All about me
In this wonderful setting, this first term, we worked on the theme “All about me”.
In the forest, in the classroom, through new experiences, every day, they develop their knowledge and learn to get to know each other and to live in a community together.
In the classroom, the children had the opportunity to dress up and become any character they wanted to be.
CRAFTS
During this term and throughout the year, the children touch different materials, create shapes, objects and animals according to the themes addressed and also develop their imagination as well as their fine motor skills.
Throughout this term, we’ve talked about who we are, what makes us unique, the different parts of our bodies. We made lungs out of balloons and straws and worked on how to brush our teeth properly.
We also talked about our feelings through role play and what we like best…
Through painting, drawing, chalk work, using natural elements such as painting with leaves and apples, the modelling clay that we created in class, the children used their imagination and created characters in the image of themselves.
Then we talked about the theme of houses. We built our own houses out of lego, painted a house in the forest, designed a house out of chalk, and created a house out of paper using the different shapes provided. Then we created houses in the forest. The children very much enjoyed these activities.
Finally, the children created cards and bracelets for their friends.
The kids also created beautiful snails with clay and deers with wood and chestnuts.
PRATICAL LIFE
Practical Life is a key component of the Montessori educational approach. It involves providing children with hands-on, real-life experiences that contribute to the development of physical, intellectual, and social skills.
During this term, we focused on skills related to self-care, such as dressing , brushing teeth and toileting.
And care of the environment such as cleaning and composting – as part as of the school’s Eco project .
And social skills such as cutting apples for snack and cooking and co-operating with others.
These activities help children develop their independence, coordination and fine motor skills. Along with concentration and a sense of responsibility. In repeating the same gestures children reinforce their self-confidence and acquire the necessary maturity related to their age and growth.
SENSORIAL
Sensorial life refers to our ability to experience and interpret sensory stimuli from the world around us. We focused on using our senses. These senses include sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. Our brain processes this sensory information and enables us to perceive, understand and respond to our environment. Sensorial life is crucial for our survival and helps us communicate, learn and connect with others. It is constantly evolving as we interact with the world, and can be enhanced or impaired by various factors such as genetics, environment and experience.
This was provided through a number of our activities related to the theme All About Me such as feeling the different parts of our bodies, walking on chestnuts, tasting and smelling many different flavours and looking and listening to birds.
FINE MOTRICITY
In order to develop and work on children’s motor skills, we have, among other things, made a lot of use of scissors and carried out various cutting sessions.
LITERACY/PHONICS AND WRITING
This term we have developed our knowledege and understanding of phonics.
We have explored a range of new letters and sounds through actions, songs, story telling and games.
Jolly Phonics phase 1 introduces the sounds s, a, t, i, p and n. We have learned these sounds whilst using different objects in the classroom and in the forest to represent these different sounds.
Through the introduction pf these sounds, children begin to use their knowledge of letter sounds to blend and segment words and listen more carrefuly in sounds that compose the words.
The children also began to write their names, the date and the sounds learned in class, using the sand to trace the letters in, the playdoh, the chalk, and even natural resources from the forest.
We are also focusing on spoken language thanks to our discussions during circle time about different subjects such as talking about their weekend, the books we are reading in class and putting the stories into the correct order.
NUMERACY
Regarding numeracy, we work each day on a different matter such as counting from 1 up to the current date, working on bigger than, smaller than, identifying different shapes and beginning to introduce the notion of addition.
Numbers and counting
Bigger than/Smaller than….
Shapes
Writing numbers
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
As the weather was so warm, we had the chance to spend a lot of time outside playing with water. This gave us an opportunity to expand our learning about different matter, especially liquid matter. We were able to compare liquid matter to solid matter and we also experimented by pouring water!
FOREST ACTIVITIES
Since the beginning of this term, the children have explored the forest and have become more comfortable and creative when playing with all of the forest materials at their disposal.
They also have gained more confidence when it comes to climbing and balancing on trees and tree trunks.
BALANCING
CLIMBING/ BALANCING
CYCLING
JUMPING INTO PUDDLES
LOOKING FOR INSECTS
COLLECTING MATERIALS FROM THE FOREST FOR ART ACTIVITIES
MUSIC
During this term, we practiced singing and playing instruments.
JUMPING OVER THE ELASTIC
SWIMMING
The children enjoyed their swimming lessons very much. They played different games with the teacher, used the water slide and it was evident that they had a lot of fun in the water in general. The teacher challenged them with new exercises and they showed a lot of progress over the last few weeks. The students were confidently jumping into the water and swimming on their backs without floating devices.
SPECIAL DAYS
Painters
During this term we learned every Wednesday about the painters Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso. We learned about the lives of these painters as well as their works. The children used different processes to reproduce the works of the painters. And the notion of Impressionism was introduced.
Claude Monet and trip to the Museum de la Grenouillère in Croissy sur Seine
Vincent Van Gogh
Pablo Picasso
Park
During this first term, we organised an outing to the nearby park.
After a short walk, the children were delighted to discover the small watercourse that runs along the park. Then they were able to enjoy playing in the park.
What a beautiful morning 🙂
SCHOOL’S WATER PROJECT
The school’s water project brings the whole school together. For example, we talked about the water cycle, reviewed the differences between liquid and solid, and discussed the water treatment process.
We created sensory water bottles, studied the path of water through pipes, made bubbles thanks to straws and shared fabulous experiences with the other classes.
I hope you enjoy this page describing your children’s activities throughout this first term, which we had the pleasure of sharing together.
Have a nice holiday!
Dina
French with Marie
Durant cette première période de l’année, nous avons principalement lu 6 albums de jeunesse (en lien avec la rentrée des classes, les couleurs, l’automne…) :
De ces ouvrages, ont découlé différentes activités qui ont permis l’exploitation de ces histoires. Nous avons donné du sens à l’apprentissage, une façon plus ludique et une approche plus concrète.
A chaque début de semaine, vos enfants ont appris et chanté une nouvelle chanson (8 semaines = 8 chansons) :
C’est la rentrée, Un jour dans sa cabane, Colchiques dans les prés, Si tu as d’la joie au coeur, Ani couni chaouani, Jean petit qui danse, Pomme de reinette et pomme d’api, La maison citrouille
Les objectifs de cette période ont été de :
– se familiariser avec la langue française
– construire des phrases simples mais correctes
– oser s’exprimer en petit groupe
– tracer le bonhomme de chaque mois
– reconnaître et nommer les couleurs (rouge, bleu, jaune, vert, noir, blanc, orange, rose…)
– apprendre la lettre A et la lettre I
– reconnaître son prénom (et savoir l’écrire pour certains enfants)
– apprendre les nombres 1 et 2 (savoir dénombrer une collection)
– reconnaître de petits mots
– réaliser des activités de graphisme
– comprendre les albums lus en classe
– participer à des projets artistiques
– sortir en forêt
– semaine du goût
French Topic with Marie
The theme for this period is “Houses Around the World.” We explored and studied the various styles of houses across the planet, as well as the materials used in their construction. The children learned the difference between a house and a building, and they also learned the vocabulary associated with a house, including its rooms and the objects or furniture that make up a home. We’ve read these books:
They played the bingo themed house
They learned two songs: “Ma maisonnette” and “Ma maison monde” d’Aldebert.
Finally, they constructed an African hut and a house.
