News

Winter 2023

Celebrating MLK Day at Midwood Montessori! The children learned about Dr. King, sang songs, drew pictures of him and made hand print crowns.  They also learned to recite the “I Have a Dream” speech.

Winter Holiday Projects

Fall 2022

We learned about our similarities and differences and what makes each of us special.

Fall/Winter 2019

Spring 2019 Artwork

This spring our geography curriculum included a study of Japan.  In the art room the children made Koinobori windsocks (to commemorate Japan’s Children’s Day), cherry blossom fans for Mother’s Day and sushi platter collages.
In the classroom the children also learned about Takashi Murakami, a famous Japanese anime artist.  In the artroom all the children worked together on our end of year group project to create a Murakami inspired mural.

Our science curriculum included a study of dinosaurs. The children made diplodocus and T-Rex puppets in the art room.

Winter 2018-2019 artwork

This year our winter geography curriculum included a study of Australia. In the art room they made Great Barrier Reef models and Australian dot painted New Year’s boomerangs!

Fall 2018 Artwork

Welcome back to Midwood Montessori!

Our Midwood staff is ready for another wonderful school year with your children and warmly welcomes our newest Montessorians. We hope you enjoyed your summer and are eager to begin the 2018/2019 academic year. Our Montessori campers had lots of fun in June and July. Here are some snapshots of their summer artwork, trips and visits.

Neon jellyfish hand puppets

Fourth of July handprinted American flag and parade

One scoop or two? Tissue paper ice cream cones

Paper link sssssssnakes

Free form styrofoam peanut group sculpture

Pizza making at Two Boots

Nature visit

Plaster Galaxy

Spring 2018 News

Winter/Early Spring 2018 Art room update

Our Montessorians have been very busy in the art room!

Hawaii Study: This year our geography curriculum included a study of Hawaii. In the art room the children created tiki totem pole holiday hangers and New Years leis.
Solar System Study: this year our science curriculum included a study of the planets. In the art room the children created Milky Way Galaxy collages using a variety of painting techniques. They sprayed diluted white paint onto a black field to make a starry sky, marble painted the planets and glitter painted the comets for added sparkle.
Brazil study: Our geography curriculum this year included a study of South America with a focus on Brazil. In the art room the children created bird-like Carnival masks in keeping with the Brazilian festival.
Earth Day recycling project (last photo): Our students used found materials such as discarded wallpaper, paper cups, popsicle sticks, cardboard and packing material to create a garden of spring flowers.

Fall 2017 News

We have had a fabulous start to our 2017 school year.  Our newest Montessorians have blended seemlessly into our family grouping and are really getting into the swing of things at Midwood.  We have launched a brand new after-school program that is a fun and enriching extension to the day.  Fall semester offerings include karate, dance, chess and Spanish.  Our Teddies have started taking their “senior year” trips.  They visited Green Meadow Farm and have gone to a play (Tobias Turkey).  The children thrilled their families and friends during our Halloween parade and gave thanks during our annual Thanksgiving Feast. 

Here is a samplings of work we have done in the art room so far and some other photos of our friends enjoying their day.

Summer 2017

We had a wonderful time with our campers this summer who had such fun playing in the water park, play room and play yard.   The weekly trips inspired some great art work too.  A sampling of work is below. A few notes about some of these:

  • Fire breathing dragon finger puppets (Inspired by “The Reluctant Dragon” at Puppetworks)
  • Pizza collage (Inspired by Two Boots pizza making trip)
  • Our campers enjoyed gardening at the Botanic Gardens, and in the art room that week made styrofoam cactuses to take home
  • Hand dyed pasta sculptures (made during the week of our Plaster Galaxy trip)
  • Finger painted foil collage: (made during our Staten Island Children’s museum trip week)
  • Our end of summer bar-b-que was followed by a classroom dance party!

Art Room Corner Winter/Spring 2017

Below is a sampling of our work in the art room. A few notes about some of these:

  • Bird Study:  In the classroom the children studied birds.  In the art room we made thumbprinted peacocks and a handprint parakeet tree.
  • Egypt Study: This year our geography curriculum included a study of ancient Egypt.  In the art room our Montessorians created Egyptian artifacts, jewelry and a group wall mural.  Each child also painted a (phonetic) name card in  hieroglyphics to take home as a souvenir.

