March 10, 2009

Counting leads to charity for Montessori kids


Small World Montessori School, 1008 High St., celebrated its 100th day of school last week in a special way

The students counted each day they were in school, in anticipation of a 100-day party. Administrator Amy Schaal said, "We wanted to make this a special event and help instill a sense of altruism in the students. We also wanted this to be a family celebration, which includes talking about the number 100 and learning about its significance."

To achieve those goals, the school decided to donate 100 items to Homeless Assistance Leadership Organization. HALO works to meet emergency shelter needs, coordinate supportive services and provide community leadership to prevent chronic homelessness in Racine County.

The students participated in a numbers board to learn more about the number 100. Next to a box for the donation items, there was a box of cutout numbers from 1-100, and a display poster to track the number of donations. The student who brought in the first item, found the cutout number "1" and posted it to the matching number on the display poster. If the next family brought in three items, they found the next three cutout numbers and posted them to the corresponding spots on the display poster. That helped the children with both number recognition and addition.

This weekend the school delivered three huge bags of donations to HALO: bags of pillows, diapers, deodorant and other materials

2 comments:

  1. Great idea! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Small World Montessori is the most awesome place for a child. My daughter spent three years there which launched her into great success so far, now a Fine Arts kindergartener (another great school). She still talks about that 100 board, making applesauce, and watching baby chicks hatch (she used to say patch) right in the classroom. She learned to read (thanks Lori), to be responsible for herself (thanks Lisa), and to care about others (thanks Kati). We miss all of you.

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