Notes

We are bringing our March study of the Solar System to a close, but during April we will focus on one particular planet, the Earth, our “perfect planet” and the only one that supports life. The first part of this thematic unit focuses on the earth which is composed of land, air, and water. We will be learning about the landforms (continents) and bodies of water that make up our planet as well as the air that surrounds us. We will bring in a basket of small objects to be classified under the headings of those that are part of the land, the air or the water, and some that can be placed under more than one area. We will also be classifying land, air and water pictures. These exercises will be on our Language shelves.

Also in Language and on circle, we will be looking at our Montessori globes as well as the Montessori world maps so that we can identify not only our own continent of North America, but the other 6 as well. Each continent has its own color which corresponds to the colors on the Montessori globes and maps. Our large cloth maps illustrate on a flat surface the location of the continents as well as the major bodies of water surrounding them. There will be some discussion about the characteristic of each of these seven land masses including the geography, climate and products which come from each. Also we will discuss the importance of taking care of the land, air and water that make up our own continent. But the most fun for the children is the study of continent animals. On the large cloth maps the children will be placing the animals, true to life in color and shape, on to each of the continents where those animals reside. The animals will be in colored baskets which correspond to the continent colors on our maps.

In Practical Life in coordination with our study of the continents, we will show continent tweezing where the children take colored beads and tweeze them on to the shapes of each continent, again, color coded to our

maps. Coming into the Practical Life shelves will be the very old but very popular exercise of coffee grinding. We will use old-fashioned grinders with a hand crank which we purchased many years ago at, of all places, Anthropologie. It is a great exercise to strengthen eye-hand coordination and of course fine motor skills. We are continuing silver and shoe polishing. Sensorial now includes more geometric solids work as we have introduce ovoids, ellipsoids and rectangular and triangular prisms. With so many solids in our baskets now, the geometric solids guessing game has become more challenging. We place all of the 8 solids on a mat, and the children close their eyes whiles the teacher removes one. They then have to guess which one was taken. Once we have played a few times, the children take turns being the teacher (the one who removes a solid) and he or she removes one while his or her classmates guess which one was removed.

As April progresses and more and more of nature comes to life, we will be observing the changes that spring brings, and we will create at the art table the flowers and bushes that we have planted and now can observe around school. We have already made pussy willows, crocuses and daffodils, and no doubt this month we will be adding, as they bloom, hyacinths, cherry blossoms, “shy” violets, tulips and rhododendrons to our spring art projects. And of course, the robin has returned. Many of the children have shown real excitement as they tell us about seeing robins in their yards or the parks, and also around school. We are also hearing many more bird songs as we walk outside, more proof that spring is finally here.

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of

strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is symbolic as

well as actual beauty in the migration of the bird, the ebb and flow of

tides, the folded bud ready for spring. There is something infinitely

healing in the repeated refrains of nature - the assurance that

dawn comes after night and spring after winter.”

The Sense of Wonder.

Rachel Carson. Harper Collins