Cinco de Mayo and Mother's Day  

All in the Same Week

We had lots of fun learning about Mexico and it's culture 

and celebrating our Mommies!

Here's all we did, in just one school week!

Designed Festive Sombreros

We used paper plates, paper cups, and pom-poms, 

to make these festive Mexican-style hats.

We had noticed, while reading a book about Mexico, that men in Mariachi bands would wear big-brimmed hats called "Sombreros". At circle, we discussed the location of Mexico on the Earth. We were able to see that Mexico is pretty close to the Equator, and big- brimmed hats are necessary in such a hot climate, to provide shade and protect the skin. 

Now... I am not sure how much protection from the sun our homemade sombreros would give us… but they sure are the cutest little hats I ever did see!

Aren't these best buddies just precious!?

On the 5th day of May (Cinco de Mayo), this little girl wore a dress her grandparents brought back from Mexico. It looked a lot like the "flamenco dancer" dresses we had been reading about and we loved that it was made with the colors of the flag of Mexico!

Speaking of...

We Colored the Flag of Mexico

Using ink pads and our fingertips!

We were happy to show off our Cinco de Mayo crafts after a themed learning circle!

Also at group time this week, we learned how to say more vocabulary words in Spanish and Ms. Lisa and I described some our experiences from our family vacations in Mexico. The children were very eager to hear our tales and very attentive to a short video we watched about rural Mexico- which followed a young girl through a typical day in her life. I was impressed by how much the children recalled of the documentary when I asked questions at the end. They had even noticed things that I hadn't! What observant children!

Ate Foods From Mexico

People of Mexico have a distinct food culture. For morning snack at the beginning of the week, we learned about, and enjoyed, a few signature foods people in Mexico eat.

On day 1, we dipped tortilla chips in guacamole, sour cream, and salsa,

which were arranged in the order of the Mexican flag!

Day 2 we nibbled on sweet green and red pepper, with cream dip.

Also prepared to look like the flag of Mexico!

And on Day 3, we had a "burrito bar", 

where the kids fixed their own burritos for morning snack.

There were tortillas to fill with rice and black beans, 

as well as a variety of toppings like salsa, cheese, cilantro, guacamole, and mango.

All traditional Mexican ingredients!

And Had Homemade Piñata Play

This homemade piñata was super easy to make and was a fun closing activity to the unit on Mexico! All I did to make it was tape strips of tissue paper to a brown paper shopping bag. The bag had handles on it, which made it simple to hang from the ceiling!

The children were arranged from shortest to tallest, to set the order.

And each child took a turn hitting the piñata with a yard stick.

 

We went through the group for 2 whole rotations before I provided a little help by ripping the bottom of the bag a tad (turns out a paper grocery bag is pretty sturdy!). By the end of the 3rd rotation, the children had added to the hole at the bottom, and prizes and stickers were falling to the ground.

The children just love whacking a piñata! They do a tremendous job cheering each other on, and this time, they practiced counting in Spanish for every attempt a classmate made!

Because of these Mexico-themed activities, 

we had a great 5th, 6th, and 7th day of May!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morning With Our Mother's

May 9, 2014

All week, while celebrating Mexico, we were also preparing for a Mother's Day celebration in our classroom. Needless to say it was a very busy week! On Friday before Mother's Day weekend, we invited our mommies in for refreshments and quality time together.

It looked as though everyone enjoyed themselves and I hope the mom's felt special and appreciated, for that was the children's intent for this day!

Here are some snapshots of special moments with the 

Moms of iMontessori School's Primary Class:

Refreshments With Mom

"Muffins for Mom", of course! 

Alongside fruit, cheese & crackers, and fresh-squeezed orange pineapple spritzers.

Giving the Gifts We Made

Tea light candle holders, tissue paper flowers, and bead bracelets… Surprise!

Showing Moms the Work We've Been Doing

And Completing a Handprint Craft Together

What a Marvelous Morning With Our Mommies!

So thankful for you all!

Celebrating Earth Day 

April 22, 2014

We Started the Day Planting a Flower Garden

All of the flowers we planted in this playground garden were donations. In an effort to keep the outdoor playscape lively and an inspiring place to be for the children, parents and staff have brought together a collection of diverse plant life. The staff help the children take care of their landscaping, and in return, the children get the direct exposure to nature and the learning opportunities that come with it.

