March–I | Cedar

Hello families, it was great to talk with you in person during the conferences last week. It’s always great to share our experiences and celebrate your child’s growth which mutually brings encouragement and hope to us as educators and pride as a parent. The following are the themes we focused on.

Europe

Thanks to parents for supporting our study of the continent of Europe—the red continent in the Montessori map. We reinforce the fact that there are many countries in a continent with different people speaking different languages and having their own unique cultures based on their environments and their needs. With that said, we appreciate and respect the differences and uniqueness that they brought to the world.

Germany

Michael and Vanessa, Alana’s parents gave us a presentation on Germany. We learned that the German flag is black, red, and gold, what the traditional clothing boys and girls wear during the May dance or the Harvest festivals look like, and that the Disneyland Sleeping Beauty castle was originally modeled after Neuschwanstein castle in Germany. There are many famous things made in and even originated in Germany like some brands of cars, (wooden) toys, and model trains. We also learned some interesting rules about eating Veal sausage: eat before noon, eat two, eat with your hands, and eat with pretzels and sweet mustard. In Germany, it’s very important when children attend first grade. Parents will prepare a big corn-shaped container filled with school supplies and treats. Through the fairy tale “The race between Hare and the hedgehog”, we learned hedgehogs represent intelligence in Germany. We smelled and tasted warm pretzels and all got to take a bag of gummy bear home.

Sweden

Amy, John’s mom talked about her heritage in Sweden. We learned that half of the country is forest, and people love recycling and composting; they also buy garbage from the UK and Norway to recycle and compost. They have an ice-made hotel in the northern region. She also told us about Tomte, an ancestral spirit that takes the form of a gnome. When he is taken care of by being kind to him and feeding him oatmeal then he takes care of the home, children, and animals. However, if you do not take care of him then he might do some tricks. Amy then introduced the colorful painted wood-carved Dala horse. We also learned some Swedish words, for example, Fika means coffee and is typically served with sweet treats like cookies. Finally, we decorated our own Dala horses with markers and glitter.

Switzerland

Berni, Nicolas’s dad introduced his heritage–Switzerland. We learned that the national flag displays a white cross in the center of a square red field. With many mountains around, Switzerland has many tunnels made for trains to go through rather than all the way around. The trains can sometimes be 100 carts long, and some trains even have play structures for kids to play in for the long trip. In the wintertime, people like to go skiing and in summer it is fun for swimming. Switzerland is famous for its swiss watches, (milk)chocolate, and cheese. The cow is an integral part of the Swiss landscape. We are so fascinated by the cowbells and that their ringing helps the farmer track their cows in the vast mountain ranges and fields. We smelled and tasted Swiss cheese, and we all got to take a small cowbell home!

Amphibians

We studied amphibians, their characteristics, and the animals in that group. We learned about the caecilian, a legless amphibian, and were amazed by their sharp teeth. We looked at the life cycle of a frog and how it grew from a tadpole into an adult frog. We compared the differences between frogs and toads. For example, a frog’s eggs are always in clusters, and a toad’s eggs are connected like a chain. There were amphibian-related activities throughout the classroom like frog puzzles and interactive frog and toad habitats. The children also role-played as either Frog or Toad, based on stories from a book.