“I” is for igloos and islands

We are a third into the alphabet already! In the spirit of our sound study and architecture unit, the children enjoyed an igloo making project. First, they watched a short video to see the process of building a real igloo. Then, we pretended the paper was ice that we were sawing into ice blocks. After cutting several squares out, the children glued them onto a semi circle to create an igloo shape.

We kicked off our land and water forms unit wich is part of the Montessori geography curriculum. Our first series was islands and lakes. The children get to experience the land and water forms in a sensorial way with blue water, plastic models, and miniature land and water creatures. An extension is making their own island and lake using sand and blue liquid water color paint. The children engaged in a lesson about land and water on Earth and learned two versions of The Continents Song.

STEM activities

To inspire our little builders in Mariposa, we have been introducing a variety of STEM activities. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. They were invited to build structures and vehicles using clothes pins and popsicle sticks. We also have magnetic blocks, natural wood pieces, marble runs, and more for them to explore. Another exciting work this week was a lego challenge where the children were invited to build three bridges for a lego dog to cross over a blue lego river. It is always exciting to watch them brainstorm, problem-solve, and collaborate!

Special Guest Brett Foxwell (Walker’s Dad)

We had special visitor today in Mariposa! Brett, Walker’s Dad, spent time talking to us about animation. The children got to help make two animation videos. One was made using a series of leaves from green to brown making it look as if the leaves were changing colors in the video. The other was made using a metal puppet with joints. The children took turns slightly moving the puppet to make what looked like a moving robot. We had fun learning about something new!

Miscellaneous Fun

Our architecture studio is frequently visited for tracing buildings and creating complex structures. A new math material that several children are participating in is the one hundred board. It takes patience, focus, attention to detail, and organization. We also have a scale where the children can explore the weight of different objects. In literacy, we have been using puzzles with simple phonetic words and a movable alphabet used for building words.

In small groups the week, we read If I Built a House. Each child made a tape release chalk pastel picture. There were treehouses, skyscrapers, and basic pitch roofed homes.