The children are intense explorers and they absorb their entire environment using their senses. When it comes to science, these are the most important tools children use to observe the world around them. This week I created a science activity that stimulates the children to think and ask questions about the world.

I introduced an ice melt tray for an experiment. It includes a bowl of ice, a small bowl of salt, a teaspoon, and a little tray for adding salt to the ice cubes. Then I asked a question: What happens when I add salt to the ice? The children thought about different responses. Some said the ice is melting, others said it is frozen. The children were very fascinated to observe the ice melting when it is mixed with salt. They go further with their thinking to make connections between what they have observed in the class and their home. After shoveling the snow parents throw some salt on the ground to help the ice on the ground melt.   

While ice fits nicely into our science winter theme, it is also a fun sensory activity. We added some ice in the bin, a jar of watercolor, and paintbrushes. The Children love to see the magic paint on the ice and how the ice takes different colors. They also observe how this activity doesn’t last for a long time because of the warm temperature of the room that causes the ice to melt quickly. It is an inviting way to paint on a surface other than paper and a way to stimulate children’s sense of touch and think about the change of the ice.

Wishing you a peaceful weekend.

Kaoutar and Sara

Winter is such a fun time to head outdoors and look for animal tracks. We have had an amazing week learning about animal tracks in the snow.

At circle time, I start talking about how animals are around us in the woods, but often we don’t know they are there. They hide in the trees, or they are nocturnal. I asked, “What types of animals leave tracks in snow or mud?” One child said cat paw, another one said bear print. Then I presented a lesson about matching cards of animal tracks, using a printed sheet that has all animal prints and their names as a control of error. The children were very interested, curious, and creative in guessing the tracks for each animal.    

I extended the lesson by creating snowy tracks as a sensory lesson. The tray has cards of animal tracks with some baking soda and a small makeup brush. The latter is used to sweep away the snow and uncover each line of the tracks. This is a wonderful sweeping, brushing, and fine motor skills practice.

I also printed an animal track identification paper to use for the scavenger hunt at recess. Children love to explore and find animal prints outdoors. It is an enjoyable experience and connects us to nature by learning about winter animal tracks.  

Peace and love,

Kaoutar and Sara

Have you ever observed your child very interested in learning a new skill during their developmental stages?

These critical stages of development are called a Montessori Sensitive Period. The Sensitive Period refers to a window in the children’s development when they will be very receptive to learning new knowledge and to develop a new milestone.

The children from prenatal to six years old, experience three important Sensitive Periods: Order, Movement, and Language. Following a daily routine of our classroom and being in a home–like, organized, and beautiful environment creates a sense of order for the children. They love to know what to expect in their daily schedule. It also helps to reduce stress and anxiety. They get to build their movement skills from the time in their mom’s tummy till four and half years old. It starts from learning how to use small objects to walking and running. During the sensitive period of language, the child’s absorbent mind is ready to expand his vocabulary, thoughts, and feelings. They need a positive and emotional tie between children and teachers so that learning can take place.

To understand deeply where each child is emotionally, socially, and academically, teachers do regular observations and we take notes of the lessons that they are doing. Tracing the shift of interest of each child. To feed their curiosity and support their learning, we provide a variety of new lessons weekly in each area of our classroom.

The success of the Montessori environment is evident when the children can read and know numbers at an early age. However, very early education is not the purpose of the approach. Maria Montessori’s purpose is that learning occurs naturally and joyfully for each child. Maria Montessori said, “We can only give each child the chance to fulfill his/her potential possibilities to become an independent, secure, and balanced human being.”

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Kaoutar and Sara

Montessori Metal Insets are a part of the Montessori language curriculum. The purpose of discovering and having fun with shapes is to prepare a child to learn writing. The lesson also includes some creative patterns, using the colored pencils of the child’s choice. The insets are made of metal and are hard and sturdy for the child to use. They have a frame and a corresponding inside inset. A child will be working with both the frame and the inset.

Some of the purposes of this lesson are to develop hand-eye coordination by making small, coordinated movements, grip and hold the pencil, develop fine muscles in the hand and also the larger muscles required for sitting and maintaining posture for writing.

The metal inset work is a popular activity in our classroom, especially for children who like to discover, touch, and feel the dimensions of the forms. They like to bring the special wooden metal inset tray, the colored pencils, square paper, and metal inset shape to the table and do this lesson.

