Bright Beginnings in LEU!
Welcome to the Lower Elementary Upstairs (LEU) class!
Exercising independence, cooperation and concentration in the classroom.
We have truly enjoyed our first week back at school. Most of the week was spent establishing classroom routines, giving the children time to explore materials on the shelves, and getting to know each other. It was heartening to observe many of our returning students independently make challenging choices in their work, and wonderful to engage keen first-year students in review lessons.
An older child guides a first-year student on the first day of school.
It was a particular pleasure to observe the older children act as mentors throughout the first week, helping familiarize our new first-year students with the classroom and with various routines and pieces of work.
A second-year student showing a first-year student some zoology material.
We cannot emphasize enough how essential it is to have mixed ages in a Montessori environment, and it is especially critical during the beginning of the year in establishing an organized and well-functioning classroom community.
Student ideas for our classroom constitution.
This week, the class worked together to form our classroom constitution, which is a collection of rules and principles that every member of our classroom community agrees to honour. The third-year students each led a group of younger students in
Third-year students leading a classroom constitution brainstorming session.
formulating ways in which we show how we care for our work, each other, and for the environment. This exercise not only helps set clear expectations for the classroom, but actively involves each child in contributing to the community. We reviewed all of the suggestions during our Friday class meeting, and each child will sign the constitution next week to mark their agreement.
We still have a few students who are off-island, and we are excited to have them complete our classroom community upon their safe return.
It was a wonderful first week in LEU, and we all look forward to bright year full of discovery, collaboration, independence and growth!
OTHER NEWS:
SEPTEMBER LESSON THEMES – This classroom blog will be updated on a monthly basis, so please visit once in a while for new content, including general lesson themes. CLICK HERE for this month’s lesson themes.
An unexpected guest in LEU.
AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR – The children in class enjoyed the presence of an unexpected visitor this week: a frog found its way into the boys’ washroom! One of the third-year boys managed to calmly capture the wayward little creature, and this led to a lively, impromptu discussion on amphibians. We released it safely in the garden.