“Of all things, love is the most potent.” – Maria Montessori

Humans have an innate desire to connect, to experience dynamic relationships with one another. At around 18 months, there are notable changes in cognitive skills that help real friendships blossom. The toddler becomes more consciously aware of themselves and others. Watching toddlers making friends for the first time is truly a delight! In our environment, children show excitement every morning when they see their amigos and love practicing their names. Younger toddlers, still working on their expressive language, like to point to their friends with big smiles and do a little dance of happiness. During circle time, children look to sit closer to their buddies. Daily, we count how many children are present in Spanish and always reflect on who is not in class. Children seem to enjoy eating snacks together, and they love walking while holding hands.

Grace and courtesy is one of the most critical areas in our Montessori curriculum. Grace is the outer expression of our inner selves as observed in body language and movements: facial expressions such as smiles, eye contact, tone of voice, inflection, body movements, and the actual words used to express ourselves. Courtesy is the manners given for human interaction. As we all know, neither grace nor courtesy are instinctive but acquired. This is why in our Toddler environment, we use constant, daily lessons in this area through intentional modeling rather than specific lessons presented, as children will encounter at our Primary levels. It’s truly amazing to observe how your children continue to grow in gentleness, respect for each other, care and expressions of kindness, etc.,  despite their young age. It’s SO wonderful!

On another note, based on the coming Valentine’s day, children have been exploring new works on the shelves and preparing for our Friendship Celebration! They worked this week on a little art project that will be added to their Valentine’s bags.

Lastly, in the movement area, we got to say goodbye to the stairs structure and welcomed a fun Pikler triangle. Children practice using this structure to practice balancing, climbing, reaching, pulling, and falling. As a result, children begin to understand their strengths and abilities and gain better control of their movement. We also explored delicious oranges for our food-tasting lesson!

We leave you here with a sign language song the children started learning this week: “The more we get together!”

Enjoy your weekend,

Mrs. Hood and Miss Marissa 

“The human hand allows the mind to reveal itself.” – Maria Montessori

Art is one of the many ways children express themselves. When it comes to art, it is the process, not the product that is important to the child. As adults, our goal is to produce a product, but the child interacts with the world differently. The child works to develop self. The focus is on the process, not the product. Once a child creates something, they do not feel the need to keep the product. It is the process that gives them satisfaction and inner joy.

In our Montessori environment, art materials teach each skill separately so that the children can combine them on their own: line drawing with crayons, holding and managing colored chalk, cutting without and with a guideline, stamping, working with clay, painting with watercolors, etc.  All of these skills will be mastered independently and then combined at the child’s discretion in some grand piece of artwork later on in their development.

This week we added a fun Sensorial experience to tie in with our winter studies: ice cube painting! Children enjoyed creating different pieces of artwork while combining colors, but the truly big point of interest in this exercise was to feel the coldness of the paint! They LOVED painting their hands and were mesmerized for long periods of time by the sensation on their hands!

On another note, older toddlers received a lesson on learning to recognize the special markings of three different types of penguins: emperor, rockhopper, and chinstrap. Children then practice matching the adult penguin with their chicks. Since this is a picture-to-picture matching work and it’s a more abstract concept to grasp, we added an extra control of error on the back of the cards with some color coding stickers so the toddlers can self-correct as they continue to sharpen their observation skills. They also received a lesson about the names of the seasons and their different characteristics using a great puzzle that children like to call the pizza puzzle. This has become one of the most popular works of the week.

Lastly, we all explored parsnips as a food-tasting lesson. I have to confess, it was my first time trying this vegetable and I loved it. I also need to report that it was a very well-received vegetable from your toddlers. Feel free to add it to the grocery list. We also celebrated two great birthdays and the children enjoyed the yummy treats and hearing the stories from the donated books.

Enjoy the weekend,

Mrs. Hood and Ms. Marissa

Maria Montessori believed that the initial six years of a child’s life are crucial for their language development; that from birth a child must receive appropriate stimulation. This is also widely recognized by many specialists in language, also when referring to learning foreign languages.

Research shows that learning a second language boosts problem-solving, critical-thinking, and listening skills, in addition to improving memory, concentration, and the ability to multitask. Children proficient in other languages also show signs of enhanced creativity and mental flexibility.

In our environment, children are exposed to Spanish multiple times a day. From songs, to books, to counting, to direct conversations and commands, Spanish is always part of our routines.

As Highlights and in continuation with our winter studies, this week we introduced one of the conditions of water that is truly magical: snowflakes. Thankfully, the weather helped a bit to reinforce this lesson while the children were able to observe the beauty of the snow falling. Children learned that even though snowflakes have in common symmetry and a hexagonal structure, the detailed structures of the snowflakes are totally different, this of course, was introduced to them in a language they can understand.  I can’t stop thinking about how the individuality of a snowflake is parallel to human life. Each one of your children are so unique and so precious and we are grateful we are able to “contemplate” them as they grow and continue to share their beauty.

