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Mrs. Sargeant: Help me to do it myself!

Posted on by Christine Sargeant

 

 

“Help me to do it myself” is the core of the Montessori classroom. Maria Montessori said that these words reveal the inner needs of the child.

Maria Montessori once recounted an incident where she had given a nose-blowing lesson in front of a group of children at the Casa de Bambini. She observed that the children were fascinated by the lesson and expressed gratitude by clapping and thanking her afterward. This experience led her to realize the significance of teaching self-care to children. Dr. Montessori recognized that children have a natural inclination to learn and practice self-care tasks. She understood these skills are essential for preserving a child’s dignity and building self-esteem.

We encourage children to do things for themselves each day: hanging their backpacks, removing their shoes, washing their hands, dressing themselves, and even wiping or blowing their noses. Of course, jumping in and doing these tasks for the children is easier and quicker. However, the time spent teaching the children to do something independently will not only build their self-confidence and concentration but will eventually save time and increase your family’s happiness!

Since entering the season of colds and runny noses, we have been focused on showing the children how to use a tissue independently. If you’d like to encourage this at home, it is helpful to have an accessible tissue box and mirror. We have shown the children to pick one tissue from the box, look in the mirror, deliberately pinch their nostrils, and then pull it away. Next, they throw the tissue in the trash and wash their hands. It is truly heartwarming to see the pride in their smiles as they look back into the mirror and see a clean nose! These little people are remarkably capable.

Fostering independence in young children is a gradual process that evolves as they grow. It is essential to find a balance between providing support and allowing them to take on more responsibility as they become more capable. This approach helps them to develop the skills and confidence they need to become self-sufficient individuals.

Lower Elementary Week 4

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

Autumn is here! The crispness in the air infuses us with a sense of seasonal joy. As a part of our daily routine, weather permitting, we commence our mornings with recess out on the field. The children eagerly partake in a range of activities during this morning movement session, including soccer matches, leisurely walks around the field, and imaginative adventures. This physical activity serves as a crucial foundation for our busy day ahead, ensuring that our bodies are primed and ready to tackle the tasks that lie ahead. With the weather getting cooler, please make sure your child is equipped with appropriate fall gear. With the field often wet with morning dew, it’s important that each child has a pair of indoor and outdoor shoes, in addition to spare socks, to be kept in their locker. Thank you for helping with this transition!

This week, we embarked on our journey to explore the creation story through a series of captivating science demonstrations. These engaging experiments serve the purpose of illustrating the concepts intertwined with the tale of the universe’s formation. The creation narrative offers a glimpse into the very origins of life itself. Its overarching goal is to evoke a sense of wonder, nurture an appreciation for the intricate tapestry of events that have unfolded, and ignite a genuine curiosity for scientific inquiry.

Ms. Marissa: One Step at a Time!

Posted on by Marissa Frisk

We know it takes time for the new rhythm of school days to become familiar. So, while taking one step at a time, we are slowly building the foundations for a smooth, exciting school year.

In just a few short days, we as a class are learning:

  • how to navigate our way around the environment
  • how to wait for a lesson
  • the routines of our school day
  • how to prepare for snack and lunch independently
  • about being part of a large group meeting by listening and sharing
  • care of self and care of the environment

Our returning friends have been role models for our new friends. It’s a wonderful opportunity for them to be a leader. It wasn’t so long ago that they were new to the classroom themselves, and they accepted this new responsibility with excitement and confidence.

A question we frequently hear from parents is, “What can I do at home to help my child be successful at school?” One way to do so is to guide your child to become as independent as possible. Your child’s age and ability guide this independence. So there are no hard and fast rules to follow. A few important areas to focus on are setting up and cleaning up their lunch, putting on and taking off coats and boots, toileting themselves, packing and unpacking their backpacks, and carefully putting their toys away when they are done. This process is also one step at a time.

Here’s to new beginnings and a peaceful, fun school year for everyone!

Wishing you all a week filled with peace and love!

