The last blog of the school year. I can’t believe how quickly the school year came and went. Thank you to all the parents and caregivers for your support and for trusting us with your beautiful children. They have taught me so much and with that, I am happy to announce that I have completed my Infant/Toddler Montessori credential. So once again thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I now leave you with a gallery of photos for you to enjoy.
The big highlight of this week was definitely our water day! The weather couldn’t have been more perfect!
Our playground was set up in different stations so children could choose what they wanted to do. There was water ball basketball, fishing, boats, bubble making (of course), finger painting, water paint roller, and a super fun splash pad that brought so much joy and laughter to your children. After having a great morning in the sun we closed with a super yummy popsicle!
After everything I realized that I didn’t take many pictures, but then I remembered that it was because I was getting soaked and having a blast with all of them 🙂 I couldn’t skip the fun!
A big thanks to all the parents and staff that supported us in making this morning a success but specially to Mrs. Wilson and Ms. Sara for all their hard work!
Enjoy a couple of pictures and we hope you enjoy the nice long weekend.
Best,
Mrs. Hood and Ms. Maria
We couldn’t be more grateful for Wednesday’s weather. It was the perfect day for some Water Day Fun!! The different stations available for the children to explore were, truck washing, water ball basketball, boats, fishing, finger painting, bubble whisking, paint roller with water, and the splash pad. The splash pad was the favorite well until the children discovered the finger paint and curiosity. After spending the morning getting soaked, laughing, and having an amazing time with friends, the children dried off and enjoyed an ice pop together.
Thank you Ms. Anne for letting the children use the splash pad.
The children all had an opportunity to create a “firework” painting. They used a few cut paper towel rolls and a wine cork to create the red, white, and blue fireworks. After they sprinkled on some glitter to add that extra sparkle to their masterpiece.
We started to introduce pond life to our lessons. Thank you Ms. Sara for the tadpoles for the children to observe.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!
Mrs. Wilson and Ms. Sara
This week was quite emotional for me! After working together with the children and preparing a beautiful environment for our tiny caterpillars and quietly observing how they grew and moved and changed, then watched how they built their chrysalis and suffered changes so impressive, then being in awe of witnessing how they came out of their chrysalis and stretched their wings until they were dry, then of course, amazed when we saw them walking around the plants and drinking nectar from the flowers and fruits provided, we finally gathered together in our garden to open the glass doors and let them go. We knew they were ready to soar.
We could almost sense their excitement as they felt the sun and the wind and immediately started to flap their wings. They knew what they needed to do. One of them soared so high up to a tree while the other ones were taking their time to get courageous and fly out of their comfort zone. I grabbed a little stick and offered it to one of them. The butterfly stood on the tip of the stick while I raised it up in the air and it was almost like the butterfly was so in awe of the world until finally it decided to fly, bringing smiles and laughter to your children, while fulfilling its purpose of being a butterfly. The other ones flew away too and we watched them moving from flower to flower and fly around until we didn’t see them anymore.
Then it hit me!
I came to the realization that in just a couple of days our school year will be over and my heart became full of bittersweet emotions. As with those tiny caterpillars, we have observed and enjoyed every change in the lives of your children during this year! They have grown so much! It brings so much joy to our life just to step back and observe how independent, confident, and capable your children have become. Like the butterflies brought so much joy to your children, your little ones have brought so much joy to us and we are so incredibly thankful to you for trusting us with them.
On the morning of Friday, June 4th we will open the “glass doors” and let them go too! We will celebrate with a sweet and meaningful graduation that we traditionally call the Crossing Bridge Ceremony. Please mark your calendars and keep an eye for an email we will send soon with more specific information on this event.
Meanwhile, we will continue to enjoy our time together, mastering skills in the environment, discovering the world, laughing, dancing, but above all hugging each other a little tighter and loving each other as the little family we have become.
Mrs. Hood and Ms. Maria
The children continued their exploration with birds and flowers. This week I introduced a lesson showing the parts of a flower. There is even a tray with real flowers and a magnifying glass to have a closer look. Outside we played the silence game. The children closed their eyes and sat quietly to listen to the surroundings. Some of the sounds they heard were birds, trucks, monkeys, an airplane, a dog barking, and a dinosaur.
Some highlights from this week:
We went on a hike through the woods and explored the new trails. Thank you Middle School! The trails look beautiful and are toddler-approved!
Some children had a lesson on washing windows. Have you noticed how sparkling the windows to our classroom are?
Others had a lesson on hand washing our laundry.
We also released some of our butterflies last week and this week. The children all had a chance to hold one. Unfortunately, two butterflies’ wings didn’t dry properly and due to their bent wings, they will not be able to fly. We are caring for them in the classroom.