To tie this lesson with the Spanish language, children have been  learning the song called:  “Copo de nieve” (snowflake) by Super Simple Español. We used fake snowflakes of different sizes to follow the steps of the song and represent the snowflakes falling from the sky, practicing  some body parts such as: cabeza (head), nariz(nose), mano (hand). As time goes on we will continue adding and practicing more body parts in Spanish.  We recommend you to add this song to your playlist and sing it with your little one.

Also using educational videos, books, songs and animal models, we traveled last week to the Arctic and learned about Polar bears and this week we took a trip to Antarctica to learn about Penguins. Children learned simple facts as:

POLAR BEARS	PENGUINS
Are warm blooded	Are birds
Have thick fur	Are expert  divers and fast swimmers
Baby bears are called cubs	Have flippers. They don’t have wings
Have big paws	There are different types of penguins
Live in the Arctic	Live in Antarctica

Children really seem to enjoy being imaginative on the Polar Bear family’s table and had a blast taking the penguins to skate in our Sensory table, where the penguins were stuck in real ice.

Lastly, we explored carrots as food tasting and celebrated one of our friends’  birthday together!

Have a great weekend,

Mrs. Hood and Ms. Marissa

“Learning to use the toilet is a natural process that begins when your child’s desire to be grown up and his neurological development have reached the point where he can control his bladder and bowels. We don’t train children to use the toilet, we support them when they are ready.” (How to Raise an Amazing Child: The Montessori way to bring up caring confident children, by Tim Seldin)

As children continue to work on their self-caring skills, we want to focus our attention this week on what has become a popular topic (and sometimes a dreaded one) between the parents: “potty training.”

In our Montessori environment, we call it “toilet learning” since we believe that using the toilet is a very natural and gradual process that develops at the child’s pace, rather than when the adult decides the child is going to be toilet ‘trained.’ In our experience as Montessorians, we have witnessed toddlers as early as 20 months to as late as closer to three years old master these skills. Also, we have observed that apart from the developmental stage the child is in, one of the main factors for success relies on the parent’s commitment early on to support this process at home by making their child an active participant in the diaper changing process as we do in our environment.

You might be asking yourself: “But how do we do this? How can we support our child at home?”

As this topic can be extensive due to the fact that this type of support can start even when your child is a young baby, we are going to leave you here with some important tips focused on your toddlers and their stage of development:

1. Ditch the changing table and start changing your child in the bathroom area. This is important as it sends a clear message to the child that this is where we go to be changed and use the toilet.
2. Prepare the environment. You may use a potty to start if you feel your child needs some more balance or you may add a toilet seat to your regular toilet. If using the latter, please find a stable stool where your child will feel secure and encouraged to use the toilet. Add a basket with clean diapers and wipes and also a basket with books, so children are encouraged to sit on the toilet and wait when needed. If your child is showing signs of readiness, a basket of clean training underwear and a basket for wet underwear should be part of this area.
3. Incorporate CONSISTENT toileting into your child’s routine. Offer the potty/toilet at times when the child normally urinates or has bowel movements (Ex. after waking up, before going outside, after coming in from outside, after lunch/before nap, etc.)
4. Say “It’s time to use the toilet,” rather than “Do you want to go to the toilet?” (The answer will usually be no.) As the child becomes more aware of their body they will be able to tell you, “No, I don’t need to go.” You can then say something like, “Of course, I know you will tell me if you need any help when you need to go.” You can also use an alarm clock set at regular intervals to remind them to go, “The clock says it’s time to use the toilet.”
5. Never force a child to use the toilet or potty.
6. Do not interrupt the child to use the toilet—for example, wait until they have finished their puzzle, etc. before offering the toilet.
7. Focus on encouraging your child to be an active part of the process by asking them to push their pants down, open the tabs of their own diaper, and recognize if they have had a bowel movement or not (we always ask this to teach the children that if they have had a bowel movement, they will need our support to remove the diaper), wipe (when having a bowel movement we provide a small stool where they can turn around and put their hands on it for stabilization and the adult will clean them), place diaper in the trash, pull their own pants up after receiving a new diaper and wash/dry hands. This is a daily routine in our environment. As soon as you incorporate this at home, we believe your child will increase their interest, and signs of readiness will become more obvious.
8. Provide clothing that supports the process. Avoid zippers, buttons, tight clothing, dresses, onesies, jeans, overalls, rompers, etc. Reminder: Please avoid this type of clothing on your child for school as well.

When should my child transition into wearing underwear?

When your child is staying dry for long periods, telling you when they are wet or soiled and they are having consistent success using the toilet at home and at school, it may be time to transition into underwear. The thick, quilted training pants work best as they allow the child to feel the wetness and are more absorbent than the thinner cotton underwear. When circumstances allow, you may let the child go bare bottom at home. This can help them see and understand what is happening. Please be aware that toddlers usually show signs of readiness at home first and as they become more confident in the process, the transition into school life usually is peaceful and successful.

Communication between home and school is vital in this process. Please always reach out with any questions you may have! We will be more than glad to assist you!