Building the garden area was a collaborative effort. Each one of the children put in a hand, in one way or other. So it was important to take a moment to recognize their work!

Took a Hard-Earned Snack Break to Eat the Earth

The morning of Earth Day, the "early-bird" children helped prepare these healthy, "earth snacks". We started with a mini (~4 inch) whole wheat pita, and spread a thin layer of blue colored cream cheese on top. The cream cheese "oceans" held the "continents" on perfectly- which were thin slices of broccoli stems. A halved strawberry, with the stem trimmed off, made for a more complete look, while also making it a complete balanced meal including a whole grain, protein, vegetable, fruit, and dairy.

The children have since talked about this snack, so something about it was memorable...

Prepared and Planted a Vegetable and Fruit Garden

After our snack we moved our efforts up to the front of the school where our garden beds lay filled with composted dirt. We had received a donation from the Farmer's Exchange in Rock Hill, of $30 worth of both fruit and vegetable seedlings, and we needed to put them in a more permanent home. 

The first group of students helped create rows of hills to put the plants.

In perfect timing, a parent volunteer arrived to help transplant the crops.

In our garden we planted a variety of food-barring plants including: corn, summer squash, zucchini, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers. tomatoes, strawberries, and snap peas. Myself and the children have been watering these plants everyday and they get a lot of sun, so we have already seen growth. 

We are excited to see how they continue to grow in the summer!

Last year Rock Hill received a lot of rain which helped to nourish  the watermelon and pumpkins we grew. This year we may need to rely more on the water hose. So if you notice the soil is dry and the plants are looking thirsty, please take a moment to give them a drink. If we all do a little to nurture our gardens, they will thrive even more!

We Stopped to Blow Dandelion Wishes...

Isn't Earth Day, after all, meant to celebrate the natural things of this earth?!

… And to Communicate With a Caterpillar...

The children can't help but be fascinated by the insects we come across. Once we observed this little caterpillars characteristics, we looked it up on my phone to find the name. Our research showed that this new friend was a Forest Tent Caterpillar Moth. We took turns holding it before releasing it safely beside the earth rock in the front driveway of our school. What a fun Earth Day find!

… All on the Way to Meet Four Baby Chicks

(Sunshine, Rainy, Snowy, and Stormy)

The Parent Volunteer who joined us this Earth Day also arranged to bring young chickens for us to meet. The children took turns petting them, while their classmate along with her mother told us about the individual personalities. 

**These chickens will eventually lay eggs. And this kind family has already offered to share some of those eggs with the children of iMontessori School for snack time. They will lay eggs of varying colors and sizes, so it is always interesting when we get these super fresh eggs.

Of Course We Referenced Literature

This library book titled Earth Day, was helpful in expanding our awareness of world pollution effects and gave us suggestions on how we can conserve, reuse, recycle. During group time, we set new individual goals for taking care of the earth. A few more books we read throughout the week helped reconfirm the "green" actions we had been making all year- like separating food matter for composting, and reusing or recycling paper, plastic, and aluminum, making us feel happy for the productive habits we had formed.

Ate a Tree

Just three ingredients made up this snack: broccoli florets, pretzel sticks, and spreadable cheese. It was simple to arrange this self-serving snack and the children got to pay respects to the trees as we refueled our bodies to do more Earth loving things.

And Engineered a Robot Out of Recyclables!

This week-long 3D project was probably a favorite for the children. At the mere mention of a "robot" the class began talking with excitement. They eagerly surveyed the recycled materials I had brought in and began communicating ideas on how they were going to create the robot. Over a few sessions of work, the class successfully created a self-standing, recycled robot.

It is absolutely incredible how the children worked together, supported each others ideas, and executed a plan. Sure I helped by overseeing the construction technicalities but the children were the real creative geniuses on this.

I am pleased to introduce our class robot, April! 

She was named by a student who just happened to start each morning that week, writing the date on a piece of paper. Once she noticed that the robot was being decorated one morning, she donated her writing sample, and glued the word "April" to the forehead of the robot. That child, along with others, arranged bottle caps and cardboard chunks for the rest of her features. April is a true masterpiece and I just love that she was named so naturally!

April stands in the school lobby to welcome everyone in the morning! And to say farewell!

She also serves as a reminder of what cooperative efforts can achieve, even with really young children. This was such a fulfilling Earth Day activity, that I am certain has just planted the seeds for more ingenuity in the future!

It Was a Very Happy Earth Day!