Wishing you and your loved ones a safe, healthy, and happy 2022.

Kaoutar and Sara

“Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.” Dale Evans

The twinkling lights, a warm feeling of love, and acts of kindness create the spirit of Christmas around us. It is the most wonderful time of the year! The excitement of the approaching winter break can be felt in every classroom. What better way to celebrate than with some fun activities and decorating cookies?

The children had fun choosing the color of their frosting, and it was a joy watching them sprinkle the colorful sprinkles with their tiny fingers on their sugar cookies. Feeling each sprinkle and sneaking a nibble from time to time. We also read the book “Twas the Night Before Christmas”. We did a Christmas tree craft that they liked to create, in addition to the Christmas sensory bin.  

Many thanks to the parents and to all the families who donated supplies for this Christmas Celebration, your generosity is very appreciated!

Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

Kaoutar and Sara

Teaching children about the diversity of the world starts with learning about other people from different cultures. The holiday season is an opportunity for the children to know about the different holidays around the world that focus on loved ones. Hanukkah  is one of the holidays that provides a time for people to focus on their loved ones, share good foods, and participate in family traditions.

Last week we celebrated Hanukkah, the festival of lights, in our classroom. After reading the book My First Menorah, the children had a chance to know what a Menorah is.

I also showed them a menorah that holds eight candles,plus a very special one called a shamash in the center and is used to light a new candle every night to celebrate Hanukkah. All the children joined the big table to share the delicious potato latkes, sour cream, and apple sauce.  It was very nice to see the children celebrating and having fun, they also decorated some dreidel art projects. The Hanukkah sensory bin was popular among the children. It includes black beans, blue feathers, blue beads, blue pom–poms, and blue and white dreidels. During the holiday season, we celebrate many holidays, including Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas. It is a cultural lesson about different celebrations of different people and sharing the joy and happy moments of the holidays.

A big thank you to Kenyon and Lidia for organizing this Hanukkah celebration. We also appreciated all the parents who have devoted their time and generosity in bringing in the delicious latkes, sour cream, and making the apple sauce from scratch. Children enjoyed every bit of the food.

Lots of love and peace.

Kaoutar and Sara 

Thanksgiving is a holiday when we think about our values such as gratitude, charity, and community. We read a book about gratitude, and we ask children about things they are thankful for. It is so adorable and precious to hear their answers for the things that they are grateful for. Last Tuesday, we baked two banana breads, one for our classroom and the other one for sharing at our school. The children were so happy to measure some of the ingredients, crack the slimy eggs, and mashed the bananas. Each one of the children had a turn to mix the ingredients with a spatula.  On Wednesday, the children joined the big table to enjoy the snack that they made with lots of love and joy, appreciating their friendship and adoring the company of each other.

Wishing you a peaceful weekend.

Kaoutar and Sara

The Montessori Silence Game is a sensorial lesson that is introduced in the primary classroom. It is a calming activity and patience activity that can be implemented at home too. This week I introduced a Silence Game for our morning meditation before we start circle time. By this time of the year, children have been practicing other types of “control of movement” practices, such as walking on the line, scooping, pouring, and moving the chair quietly.

This is how we play the silence game in our classroom. I model for children how to sit crisscrossed without movement and close their eyes using my whisper voice.

We are going to do a morning meditation, stretch your body, move your neck, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and make silence. You may hear some sounds in our classroom or outside our classroom. Then, I take two deep breaths and I close my eyes. All the children take two deep breaths and close their eyes. We sit still quietly for a few minutes. Then I say: I open my eyes to you, I open my heart to you, together we open our hearts to the sun, to the cloud, together we join our hearts this Monday morning. We hold hands together and we raise them. After all the children open their eyes. I ask them if anybody heard something during the silence game. Remember when we read a book, you can make silence and quiet your body. You can make silence any time, isn’t that great. You can stop at any time and take a deep breath. It is very helpful to make silence when you are sad or tired.

This is a very wonderful peaceful activity that I have implemented through my years of teaching as a part of our daily routine. The children love the silence game, and it also contributes to” normalization”.

As a side note, we also had a special visitor in our classroom on Monday!  Remington brought in his pet turtle, Mrs. T, to share with us. Children loved Mrs. T’s company and  they were very nice and gentle with her. Thank you to the Muller’family.

Some fun facts about Mrs. T:

– age: 37

– species: Eastern box turtle

Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving,

Kaoutar and Sara