Our annual Science Fair was a huge success and enjoyed by all our students, parents and teachers. Congrats to our upper elementary students for such well researched and beautifully presented projects!...
We had so much fun today on Animal Visit Day! It was enchanting to see how engaged and enthusiastic the children were as they admired and learned about the animals. Each class had an animal spend the day in their room and everyone had a visit with all the guest pets. Thank you to our families who volunteered their animals!...
The Metal Insets are part of the Montessori language curriculum. They are a delightful learning tool used to prepare children for handwriting, as this is the first material they will work with that has them use pencils to place controlled marks on paper.
Working with the Metal Insets helps children to develop their pencil grip, refine their fine motor skills and learn how to draw within an outline. They also indirectly allow children to practice concentration and order as they work with, and master, the material....
In Montessori education, historical knowledge is organized in chronological order and launched through impressionist stories and charts. Lower elementary students first learn about and explore the Timeline of Life (Paleozoic era, Mesozoic era and Cenozoic era) accompanied by the Great Lessons and several experiments.
Later, the upper elementary children explore the Timeline of Hominids (seen here) that begins more than 3 million years ago, is divided into 3 Epochs (Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic) and shows a map of human migration. It features key events, such as the use of fire and development of hand tools, correlated with physiological developments in the history of humans.
Students are fascinated by the Montessori timelines that are rich with key elements, visuals and research cards with just enough information to pique their interest. When a student asks a question about something on a timeline, this becomes a springboard for further research....
Our gym classes were thrilled today about our new basketball nets! The height of them can be adjusted for all our students from casa to upper elementary. Woohoo!...
Our grade 3-6 students had a blast on the slopes! Aside from being fun, our ski days are an opportunity for many to try skiing for the first time and feel a great sense of accomplishment. For others who ski regularly, it’s an opportunity to lead, share their skills and shine....
Here you see a casa child transferring water using a dropper. This fun practical life activity strengthens the pincer grip and helps with hand-eye coordination, but it also develops concentration. Notice how focused and captured by the task the child is despite all that is going on around them!...
One of the many benefits of mixed age groupings in the Montessori classroom is that the older children have many opportunities to assist the younger children with various tasks, such as dressing. Helping their classmates teaches them to be sensitive to the needs of others, builds confidence, develops their mastery of a skill and gives them a stronger sense of self-worth and purpose....
Our upper elementary class was so thrilled to finally resume their monthly visits to Main Street Terrace, a local long term care facility. We have a longstanding relationship with Main Street Terrace and the upper visits have been suspended for several years because of the pandemic. We are really proud of this intergenerational partnership that forms a warm relationship between the children and elderly people and the experience is invaluable. The students develop empathy, respect and social responsibility. The residents look forward to their visits each month and the children enjoy their company. Today they played games, painted, coloured, chatted and sang together! And we were so impressed with how friendly, nurturing and engaged the upper elementary students were....
The lower elementary children sketched some impressive and detailed flowers today in art class for a lesson on contour line drawing. Just like in the Montessori classroom, it is always super enticing to have real specimens for a lesson....
This week the school was abuzz when we had our first Sharing Evening of the year. The children are always so proud and excited to show their parents their work and their classrooms!...
We attended the C.C.M.A. Conference today at Centennial College for a thought provoking and inspiring day of professional development. It is always great to come away from these opportunities feeling refreshed, recharged and with a new sense of purpose and pride for the important work that we do in the classroom and as Montessorians....