Enjoy the beautiful photos!
Mrs. Wilson and Ms. Sara
The past few weeks reminded me of a wonderful children’s book that I love, Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran. This story is about some neighborhood children creating a world using rocks, sticks, boxes, and a dirt hill. This is the childhood I remember and to see these children at play brought back so many fond memories of how childhood used to be.
The children have been doing just this outside on the playground. They have been creating games using their imagination, the environment, and some pieces of nature they find. They don’t need the bells and whistles for their props. One friend created a wonderful experience for the others by telling them that the large spools are horses. She invited them to come to ride with her. Next thing you know they were all riding horses and collaborating together on the story that they were part of. They even took wonderful care of these horses by collecting food (sand) in a bucket to feed the horses. Sometimes the horses did get a little wild as the children would roll off of them. It is really an experience to watch them become so creative in their play. Another day the children were making a giant birthday cake and adding candles (sticks) on top. When they finished baking the cake they even sang Happy Birthday.
The dollhouse has become a popular item in the classroom. There is a diverse group of people they can use. I like sitting back, listening to them use different tones for each character.
Children at this age use their imagination based on real experiences for symbolic or pretend play. They understand these experiences more than they would understand make-believe. Sometimes it is hard for them to distinguish what is real vs fantasy. This is why the classroom experiences are child-size with real materials and work. “Play Is The Work of the Child” – Maria Montessori
Mrs. Wilson and Ms. Sara
After days of observing patiently, most of our very hungry caterpillars fulfilled their metamorphosis process and became beautiful painted lady butterflies! Children were in awe to see them stretching their wings when they emerged from their chrysalis. They also had the opportunity to observe them very closely while the butterflies used their tongues to drink the nectar from the fruit we provided for them.
As we are waiting on one more butterfly to come out we can’t wait to release them into our garden early next week! Until we are able to do so, we continue to enjoy watching them explore the beautiful prepared environment your children set up for them.
Thanks to the beautiful Spring weather, we spent longer periods in our outdoor environment this week. Apart from getting strong physically while exploring, children truly improve cognitively and socially while being outdoors. This place offers such a variety of exciting stimuli! The song of the birds, the smell of the flowers, the texture of the dirt, and more, increase your child’s curiosity and sharpen their senses. This wonderful space allows them to learn about the world, be in control, make decisions, cooperate with others, invent and follow rules, and have fun while also improving their communication skills.
We observed this week how your toddlers have started to invent their own games while playing more intentionally with the other children. It’s precious! Even though most of them are just growing in their expressive language, it’s incredible how they can communicate with each other through gestures, smiles, and gentle touch. The fact that they are so present in this stage of development make these interactions just so great to witness!
We couldn’t be more thankful and amazed at how much each of your children have grown!
Lastly, Mrs. Maria and I want to thank you for the love shown through the class gift and the delicious teacher appreciation lunch! We feel so honored by knowing each of your toddlers and working together with you to create the most beautiful experience for each of your children.
Enjoy the pics,
Mrs. Hood and Ms. Maria
One of the pleasures of watching a child grow is being shocked out of taking the mundane for granted. The most ordinary things that we seemingly know without thinking and can do without trying are, for the child, wondrous, new discoveries and engaging, joyous challenges. This includes the everyday routines and practices of life: preparing food, dressing oneself, cleaning, habitual courtesies, and more—these are for the child new, maybe daunting, exciting tasks that are visibly part of the human world and that are empowering to master.
This week we introduced two of these all time favorite, practical life activities: mirror washing and plant cleaning.
First of all, asking a child to use a spray bottle feels to them as such a gift, and while doing so they exercise their gross motor skills; they have to rely on their sense of balance as they make big arm movements to ensure water covers the mirror and to be gentle and precise enough to wet the one leaf to be cleaned on the plant using their hands to clamp down on the spraying mechanism all at the same time. Children repeated over and over these exercises while strengthening their concentration skills and seemed so proud of themselves when finishing their whole multi-step activity!
The greater lessons of this exercise are those of self-control and self-discipline. While spraying water can be a thrilling sensory experience, the child has an opportunity to understand the responsibility of the chore they are there to perform … for example, the spray bottle is not for use on the floor, on their faces (or peer faces), but rather, to clean the mirror or to clean the leaves on the plant.
There are great benefits in the lives of the children when they are involved in caring for their environment. We encourage you to add these exercises to your list of chores your child can do! They will be happy to help you by maintaining a sparkly space at home, while also having fun!
Happy spring cleaning!