. They enjoyed all of the crafts and their special Seuss Snacks!

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Our Monthly Studies Include:

Dinosaurs

Reptiles

Amphibians

Asia

Important Dates to Remember:

Thursday, March 5th: Half Day, Dismissal at 11:15 – Parent/Teacher Conferences

Friday, March 6th: No School, Parent/Teacher Conferences

Tuesday, March 10th: Chinese Dancers Assembly at 10:00

Friday, March 13th: Kindergarten Assembly at 8:20

Saturday, March 21st: PTO 5K Fun Walk/Run

Friday, March 27th: Half Day, Dismissal at 11:15: Spring Break Begins

Spring Break: March 30th – April 3rd

Monday, April 6th: No School, Teacher In-Service

Tuesday, April 7th: School Resumes

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Snack and Flowers Provided By:

March 2nd-5th: The Robinson Family

March 9th-13th: The Dannin Family

March 16th-20th: The Coleman Family

March 23rd-27th: The Tien Family

Monthly Volunteers:

Cooking Project: The Ghaneian Family

Hands-On-Activity: The Michel Family

Circle Presentation: The Robinson Family

Practical Life Supplies Provided By:

Celery: The Nivatvongs-Tobin Family

Cream Cheese: The Joe Family

Raisins: The Lemos Family

Plastic Knives: The Mohlman Family

We have had a busy month of February so far..

P3 has been learning about Ocean Life including the parts of the fish.  We have studied different types of sharks, both living and extinct.  We have also studied the Great Barrier Reef and other types of sea animals.

We had a wonderful trip to The Shark Reef.  The children were thrilled to have their first field trip as a class!  It was fun riding the bus and exploring the incredible sea life.  It amazed our parents how much knowledge our students have of marine life. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to make this a great experience for our students.

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We have even started making our own ocean mural in class.  The students have been labeling the different types of fish and have participated in painting the sea creatures.

We are learning about  Australia this month.  The children have studied  the different animals that live on this unique continent.  We have learned new vocabulary like ‘marsupials’ and ‘eucalyptus’.

We have been introducing new and creative practical life works.  The children have become little scientists experimenting with milk, food coloring, and dish soap to create a swirling rainbow effect. They have made beautiful necklaces and coffee filter hearts. They have even learned how to make their own banana smoothie!

Natalia’s mother joined our classroom for a special Valentine’s Day project.  They created bookmarks with thumbprint hearts!  Thank you Arieli Family!

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Our afternoon friends enjoyed making “Cupid’s Arrow” with our very crafty and artistic Miss Lauren!

Our Valentine’s Day celebration was a hit.  The children had such a good time exchanging their Valentines with their friends and enjoying a yummy treat! They even created a poem using the letters in the word “Valentine” as a group lesson.

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Monthly Themes for February:

Oceans

Fish and Marine Life

Australia

Valentine’s Day

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P3 will be raising funds during the month of February for Africaid. Each year Africaid supports Montessori teachers to go to the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies (MECR) to receive their training. In fact, our own Ms. Rosie (in E2) will be traveling to Tanzania to volunteer at the Upendo Montessori School while a teacher attends MECR. For our service project we will have snack mix available for donations (assisted by your child) in front of our classroom beginning Monday, February 9^th until Friday, February 20^th. If you would like to support Africaid we would greatly appreciate any donation you would choose to give.  We look forward to helping our Global Montessori Community.

Important Dates to Remember:

Monday, February 16th: No School, President’s Day

Tuesday, February 17th: Kindergarten Field Trip to Estes McDoniel Marine Lab: Depart @ 9:45, Return @ 1:00

Wednesday, February 18th: Kindergarten 100th Day of School Celebration

Friday, February 20th: PTO Family Dance

Thursday, February 26th: Parent/Child Night in P3: Last Name A-L 4:30-5:15, M-Z 5:30-6:15

Snack and Flowers Provided By:

February 17th – 20th: Perry Family

February 23rd – 27th: Sheridan Family

Monthly Volunteers:

Cooking Project: Dannin Family

Hands-On-Activity: Arieli Family

Circle Presentation: Sheridan Family

Practical Life Supplies:

Milk: Kimani Family

Food Coloring: Ghaneian Family

Dish Soap: Bristol Family

Organic Vanilla Soy Milk: Wolfe Family

Bananas: Than Do Family

Cinnamon: Dannin Family

Straws: Tyler Family

Greetings P3 Familes!

We have been finishing up our Solar System studies and the children have had strong interest in learning about the different planets and looking at pictures in our BIG BOOK ON THE UNIVERSE.  Here is a bit of information that we have learned about the planets that you can review at home!

