Dear P3 Families,

We hope you all had a restful and enjoyable holiday. We loved hearing about how the children spent their very long weekend! We welcome everyone back and are working in full force for the last stretch of the first semester! Where did the time go?

Parent-Child Night was such a blast! It was amazing how all the children were so excited showing you their favorite jobs in the classroom. We hope that seeing the materials in action gave you a little snapshot of their day, as well as, seeing the variety of Montessori materials we utilize to teach them phonetic sounds, counting, simple operations, place value, etc. The children just love the 100 board, which is extremely important for them to master transition (29 to 30, 59 to 60) when counting, the reading boxes, the ever so popular step board; an amazing work that helps them with initial, middle, or ending sounds, spelling out  three letter letter phonetic words, long vowels, and blends. There will be other Parent-Child Nights coming up this school year, so please stay tuned for future dates! It will be a wonderful opportunity for families who were not able to attend, and a chance to see what new things your child is working on later in the year. In the mean time, enjoy these pictures from that evening!

The Primary classes also had the opportunity to watch “Animal Tales”, a very cute show where performers told stories which required lots of participation from the children and animal interaction!

To supplement our study on North America and the United States, room mommies (Kaitlyn and Alison) did a fantastic job leading a cooking project with the children. They made “No Bake Cherry Pie”, which even came with a story called “How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the USA” by Marjorie Priceman. It talks about a young baker who travels through the country to get ingredients for a cherry pie. It’s a wonderful story to learn about the United States!

We would also like to give a big birthday greeting to Sofia Casas, who’s now 5! Thank you for celebrating with us!

We are concluding our studies on reptiles and North America. In addition to the flora and fauna, the children are also learning about Native American homes and having so much fun doing their own pictographs! In the math area, the concept of graphing has also been introduced by graphing the weather in circle every morning.

Always busy in P3!

December Studies:

Tree Studies

Europe

Important dates:

Friday, 12/21: Half Day dismissal @ 11:15

Monday, 12/24 – Friday, 1/4: NO SCHOOL, Enjoy Winter Break!

Monday, 1/7: NO SCHOOL, Teacher In-Service

Tuesday, 1/8: School Resumes, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Reminder:

Please label your child’s jacket and all other outer wear. There are sharpies at the door if needed.

Sincerely,

Primary 3 Team

Dear P3 Families,

The children did such an amazing job during their performance! We hope you were able to take lots of pictures! Thank you again for helping them work on their lines, and for showing massive support and encouragement. We are all so proud of our little ones!

We would like to thank P3 mommies, Jin and Alison, for volunteering their time to do crafts and read to the class. As always, the children loved it!

We’ve been very busy learning about reptiles and North America. The students love learning about the animals that live on our continent (especially the skunk), and we are also studying the flora and fauna found in our own Mojave Desert. We will go deeper into our continent study by learning about Native American homes and writing, as well!

The children are diligently working one-on-one with their teachers in language and math. If your child is learning phonetic sounds and you would like to practice with them at home, we ask that you only practice the short sound of the letter instead of the name. If your child is bringing a book home weekly from our Take Home Reading Program, we suggest asking simple questions about the story for comprehension practice i.e. “What were the names of the people in the story?” or “What was your favorite part?” The books brought home have already been read to a teacher in class. Please remember that the main focus of Take Home Reading is to foster the love of reading, and not to struggle with new words.

Here are your children hard at work!

What a typical work cycle looks like in P3:

We love our math and language!

Parent-child Night is on Thursday, November 15 (4:15-5:00 last names A-M, 5:00-5:45 last names N-Z). We highly encourage all families to attend, as it is an excellent opportunity for your child to show you what they are working on in the classroom. It is also a great time to ask questions about the Montessori materials. We hope you can join us!

Important Dates: 

Thursday 11/15: Parent Child Night, 4:15-5:00 A-M,5:00-5:45 N-Z and Picture Re-Take Day

Wednesday – Friday 11/21-11/23: NO SCHOOL, Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday 11/27: Kindergarten Field Trip to Red Rock 9:45-1:00

We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Have a safe and fun holiday!

