4/3/2025

Puppy Dog News Notes

This month, we are starting our most magical unit. We have plugged in our incubator, which we needed to be as hot as a hen’s nest, about 99 degrees.

I have usually set fertilized chicken eggs, but this year, I am excited to set both goose and duck eggs! The larger geese eggs take 31 days to hatch, and the smaller duck eggs will take 28.

In the next few weeks we will monitor the temperature and spray the eggs daily to keep the humidity up. It turns out that geese and ducks have very wet nests.

In a few days we will candle the eggs and check for signs of a growing peep. If all goes well, we will see the goslings and ducklings hatch in class! I will keep you posted.

Please feel free to stop in and see the eggs in person.

Thank you to Sene and Eve’s dad for coming in to read to the class. We were all delighted! Please let us know if you have the time to read to the class.

Christine Krupp

1/15/25

Puppy Dog News Notes

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break.

In the coming weeks we will begin a study of the seven continents. We approach each continent through stories and literature, traditional music, musical instruments, pictures of the region, well-known places and landmarks, famous artwork, traditional houses, plant and animals indigenous to the region, and food from different regions.

Dr. Montessori recognized that the study of our world tells portions of the same story. Montessori called it the Cosmic Education. In a unique way, the study of our world though artifacts, music and food offer children context for connections between people and places near and far. It is interesting to find differences between ourselves and others, but it is even more thrilling to find our similarities.

“Cosmic Education is intended to help each of us search for our cosmic task as a species and as individuals. To do this, we must understand ourselves in context. It is only against the background of our place in the universe, our relationships with other living organisms, and our understanding of human unity within cultural diversity, that we can attempt to answer the question, ‘Who am I?’” Maria Montessori

Our 100th day of school will be January 22.

Please help your child to make a collection of 100 things to bring to school.

Great ideas are 100 pieces of cereal, 100 coins, or 100 beans.  Art projects are also great ideas. You can trace a hand twenty times for 100 fingers, draw 100 circles, or cut a paper into 100 pieces!

Parent teacher conferences are coming up on Tuesday the 21st of January. Please let me know in advance if this day does not work for you and we can reschedule.   Signup Genius email will follow.

 

11/23/24

Winter Performance and Puppy Dog News Notes

Our trip to Staerkel Planetarium was thrilling. We left the Earth, landed on the moon, discovered constellations and planets, and watched the sun rise!

The children learned so many different things from this unit, but more amazing than the facts they discovered were the questions they asked.

We want to thank all our parents who chaperoned at Staerkel Planetarium for making the field trip a great success.

This season, I always think of how thankful I am for each child in the class. Every year, the spirit of the room changes as new children join the class – it is a joyous kaleidoscope!

Please send one or two pieces of fruit with your child on Tuesday, November 26. The children can peel and chop their fruit, and we can all enjoy a Thanksgiving fruit salad together.

We are planning a winter program, Tuesday, December 17.

Please see the attached invitation.

– Christine

You are cordially invited

 

11/7/24

Puppy Dog News Notes

Our field trip to Staerkel Planetarium will be November 12th. The program starts at 9:00 a.m. and we will leave Montessori at 8:30 a.m. All are welcome to join. There is limited room on the bus but you can drive yourself and there is plenty of free parking at Parkland.

We are also looking forward to our Moon Viewing Party, Friday November 15th, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Christine Krupp

 

9/8/2024

Puppy Dog News Notes

As you come to observe the Puppy Dog room in these beginning weeks, you will see the seeds of independence. Independence is actively encouraged and is always our aim as this allows for a child’s natural drive to learn. The children are free to choose from the shelves and work in their own style. They may decide to spend a long period of time on one piece of work. Or to return to a work for many days in a row. This allows for deep concentration and analysis. Students are free to choose what to study, how to study, and where to study. If a child chooses something they have never worked with before, they are offered a presentation from another student or a teacher.

“The word education must not be understood in the sense of teaching but of assisting the psychological development of the child.” Maria Montessori

Photo day will be on September 17th. If you have time to volunteer, please let the office know.

Our upcoming field trip to Curtis Orchard will be on Thursday October 3rd, 8:30 to 11:00. Please feel free to join us, all are welcome. We have room for several parents on the bus, or you can drive and meet us at the orchard.

Thank you, and please reach out with any concerns or questions; we love to stay in touch!

Christine Krupp

 

8/18/2024

Puppy Dog News Notes

We have had a fabulous first week in the Puppy Dog room. All of the returning classmates helped to make the new students feel welcome by inviting someone new to eat snack with or give a presentation on a shelf work.

The largest part of your child’s morning will be open shelf time, a chance to explore the room and freely choose works that call to your child’s curiosity. We call this portion of the morning “work time.” From our viewing window you will see children making purposeful decisions and choosing a place to work. You might see a child ask for a presentation on a new work. Often you will see an older child offer to help a new student return a work to the shelf or help clean an accidental spill. At times you will see children not engaged in a shelf work, but simply watching others at work. Dr. Montessori called this “a child at observation” and she considered observing to be a very active rather than passive state. The child who observes the room is consciously and unconsciously taking in the rhythm of the room, experiencing a work cycle, and planning which works to try in the future. At this time of the year many new students prefer to stay close to one of the teachers in the room. The first bridge they build is to a teacher and as time passes, they will grow more comfortable in the room. It is out of this comfortable familiarity that a child will establish a true sense of ownership to the room; and from this ownership blooms our first seeds of a connected community.

“Education is a natural process carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences in the environment.” Education in a New World, Maria Montessori

This year we are allowing children to go outside on rainy days (provided there is no lightning). Please send a rain coat with a hood and rain boots on rainy days. Also please remember to send shoes to wear in the classroom. Rain boots and snow boots are just for outside use.

Save the date: Join us on October 21 for Parent Education Night.

As always, I welcome any questions as they come up.

Christine Krupp