We took time in our classroom to discuss Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the amazing triumphs he made during his life.  The children were both caring and compassionate about this subject, and here is a glimpse of their thoughts.

Lane’s Family joined our classroom to make homemade vanilla ice cream!  The children loved shaking the bags and watching the milk transform before their eyes.  They were able to listen to some fun ‘shakin’ music too! 🙂

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We have been learning about different types of winter weather (sleet, hail, packing snow, artificial snow) and about polar animals that live in Antarctica.  Some of the children have never experienced true winter weather, and it has been interesting to watch the expressions on their faces when they see pictures and hear stories about living in a snowy climate. Gianna’s mother came to our classroom and read a book about polar animals and brought “snow” for the children to explore.  They enjoyed searching for the arctic creatures!

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P3 would like to send huge hugs and grateful thanks to the PTO for purchasing all of the wonderful materials from our classroom wishlist.  We are very excited to start exploring our new items! P3 Loves PTO!!!

Monthly Themes for February:

Oceans

Fish and Marine Life

Australia

Valentine’s Day

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Important Dates to Remember:

Saturday, January 31st:  Middle school community fundraiser parking lot sale at FMS

Wednesday, February 4th: Field Trip to Shark Reef: Depart @ 9:15, Return @ 11:45 (Wear FMS Shirt)

Wednesday, February 4th: Kindergarten Information Night @ 5:00 in P2. Informational enrollment meeting for parents of students moving into the kindergarten program for the 2015-2016 school year.

Thursday, February 12th: Valentine’s Day Celebration

Friday, February 13th: No School, Teacher In-Service

Monday, February 16th: No School, President’s Day

Tuesday, February 17th: Kindergarten Field Trip to Estes McDoniel Marine Lab: Depart @ 9:45, Return @ 1:00

Wednesday, February 18th: Kindergarten 100th Day of School Celebration

Friday, February 20th: PTO Family Dance

Thursday, February 26th: Parent/Child Night in P3: Last Name A-L 4:30-5:15, M-Z 5:30-6:15

Snack and Flowers Provided By:

February 2nd – 6th: Anderson Family

Feb. 9th – 12th: Ghaneian Family

February 17th – 20th: Perry Family

February 23rd – 27th: Sheridan Family

Monthly Volunteers:

Cooking Project: Dannin Family

Hands-On-Activity: Arieli Family

Circle Presentation: Sheridan Family

Practical Life Supplies:

Milk: Kimani Family

Food Coloring: Ghaneian Family

Dish Soap: Bristol Family

Organic Vanilla Soy Milk: Wolfe Family

Bananas: Than Do Family

Cinnamon: Dannin Family

Straws: Tyler Family

Happy New Year P3 Families!

We hope that everyone had a relaxing and wonderful winter break!  We have been getting back into the swing of things here in P3!  The children are excited to be back in their routine and have been working hard at their new lessons.  We are seeing children finding that sensitive period in math, reading and writing. It is amazing to watch their skills unfold!

We have started this new year with Ms. Kat’s favorite subject…Space!  To begin this unit of study, the children were asked what they thought of when they heard the word “space”…this is what they came up with:

We learned a song to remember all of our planets too… Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, Asteroid Belt (clap clap clap), Jupiter is next, and Saturn with its’ rings, and Uranus and Neptune and Pluto are the rest, around the Sun together. (Repeat)

…That Pluto needs to make up its’ mind 🙂

We have started to break down the planets to study important information about each. For an at-home activity, start ‘quizzing’ your child about some of our planet facts!

The children had the opportunity to watch an exciting assembly about African Safari animals.  They were able to see and even touch the animals…

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Our January Studies Include:

Solar System and Constellations

Antarctica and Polar Animals

Snow and Ice Studies

Martin Luther King Jr.

Important Dates to Remember:

Monday, January 19th: No School, Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Thursday, January 29th:  Parent Ed Night with guest speaker Betsy Hoke @ 5:30pm

Thursday, January 29th:  Kindergarten Field Trip to see “The Little Mermaid” musical at GVHS

Saturday, January 31st:  Middle School Garage Sale @ FMS

January Volunteers:

Cooking Project: Coleman Family

Hands-On-Activity: Perry Family

Circle Presentation: Robinson Family

Snack and Flowers Provided By: 

January 20th-23rd: Karns Family

January 26th-30th: Fruland Family

February 2nd – 6th: Anderson Family

Feb. 9th – 12th: Ghaneian Family

February 17th – 20th: Perry Family

February 23rd – 27th: Sheridan Family

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