September 2016

Welcome back to school!

We hope you all had a wonderful summer. The school year has gotten off to a terrific start! Our newest Montessorians are folding seamlessly into our community and our returning friends are happy to see each other and their teachers. Everyone is ready to work and play.

Artroom corner:

The end of Midwood Montessori summer camp 2016 was swimming with ocean themed projects. Here are some examples of the children’s work.

We cant wait to see what the children create this fall!

July 2016

Artroom Corner:

Our Montessorians had a wonderful time in the final of weeks of school this year working on large-scale group projects. Each student helped to create our Jackson Pollock mural by using tennis balls and twine covered in paint to achieve a museum quality replica! The children were all proud of their final product, which is on display in the art room.

Our children also all worked together on a 3d Pollock inspired Styrofoam packing peanut sculpture. The biodegradable packing peanuts stick together magically without glue or tape. Ask your child how they did it and consider using this fabulous material for rainy day entertainment.

Welcome to Camp!

Summer camp 2016 has gotten off to a terrific start. The weather has been beautiful and our campers have had lots of fun playing outside in our water park, play yard and on the playroom deck. They have already enjoyed trips to Puppetworks and to Two Boots were they cooked and ate their own pizzas. We celebrated the fourth of July with a camp party and parade. Each child also made a fireworks painting to bring home. Happy Independence Day everyone!

In the art room we began this summer’s aquatic themed art unit with colorful jellyfish that may be hung to decorate your child’s room. Keep and eye out for other sea life creations soon to be swimming home in your child’s green bag!

Please click any photo below to view larger!

 

May 2016

Screen Shot 2016-05-04 at 12.38.53 PMClassroom News:

  • Geography unit: We are winding up our study of Antarctica and the Arctic. The children are now resident experts in these geographic regions. It has been an “icy” blast learning about the resident animals, climate, terrain and science stations! Do you know where penguins and polar bears live — Antarctica or the Arctic? Ask your child to tell you the answer.
  • Science unit: The children are currently steeped in the study of insects and arachnids. Our brave, young entomologists are closely examining real specimens. Ask your child to explain the differences between the two creepy crawly categories.
    In addition, each child created their own colorful bug in the art room using recycled egg cartons (thank you for your contributions!) and helped to adorn our spring insect tree.
  • Screen Shot 2016-05-04 at 12.39.03 PMAnnual artist unit: We are presently focusing on the work of Jackson Pollock. The children are currently making their own beautiful books of Jackson Pollock inspired paintings. Ask you child to tell you about abstract expressionism!

Art room Corner

Rainbow pasta pendants: We all had such fun hand dying pasta in beautiful rainbow colors. Once the dying was complete each child designed and created a unique pendant made from the pasta.

Screen Shot 2016-05-04 at 12.39.23 PMWe thought you might like to try this at home (so you could make one for yourself!) Here’s how to dye pasta for crafts (we used ditalini, macaroni, bows and wheels but you can use any shape you like):
Pour about ¾ cup of white distilled vinegar into a sturdy gallon Ziploc storage bag. Add a few drops of food coloring until you get the desired intensity. Drop a handful or two of pasta into the bag (make sure the pasta is completely covered by the liquid) and shake like crazy. Strain and lay the pasta out on a cookie sheet in a single layer to dry.

Other important tidbits:

  • Our Teddy Bears are gearing up for graduation. They are working hard to impress you with what’s sure to be a spectacular performance on Friday May 27th. Please be reminded that Marigolds, Hush Puppies and Sweet Peas will not be in school that day.
  • Looking forward to summer? Midwood Montessori Summer Day Camp has been designed exclusively for children ages three to six. We only accept children who are currently enrolled and those entering our school in the fall. We look forward to our 25th wonderful summer experience, with great outdoor play, including water play, picnics, sports, gardening and games. Our centrally air conditioned facility provides respite from the “dog days” for indoor play, music and dance, arts & crafts, etc. There are trips, theme days, barbecues and just plain fun in our creative, nurturing and safe environment and familiar staff. The program is six weeks long, from June However, the last week is free for children enrolled in the full six week program.