J.K. made use of her snack between bites.

For the past few weeks the children have been painting a stool, boxes and this little chest of drawers for the PODS auction. Here are some of them putting their signatures on the back of it. I'm amazed by the children's fine work.

insects, reptiles, birds and mammals!

Today Mandy, from the Lehigh Valley Zoo visited the school. From 1 tiny and 3 medium sized carriers, she showed a hissing cockroach, a turtle, a snake and 2 screech owls. Mandy encouraged each child to touch the cockroach's exoskeleton, the turle's shell, the snake's scales and the owl's feather. To introduce the final animal, a mammal, she passed around a piece of camel fur. We were all curious to see what hid in the last carrier. E.W. muttered, "Uh-oh, I think it's a bear." E.N. cooed,"Oh-h-h, she brought a little camel!" No, but it was this sweet bunny. Thank you, PODS, we learned a lot.

words to live by

Last week two of our students were peeling oranges for snack. One was having difficulty with the task. Mrs. T. overheard one of the children's encouragement to the other: "If you keep on trying maybe you can do it." The response: "Yeah, that's the world; that's the way life is."

history lessons

We've been reading book after book about our early presidents and enjoying all of them. We made Abe Lincoln's log cabin and some tried drawing him. One of the books showed his signature. Since it was put on our light table, tracing it has been a popular way to practice a little cursive writing.

Today we read a book about George Washington's favorite breakfast. It was too simple to not try it. So here are the hoe cakes frying. Surprisingly, everyone loved them and came back for seconds.

Next week we'll begin learning fun facts about more of our past presidents. What kind of pets did they have? One had two alligators. What did they like to eat? How did they have fun in the White House? How did they help our country?

snow fun

J.K. shoveling and R.M.'s legs near M.L., H.K. and T.M. putting the final touches on the new playground buddy.
Another avid shoveler.

sweet valentine's day

Montesorian Michelle Irinyi eloquently defends the celebration of Valentine's Day in this post for the North American Montessori Center.
For all of you busy multitaskers, this quote from her post sums it all up. "Valentine’s Day isn’t all about romantic love. It’s about friendship. It’s about the love we share with those around us. It’s about teaching children to care about those around them. "