Vine Montessori

For our Flag Retirement Ceremony, of course we began with a reflection - about how the red stripes remind us of the sacrifice of voluntarily spilled blood. Of both military members and Jesus. The blue field represents eternity, and the white stripes evoke Phil 4:8, but esp. purity - in thought, deed and purpose.

Then one last Pledge of Allegiance before they somberly lower the flag into the flames. We finished up singing Taps, America, and a rousing ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic,’ with help from Miss Carol. The day was absolutely perfect. To God be the glory, and may he (continue to) bless our country.

Go figure, we slipped in academics, too. 😳 After our lesson on levers, we leaned into the Law of Conservation of Energy (aka- the work you put into a simple machine equals the work you get out of it). Aka: the fulcrum is like one, big equals sign. The children created math problems first with their hands, then recorded them on paper. Also squeezed in division and a birthday walk before the year ends - yikes- in 2 weeks.

Vine does cheerful service at Montclair Community Church. First, we prepped the mulch beds, and then… out rolled the mulch train. Many, many loads later, it got nicely spread. Then, ofc, a well deserved snack. There is no better feeling than boys working hard and accomplishing something real.

Full speed ahead on Simple Machines!! Lessons on math & SM history: found in nature? Yup. First generation humans? Yup- Cain built the first city certainly with… more than his bare hands. 😳 Many SM’s used in Ancient times- from lifting water with an Archimedes screw to various war machinery. Lots.
And of course we hand-on classify several, by type. But wait! Ya gotta tell Miss Amy WHY it’s one type or the other… and… where is that input force? (Orange arrow) Resultant/ output force? (Green arrow) Because every SM is like a great big equals sign… the work put in should equal the work you get out.
So, then let’s dive into algebraic thinking with a lever… both sides must balance and voila! There’s your equation. Fun with physics indeed!

SPRING TEA! The children welcomed our guests at the door, then lead us all in a flag ceremony, the Pledge of Allegiance and in prayer to kick us off. They then served guests several courses. (Our devo last week about Jesus washing his disciples’ feet made an impression!) We then had a sing-along, led by the effervescent Miss Carol Gallentine.
All were then invited to our classroom for a few Montessori lessons… offered ofc by the children. Fabulous! We were treated to lessons on: the genealogy of Jesus (Genesis 5 & 11), drawing a bisector, stamp game subtraction and sentence analysis with… not just direct objects but indirect also! How fun!

Let’s see… David offered what? (praise and thanksgiving)… to whom? (The Lord). Just as we all did at the end of a lovely day. Thank you, gracious Lord for walking with us and bringing us all together.

Several weeks of preparation, practice and hard work finally culminated today in a lovely “Vine Spring Tea & Luncheon.”

Leading up to THE day the children… designed and decorated invitations, picked out our menu from amongst many family favorite suggestions, painted flower vases, yesterday did their flower arranging (so very Montessori!!), and then this morning…
Carefully laid the tables, tied on our homemade crocheted napkin rings (thank you for the inspiration & lessons, Miss Joy Miller Vincent), and… excitedly awaited the arrival of our guests.

More simple machines: wheel & axle, which are the basis for pulleys and levers. We had great fun exploring the idea that the work you put in should equal the work you get out, unless… friction (not our friend) gets in the way. Follow up shelf work: sorting items into three categories of our newly introduced machines. And… starting to discuss & analyze how the input force is changed by each machine to give us what we need for an output force. Good times, good times indeed.

Join us at 12pm Thur. May 7 as Vine Montessori celebrates the National Day of Prayer. Prayers will once again sweep our country, from the East Coast to the West, starting right at Montclair Community Church, with us. We shall lift up our country, its leaders, and members of our military. This year’s theme (below) echoes our hearts that everyone, everywhere would be told & know of God’s power and His love for us.