Aloha parents! Welcome to Little Hoku Montessori Academy’s summer program for 2021! My name is Ms. Kirstan, and I am the teacher for this summer. We had a wonderful first week of school together, and I have enjoyed getting to know your little ones! As most of you know, the first week of school focused on the theme of Ocean & Ocean Animals. We explored many concepts throughout the week, which I will dive into (pun intended)  later down this blog post. For the remainder of the summer,  I wanted to give you a quick outline of the themes that we will be focusing on:

  • Week 1: Ocean
  • Week 2: Animals (Zoo)
  • Week 3: Nature (Flowers & Insects)
  • Week 4: Space & 4th of July
  • Week 5: Music
  • Week 6: Around the World
  • Week 7: Sports/ Olympics

Summer Camp Curriculum

I have created a curriculum that goes into detail about each activity that we will be doing for each day of summer. This document has links that you can click on which details the activities. Please feel free to reference this throughout the summer to get an idea of what each day will hold.

Check out the Summer Curriculum information.

Summer Camp – Week 1

This past week covered many concepts of the ocean. Here is a summary of our week: 

Day 1- Monday – Sand & Shore

To begin the theme of the ocean, we started with looking at the very beginnings of the ocean: the shore/beach. This includes exploring sand and the creatures that live in the shallow tide pools. We created a “Beach In a Jar” for our first craft of the summer, and the children absolutely loved it! This activity was on the messier side (in terms of sand, water, and oil), but I have to say that the students did wonderfully! They all sat in their seats the whole time while I distributed the sand, water, and oil. They each got to choose 2 shells to put in their jars, and they were so excited to have a mini beach that they could carry around. This was a wonderful sensory activity that allowed the students to explore the texture of sand, water, and oil (which represented the air). They got to explore different types of shells, and see how all of these elements react together in their jars. 

Day 2 – Tuesday – Ocean Animals

On Tuesday, we began to dive (pun intended) into the concept of ocean animals. The song Slippery Fish is adored by little ones, so I figured it would be fun to create stick puppets to act out this song since it includes 5 different ocean animals. This song includes Fish, Octopus, Tuna Fish, Great White Shark, and a Humongous Whale – what a wonderful way to explore the different creatures that inhabit the seas by a song that is loved by the students. 

We also created a Coffee Filter Jellyfish, and the children loved playing with their jellyfish friends. 

Day 3 – Wednesday- Fish

We narrowed our focus onto fish, and specifically, the humuhumunukunukuapua’a – the Hawaii State Fish. We created a Humu Fish Craft with tissue paper. This encouraged fine motor skills as the children uniquely placed each paper onto their Humu to create a beautiful fish-scale collage. It was quite funny to listen to the children try to pronounce the fish name, and some of them actually got quite good at it! Some of them were still talking about this fish on Friday, and were still trying to pronounce it. 

Day 4- Thursday

On Thursday, we shifted focus to activities that we do in the ocean. After learning about the ocean and its creatures, we explored ways that we can be involved in the ocean. I have 2 giant cardboard boxes that I brought into the classroom for the children to decorate their own boats. This craft got slightly messy as well, because it involved a lot of paint and cotton balls, however, the children did great at using the sponges to clean up any paint drips. 

Another activity that we all enjoyed was a fishing lesson that I created. I printed out and laminated some fish, and then I attached paperclips to the fish (so it looks like a hook). Then, I attached some string to a magnet. For the activity, the children used the string and magnet to “fish” for the fish. They loved this activity, and I heard some of the children say “I want to do this lesson forever!”. It was wonderful to see how much they enjoyed this lesson. 

Day 5- Friday- Arctic Animals

On Friday, we looked specifically at ocean animals that live in the cold. This topic is also a good transition into our theme next week: Zoo animals. For Friday’s craft, we made our very own snow globes! Each student got to choose their own animals to put in their snow globe, and then we added water, snowflakes, and glitter (to represent snow) to our snowglobes. They enjoyed shaking their globes to see the snow flutter around. 

We also did an activity called Arctic Animal Rescue. For this activity, I put some extra arctic animals and “ice crystals” in water, and then I froze them overnight. The students then used droppers with warm water to melt the ice and save the animals and ice crystals. After they saved their animals/ice crystals, they got to add them to their snow globes. This activity took patience since the ice wasn’t melting right away. Some of the children suggested going outside so that the ice would melt faster, but within a few minutes, the ice would start spinning in its container. The children kept adding water, and some even put their whole ice block into the bucket of warm water. It was intriguing to watch how they problem solved to save their animals and ice crystals. Soon enough, the ice melted and they rescued their animals/ice crystals! This was a great activity that encouraged patience and determination to rescue their objects. They got so excited when they finally rescued their objects as well.

We had a wonderful first week full of crafts and activities that encouraged hands-on exploration of the theme of the ocean and ocean animals.

Upcoming Activities in Week 2

Next Week (Week 2), we will be learning about zoo animals and their habitats. 

Monday will focus on Grassland/Savanna Animals. Tuesday will focus on Woodland/Forest Animals. Wednesday will focus on Desert animals. Thursday will focus on Rain Forest Animals, and Friday will focus on Farm Animals.

We have an exciting activity for Desert Day: We will be reading the Tortoise and the Hare, and I have a friend named Frankie that has a pet tortoise and a pet rabbit. I asked if she could bring the animals in to show the students. Frankie has her TB clearance. She actually works at the hospital, so she has all of her medical boxes covered. 

This activity will be outdoors, and the students will get to pet and play with both of the animals. I will be sure to have the students wash their hands before and after the activity.

I am so excited for this coming week, and I look forward to sharing more pictures of all our fun.

Thank you so much!

Ms. Kirstan