Marissa and Sue

Mrs. Hood: “Help me to do it myself!”

Posted on by Andrea Hood

“If teaching is to be effective with young children, it must assist them to advance on the way to independence. It must initiate them into those kinds of activities that they can perform themselves and that keep them from being a burden to others because of their inabilities. We must help them to learn how to walk without assistance, to run, to go up and down stairs, to pick up fallen objects, to dress and undress, to wash, to express their needs in a way that is clearly understood, and to attempt to satisfy their desires through their efforts. All this is part of an education for independence”.

Dr. Maria Montessori

Toddlers are naturally eager to learn these things. “Do it myself” might well be the refrain for the toddler years! Our day-to-day lives often make for less-than-ideal circumstances to help our children achieve the independence they crave. Our homes are not optimized around a little person with a height of under three feet: Objects are hard to reach, too heavy, or too big for little hands to use. Our days are not set up to move at their speed: We rarely just happen to have ten spare minutes to wait while our almost two-year-olds put on their jacket!

Yet enabling a toddler to become more independent has huge short-term and long-term benefits. Power struggles decrease when a child feels more in control. Temper tantrums are less frequent when toddlers are busy doing things for themselves rather than resisting their parent’s efforts to do things for them! A child who feels capable because they can act in the world without needing to rely on grown-ups for every little thing is a child who is developing self-confidence.

We have introduced the routine of changing into indoor shoes at the beginning of the morning! At this point, most of the children have learned to recognize their space and continue to work hard in the skill of removing their shoes, coordinating their hands to get the new shoe on, and pulling and closing the velcro tabs. Your children have been working on the skill of taking their snack box from the snack shelf as well, carrying it and bringing it to their respective table, opening the box, and taking their snack out. In addition, they have been learning the importance of asking for help when needed and remaining seated while eating. These are big steps for little people, but your children have been absorbing the routines beautifully, and their skills improve daily.

Children received a lesson on water transferring this week. To make it even more interesting, we used a sea wool sponge for transferring. The “magic” of watching the water disappear and get inside the sponge is fun, but it’s even more fun when suddenly you squeeze the sponge and all the vanished water comes out. Children received two new vocabulary words when observing the bowls used for the transfer. They like to repeat them over and over: empty and full. At the end of the activity, they were encouraged to look for spills and wipe them up on the table with a towel and on the floor with a mop.

Continuing our apple studies this week, we explored a Granny Smith apple for our food-tasting lesson. Skin, flesh, stem, core, and seeds are vocabulary words we often repeat these days.

As an extra sensorial addition, we worked on an apple stamping art piece. Children enjoyed dipping the apple halves into different colored paints and stamping them all over their papers! They seemed very proud of their work!

We celebrated another birthday, and the children were, of course, really happy to celebrate, especially because they knew there was a special treat! 🙂

Lastly, children seemed to enjoy our new song, “Way Up High in the Apple Tree.” Children practiced the numbers one through five using their hands. As children are working on copying fingerplays and growing in language, feel free to practice it at home with your child.

Way up high in that apple tree. (Place left hand under right elbow and lift right arm with fingers open, forming a tree.)
Five red apples smiled down at me. (wiggle fingers)
I shook that tree as hard as I could. (shake right arm and hand)
Down came an apple! Mmmmm, it was good! (hide your thumb and pretend to eat an apple.)
Way up high in the apple tree, four red apples smiled down at me (count fingers)

Repeat the song until there are zero apples in the tree.

Have a great weekend,

Mrs. Hood and Ms. Mollie

Mrs. Doyle: One Step At A Time!

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

 

We know it takes time for the new rhythm of school days to become familiar. So, while taking one step at a time, we are slowly building the foundations for a smooth, exciting school year.

