What a wonderful week! There are so many new adventures and experiences; I know how lucky I feel to share them with your children. The children were so excited to make apple sauce together; it took three days till we could finally try it; the result was well worth it!  The children help in each step, cutting the apples, adding the cinnamon stick,  putting the apples in the crock pot, putting the apples through the sieve, and then eating them the next day! In the Montessori classroom, you will always hear teachers say, ” Your child is so capable.” Give the children the right tools, and they will show us how capable they really are. This week, we focused on the “Grace and Courtesy Lessons” by introducing statements for communication, “This is my work,” “No thank-you,” “Please don’t touch my work,” “Walk around,” “This is my mat,” giving those words and modeling how we use them helps the child to understand how to communicate while being respectful, and confident.  This is another way that we give our toddlers the tools for success!  This week, we also had our first classroom birthday, in which all the children shared joy with their friends with deep enthusiasm! Turning two is a big deal, and we all wish our friend a year of love, light, and growth!

With full hearts,

Ms. Mollie and Ms. Lizette

October is finally here!! It’s only been a few days, and we have been exploring and learning all about what “Fall” is.  The easiest way for young children to learn about nature is to give them many concrete experiences and allow for unlimited exploration.  Our school campus has provided many experiences to see what Fall truly has to offer; we have been holding insects, collecting leaves, and spreading milkweed seeds. The milkweed provided many tactile experiences, along with the pure magic of watching it float so high into the sky, with the hope that it will feed future monarchs for years to come. As a classroom we also got to all experience a ladybug crawling on a leaf and then flying away, the children had a range of emotions, joy, excitement, curiosity, and sadness when it took flight.

This week we also welcomed in our first cultural celebration and gratitude, we enjoyed learning about the traditions of Rosh Hashanah! The children explored a honeycomb, apples, and the sweetest honey…..but most of all, they loved eating our apples and honey together to symbolize the hope for a sweet new year! Rosh Hashanah is a time of reflection, future thinking, and gratitude! We wish all who observe a “Shana Tova”!  A special thank you to “Nini’ for gifting us honey and honeycomb from your very own bee hives! 

We will be focused on a variety of activities, many of which will include fall themes. We will be specifically emphasizing in our vocabulary what we see occurring in nature, leaves color changing, leaves falling, using words like Autumn, Fall, Halloween, Pumpkins, Corn and Acorn.

With full hearts,

Ms. Mollie and Ms. Lizette

 

Hello Fall

This week has been a week of exploration, observation, and enjoying the fall weather. We have been enjoying the cool but warm days on the playground, collecting different colored leaves, and watching leaves fall from the trees.  Our bird feeder on our window outside the classroom is one of our greatest joys; the children are so excited when a bird comes to the feeder, sometimes scaring the bird away with pure excitement. The black-capped chickadee is by far a favorite. The children are now in the natural rhythm of coming into school; the tears that we once had are now replaced with giggles and the “why” of the day. At this age, the children are so inquisitive, asking “Why?” the beauty of Montessori is that instead of brushing off the question, we take our time and explain and encourage more exploration. It has been a wonderful week with your children, and I  feel so lucky to be with them each day!

With full hearts,

Ms. Mollie and Ms. Lizette

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We look forward to seeing you at Parent-Teacher Conferences on October 25. Please sign up for your conference here.