 

Lastly, we want to take a minute to give a shout-out to our wonderful Ms. Bethann.  She has supported and loved your children well and we all going to miss her so much! As she steps out to take care of her health, we wish her the best in her process and a speedy recovery! 💗We love you, Ms. Bethann!💗

 

Have a great weekend,

Mrs. Hood, Ms. Bethann, and Ms. Marissa. 

“There should be no pressure, no reward or punishment, no adult deciding when the child should learn to use the potty. The environment is prepared, and the child is free to explore and imitate in these natural developmental stages.” (The Joyful Child)

In Montessori education, the term “normalization” has a specialized meaning. “Normal” does not refer to what is considered to be “typical” or “average” or even “usual.” “Normalization” does not refer to a process of being forced to conform. Instead, Maria Montessori used the terms “normal” and “normalization” to describe a unique process she observed in child development.

Dr. Montessori observed that when children are allowed freedom in an environment suited to their needs, they blossom. After a period of intense concentration, working with materials that fully engage their interest, children appear to be refreshed and content. Through continued concentrated work of their own choice, children grow in inner discipline and peace. She called this process “normalization” and cited it as “the most important single result of our whole work (The Absorbent Mind, 1949).”

The children in our environment are on a great path to “normalization.” Every morning we get to see its signs! We also watch with joy how children have internalized the routines, and transitions are more peaceful! They recognize their friends and feel comfortable sharing and working together. Deep friendships are developing, and expressions of love and care for each other are more evident.

On another note, we introduced the art skill of gluing and it’s now a very popular work in our environment! Learning to use glue develops hand-eye coordination and fine motor planning skills. It also helps your child understand the sensory concept of stickiness.

In practical life, apart from exploring all the new winter works, children have been learning how to use a key to open a coin box and learning how to use a pegboard using colorful elastics to create shapes. Children have also enjoyed learning about magnetism in our sensory bin where they have to search inside cotton balls for magnetic snowflakes.  Another of the popular works this week was building a snowman out of felt. Through this exercise, children review body parts and winter clothing names and enhance their critical thinking skills in deciding where these parts belong on the snowman.

For food tasting, children explored a mango and they were very surprised to find out that it had a yellow pulp. For some reason, some of the children were convinced that it was going to be green or purple! 🙂 Needless to say, they devoured the mango and asked for repeats. It’s a great fruit to add to your grocery list!

Enjoy the weekend,

Mrs. Hood and Mrs. Bethann

Happy New Year, families! We hope you had a wonderful holiday break and you got some relaxation and meaningful time with your families!

Your children transitioned peacefully after the break and they arrived eager and ready to explore the environment and all the new works on the shelves. As we have officially entered the winter season, we will be focusing on bringing it into the environment and enjoying different aspects of it. Water and its different stages will be a main subject for conversations and sensorial experiences during this month.

In the language area, children seemed to enjoy working with the winter clothes vocabulary cards. As children are growing in expressive language, they like repeating sounds, naming objects and having one on one conversations about them. Children were also introduced to an object-to-picture matching work focused on arctic animals. Children are learning to recognize a harp seal, an arctic fox, a killer whale, a walrus, a husky, a caribou, a beluga whale, and a polar bear. This was one of the most popular works this week.  

On another note, we introduced a beloved work by all the children: a baby doll. Her name is Molly. Through this work, children practice grace and courtesy, gentleness, and a lot of patience since everybody wants to take care of the baby. Children enjoyed this work so much! Some of them cuddled Molly with such care, others explored her body parts using it as an enrichment of vocabulary work. The fact that the baby can open and shut her eyes was a point of interest for many of the children. Needless to say, they reminded each other to not poke the baby’s eyes, which was great to witness. The children worked together to make sure Molly felt loved. They read, sang and kissed her… some of them even wanted to cuddle with Molly in her crib!

For food tasting we explored Kale and to our surprise most of the children really enjoyed tasting it!

The favorite books this week were: The Itsy Bitsy Snowman by Jeffrey Burton; Winter is Here by Kevin Henkes; Waiting Is Not Forever by Elizabeth Verdick and I Help by Cheri Meiners.

Reminder: Please check the updated Food Tasting and Flowers Calendar in resources on MyFWM. Thank you in advance!

Enjoy the weekend,

Mrs. Hood and Miss. Bethann

And just like that, our first trimester comes to an end, filled with great moments and stories to tell. Your children are blooming and our environment is full of love, smiles, curiosity and great fun because of them! We feel honored to be able to see each of your little ones unfolding so beautifully.

We thank you SO much for your support and trust. We love partnering with you in this adventure! We also thank you so much for your generous gifts! We truly appreciate it!

May the wonder and Joy of this holiday season bring light, hope and peace to you and yours.

May 2023 be a great year for all of us, filled with happiness and health!

Enjoy a peek from our small pajama holiday celebration! We missed a bunch of friends but we are positive we will have more special moments like these in the coming months.

Stay safe and see you next year! 🙂

Mrs. Hood and Ms. Bethann