Namaste Montessori School

March 11, 2025School Projectsalternative education, Montessori, primary, Science

Making Maple Syrup!

March 2025: The children helped collect sap from the sugar maple trees on our Primary campus to make maple syrup. Each year at least one of our classes participates in the process. This year, the children from the Bluebird class collected the sap in buckets and watched the sap boil down. After the hard work, the Bluebird class enjoyed a …

January 28, 2025School Events, School Projectsalternative education, elementary, engineering, Montessori, robotics, Science, technology

Namaste Robotics Team Awarded FLL Robotic Championship

The Marine Masters, the Namaste elementary robotics team, secured two trophies at the First Lego League competition, on Saturday, January 25th. The robotics championship arrived after months of hard work building and customizing their robot, coding for missions, and preparing a research presentation on deep sea diving. The first award the team received was for the most overall points scored …

September 19, 2024School Projectsalternative education, child development, Montessori, primary, Science

The Indoor/Outdoor Classroom

The Montessori Primary program prioritizes an indoor/outdoor classroom, incorporating the natural world into the curriculum. Whenever possible, the doors are opened, allowing children freedom to go outdoors (when the weather is mild). This freedom allows young children to move as needed and participate in activities that are inspiring and meaningful to them! The primary environment is connected to a fenced …

August 31, 2024School Projectschild development, Montessori, primary, Science

Butterflies are Miracles!

The primary children raised swallowtail and painted lady butterflies/caterpillars this summer! They watched the tiny caterpillars eat SO MUCH, grow very fast, make their chrysalis, finally hatch, and then fly off into the garden. Their experience ignited interest in insects and other small creatures we find around the school, such as toads, frogs, salamanders, and arachnids. The children had many …

June 30, 2024School Events, School Projectsalternative education, child development, Community, elementary, Montessori, Music and Art Education, technology

Elementary Annual City Trip for 5th and 6th Years

Each Spring, our 5th and 6th year elementary students plan a field trip to a nearby city. This year the students chose Philadelphia and planned for a very busy three days of activities. The activities included a visit to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Museum for a private tour and art lesson. The students visited the Philadelphia Mint to …

June 18, 2024School Projectsalternative education, Careers, child development, Community, elementary, Montessori, Science

Making Bread From Seed to Loaf

Our elementary students learned about the growing of wheat and milling of flour, the creation of sourdough starters, and the kneading, shaping, and baking of bread this spring! With guidance and support from staff from Wide Awake Bakery and Farmer Ground Flour, the children enjoyed in-class visits and field trips to gain hand-on experiences with the processes of farming grain …

May 14, 2024School Projectsalternative education, Careers, child development, elementary, Montessori, Science, technology

Poultry Sciences

Poultry sciences are part of our annual curriculum at Namaste. Our chickens laid fertile eggs, thanks to our not-so-friendly rooster, and the elementary children were able to incubate and raise three chicks this spring! The children were able to observe at every step of the process. They candled the eggs to see the embryos form, and watched them hatch and …

March 19, 2024School Projectschild development, Community, literacy, Montessori, primary

Thank You for Making our Book Sale a Success!

We are grateful for all the people that participated in our “We Love Books!” Barefoot Books, Book sale last month! With the credit we earned, we were able to purchase some beautiful books for our classrooms. To fit with the Montessori theme of Grace and Courtesy and building community, we selected some sweet short stories. These books included short chapter …

January 23, 2024School Events, School ProjectsCommunity, elementary, Montessori, robotics, technology

The Elementary Robotics Team Wins First Place at the First Lego League Competition

The Namaste Elementary First Lego League Robotics Team, The Tech Animals, won first place in a FLL qualifying tournament. They competed in with 22 other teams from the area. The event took place in Auburn, NY on Saturday January 20, 2024. Tech Animals will move on to compete in the Fingerlakes Regional Tournament in Buffalo on February 10, 2024. From the …

January 21, 2024School Events, School ProjectsCommunity, elementary, fundraising, literacy, Montessori, primary

“We Love Books!” Online Book Fair through Barefoot Books

Now through Valentine’s Day, we invite you to fall in love with the beautiful stories, published by Barefoot Books, as part of our online “We Love Books” Book Fair! Who needs candy when you have a book that keeps giving love and sweetness throughout the year! You can purchase books for your family, for friends, or even for your child’s classroom, …

June 1, 2023School Projects

NamasTea at the Trumansburg Farmer’s Market

Lemonade anyone? The elementary 4H club, Namaste Friends, has been been selling drinks at the Trumansburg Farmer’s market since 2012. The market is on Wednesday afternoons from May through September. This year our Namastea flavors are Hibiscus Mint, Peach Earl Grey, and Lavender Lemonade. This year our drinks have been prepared for us by Mama Said Café in Ulysses. Make …

May 6, 2023School Events, School Projects

Namaste Garden Work Day

Each year, our community gathers to support our classrooms and teachers with some extra time and labor at our garden work day. We weed gardens, prepare garden beds, prune plants, plant flower boxes, paint and repair outdoor structures. And this year we also moved sand, woodchips, and gravel to beautiful our grounds and resupply our play areas! Thank you to …

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