Category Archives: Primary
Transfer Activities
Montessori transfer activities develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, concentration, and independence in the Primary classroom. Materials used include liquids, dry items such as beans, and transfers that require a tool like the tongs above. In this work, tongs are … Continue reading
Bones In Primary
Primary students are studying the human body, turning their attention to bones. Works on the shelf include a life-size skeleton puzzle, a layered human body puzzle, and animal bones. Kindergarteners are digging deeper, literally! They are dissecting owl pellets, the … Continue reading
Primary Smelling Bottles
The Smelling Bottles isolate and refine the sense of smell through matching pairs of distinct scents (like cinnamon, citrus, and mint) using identical containers. As Primary students compare and match scents, they build vocabulary, memory, and connect to their environment in … Continue reading
Pink Tower and Brown Stair
The Pink Tower and Brown Stair are quintessential Montessori works which help children discriminate size and thickness. Students build and rebuild them, ordering the stairs and blocks as they increase in size. This activity indirectly prepares children for future math … Continue reading
Digestion
Primary students have been learning about the human body. First they learned the difference between living and non-living things. Using the melody of “Frere Jacques,” they sang: Are You Living? Are you living? Do you eat? Do you sleep? If … Continue reading
Leaf Exchange
Lower Elementary students recently completed the annual leaf delivery to the Primary classroom. Lower students have a great time collecting the leaves during Primary’s quiet time, knowing the Primary students will have an enormous surprise when they wake up!
Posted in Lower Elementary, outside, Primary
Voting At McGuffey
McGuffey students voted again this year. Upper Elementary and Middle School students participated in the annual League of Women Voters Kid’s Vote program. Using the League’s voter guide to learn about the candidates and their positions, students could be educated voters. … Continue reading
Posted in Lower Elementary, Middle School, Primary, social studies, Upper Elementary
Focus
Focus comes in many forms. At McGuffey, students use what they need to focus on their work. Sometimes that’s a quiet classroom space. Other times, it’s fidgets or putty to quietly manipulate.
Posted in Lower Elementary, Middle School, Primary, Upper Elementary
Art and Music
Measuring, creating, building, playing. At McGuffey, students grades 1-8 have art and music twice a week.
Posted in art, Lower Elementary, Middle School, music, Primary
Building Community
The entire school has been building community within their own classrooms and other classrooms across the school. We recently finished SOAR (Students Outside And Running) which includes older students making a giant welcome tunnel to Primary students on their first … Continue reading
Posted in community, Lower Elementary, Middle School, physical education, Primary, Upper Elementary
