Counterpane Montessori School

Students love coming to school because they have such a wide variety of intriguing work to choose from each day as well as the freedom to choose when to do that work.

Counterpane's Fall Book Fair starts TODAY! The Fair will run through November 8th, and all purchases will directly benefit our school. Start your shopping from https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/boo/cptoolkit/homepage.do. Thank you for your support of Counterpane!

After learning the sounds that letters make, the language work for 3, 4, and 5-year-olds consists of sounding out words and building them with the letters. The specific spelling comes later; this crucial step is all about building their confidence in the basics of our written language so they step smoothly into reading.

We love our supporters! Just look at these books that have been recently donated to our library! We put out a call for books with characters who look like our diverse student body and cover important topics of the day, and parents and former students are answering the call. Our gratitude to all! If you would also like to donate books about anti-racism and building racial equity, our librarian has compiled a wish list on Amazon for you to choose from. (Remember: if you use Amazon Smile, we'll get an extra donation based on your total purchase.) Our gratitude to our families and former students who are keeping our library well-stocked and relevant! https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/TWQS2FC07PCQ

As part of their science work, our middle school students are creating a nature observation spot in the woods just outside the Upper School classroom. Making it involves lashing 4 limbs to trees in order to create weavings made of natural materials to help camouflage the students when they are conducting their observations. Here the students are practicing their lashing skills; one student figured out the skills then she taught the others.

"I love to get my hands so dirty!" was heard as the children and guide were planting in the garden.

Much of the Montessori curriculum is based on giving children exposure to concrete materials first, then giving them incremental opportunities to work to more abstract concepts, and finally working completely abstractly. The math work shows this idea: all Primary math is done on concrete materials, then by the time they are in middle school, the math is done abstractly, without materials.

Our heartfelt thanks to all the parents and friends of the school who made these new picnic tables possible! We now have 11 brightly colored tables sprinkled around campus for additional outdoor workspaces, and as you can see, they are already being put to good use.

Many of our students find it calming to have the animals around, and caring for them builds their responsibility.

How do you think this 6-year-old finished her statement? How would you have finished it?

This 5-year-old is identifying various parts of speech using the symbols Dr. Maria Montessori designed over 100 years ago: the large black triangles represent nouns and the small black triangles represent articles. This student is not yet using the red circles that represent verbs.

Since the Primary classroom is a 3-year classroom, there are 3 years worth of lessons in various subjects that utilize a wide variety of materials. Each of these students is working with different math materials, and all require active engagement and focused attention.

Drawing and all forms of art are a constant at Counterpane. All drawing is done free-hand; no tracing or coloring of worksheets permitted.

How do Montessori students learn about land and water forms? By pouring blue water into the various forms, each specific formation is highlighted. As you can see, this 6-year-old is paying close attention and pouring very carefully.