Can you believe it’s spring time already?  It’s amazing how quickly this year is flying by.

At this time of year, Primary 3 is frequently quite involved in planning for our school’s International Night – and this year, our classroom will be North America.  On Friday, May 19th, our school will close at noon, while staff and parent volunteers transform the school and its classrooms into the continents of our Earth.

A highlight of this event is the International food court, held in the gym.  All the food is provided by our parents, the greatest participants of our international community.  You can sign up to provide a dish to share at Ivolunteer, on our school’s web page.

Stay tuned for more information on how you can help the school at this much-anticipated event.

Counting

We all count, whether it’s out loud while we count the number of train cars passing us, or silently, alongside our child while he chooses two socks from the drawer.  Counting becomes the rhythm of our daily lives.  Children love to count out loud, even before they learn what the actual numbers mean.

In these early years the beginning focus for children is on quantity – and as they count, they gradually begin to associate a written symbol to that number.  In the Montessori classroom, we start with the number rods, long rods with alternating red and blue spaces.  By touching each color and saying a number that corresponds, we begin with the concept of numerical values.

After lessons with the number rods, we work with what the numbers actually look like, beginning with sandpaper styled numbers (a 3-dimensional demonstration of how the number is shaped) that allow children to trace the shapes of the numbers.  Children are encouraged to draw on the chalkboard, replicating the shape of numbers, or using pencils to trace numbers on paper.

In later exploration of numbers, children will begin to identify the number with items in the classroom.  The child would put the sandpaper number on a rug, and then search the classroom for items to correspond.  For example, if the number is “3,” the child will search the room for 3 like objects (pencils or color tablets) and put those on the rug next to the sandpaper number.  This is a concrete example of what “3” actually is and what it represents.  This is just the beginning of the amazing breadth of the Montessori math materials.

I wanted to thank all of you who came in to meet with me during conferences.  It is always such a pleasure to hear and share stories about your children, and learn more about each of our goals for their future in the environment.  It’s a privilege and honor to work with your children and enjoy their growth and development as they expand their interests.  Thank you for your support.

We hope you enjoyed your spring break, as we recharge and prepare for a wonderful spring with more sunshine and lessons about our earth and the natural growing seasons of mid-Michigan.

Peace,

Trish