Casa

Puzzle Maps of the World

The children have been very interested in geography! By assembling the puzzles of the maps of the world and through three-period lessons, the child learns the shape, location, and name of each of the world’s continents, as well as the maps of Canada and the United States. (Click for full photos and information.)

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Culture: Life Cycles

There are many activities in the Montessori classroom that teach the children about different life cycles such as that of animals, plants, and humans. These activities train the child’s faculties of observation, patience, and admiration, as well as build vocabulary and knowledge about metamorphosis. (Click to find out more about the process.)

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“All the Little Princesses” Story

The children in Casa East have been collaborating on a story which they entitled, “All The Little Princesses”. We began to spin a tale during lunchtime as we ate. We would go around the table and each friend would add new pieces to the story. The children made up the plot, included each friend and teacher, and added details that still make us laugh! Who wouldn’t want a horse named Onkie? We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it! (Please click for the full story!)

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Birds Eye View

After being introduced to the decimal system via the golden bead materials and number cards, the child combines the two: symbols and quantities. The child will display all the units and the corresponding cards followed by tens, hundreds, and thousands, displaying the hierarchy of the decimal system. The child has an overview or a bird’s eye view of the golden beads and numeral cards together. (Please click for more information.)

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Snake Game: Level 2

The second, third and fourth levels of the snake Game have a child converting a coloured bead bar snake into a golden 10 bar snake. In the second level, the snake is evenly divisible by ten and the child counts the beads and makes a golden snake equaling the number of coloured beads in the coloured Snake. (Click to find out how they check their work and for the full photos.)

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March Art

During March, Casa East engaged in various types of artwork. In honour of St. Patrick’s Day, we painted cardstock with blue and yellow tempera paints, and squeezed wet glue and gold glitter onto it. For Easter, we used water and a paint brush to wet an egg shape on cardstock, placed coloured tissue paper onto it, and peeled the tissue off once it was dry. (Click to see our work and more information!)

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Family Day Event!

In celebration of Family Day, the families of Simcoe Place were invited to an exciting music class with Adriana! The children were able to proudly showcase their musical talents with songs and instruments, demonstrating their lovely singing voices, as well as playing the ukulele and Montessori bells. In celebrating family, we were able to express the love, devotion and happiness that we share each day at our school and in our Casa program! (Please click for more information).

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Second Step: Social-Emotional Learning

Social – emotional skills are essential to healthy child development. By instilling empathy, self-regulation, and effective communication skills early on, we lay a sturdy foundation for success in school and in life. Casa West is exploring Second Step, a compass guiding the children towards understanding emotions, developing problem-solving abilities, and establishing positive relationships. (Click to find out how and for the full photos.)

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Math Materials

Children in Casa are introduced to quantities, numerals and counting up to the thousands. The materials help children to understand math concepts and recognize numerical sequences, patterns, and their relationships. Working with Math materials in a Montessori program helps children to make learning impressions in their mind by moving from the concrete to the abstract. (Please click for full photos.)

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Skip Counting

These beautiful bead chains are hung from a wooden frame that holds squares and the cubes of one to ten with the corresponding chains and the containers with the respective coloured arrows. The chains are used for skip counting (for example counting by fives) and for learning the squares and cubes of the numbers one to ten. This activity is very useful because the child learns how to skip count as well as how to count in bases other than ten, which indirectly prepares them for multiplication. (Please click for full photos and more information.)

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