Little Farmers At Styer Orchard

This week the students attended Styer Orchard. We had the most glorious Autumn day. It was seasonably warm, but that did not discourage our little farmers.

The leaves displayed colors of crimson, amber, gold and emerald. The children were submerged into nature; from the chirps of the birds to the sway of the breeze, the students truly enjoyed the natural resources Bucks County has to offer.

We started our tour of the farm exploring "Ghost Alley" which we ended up taking a hilariously wrong turn, coming out the wrong exit of the maze. We continued our journey by taking a scenic hay ride on a wooden wagon being pulled by a tractor. The views were absolutely breathtaking!

We arrived at our first destination where the children were led to a large pumpkin patch. Each child had the opportunity to hand pick their own pumpkin. There were shrills and giggles galore.

We then boarded the wagon again and were pulled along serpentine paths of lush Apple trees. The children received a demonstration on how apples grow and the proper way to remove the Apples from the branches.

They all received plastic bags and separated off into their chaperoned groups. The children happily roamed the orchard picking Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Winesap apples.

Our field trip came to a happy end.  Each child got to choose two decorative gourds from an outdoor bin. Next week we will start our Halloween crafts.

Learning The Parts Of An Apple

This week the children have been introduced to the Parts of an Apple. This was a wonderful opportunity to integrate Botany in the classroom and teach the children the scientific terms of the Apple.

The children can now proudly share all the names of the Apple which are: the leaf, stem, skin, flesh, core, seeds, star and sepal blossom.

In group time the children and I dissected an Apple by cutting the apple in half horizontally. We revealed a beautiful star shape. The children were so excited to see the star form hiding in their Apple. Each child had the opportunity to hold the half of the Apple and observe the star.

They also were exposed to the beautiful fragrance of the Apple, which was lovely & Sweet. We also had the opportunity to count how many seeds were in the Apple. Our Apple contained 6 seeds.

I also Incorporated in the lesson the concept of light and heavy. Each child held the tiny seeds in their hands. In this case the apple seeds were very light.

Next week the children will learn about the Parts of a Pumpkin.

Artist Yosi

This week the students and Families of Trevose Day School & Neshaminy Montessori were treated to a riveting concert featuring award-winning children's recording artist Yosi.

Yosi who is of Israeli descent created a marvelous musical cultural experience for the students and their kin. The concert began with the many ways to say "hello". Yosi shared with the students numerous languages ranging from Hebrew, French, Español and many more.

Through the use of music, singing, and dancing the children all related to the music in a harmonious manner. This concert truly educated the students on the diverse range of beautiful intricate instruments that are played through out our world.

Yosi took the children on an international tour of the seven Continents. Yosi provided numerous examples of instruments for the children to physically play, observe and listen too; for example the Didgeridoo from Australia, the harmonica from Germany, the Rain sticks from South America, the Bulbul Tarang from India and much much more. 

Through the use of humor, and directly engaging with the audience he was an enthusiastic and captivating performer who made all ages smile.

Next week the students will learn about the Parts of an Apple. They will do Apple tasting, count the Apple seeds and do the Apple printing.

Returning to School and Meeting New Friends

This week at Neshaminy Montessori we started the 2017 academic year with a strong sense of community, respect, kinship and enthusiasm.

Two of our students in Sensorial are incredibly proud of their accomplishment. They worked together as a team to build the Pink Tower. What a fantastic first day!!!!

As the returning students were reconnecting with the prepared environment, they were also given the task to become helpers in welcoming our new friends! They were told of the importance in being kind, compassionate and supportive to their new classmates and to help them learn that school is an exciting place to be! Each of my returning students took on the honorable role of peer mentoring their friends. They assisted their fellow students as they became acclimated and taught them how to successfully navigate the classroom.

Movement is an essential part of the Montessori environment. This allows the students to have self expression, identify with rhythm, rhyming words and of course the art of memorizing fantastic educational songs.

