Montessori Cultural Studies at Media Children's House
Posted by: MCH |
On Monday, January 23rd, the students celebrated the Chinese New Year which is the most important traditional holiday among the Chinese people. Learning about geography and culture is an important part of the Montessori curriculum, and we were excited to celebrate the Year of the Dragon! The children listened to a story and were shown items from the Chinese culture that included a Chinese lantern, tea set and a Chinese fan. We also learned that this holiday lasts 15 days. Since food is a very important to New Year's celebrations, everyone enjoyed sampling snacks that can be found in China. We wish we could eat with chop sticks every day!
Kindergarten Research at Media Children's House Montessori
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Did you know that the most important components of most parrots' diets are seeds, nuts, fruit, buds and other plant material? Riley, from the Sunflower Room, recently learned this while doing some research. She and the other Kindergarten students each chose a topic that interested them and conducted research with books or the computer. Once Riley decided she was going to research parrots, she wrote several facts about them and gathered pictures to put on a poster board. This is an activity that our Kindergarten students look forward to each year at Media Children’s House. Doing research allows a child to discover more about an specific topic and be creative in showing the facts they learned.
The Montessori Method in Action!
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It's almost 2012, and if you have a child in the young community or primary classroom, chances are they've worked with the Broad Stair or Pink Tower at some point over the last few months. Most parents have heard of these two common Montessori materials, but do you know what they are for?
The Broad Stair, sometimes referred to as the Brown Stair, is designed to teach the concepts of "thick" and "thin". It consists of ten brown wooden prisms. Each stair is 20 cm in length and varies in thickness from 1 to 10 cm. Traditionally, the child begins with the largest prism and places the next largest prism just next to it, until he completes the stair. These prisms can also be used alone or combined with the Pink Tower to make a tall structure. The Broad Stair helps enhance a child's coordination, fine motor skills, early math skills and sense of dimension.
Now that you know a little bit about the Broad Stair, let's move onto the Pink Tower which has ten pink cubes ranging from 1x1x1 cm to 10x10x10 cm. Creating structures with the Pink Tower prepares the child for mathematical concepts in the decimal system, geometry and volume. It also helps them learn the difference between "big" and "small". A child can start with the largest cube and place the second-largest cube on top of it. This continues until all ten cubes are stacked on top of each other. This is the most traditional way to use the pink tower, but, when combining the Pink Tower with the Broad Stair, children are only limited by their imagination.
According to Deb at Living Montessori Now, "If you have one or more of the traditional Montessori sensorial materials, you undoubtedly want to encourage the best possible use of the material. Extensions can create more interest as well as add a new level of difficulty for your child or students who need a more advanced activity."
We encourage all parents and caregivers to come into their child's classroom during work-time to see how traditional Montessori materials are used. Mark your calender now and give yourself a reminder to visit the classroom in 2012. Come and experience the Montessori method in action!
Media Children's House Montessori & The Week of Kindness
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Botany In the Montessori Classroom
Posted by: MCH |
Over the course of the year, the first, second and third grade students have been studying plants. Our studies included learning about the specific parts of the plants such as the root, stem, leaves and flowers as well as seeds and fruits. We made booklets, planted bean seeds, drew pictures of plants, dissected plants, and learned about our relationship with plants. We also explored staple foods: rice, flour and oats. The children made a list of foods that we eat using staple foods and then we enjoyed trying some of them in our classroom. Ms. Kim made everyone pancakes, and the students tasted oatmeal cookies after baking them. We tried rice with different herbs and spices. We also ate fruit and planted the seeds. Now, we are investigating forestry and logging, and discussing how plants can be used to dye white fabric. We will pick up on botany again in the spring when we plant bulbs and take care of a garden. In the words of Maria Montessori “The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the Earth.”Let's Make A Difference With The One Warm Coat Project!
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Do you have an extra coat in your closet?
The need has never been greater and it’s never been easier to make a difference in your community. Here is your opportunity to make sure that nobody goes without such a basic necessity as a coat this winter. Now through December 9th, Media Children's House will be collecting coats as part of the One Warm Coat community service project. Coats of all shapes sizes are welcome. One Warm Coat is dedicated to distributing reusable coats, free of charge, directly to local children and adults. The program is an easy way for you and your family to pass along coats and jackets that you no longer need.
Media Children's House has made donating a coat simple. Just bring us your clean, gently used coats and jackets to 3301 Concord Road in Aston, PA (across from the Aston Community Center) from 8:00 am to 5pm. Then, Media Children's House will take care of the rest. All donated coats will be given to the UAME shelter in Chester, PA for distribution to local people in need.
"More people than ever need help these days. I am proud of the thousands of coat drive organizers whose creativity and generosity of spirit are making a real difference in their own communities.” commented Sherri Wood, President and National Coordinator for One Warm Coat.
