The Atrium 01/24/2012
 Child sized Sacristy cabinet and six drawer chest COLCMS is very excited and thankful to have received a grant from the Cross of Life Endowment Fund of the Lutheran Community Foundation. The grant in the amount of $1000 was used to purchase second year materials for the atrium. The atrium is part of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd curriculum. It is a place prepared for the children, which contains simple yet beautiful materials they use to help them absorb the most essential proclamations of the Christian faith. We are very proud to be one of the few schools in the Atlanta area to offer Catechesis of the Good Shepherd as part of our curriculum, and very thankful to have received this generous grant for a second time. You can read more about the CGS curriculum here. We welcome you to come visit our atrium in Cross of Life Christian Montessori School and see these beautiful materials for yourself! 
Chasubles (garments worn during worship) in different colors for the different liturgical seasons. Handmade wooden stands also pictured.
Altar and lectern
map of Israel
The Atrium is a quiet place for reading and reflection
In the Atrium, materials are set up similar to a Montessori classroom
Children working with the parable of the Good Shepherd materials
1 Comment Toddler Time 01/19/2012
Flower arranging is an important Practical Life exercise, and it also gives the children joy to beautify their environment.
C sees the fish - do you?
Rainy and cold days call for parachute games!
Friends
L works on naming and matching cooking tools, a language exercise.
Music is so much fun..especially when you turn your scarf into a hat!
Lunch and snack are best when shared together...
after eating the children put fruit or vegetable scraps in the blue pail for compost, tap off their plate in the trash, and wash their dish.
Yogurt!
Thanks to one of our primary families, we were able to re-sod our garden. It was muddy at first...
but the end result was beautiful! Thank you Flynn family!
This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar. Christmas Play Photos 12/22/2011
 Wishing all our children and families a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The Birth of Jesus, Luke 2:1-20 from the New International Version www.biblegateway.com 1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Adorable sheep and angel
Waiting to start...
Sweet little cow
The burro!
This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar. What We've Been Up to Lately: Primary Class 12/01/2011
 Counting to by tens 1000 and sensorially experiencing the square and cube of 10.  Practicing reading through using the Phonetic Object Box  Working with Color Tablets Box Two, refining the visual sense through matching primary, secondary, tertiary and tints.  Making flags for countries from around the world--learning the names and some stories behind the flags.  Building the Binomial Cube outside the box.  Learning about fractions by identifying the numerator and denominator from 1 whole to 1/10 and labeling each one.  Experiencing the map of the United States and learning the names of some of the states at the same time.  One of our newest friends working with Handwashing.  Experiencing the Trinomial Cube and absorbing the algebraic equation that is connected to it.  Working with a Cylinder Block and determining where each cylinder belongs both visually and mechanically.  Experiencing the quantity for numbers one through ten using the Number Rods. She also played a "bring me" game, which is a class favorite!  Enjoying expressing himself creatively through painting. Afterward, he did table washing to clean the table. Family Day 11/28/2011
Family Day, a long standing tradition at COLCMS, was held on Nov. 18. The children worked together with parent volunteers to cook a delicious Chicken Posole soup. Below is the recipe - Slow Cooker Chicken Posole Stew from Simply Sugar and Gluten Free (Submitted by the Gummels Family) serves 4 – 6 For the stew: 2 bone-in chicken breasts, skin removed 2 (15 ounce) cans white hominy, rinsed and drained 3 cups good quality chicken stock 2 (14.5 ounce) cans of diced tomatoes 3 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin rounds 3 scallions, both green and white parts, sliced thinly 3 cloves of garlic, minced 1 tablespoon cumin 2 teaspoons light ancho chili powder 1 1/2 teaspoons Mexican oregano 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper Optional toppings: Chopped cilantro Queso Fresco or other good quality Mexican cheese (montery jack would work) Shredded radishes (Use the large holes on your box grater) Avocado Sour cream Gluten-Free Tortilla chips Place chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker. Put remaining ingredients in and stir the top to mix in spices. Cover and cook on low for 5 – 6 hours, or until chicken and carrots are cooked through and tender. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred with two forks. Return chicken to crock, stir to combine. 
B., age 4, practices writing numbers. The numbers on the green wooden rectangles are made from sandpaper. She traces these sandpaper numbers first in order to help train her muscle memory.
 E., age 5, shows her mom the flag making work. Not only is she learning flags from around the US and world, she is also getting valuable practice for writing. Before our chapel service and reception, parents were invited to take a peek into the classrooms to see the work their children have been doing. Here are some photos from the Primary Casa. 
J., age 5, counts beads on the 100 chain. The chain is made up of 10 bars, each consisting of 10 beads. Once he has counted all the beads, he folds the chain in a special way to form a square, visually illustrating that the square of 10 equals 100.
E., age 3 1/2, shows his mom his work with the Metal Insets. These are a preparation for hand writing.
S. age 4, working with the Metal Insets. By making a variety of designs, she has repeated experience gaining control over a writing instrument. This fine motor control is necessary for forming letters on paper.
E., age 4, also working with the Metal Insets. In addition to preparation for writing, this work offers the opportunity for making ever more intricate artistic designs.
