Archived: Primary 1 Blog 2017-2018
Back To School
Summer Recap: This summer being my 1st summer with Little Acorn Montessori, was the most wonderful experience I have ever had. Getting to know the parents on a one on one basis, learning each child’s individual strengths and weaknesses helped me to know how to go about helping the children and their families so we can work together. Little Acorn Montessori helped the children have an awesome summer. It brought the children closer to each other and new friends to join the Little Acorn family. The outside time as well as water play gave the children to look forward to coming to class expecting to learn something new and meeting new friends. I am very happy to be a part of a team that knows how to help the children grow to their full potential.
September 2017
September Recap: The children have been learning about the 7 continents and have created self-timelines to share and hang up in our classrooms. We have been working in the areas of practical life and sensorial. The children have been practicing adding and subtracting objects. We created apples with worm’s art and colored a human body while learning about the human anatomy. The children have really taken off in computer class. They have setup profiles and avatars for themselves and are familiar with how to use a mouse, monitor and headphones. In art, the children have learned about the artist Paul Jackson Pollock and have enjoyed the drip and movement paintings they have created. 
October 2017
October Recap: The children have been learning about different leafs. They learned about why the leaves change color and why there are so many different shapes. We have been working in the areas of practical life and sensorial. We have been practicing adding and subtracting objects. The knobbed cylinders have helped the children to use their three finger hold which will help them to learn to hold a pencil. They will also learn about bats and their life cycle. The children created a fire safety book that shows what number to call in case of an emergency as well as what they would need to do to protect themselves. We had a wonderful time when the fire department showed up with their fire truck! The children have taken off in the computer class. They have set up profiles and avatars for themselves and are familiar with how to use a moose, monitor, and headphones. In art the children have learned about the artist Paul Jackson Pollock and have enjoyed the drip and movement paintings they have created. In music the children learned about Mozart and how he created many of the classical music at a young age. 
November 2017
November Recap: We have learned about nature, explored feathers of different birds, and continued using our five senses in our lessons. We explored new jobs and started writing our first and last names. The children reviewed their sensorial jobs and used new math materials. We incorporated new exciting songs to our circle time as well. Thank you to all the parents that brought in dishes to share for our Harvest Feast. We had a great Thanksgiving with the children! 
December 2017
December Recap: The month of December we continued to use our 5 senses in our lessons. We have also been discussing courtesy and how to follow directions. We talked about how to be kind to one another and help each other. We are being reminded daily of the classroom and playground rules. The theme for the month of December is exploring the continent of Europe. We have looked at the map of Europe and talked about the countries, learning about the foods, culture, clothing, and animals that you would see if we visited Europe. The class has been practicing how to fold towels and clean the tables after we use them. They continue to work on the food pyramid work and have learned how to use the binomial cube. Many children have already mastered the work! We have also been festive with the holidays in December and have colored frosty the snowman, decorated pine cones in green and sprinkled them with glitter to make it look like a tree with lights. The children had fun creating gingerbread man art. We have learned new words in Spanish class and made candy canes out of fruit in cooking class. The Nutcracker story was listened to in music class. 
January 2018
January Recap: In the month of January, we learned about Arctic Animals. We continue learning about how we use our 5 senses every day. We learn more about rules in class as well as playground. We also learned about Grace and Courtesy. For math time we are learning about adding and subtracting. We are also reviewing place objects with the letter sounds for language arts. During special projects we learn how to make bears, penguins, polar bears, and owls. Parents please have your children bring their special toy for share day on Fridays. Parents I also urge you to please make a fun day by learning how to say sounds of the letters, naming objects as well as counting how many cars or lights they witness on your block or street.
February 2018
February Recap: February has brought a lot of new changes to the Primary 1 classroom. As a new Directress, I have had the opportunity to guide my students and I feel very thankful that I have had lots of support and trust from you parents. We have been learning several things this month. First, we learned about different kinds of turtles and their habitats. From our geography studies, we looked at the continent of Asia and explored bamboo and pandas! We even celebrated Chinese New Year by reading stories learning about the holiday. We incorporated what we have been learning in our daily jobs. The children had fun learning new friendship songs as well as new classroom jobs. We have continued learning about new classroom rules as well as how to properly communicate our dislikes. The children have been working on using their words rather than their hands when they do not like something. Our enrichment classes have been going well. The children get so excited when they talk about what they are doing in their classes. We celebrated Valentine’s Day by decorating our bags and giving and receiving Valentine’s from our classmates. The children had fun indulging in the delicious snacks that were provided for their class party. Thank you to all who shared goodies with us!