MCH is proud to partner with One Warm Coat, a national non-profit organization that supports and encourages coat drives. It helps individuals, groups, companies and organizations across the country collect coats and deliver them to local agencies that distribute the coats free to people in need. More than one million coats have been provided to those in need at no cost since its inception in 1992. Everyone at MCH is excited for this opportunity to teach our children what the holiday spirit is all about!
Montessori Land and Water Forms
Posted by: MCH |
Two if by land and two if by sea
Tulips, Sunflowers and Roses travel with me,
Strait to the lake through isthmus we take,
On to the next, will we get wet? I bet,
As we feel the sand through our toes,
On the island of geo’s.
The students are learning about land and water forms in geography. This week we explored: lake, island, strait and isthmus. Ms. Tina (Tulip Room)
Montessori Toddler Craft: Gourd Painting
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The children in our Young Community enjoyed exploring the unique shapes and colors of gourds. For the first part of this lesson, the Roses practiced sharing by passing the gourds around to their friends. Once the teacher cut the gourd in half, the children used their senses to explore the inside of the gourd. After everyone had an opportunity to see, smell, and touch the gourds, it was time for art! The children held on to the top half of the gourd, dipped it in paint and created colorful prints on paper. It was a fun way to create one-of-a-kind art and get into the spirit of autumn!MOMS Club of Media Preschool Fair at Indian Lane
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Representatives from Media Children's House Montessori School attended the Preschool Fair hosted by MOMS Club of Media on Wednesday, November 9th at Indian Lane Elementary School. Victoria Eschbach-Whitby states, "This fair is a wonderful opportunity to introduce Montessori to parents." Montessori education is often referred to as the ‘best kept secret in town', but Victoria would like to see that perspective change and encourage parents to visit a Montessori school. We find that parents are very impressed when they see the classroom in action. The calm but busy atmosphere of mixed-aged groups and independent learning encourages each child to follows his/her interest. Coming in and observing a Montessori classroom is the best way to begin to understand it. Schedule a tour and see it for yourself!
Charlie Brown Halloween Rock Painting
Posted by: MCH |
The children of MCH had a wonderful time celebrating Halloween Charlie Brown style. They read the book and watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." In the story, Linus writes his annual letter to The Great Pumpkin and the Peanuts gang prepare for Halloween. When Charlie and his friends go trick-or-treating, Charlie always receives a rock. To represent this part of the story, the children painted rocks into jack-o-lanterns or ghosts. Each rock looked great when they were finished. Now, just like Charlie Brown, each child can say, "I got a rock!"
Rose Room and "The Leaf Man"
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The young community students have engaged in a creative fall unit based on the book, Leaf Man, by Lois Ehlert. This book introduces the children to different colorful types of leaves on the inside cover. Then, from the very first sentence of this book, the students begin their journey with the leaf man, a colorful man made of leaves. Throughout this delightful story, the wind carries the leaf man through the country. Every page is a new adventure where animals and other creatures come to life as leaves to form interesting characters. After reading this story, the students went on a leaf hunt for colorful leaves to make a beautiful art project together as a community. A leaf man of their own will be proudly displayed on the classroom door. Have you seen our leaf man yet?Sunflower Room Flag
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The Sunflower, Tulip and Rose Rooms have been working hard to create their classroom flags. Just like every child is unique, so is every hand-print. The children enjoyed having their hands traced on the flag and decorating them which encouraged a sense of individualism. Together, all of the hand prints frame a sun. Combining the individual hand prints of each child to form one flag provides a visual example of how we all come together to create a community. Next time you're at Media Children's House, please take moment to look at our one-of-a-kind flags that will be displayed in our classrooms for the rest of the year.
Daisy Room Visits Local Wildlife Refuge
Posted by: MCH |
The 4th and 5th year students started the school year off with the study of Zoology. We were lucky to take this lesson outdoors to our local wildlife refuge at Tinicum where we could examine the habitats of animals. One of the best features of the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge is that it is home to so many discrete habitats. The refuge was also a great place to explore the varied flora and fauna associated with each habitat. The students had the chance to see white tailed deer, cardinals, blackbirds, a heron, turtles, snakes, and much more! With the use of binoculars we were fascinated and intrigued watching these local animals live in their natural environment. Ironically, we were also able to tie in our U.S. history lessons because the Lenape tribe was the first to inhabit the land we were exploring. Who knew? In our own backyard is such a wealth of information.
Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year at Media Children's House
Posted by: MCH |
A new school year presents opportunities for various beginnings – new classrooms, new students and new lessons. After a long summer, it's always nice to see so many children transition back into the classroom so seamlessly and start reconnecting with their friends. Whether your child is rediscovering their classroom or seeing everything from a fresh perspective, we will make sure everyone feels welcome and safe at MCH. We are ready for this journey with your children, and are eagerly looking forward to the months ahead.
