UPDATE: Chicken vs. Incubator results

What an exciting day for the campers at Trevose Day School and Neshaminy Montessori!

Over the weekend, Cupcake hatched all four of her eggs! There are two black and two yellow chicks living happily with their new mom. This morning, three out of the 12 eggs in the incubator started to work their way out of the their eggs. About ten hours later, they are still working hard! We hope they make their way out tonight and we arrive to new chicks in there in the morning. So, we've now determined that a chicken is really the better way to hatch some eggs!

Straight from the coop: Egg experiment

The students of Trevose Day School and Neshaminy Montessori are hatching some eggs to add to our chicken family!

We decided to also add an additional element to our chick hatching program. Cupcake, one of our original chickens to our coop, is brooding. This means she has decided to sit on and hatch a clutch of eggs. So, we wanted to take advantage of her desire to be a mom, and give her some eggs to hatch. Our experiment is to see which method is more successful in hatching eggs: Chicken vs. incubator.

The 1st-3rd grade students voted to see which method they thought would be more successful, before it happened. They voted nine for the chicken and five for the incubator. The chicken group felt that the natural process would be more effective. They believe that Cupcake's natural instincts would keep the eggs warmer and that the chicks as they developed would feel the love of their mother sitting on them. They also felt the natural environment would be better overall for the well being of the eggs. The incubator group felt that having a consistent temperature and humidity level would be more beneficial. They also felt that modern technology would be better than a chicken.

The problem with the experiment that they saw was that Cupcake can only sit on a few eggs and more were in the incubator, therefore giving the incubator an unfair advantage. When asked if we should take out some of the eggs, they said no, they didn't want to risk any chicks life. The other problem that was discussed is that we do not know yet which ones are fertilized, and Cupcake might not have any fertilized eggs. We decided to wait a week until we can candle them, and make a decision from there as to what we should do.

Please follow our experiment and the progress of the eggs on our Facebook and Instagram pages!

A trip to the Philadelphia Zoo

The children of Trevose Day School and Neshaminy Montessori spent the day at the Philadelphia Zoo.

Aside from a fun day seeing all types of animals with their friends, parents and teachers, the children learned many valuable lessons; one of which is the importance of taking care of the environment as it has a significant impact on the lives and welfare of animals. Zoos also teach families about the importance of conservation and animal care. Also, as soon as a child enters a zoo, his or her eyes widen and the wheels start turning. “Can I see that animal?” “Where does that animal come from?”  Kids are innately curious, allowing them to learn and take in their environment. Zoos especially encourage curiosity, which thus encourages learning and brain development!

What a wonderful and educational day had by all involved!

Making the world a better place on Earth Day

Our students are the future caretakers of our dear planet Earth! At Trevose Day School and Neshaminy Montessori, this commitment applies to not only Earth Day, but every day!

The students school-wide gathered for a full day celebration of Mother Earth, taking great pride in their school yard by clearing leaves and sticks, as well as weeding and preparing the garden beds for planting vegetables and flowers. Lessons in growing flowers, herbs and vegetables, creating natural bird feeders and hummingbird feeders too, and caring for our rabbits and chickens, filled the students’ Earth-centric day. Students even took time to take a break and read our animal friends a story or two! All of the children also gathered for eating healthy and delicious fruits and veggies together in the barn. The wonderful assortment to choose from excited them!

These projects will continue throughout the rest of the year, and into our summer programs. The children show excitement and dedication when decorating poles with scrap yarn, making a colorful tepee to play in at recess. They will also continue to water and monitor their seeds, replanting them outside when the plants grow big enough.

STEM parent brings own robots to school

On Tuesday, Trevose Day School and Neshaminy Montessori students were visited by a very special guest!  Keith is a parent from our PreK program, and robotics engineer. He’s used robots for STEM outreach for more than 20 years coaching high school and middle school teams in the FIRST, FIRST Lego League, and BEST robotics competitions.  Keith taught the students about the different kinds of robots, famous and notable robots, and the major parts that are used to make a robot.  He also brought two of his robots along: a remote controlled “tankbot” and an autonomous “turtlebot” name Michelangelo.  The students got a chance to drive the tankbot, have Michelangelo use its cameras to follow them around the room, and see themselves through the robot’s “eyes.”

Keep an eye out for our science fair, taking place tomorrow, Friday, March 29!

Alumnus, mother team up to write children’s book

Alumnus Schuyler Cauley – now in the 11th grade – and mom Beth have teamed up to create a children’s story starring their pet cat, Scrappy – and they created that story in-part to share it with others, like the students of Neshaminy Montessori.

Since mother and son have a passion for geography and writing, they decided to put that together in an educational book for young children. In this story, Scrappy travels all around the world and is even dressed up to coordinate with his travels!

It was a great opportunity to see what the kids liked about Scrappy’s story, and storytelling as a whole. The kids were so excited to see landmarks they were familiar with, like the Eiffel Tower and The Great Wall of China. Their favorite part was finding Scrappy in each picture and seeing what he was wearing! Next stop for Scrappy? Find him in a hard book copy autographed by the authors themselves, to be included in the school’s library of children’s books!

Christmas comes early...in the form of seeing a play!

Neshaminy Montessori recently put on their festive holiday best to go and see “Adventures in Toyland”.

It has become an annual tradition to take students to the theater this time of year. According to experts, taking children to watch a live performance could provide a host of developmental benefits, including improved emotional intelligence and opportunities to discuss difficult subjects. On top of that, it’s just fun. Plus, we love how so many families can join in on another bonding opportunity for the community.

“Adventures in Toyland” is written and directed by Storybook’s own Artistic Director, Patricia Goldberg, with music and lyrics by Jeff Reim. This creative tale tells the story of how four extraordinary toys come to life to help a young boy face his fears, build his confidence, and make his dreams come to life. Throughout his adventures, Michael (the lead) learns that he can be anything he wants to be just by using his imagination and believing in himself.

The children were so excited to have the opportunity to say hello to the performers, and a wonderful time was had by all.

'Vendor Night' Announcement

Join us on Friday, December 7 at Trevose Day School for a night of shopping, raffle baskets and treats! More than 20 vendors and crafters will be there, offering a wide variety of specialty gifts! Earn free raffle tickets for each new friend whom you bring to school that night. Visit us between 6:00-9:00 p.m. to partake in all of the fun!