In just a few short days, we as a class are learning:

  • how to navigate our way around the environment
  • how to wait for a lesson
  • the routines of our school day
  • how to prepare for snack and lunch independently
  • about being part of a large group meeting by listening and sharing
  • care of self and care of the environment

Our returning friends have been role models for our new friends. It’s a wonderful opportunity for them to be a leader. It wasn’t so long ago that they were new to the classroom themselves, and they accepted this new responsibility with excitement and confidence.

A question we frequently hear from parents is, “What can I do at home to help my child be successful at school?” One way to do so is to guide your child to become as independent as possible. Your child’s age and ability guide this independence. So there are no hard and fast rules to follow. A few important areas to focus on are setting up and cleaning up their lunch, putting on and taking off coats and boots, toileting themselves, packing and unpacking their backpacks, and carefully putting their toys away when they are done. This process is also one step at a time.

Thank you to all the parents who donated apples for our applesauce-making and apple-tasting this week. The children thoroughly enjoyed both activities. Be sure to ask your child which apple they liked best. We had a tie between Honeycrisp and Granny Smith for their favorite apple.

Here’s to new beginnings and a peaceful, fun school year for everyone!

Wishing you all a week filled with peace and love!

Michelle & Maria

Mrs. Lopes: One Step at a Time!

Posted on by Amanda Lopes

We know it takes time for the new rhythm of school days to become familiar. So, while taking one step at a time, we are slowly building the foundations for a smooth, exciting school year.

In just a few short days, we as a class are learning:

  • how to navigate our way around the environment
  • how to wait for a lesson
  • the routines of our school day
  • how to prepare for snack and lunch independently
  • about being part of a large group meeting by listening and sharing
  • care of self and care of the environment

Our returning friends have been role models for our new friends. It’s a wonderful opportunity for them to be a leader. It wasn’t so long ago that they were new to the classroom themselves, and they accepted this new responsibility with excitement and confidence.

A question we frequently hear from parents is, “What can I do at home to help my child be successful at school?” One way to do so is to guide your child to become as independent as possible. Your child’s age and ability guide this independence. So there are no hard and fast rules to follow. A few important areas to focus on are setting up and cleaning up their lunch, putting on and taking off coats and boots, toileting themselves, packing and unpacking their backpacks, and carefully putting their toys away when they are done. This process is also one step at a time.

Thank you to all the parents who donated apples for our applesauce-making and apple-tasting this week. The children thoroughly enjoyed both activities. Be sure to ask your child which apple they liked best. We had a tie between Honeycrisp and Granny Smith for their favorite apple.

Here’s to new beginnings and a peaceful, fun school year for everyone!

Wishing you all a week filled with peace and love!

Amanda & Hema

Middle School: Building a Team

Posted on by Michelle Lamb

This week, we headed to The Adventure Park at the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport for a day of fun, challenge, and overcoming obstacles. Each year, the middle school takes an early fall trip together as a new middle school group to do something that has students striving to reach new goals. Maybe it’s to complete the next level of challenge on the course from last year, maybe it’s just to attempt one of the courses, and maybe it’s to support a classmate in achieving their goals or overcoming their fears. Regardless of the personal goals, the trip always helps the group feel more cohesive. Stepping outside of the classroom helps our students see each other differently, and it is nice for students (and teachers) to learn something about another student that they may not have realized.

Enjoy the pictures from our trip!

Mrs. Wilson: Growth and Celebration

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

It has been a fantastic week! The children are gradually developing their routines, becoming more aware of transitions, and learning the rhythm of the day.

This week, we concluded our apple exploration and farm animal sounds. Furthermore, we had a food-tasting activity where we sampled a yellow apple and learned about its different parts, including the skin, stem, core, seeds, and flesh. The children visually examined the apple parts up close with a magnifying glass.

We celebrated our first birthday of the school year. During the celebration, the birthday child helped to set up a sun with a numeral two, two dots, and two candles. We sang “Happy Birthday” while she walked around the sun. Afterward, we all sat together, enjoyed a small, delicious cupcake, and read her favorite book, What Do You Say Little Blue Truck.

Overall, it was a successful and enjoyable week.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Cynthia and Sara