Friday, September 8

 Hi parents,

As of just two minutes ago, our internet came back. It's like it knew how much I wanted to update the blog.

We had a great day today. In the morning, we had music, then went to the welcome back assembly, where the students learned about 'grace and courtesy' at Lake Bonavista School. Grace and Courtesy is a core Montessori value that promotes organization, kindness, and a general attitude of calmness that will hopefully will stick with students long after their time at our school.

This year, our class will be continuing our 'wisdom inquiry' from last year by delving into Montessori philosophy - I'm really looking forward to getting that started up.

We had our first spelling quiz of the year, and it was a big success. The students did a great job following along and writing words as they were read. There was virtually no calling out, so we got through it pretty quickly. We had a discussion about not comparing your spelling scores with your peers - it doesn't matter how other people are doing with spelling. It's all about personal growth. 

Next week we'll revisit this, and students will have a chance to choose new word lists, which I also will post on the blog, in case you want to get a head start over the weekend.

In math, we learned how to name very large numbers, 7-digits or more. Thinking: ____million, ______ thousand, ______ (or, "blank million, blankety-blank blank thousand, blankety blank blank" ) is surprisingly helpful. The students picked this concept up pretty quickly, but practicing at home would probably help too!

Just come up with any 7-digit number, write it down, and practice reading it aloud. Once they've done a few successfully it will likely just become second nature.

We ended our day with more exploration of Daily LA Literacy Games. Looking forward to starting Daily LA for real next week!

Have a nice weekend,

Zac

That's a lot of work for the first week of school!