T., age 4 1/2 works on the United States puzzle map. Along with learning where each state is located, he is also learning the name and shape of each state.
E., age 5, works on the puzzle map of South America. Little known fact - on the Nienhuis brand puzzle maps, the knobs are in the location of the capital cities.
M., age 3 1/2, shows her mom the bells. These give the children the opportunity to learn the notes of the scale, match notes, and grade them from highest to lowest and vice versa. There is even a lesson where children learn to compose a song!
Bonjour! 11/01/2011
  One of the sayings you will often hear in a Montessori Primary Classroom is 'bring the world to the child.' This means we work on cultural studies from day one, learning about different countries and cultures through maps, flags, globes, pictures, stories, items brought from travels, songs, etc.... In addition to our curriculum during the three hour work period, we have added an after school French class this year, taught by our own Ms. Lise. The half hour class is a fun introduction to conversational French. Here is a peek into last weeks lesson.  The class started with how to say hello....Bonjour Mademoiselle Lise, Bonjour Ella! Tre Bien!  It was so fun to watch the children encourage each other and laugh with delight at speaking in another language!  We are learning a special song for Family Day on Nov 18th. Can you guess what it is?  After practicing our song, it was time to review the names of body parts in French...  la tete...  la bouche  le nez (nose)  oreille  Finally we ended with a 'dance party' to a disco-themed song naming all the parts we learned in French. The kids had a blast with this, and it made learning the vocabulary fun and easy.  Here is a website for basic parts of the body in French - click on the words to hear the pronunciation - http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/parts-of-the-body.htm  au revoir! Musikgarten with the Toddlers 10/19/2011
 Jumping, jumping, see how I'm jumping This year we started a Musikgarten class after school. It is a great time of fun and movement for the children and a wonderful enrichment to our existing music curriculum. The class is taught by Ms. Julie and you can read more about Musikgarten and Ms. Julie here. In this picture the children are dancing to a favorite song 'See how I'm jumping' 
When I am tired, down I fall
You didn't know I could jump so high.......
You didn't know I could stand so still.....
Jumping, jumping, see how I'm jumping...
 D flapping his 'wings' to the crow song. 'Caw, Caw, Caw' Listening to these songs at home is a great way to reinforce the music lesson, but even more importantly, it is such a fun way to spend time with your children. Singing and dancing together is a wonderful way to unwind after a long day, get the sillies out, or turn a frown upside down. Listening to Musikgarten CDs in the car has been a lifesaver for us! If you haven't already purchased one and would like to, please let Ms. Julie know. 
C being a crow
 When the saints..... We listened to the classic 'When the Saints go Marching In'. The children loved marching to the beat. There are a few slower interludes in the song to allow for different types of movement such as swaying side to side. 
go marching in....
Oh, when the saints go marching in.....
Here, the music has changed and the children are swaying to the beat.
 Finally, we danced with scarves. Ms. Julie has lots of fun ways to play with them! We even made them into flowers, hats, and babies. 
Thanks, Ms. Julie, for a fun music class! Busy Weeks 10/08/2011
 We have had several busy weeks. I am very much enjoying the children. Here is a look at our time together. Look for more regular blog posts now that I've figured it out. Thank you so much for your patience! Here, T sets out the cards used to form complex numbers. (numbers in the thousands) Setting them out reinforces them in his mind as he counts 1 unit, 2 units, 3 units and so on to 9; then 1 ten, 2 tens, 3 tens, ...9 tens, 1 hundred, 2 hundreds...  ...and finally 1000. He has already set out the matching golden beads. It also gives him good counting practice.  J writes words with the phonogram, "sh". The 2 different colored alphabets help to highlight the "sh".  E builds the Binomial Cube, a very popular activity.  E and E enjoy eating lunch together.  J, B and M are hungry after time in the garden.  Hungry children are practicing grace and courtesy, waiting for all to be ready before eating. As they prepare for eating, enjoy the meal and then clean up, - their are experiencing the full cycle of the meal -the candles, flowers, napkins, placecards, dishes, and tablecloths don't just appear on the tables, children put them there and each child takes part in putting them away. Together, we are a community.  S has just finished the challenge of building the Binomial Cube wearing a blindfold. That grin says it all!  E grades the color tablets from dark to light in 9 colors.  E draws with chalk.  B writes words, breaking them down into sounds and finding each letter.  M checks her progress as she sorts the beads into the small bowls wearing a blindfold.  J is making 78 with the cards on the ten boards and with the beads next to it. As he does, he sees both the symbol (numeral) and the quantity in beads.  A chooses a South American flag to copy and fill in. As he does, he is strengthening his hand for writing as well as becoming familiar with the flags of many countries.  Everyone loves music with Ms Julie on Tuesdays! Garden Day! 10/07/2011
We had a lovely garden day on this beautiful fall morning. Thanks to all our staff and volunteers who donated time, plants and hard work to keep our garden green!          Kale, chard, cabbage, broccoli, and a blueberry bush were planted by the children.  Bulbs and pansies were planted and the play house was freshly stained.  We weeded the raised bed and planted winter vegetables.  Digging in the packed Georgia clay, our volunteers planted 11 azaleas along the fence.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who helped! Wordless Wednesday - Toddlers 09/27/2011
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