We're excited to begin another year using MontessoriBuddy. Through MontessoriBuddy you will gain access to calenders, reports on your child's progress, photographs of your children during the day and much more. Not only is this a great way of 'greening' our Montessori by using less paper, but it also helps to keep the lines of communication open between home and school which is very important to us.
Back-to-school night is also something we're looking forward to. This will provide the children with an opportunity to bring in their family to school and show off all of the wonderful things they do during the day at school. This is also a time for you to learn all that your child will experience in their Montessori Classrooms. You will have a chance to meet other MCH families, your children's friends, and enjoy a delicious ice-cream sundae.
Thank you in advance for everything you do to contribute to the success of our school. Your children deserve the best and we hope to have a wonderful school year!
Pouring in the Primary Classroom
Posted by: MCH |
The children in our primary program love working in our Practical Life Area. One of their favorite activities in this area is pouring. When giving a lesson on pouring, the directress will take the pitcher on the left side of the tray and pour the water into the pitcher on the right side of the tray. Then she will turn the tray around and start again. When she is finished, she will take the cloth located on the tray and clean up any spills. This activity reinforces fine motor skills, teaches left to right progression, and aids in the development of focus and concentration. It also teaches children the importance of cleaning up after themselves.
April Fools!
Posted by: MCH |
The staff and students of Media Children's House love to celebrate April Fools Day. Whether we’re serving mashed potatoes that look like ice cream or white chocolate “devilled eggs,” our students are always excited to try our April Fools Day snack. This year we served cake made to look like a deep-dish pizza. This seemed appropriate, as today was a pizza lunch day. The children loved our “pizza” and thoroughly enjoyed our April Fools joke.
Sensorial Snail
Posted by: MCH |
Your children have probably mentioned some of our sensorial works when telling you about their day. Perhaps they’ve talked about our smelling bottles, baric tablets, sound cylinders, brown stair, or pink tower - just to name a few. These classic Montessori materials adorn the shelves in the sensorial area of our primary classrooms. The children in our Sunflower Room especially enjoy working with these materials and their extensions. They often combine our sensorial materials to create new structures and interesting images like this sensorial snail.
Geography in the Primary Classrooms!
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Our students love Geography! You will often find them working on our large puzzle maps or researching foreign countries. After our students have mastered our puzzle maps they move on to map tracing. Ben, one of our kindergarten students, traced and colored the map of South America. After completing his map, Ben conducted research on Guyana, the third smallest country in South America.
Pythagorean Theorem
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The Pythagorean theorem: What's that you ask? Well, just ask our 5th year students in the Daisy Room! For several weeks these students have been studying the life and theories of the famous Greek thinker Pythagoras. Pythagoras developed new ideas in a wide range of subjects including music, astronomy, and mathematics. Pythagoras' name has been given to a theorem about right triangles. You may want to sit down for this one. The Pythagorean theorem states that the square of the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other sides. Our 5th year students had a great time learning about Pythagoras and the theorem that bears his name.
Welcome to MCH!
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Media Children's House Montessori School is pleased to welcome Ms. Holly to the MCH community. Ms. Holly is a 2004 graduate of Penn State University where she earned her degree in Human Development & Family Studies. She has 10 years of experience working with children 6 weeks through 4 years of age. Ms. Holly will be working alongside Ms. Sandy in our Young Community classroom. Please be sure to introduce yourself!
Thanksgiving Feast
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This year’s Media Children's House Thanksgiving feast was a huge success. All of our students gathered together in our Tulip Classroom to dine on turkey or vegetable soup, corn bread with homemade butter, popcorn, and pumpkin pudding. They also made a Thanksgiving craft and shared what they are thankful for with their friends and teachers. A special thanks to all of our parent volunteers who came out to help us on this very special day! We couldn’t have done it without you!
Fall Festival
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The staff and students of Media Children's House Montessori School had a "falltastic" time at this year’s Fall Festival. The children had the opportunity to make their very own pumpkin patch, create and eat a special creamsicle treat, and play lots of fun fall games. The fun however, did not stop there. They also got to dig through pumpkin goop, pick out the seeds to roast them, and then carved the pumpkin to make a Jack ‘O Lantern for their classroom. We had a great day!
Be sure to log in to your MontessoriBuddy.com account to see some great pictures of our adventures!
Thank You for Attending Back to School Night!
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Thank you to all who attended this year’s Back to School Night. It was a huge success! The children were so excited to have you visit their classrooms and for the opportunity to show you their favorite work! We hope you had a wonderful time and that you have a better understanding of what your child does while he/she is at school. We would also like to thank Rob and Anita Amos for taking the time to give a presentation to all of our Back to School Night attendees on our new and improved parent website. We are extremely excited for the launch of this new site!
Aston Community Day & Parade
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Thank you to all of our families that came out to support us at the Aston Community Day and Parade. The weather was perfect, the games were fun, and the crowd was great! We couldn’t have asked for a better turn out! We hope you had as much fun as we did!