For our first Art project, I thought that now would be a fantastic time to talk about the many "helping hands" used in the classroom. The children and I discussed numerous ways in which we can help each other and take care of the classroom.

We created a “Helping Hands” poster to reflect everything we discussed. Each hand was individually cut by each child and truly represents every child's unique personality!!!

Next week we will discuss the importance of "Grace and Courtesy".

Fondly,
Mrs. McNally

Back To School 2016-2017

Summer has come to an end with the children arriving to school and doing different activities throughout their first day!

There was much excitement in seeing old friends, meeting new ones, going to the classrooms and starting their day. The smiling faces and energy continued as the students set about their new routines.

Neshaminy Montessori wishes everyone a happy and healthy school year! Welcome back!

Join us Friday, June 3rd for our Annual Silent Auction!

The Montessori students completed their "Blue Morpho Butterfly" project for the Trevose Day School's annual Silent Auction. Each child has participated in hand painting this beautiful chair. All of the ornate designs were painted with acrylic paint. The children used the their fingers to create the delicate flowers and winding Vines. This indoor/ outdoor chair will go to the highest bidder and support our fabulous school!

Please come and check out our Blue Morpho Butterfly chair at our annual Silent Auction, which will be held on Friday, June 3, 2016. The Auction, Art Show and our Trevose Day School annual picnic will be a family friendly, festive event! 

Day of The Dinosaurs!

The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University brought their Dinosaur exhibit to Neshaminy Montessori and transformed our barn into a genuine museum experience. We had a dynamic duo of instructors who were very knowledgeable on the subject of dinosaurs. Each child had the unique experience of pretending to be a "paleontologist".

The hands-on presentation came complete with real dinosaur fossils, skeletons, dinosaur eggs, footprints, dinosaur sculptures, including cast replicas of the stegosaurus's bony plates & horns, paleontologist tools, teeth, coprolites which is fossilized " poop" , and a tyrannosaurus fang, plus much more!!!!

A fascinating measurement tool was also presented which showed the length of Gallimimus, the smallest dinosaur in this specific group, the medium-sized Triceratops, and the largest dinosaur - the Tyrannosaurus Rex!

We all participated and had such a wonderful learning experience. The student’s favorite fact from today’s presentation was that all birds are dinosaurs. We truly do have dinosaurs still among us.

Exploring Africa Together

This week during group time, our intrepid explorers imagined themselves boarding a flight to the green continent known as Africa.  Africa is the second largest of the seven continents that we will be learning about. 

With all of this dreary and chilly May weather the class easily imagined themselves submerged into lush greenery and a tropical climate.

The animal that piqued their interest the most was the giraffe. At an average height of around 5 m (16-18 ft.), the giraffe is the tallest land animal in the world. Giraffes live primarily in savanna areas in the sub-Saharan region of Africa. All of the children easily identified the giraffe by its distinctively long neck and long legs, they also eagerly chimed in on how much the giraffe's spotted pattern resembles the pattern also seen on a leopard.

In honor of these majestic creatures, the children created handprint giraffes with a construction paper landscape. Each handprint giraffe is just as unique and beautiful as the giraffe itself.

The materials that were used where tempera paint, construction paper, gluem and scissors.

Mrs. McNally asked the children, "Since the giraffe is the tallest animal, what advantage does this animal have over all of the other animals?"

All of the children's hands were raised. They all shared that a giraffe could easily eat all of the leaves at the top of a tree, where other animals could not reach. 

The class also learned that the giraffe's main diet was the acacia trees. Their long tongues are helpful in eating because they help pull leaves from the trees. We observed another very distinctive feature found on giraffes.  Both sexes have skin covered knobs, called ossicones, on the top of their heads. Female ossicones are smaller and have a small tuft of fur on top, while male ossicones are bald on the top. These knobs are used to protect the head.

Next week the students will explore several other animals that are indigenous to Africa!