Enjoy this story “I Love Michigan” with your child. Don’t forget to sing “I’m A Michigan Kid”. I have also attached pictures of our state flower, the apple blossom, and our state reptile, the painted turtle. Help your child find a product in your home that was made in Michigan. Some examples are Kellogg cereals (Battle Creek) ,Jiffy muffin mix (Chelsea), Pioneer sugar (Caro). Find these places on a map of Michigan with your child. If you can’t find any products, do you have any shirts from a Michigan vacation, pictures of a vacation in Michigan?
Today would have been our field trip to Real Life Farm. They don’t open up again until June 1. I am trying to contact them via email to reschedule for next May. This will include the kindergarten and 1st grade classes. I will give everyone their money back for this year, as soon as we are able to see each other again. In the meantime, I have found a video which shows what a field trip is like there. Enjoy and share with your child!
We hope everyone is having a safe and healthy Mother's Day. Here is a little treat from us to you!We were sad to have to cancel our Spring field trips this season, so we put together this virtual field trip on the farm. If the kids can't come to the farm, we'll bring the farm to the kids!Please enjoy this video with your family and friends and have a blessed day!!
I finally received the caterpillars. Since shipping is taking longer these days, they arrived a little bigger than usual. I will take pictures throughout the process. Who knows maybe I can even catch them turning into a chrysalis and get a video! I wish the kids could see them in person!
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you! Enjoy your special day!
I wish we could have the Mother’s Day gift a surprise. We are sending this out early, so that your child has time to work on it before Mother’s Day. Please remind them that it is a gift for Mom and to do their nicest coloring.
Today, we will start the unit on our state. Have your child watch the introduction to Michigan. I have also attached a song we do every year, “I’m A Michigan Kid”. It’s a catchy little tune that always sticks in my head, and makes me want to go up north to my cottage. You may find yourself feeling that same way too. Have your child color our state bird the robin. Enjoy with your child!
It’s so hard to believe that today is May 1. Even though we have been remote teaching, this school year is flying by so fast.
Today, will be the beginning of individualized penmanship for the rest of the school year. We are starting with where your child left off in March. You will be getting individual emails from one of us with the lesson. It will be the teacher who has been working on penmanship with your child all year long. We break this up by birthdays. I have the older half of the group, and Stephanie has the younger half.
My two favorite units to teach are also in May.
For Science, I do a butterfly unit. I order caterpillars and we watch the process of them changing into butterflies. Usually, we release them right before Memorial Day weekend. The kids were always excited to have their own caterpillar. This year I am going to try to duplicate the unit as best as I can. I will take pictures through the process, and make a video of when I release them. I will also have a couple cute projects to accompany this lesson.
For Social Studies, I dedicate the month to the state of Michigan. We discuss facts such as the state symbols, how our state is divided into 2 peninsulas, different products that come from Michigan etc. My original plan was to give a lesson, and then have Google meets every Wednesday for a Michigan show and tell. This could have been an item made in Michigan, a picture from a vacation in Michigan, or wearing a shirt from somewhere in Michigan. However, I am sure you have heard by now that there was a problem with older students and Google Meet. The district has decided that we may no longer use Google Meet, Zoom, or anything of that nature. This a very unfortunate situation and has really saddened me that we will not have the opportunity to “see” each other. I am hoping that the district will find some alternative so that we can meet again. I will still be doing my Michigan unit, though.
Another activity for Practical Life that everyone should be working on is zipping and buttoning. These are fine motor activities that also help your child become independent. So please have them zip their own jackets, and button their own clothes.
Please remember to look for Blue Mountain virtual cards that were sent to your child.
Hope you can all go out and enjoy the beautiful weather predicted for this weekend!
Today’s Community Helpers lesson is about Pilots. This will be the last lesson in the Community Helpers unit. Please go to You Tube and watch “I Want To Be A Pilot”-Kids Dream Jobs with your child. I have also attached a coloring sheet your child may want to do.
For today’s lesson, we will be teaching the children craftsman skills. These skills help your child strengthen small muscles and develop hand/eye coordination.
The first activity is using nuts and bolts. Present how to screw the bolt onto the nut for your child. When we present in the classroom, we do this by using slow and deliberate moves.
The second activity is using a hammer and nails. You may want your child to wear some sort of protective eye wear. Goggles would be ideal, but maybe sunglasses? Again, you should present this to your child first. You can use scrap wood ( I have even seen a tree stump used), clay in a baking pan or styrofoam using golf tees instead of nails .Use your imagination with whatever you can find around your house or garage. Of course always teach safety first.
Hope you enjoy these activities.
If you know anyone that is interested in Montessori Preschool for next year, please have them contact Stephanie or myself. We are now taking enrollment through forms online. We can guide them to the links that they will need. They can email either of us for any questions that they may have,
Also, both of us have been sending out Blue Mountain Greeting cards. They are meant to brighten up your child’s day. We noticed that only 3-4 parents pick up the cards. If you see something in your email that says Greeting from Blue Mountain Susan sent you this greeting (or Stephanie) this is not spam. These are cute virtual cards and our way of telling the kids how much we love and miss them.
This will be our last week doing Handwriting Heroes. Next week you will receive individualized lessons from either Stephanie or me. We are basing it on where your child left off in March. Today you should be doing Handwriting Heroes “Surfers”.
Today’s lesson for Community Helpers will be learning about the job of a vet. Please watch “I Want To Be A Veterinarian”-Kids Dream Job. You will find the video on You Tube.
I have also attached a coloring sheet, if your child chooses to color.
