Our Own Two Hands

Hello, families!

There were so many things to be proud of last week! First, I would like to say thanks to our wonderful parent volunteers again. They were at Suder for 3 days, working with our children on the soiree art. They were teasing me for choosing the "hardest" project but I know they enjoyed it. =) One parent told me that she is thankful that her child gets to experience different activities. Yay! Check out our batik tapestry. With the parents help, we were able to create not one, but two works of art! If you are interested in learning the batik technique, click this link.

Last Wednesday, the Magnet Schools of America came to Suder to observe what we do. They came to Room 101 between 10:00-11:00. I could not be any prouder of our children! Most of them were very engaged and ready to show their work to the teachers. Some of our students offered coffee and tea, while some engaged in conversations about their works. Room 101 did a phenomenal job showcasing the Montessori approach and our classroom community. 

Welcome to Room 101!

Zoe served coffee and tea to our teacher visitors.

Kindergarteners working on persuasive writing.

Sophia R. had her petition signed by teachers. No texting while driving!!!

Daniel and Natalie sought out signatures for their petitions as well.

Natalie: "Yeah! Teamwork!"

Amelia used a puppet from Mexico and a doll from Bahamas to engage in play. (North America Artifact box)

Digger ate her treats at the Gathering Place.

Moonlight says hi!  =)

Noah is so proud of his flower arranging skills.

Building structures with the Pink Cubes and Brown Prism.

Daniel and Cameron worked on static addition using the Stamp Game.

I introduced game boards for kindergarteners to choose from  after their work plan completion.

The last thing I want to share with you is something that organically happened during our transition to the Gathering Place (group time) from work time. During this transition, I usually start the invitation to gather with the lights off, ringing of the chime and playing music that connects to the ideas of family, community and love. I can share with you the list of songs if you are interested. Thursday, I played Jack Johnson's "My Own Two Hands" from the album "Jack Johnson and Friends (Curious George). The students were singing the song because they've learned the lyrics. As they were singing, I paused the song and asked them what they thought the song meant. Our discussion revolved around helping, loving and making choices to use our OWN hands to do good. It was such a special experience because as I played the song again, the children started hugging and holding hands. Some stood up to give me hugs, too. It was perfect! (I tried to document it with pictures and videos but decided to just enjoy the moment.)

Here is the song. I hope you can ask your child what it means to him/her.

"You're never to important to be nice to people."  -John Batiste