A kind and gentle North Austin community school
This month, with our self-isolation due to the coronavirus outbreak, we understand that children are staying at home. These are trying times for us all, when simply leaving home can be a stressful experience. We are left to find solace within our homes, with our family. Parents, we are writing here to let you know […]
This morning we had a meeting to learn about hand-washing, and how it makes germs go away. We had our 3rd annual springtime visit from a H.S. Biology teacher. (See results from 2018’s experiment.) The kids were excited to learn that they get to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” over and over again! This favorite […]
新年快樂 !! Back by popular demand… Many thanks to the Grandma of one of our students for her wonderful lesson on the Lunar New Year. We learned about dragons, dumplings, firecrackers, and how at this time of year it’s nice to get a haircut and visit friends and relatives! Best of all, everyone got a […]
At HMS, we regularly talk with children about death as part of the natural life cycle. After all, the children have seen dead bugs, some have had pets die or have even experienced death in the family. Death is a part of life so this is not a topic that we shy away from when […]
We routinely change out the materials on our shelves. With the turn of the calendar and the change in the weather, this weekend the teachers were busy making new works. The children were eager to try out the new materials, including a variety of counting works, coloring calaveras, basting water into pumpkin molds and the ever-popular […]
Like many Montessori Schools, we go out of our way to celebrate birthdays. We do so in a way that emphasizes the passage of time a child’s life. The children discuss how the Earth goes around the sun each year, getting an idea of their place in time. Essentially these are among the first History and Science lessons […]
This new school year has brought with it some brands new works on our shelves: flowers and dinosaurs. With the help of our awesome parent community who brought in some cut flowers, we are happy to offer a flower-arranging tray for our students. To complete this multi-step work, they are asked to choose from the available […]
Visitors to HMS know that our playground is a special place. We love our shade trees, flowering shrubs, the playhouse, playscape, the mud box and the “stage” (photo, right). We eat lunch outdoors and watch the squirrels and grackles watching us. While our classroom has a fair amount of structure, our playground subscribes to what […]
One aspect of Montessori that differentiates it from mainstream schools is the multi-age classroom. At any given time, about 1/3 of the students in our classroom are in their third year at HMS. In fact, a Kindergarten student is in her fourth year with us. Thus, in our classroom, when a child asks a teacher for help it […]
Springtime has arrived, both on our playground and inside the classroom. Bugs are on the shelves and blue and yellow (ahem, green) paints are on the easels. Art class has been outside several times, “baby” loquats and peaches are on the trees, butterflies flit around the playground, and flowers tend to come into the classroom. […]
This spring, teachers have left many “buggy” materials on our shelves. More and more every week! We are doing bug puzzles counting bugs drawing bugs writing about bugs making our own bugs. In the process, we are learning the names of the body parts, learning about the life cycle of bugs, finding the similarities and differences between spiders and […]
Valentine’s Day is a popular one for children. We started a few weeks ago with various heart-shaped materials on our shelves (why do we rotate our shelves?) and discussions of what and who we love. This week, students brought in their homemade Valentines to the school, and, like past years, the holiday culminated with our […]