Sincerely,

Primary 3 Team

Dear P3 Families,

Fall festivities have definitely happened! Our Fall Festival was a BLAST! We would like to give a great big THANK YOU to our PTO and everyone else in our FMS community that made that event such a success. The children had a wonderful time getting their faces painted, and enjoyed watching professional circus acts as well. The raffle and silent auction spread was so exciting, and a big congrats to our Ms. Alisa for winning the hair dryer set! Some P3 families won some goodies too, but luck was not on Ms. Joanne’s side..maybe next year!

Birthdays were also celebrated during the last half of the month. Happy birthday, Tristan and Zoey! Thank you for celebrating with us!

We would also like to thank P3 moms (Jennifer and Naysha) for volunteering their time to do special projects with the children. You have no idea how much excitement is added to our children’s’ day when they know a parent is coming to share something special with them!

Celebrate America Day was perhaps one of the biggest events of the year. So much hard work and preparation was put into making sure the children had an amazing experience “travelling” around the United States. Thank you so much to our room moms, Alison and Jen, for organizing such a great team of parents! Whether it’s cutting things at home, preparing food, ordering supplies online, building props, or staying late the night before to transform our classroom into the Southeast, we are so grateful for the amount of time and hard work you all put in. Our classroom was incredible!

The children had a wonderful morning panning for gold in Alaska, surfing and making leis in Hawaii, sampling cheese and milking cows in Wisconsin, line dancing in the West, and making Mardi Gras masks and riding on a space shuttle in their very own Southeast.

Our busy month ended with a special assembly for the Primary Classes called “Project Wild”, an organization that works on wild life conservation. We learned so much about different animals! How do you tell the difference between legless lizards and snakes? Lizards have ears and eyelids, while snakes do not! Chinchillas also defend themselves by blasting a predator with a ball of fur. And while we grow one hair per follicle, they grow 50, hence their very soft fur.

Our Mother Goose Character Camp Performance is fast approaching on November 8 at 9am in the multi-purpose room. Please have your child come that day wearing their teal FMS shirts and dark, solid colored pants. If lines were sent home, please continue to practice with them! We are so excited to put on this show for you, and the children are having the greatest time singing and acting! We definitely have some Hollywood stars in the making!

Here are your children at work learning about the 7 continents and mammals, in addition to working hard in language and math!

Important Dates:

Thursday, 11/8: P3 Music Performance 9:00am Multi-Purpose Room

Monday, 11/12: NO SCHOOL, Veteran’s Day

Tuesday, 11/13: NO SCHOOL, Teacher In-Service day

Thursday, 11/15: Picture retake day: Parent/Child Night @ 4:15-5:00 last names beginning with A-M, 5:00-5:45 last names beginning with N-Z

Wednesday-Friday, 11/21-11/23: NO SCHOOL, Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, 11/27: Kindergarten only field trip to Red Rock 9:45-1:00

November Studies:

People, plants and animals of the Mojave desert

Reptiles

North America and the USA

Thanksgiving

Have a fun and safe Halloween, and we hope to see you all on November 8th for Mother Goose’s Character Camp!

Sincerely,

Primary 3 Team

Hello P3 Families!

October has been an exciting month so far! The children are enjoying learning about mammals, vertebrates vs. invertebrates, pumpkins, anatomy, and the 7 continents. All of our hands on materials make it easy and fun. It keeps them engaged and gives them a thorough understanding of our units of study.

Learning about organ function and the names of our bones:

Characteristics and Parts of a Mammal:

Using puzzle maps to learn the 7 continents:

The Primary classes have also had the exciting opportunity to enjoy a performance by the African Drummers from Senegal. Not only did we enjoy a spectacular show, but they shared many fun facts about their culture. Did you know there are over 2,000 languages spoken within the 54 countries in Africa? Drumming was a way for them to communicate with each other, and it was so cool to see how their primitive drum sets made of wood and goat skin looked exactly like Travis Barker’s drum set today!

Here are your children hard at work!

Mastering 1-10 and teen numbers with the colored bead bars and counters:

Introducing odd and even:

Mastering her tens with the tens board:

Learning place value with the Golden Bead Materials:

Four-digit addition with the Stamp Game and Golden Beads:

Practicing reading and phonetic sounds:

Spooky Practical Life Fun!