March 2018
March Recap: The month of March has brought us spring! Our planting of seeds in our garden is underway. We have learned about different types of flowers and plants and have been exploring the continent of Africa. The class has discussed our change in weather and we have talked more about dinosaurs. New materials have been implemented in our classroom and we have continued to focus a lot on our math and language works. We have had several new friends join us recently and are glad they have started with us. Our new friends have been working on knowing our daily routine. The children have also been participating in group and independent lessons during our work period. We have had lots of fun exploring dinosaur eggs using our icy excavation science experiment. The children also learned about frogs, bees and butterflies as part of our zoology studies. We have also been discussing grace and courtesy and how to follow directions. The class talked about how to appropriately use our hands, use kind words and help each other as well as helping others at home. We are being reminded daily of the classroom rules as well. I feel it is extremely important to keep all classroom rules positive. Our current rules consist of having helping hands, using our listening ears, practicing using our quiet voices, making eye contact when someone is speaking to you, and using our walking feet. Parents, it would be most helpful if you would continue practicing our classroom rules at home. Thank you to all the parents that brought in snacks to share for our St. Patrick’s Day celebration. We had a great time! I would like to give a special welcome to Ms. Iman and Tongmi. Tongmi has recently transitioned from the pre-primary class.
April 2018
April Recap: Spring is an exciting time in the Primary 1 classroom as the children are beginning to blossom and display an unbridled enthusiasm about their developing skills and newfound “superpowers!” Making connections and learning to communicate are truly superpowers that will continue to foster a strong sense of self-worth and confidence in your child. Our class activities have been designed so that your child receives instant feedback as he/she works; allowing your child to recognize, correct, and learn from their mistakes without any adult assistance. Specifically, Montessori sensorial materials are designed to isolate one specific attribute such as color, shape, or size so your child has an opportunity to self-correct and is encouraged to try the work again and again. Our classroom is also designed to encourage independence and challenge your child while providing opportunities for him/her to achieve success on his own. We have also been learning about Spring, our planet earth and how we can recycle to help the environment. We also studied Oceania, farm animals, and the continent of Australia. We explored the parts of a Kangaroo and looked at sunflowers. The life cycle of a chicken was fun to learn, and we even had fun making Rain Clouds for our monthly science project. Our garden has given our class the opportunity to work outside in the beautiful weather. The children have already planted several vegetable seeds such as tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, and watermelon. You are more than welcome to come and visit our garden! Thank you to all the parents that brought in Easter eggs to share for our Easter egg hunt celebration. The kids enjoy it! I would like to give a special welcome to Evan Choi and Lucas Koltunov to our classroom. Both have recently transitioned from the Pre-Primary class. Just a reminder about the importance of eating a healthy breakfast before coming to school. During the week I notice that at times some children can be very sluggish in the mornings and this makes it difficult for them to learn and participate. When I asked what your children were eating for breakfast, it was either very minimal or contained only simple carbohydrates. Please remember a well-balanced breakfast will help your child to thrive at school and have the energy to make it throughout the day. Great ideas are foods containing some color and proteins. Thank you!
May 2018
May Recap: Special thanks to all those who volunteer at Little Acorn Book Fair! We couldn’t do it alone without your help. Also, a big thank you to all the parents that took time to make out Teacher Appreciation Week! so special. Parent Teacher Conferences was a successful information day.
Throughout the month of May the children were actively exploring their environment and most especially the changes that often come with spring. We talked about the weather, temperature shifts, and adjustments to clothing needs. There were many rainy days that dictated that the children could not venture to movement or the playground. It was during these days that the children participated in obstacles courses in the classroom. When the rain did subside, the children took full advantage of going outside.
We also have been learning about rainforest, studied South Africa and the lifecycle of a butterfly was most fun to learn, and we even had real butterflies for our monthly science project. (Big Thank you to Ms. Erika for this wonderful opportunity).
I would like to give a special welcome to Ian W. recently transitioned from the Pre-Primary class. and Talos and his family as new members of Little Acorn Families and to our classroom.
June 2018
June Recap: This month has been an incredible one! Thank you for sharing your most precious gifts, your children, with me. I have seen them grow and blossom as independent individuals. Their enthusiasm for learning has been a constant joy. I have enjoyed working with all of you, as an unbeatable team. Parenting is such an important responsibility. I support you and thank you for all the love, time, and care you put into raising your children. It does make a difference. I see it every day! Thank you again for a great school year!
June has flown by and summer is quickly approaching. We are planning an exciting summer for the children at Primary 1 Classroom that will be uniquely different from the rest of the year. Children are getting out and still planting new summer fruits and vegetables in our garden. We will be spending most of our time with new fun learning and awesome adventures we’ll be having during the months of July and August. Some parents may have anxiety about safety issues and staff members will take steps to allay these concerns. The summer package will indicate all the safety measures, policies and procedures.
Our class had a blast! Learning about California and transportation. “Traveling to California” living in California was a class LEARNING adventure that will be not forget.
We want to congratulate our friends; Jacqueline, Mason and Tyler for moving up to kindergarden.
Reminders to Parents
- Remember to make sure your children have extra clothes in the center.
- Remember we are a nut-free facility, please do not bring any products that contain nuts.
- PLEASE make sure to hand your child off to a staff after you have signed them in. This is to ensure your child’s safety.
- If you bring lunch from home, please make sure to label everything in your child’s lunch, so that no mix ups occur, as well as having something from every food group
