Tree of Life Montessori School of Atlanta

Our last day of the School Year! This last week we focused on Buddha's Birthday and butterflies. We learned about Buddha's life, meditated and had rice pudding. We read about butterflies and their life cycle plus named the parts of their bodies. We also made butterflies out of coffee filters.

Our last day was a hit with outdoor water play, popsicles and a pizza lunch. .

This week we focused on Cinco de Mayo/Mexico and Mother's Day. We read books, made paper flowers and learned how to draw simple flowers. We listened to music and had a special snack.

As part of our ongoing cultural enrichment, today we had a great performer Hilda Estrella de Lev, director from Alma Mexicana Danza Folklorica. This time she brought her daughter with her to perform regional Mexican folk dances. She shared wonderful stories with us and taught us some simple dance steps. Thank you, Hilda!

http://www.almamexicanaatlanta.com/

Our theme this week was ladybugs - we learned about their life cycle, how they live and stories. We made an art project and released live ones.

Earth Day Every Day! Our theme this week was on Earth Day themes of protecting nature and conserving resources. However we focus on these year round with our daily practices in the classroom.
Recycling, Using Reusable items like plates, cloths, silverware, bags etc and reducing waste in general plus composting.

Join us Friday April 24 at Murphey Candler Park for their Earth Day Spring Social. We will have fun activities for kids.

This week we focused on Nepal for the Nepali New Year. We sponsor the education of a boy named Ananda in Nepal. We read books, looked at a short video of a man skiing down Mount Everest. We had Nepali inspired snacks from the books we read - tulsi tea and poha/chiura which is flattened rice cooked with spices and vegetables. Multicultural study is a year round activity for us. We also planted peas in cups.

Screen addiction is harming our children - not only socially but brain development as well. Schools need to support hands on active learning.

Back to books - Sweden's schools cutting back on digital learning Swedish classrooms swap laptops for books, pens and paper, raising concerns from the tech sector.

We focused on strawberries this week. How they grow, tasting, reading stories and an art project. We also planted Zinnias outside.

This week our themes included Equinox, Spring, Easter, Bunnies and we released live Earthworms. Plus we studied animals that lay eggs and animals that don't.