This month we celebrated Gavin’s birthday! Thank you for celebrating with us!

The children are doing an EXCELLENT job with their lines for our play, “Mother Goose’s Character Camp”. If you have been practicing with them at home, thank you! We can’t wait until they perform for you. The children have been working so hard! So mark your calendars for Thursday, November 8th, 9:00 am. See your children shine like the stars they are!

It’s getting pretty chilly out, so please label all jackets, sweaters, vests, and all other outerwear with your child’s name and class. There are sharpies available in class if you need them. Unclaimed clothing will be taken to the office and placed in Lost and Found.

Important dates:

Friday, 10/19: PTO Fall Festival 5-8pm

Wednesday, 10/24: Celebrate America Day, Primary dismissal 11:15am

Thursday, 10/25: NO SCHOOL, Teacher In-Service Day

Friday, 10/26: NO SCHOOL, Nevada Day

Thursday, 11/8: P3 Music Performance 9:00am Multipurpose Room

Monday, 11/12: NO SCHOOL, Veteran’s Day

Tuesday, 11/13: NO SCHOOL, Teacher In-Service Day

Thursday, 11/15: Picture Re-take Day; Parent-Child Night: 4:15-5:00 last names A-M & 5:00-5:45 last names N-Z

Thank you!

Primary 3 Team

Dear P3 Families,

Thank you so much for attending conferences! It was great to touch base with everyone regarding the progress of your children, and we look forward to working together to ensure everyone has a successful year. For those that were unable to attend and have not yet scheduled a day to meet, please contact us as soon as possible.

The children have had so much fun learning about community helpers and food groups. Our Kindergarten students even had the opportunity to go to the fire station. We would like to thank our parent volunteers for your time and help to make the trip a success!

We would like to give a special shout out to Justin Isom, a P3 parent in the US armed forces. Thank you so much for reading and talking to the children about your job as a United States soldier! It tied in perfectly with our unit of study, and the children were fascinated! And of course, we thank you for your service!

Another massive thanks to Kaitlyn Tinsley who made tacos with the children and shared a very cute book called “Dragons Love Tacos.” We know your time is valuable and setting a few hours aside to be involved with the children is greatly appreciated!

Jin Kim also did a fun craft which students truly enjoyed. You have no idea how excited the children get when they know a parent is coming to volunteer! Again, thank you for all you do.

For our school wide staff meeting this month, the teachers had an opportunity to watch “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” a documentary about Fred Rogers. If you love documentaries, we highly recommend this to be on your watch list (99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes!).  We had no idea how much thought went into each episode. The shows first aired in the 1960s, and he was a master and pioneer of addressing real life issues that adults tend to shield from their children. He helped children understand war, segregation, death, divorce, and even went back on the air after the 9/11 attach. He made it a point to listen and embrace questions, speak the truth, and ensure it is our jobs as adults to keep them safe. He is truly an inspiration, and we learned so much on how to improve communication with our children.

Your children are hard at work! Please continue to look out for future blogs, as your child may be featured!

Phonetic sound work:

Color matching with the Color Tablets:

Addition and Subtraction:

Practical Life to sharpen fine motor and concentration skills:

Apple Studies:

Congrats on completing the 100 Board independently!

We also had very special birthday circles this month. Thank you for celebrating with us  Sebastian, Maggie and Sarah!

Important Dates:

Tuesday, 10/2: Picture Day

Friday, 10/5: PTO Movie Night

Friday, 10/19: PTO Fall Festival 5-8pm

Wednesday, 10/24: Celebrate America Day, half day dismissal @ 11:15 AM

Thursday, 10/25: NO SCHOOL, Teacher In-Service

Friday, 10/26: NO SCHOOL, Nevada Day

October Studies:

Anatomy, Bones, and the 5 Senses

Vertebrates/Invertebrates

Mammal Studies

The World and 7 Continents

Parts of the Leaf

Pumpkin Studies

If you would like to volunteer to set up our classroom on Tuesday, October 23 for Celebrate America Day, please let any of the teachers know and we will provide you with details. The more hands, the better! P3 will be representing the Southeast region of the USA.

Sincerely,

Primary 3 Team