The Science of Storytelling:  T.P.R.S. For over 2,000 years, since the first cave paintings were discovered, telling stories has been one of our most fundamental communication methods. Lower Elementary students wrote their own stories using some of the words that they have been working on. LE students are creating their own characters. Visual stimulation helps them understand the story. They presented their story to their classmates.  Our brains become more active when we tell stories. Another activity the students enjoy is bringing cultural items from around the world and presenting them to their group. Cultural presentations, dancing, and games are very important parts of learning another language. Middle Elementary students are   working on putting stories in chronological order and then writing their own versions of the story.   Simple stories are more successful than the complicated ones. The s...

Early Childhood A   students studied the work of artist Alma Thomas , an expressionist painter who viewed nature as a colorful, abstract mosaic.  The students created their own mosaics inspired by her work. Early Childhood B students created sun catchers by pin punching sea animals and painting coffee filters to look like the sea. Early Childhood students have continued their work with the Montessori Bells. There are multiple games that they play to awaken and train their ears to match and grade the bells. Each and every EC child has loved their time at the bell table.   In addition, they continue to use MusikGartens’ multisensory approach to learning tonal and rhythm patterns.  Their focus at this time are Major tonal and Duple rhythm patterns. They repeat these patterns through different types of play, movement, and the use of instruments. Their small group learning style has also taught the children patience and develops resp...