A great resource for healthy eating

I have been trying to improve my family's health for the last few years. It has been a slow process but one I know is paying off. I see it in my children's behavior and in my own energy level. I recently stumbled across a great blog that has so many helpful articles and recipes. I wanted to share it with my favorite people and I hope that you find it as useful as I have!

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/

Hello Again!

Well, things have slowed down since school began again and I think I now have the time to update the blog occasionally. Another thing that kept me from posting was due to the fact that I needed to enter all the new email addresses for the new families for the year. I decided to save myself the time and make the blog public instead. Rest assured I will not share any personal information about your children.

I stumble across so many fun things that I always want to share, but I hate to fill your email box, unprovoked. Hopefully this will become a place of continued resource for you. As always, please let me know if there is a way you believe I could serve your family/child better.

Love, Ms. Kacee

Math and Science for Young Children recognizes Montessori Materials!

This is incredibly exciting! Dr. Rosalind Charlesworth, from Weber State University has acknowledged Montessori works in her textbook for University students. She believes that hands-on,concrete approaches are what we educators call "best practices" in teaching children math concepts! Montessorians knew this all along. However it's still incredibly exciting to see the traditional minded educators taking a look at alternatives to pencil paper and memorization. This is just one small step towards all schools embracing the Montessori Materials and Philosophy!

Dr. Charlesworth came to our classroom again last week. She spent the entire day with us! She saw the great math and language work the children do on a daily basis. She recognized the importance of snack and  watched them during P.E. and joined us for our cultural studies where the level 1s painted world maps, the level 2s explored igneous rocks and the level 3s made cloud pictures with cotton balls! She was taking photos for her next textbook due on shelves next fall/winter. Hopefully Montessori will become more recognized and appreciated for the amazing educational approach it is!

Me and Sequoia a student from 2010-2011 working on the Large Bead Frame

Lydia working on the checkerboard

Brinley and the Pythagorean Board

Fraction Circles!

Luke using the place value mat I sewed with golden beads

Aubrey's long hair and stamp game!

Bryson graphing buttons

Time Cards, Money Box and Cards and Weighing with Lydia and  Jerith

Christmas Ideas

Tired of buying plastic junk that your children HAVE to have for Christmas? Here are some alternative's. :)

Fat Brain Toys

For Small Hands

How much sleep does your child need?

Bedtime is the one, non-negotiable thing at our house. In class it is very easy to tell when a child did not get enough sleep the night before. They come in with puffy and/or glassy eyes, and have a difficult time focusing the entire day.

In a study of 74 six- to twelve-year-olds, researchers found that the children generally had more trouble with their schoolwork and more attention problems during the week when they stayed up late each night.  The study, published in the medical journal Sleep, included healthy grade-schoolers without sleep or academic problems. During one week, they followed their normal sleep routine, with younger children getting about 10 hours each night and older children getting 8 to 9 hours. On another week, the children stayed up later than usual and got only 6.5 to 8 hours of sleep, depending on their age. On a third week, all of the children followed an "optimized" sleep schedule and got no fewer than 10 hours of sleep per night. (Source:  SLEEP Dec. 2005)

According to one study, an optimized sleep schedule consisted of no fewer than 10 hours of sleep per night. Okay, so let's back into that time frame.  Your child starts school at 8:30 am. You need to leave the house at 8:15  She needs a good hour to really wake up, eat breakfast, get dressed and feed the dog.
If you wake her up at 7:00 am, she needs to be asleep no later than 9:00 pm.  Many children don't fall asleep the minute their head hits the pillow. That said, a bed time of 8:00 pm or 8:30 pm is by no means unreasonable.
Source

Even if your child lies in bed for 20-30 minutes before falling asleep, this is good downtime and helps them to know that they do not constantly need to be on the go. Being left alone with one's own thoughts is good for kids too!

Lizzie The Bearded Dragon

This is our class pet. The children love to watch her eat. We'll do more research and reports on her during our level 1 Reptile unit.

Our Hopes and Dreams!

This is a project we did the 2nd week of school. It is Our Hopes and Dreams class flag.We talked about what we wanted to be when we grew up and what it would take to get us there. Hard work and determination. :)