Mrs. Hood’s Class: Caring For Our Environment

Posted on by Andrea Hood

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!

Mrs. Wilson: Roots and Wings

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

 

It seems like only yesterday I was visiting so many of your homes. Here we are today with just one more month of school left. In this short time, the children have grown so much. Not only developmentally, but in their relationships with each other. I witnessed the most beautiful conflict resolution in all my years working with children. The conflict ended with, “Sorry, FRIENDS!!!! I love you, I love you. Hug.”  The other child replied with, “Sorry, you love me!” and this child had a smile that was so big and gave a big hug to their friend. Children are our teachers and they teach us every day that love is one of the most important gifts you can share with each other. 

In the month of May, we will explore birds, flowers, and pond life. This week we sang Two Little Black Birds. We changed the lyrics from Jack and Jill to loud and quiet, high and low, and fast and slow. We also played a game where I would pick two of the children’s names and they would become the birds. The children would stand up when they heard their name and fly away then come back. It is a great way for the children to listen carefully and follow directions. That was some of the best flying I’ve seen to date. The game-changer was when they anticipated their names to be called and I invited myself and Ms. Sara to become the birds. The giggles that came out of these children was such an incredible sound.

We changed our movement area by adding a place for the children to practice yoga. They can choose from 4 yoga poses or flip through a yoga book to copy the poses. We added a mirror for them to see their body move into the poses of their choice. 

The seeds that the children started are ready to be transplanted into the ground. We added some herbs and vegetables to our garden bed. We also have some miniature carrots started in a clear glass container in hopes they could experience the growth of the carrots.

Even though this was a four-day week it had so many wonderful changes. Speaking of changes, our caterpillars are now chrysalis and the children are eagerly awaiting their transformation.

“The greatest gifts we can give our children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.” – Maria Montessori 

Mrs. Wilson and Ms. Sara

Mrs. Hood’s Class: Explosion Of Words!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

During the last couple of months we have been using three period lessons using different materials in our environment. Three period lessons are a fundamental approach in our Montessori environment to introducing a new concept to children. They are used to move the child from basic understanding to mastery. The three period lesson was developed by Edouard Seguin, a French physician who worked with special needs children in France and the United States during the late 19th century. He discovered ways to increase children’s cognitive abilities and believed in the importance of developing their self-reliance and independence. Seguin’s writings were a major inspiration to Maria Montessori and the source of many of her practical ideas. In simple terms, the three steps, or periods, are:

  1. Naming (Introduction) “This is a dragonfly.”
  2. Recognizing (Identification) “Show me the dragonfly.”
  3. Remembering (Cognition) “What is this?”

It has been evident that your children have been going through a sensitive period for language showing itself as an insatiable hunger for words, and we have found ourselves giving three period lessons so often either indoor or outdoors. Lately we have observed an explosion of words and the toddlers seem very proud of themselves when being able to reach the last step of the three period lesson. We have seen a big boost of confidence and joy! It’s just amazing to watch!

If you have a couple of minutes, we encourage you to check this article  to find out more  ideas on how to encourage the expansion of your toddler language skills at home.

Enjoy the pictures of your busy little explorers this week! 

Best, 

Mrs. Hood and Mrs. Maria

Mrs. Wilson: Spring Cleaning and Water Play

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

The children are ready for another extension to our practical life, cleaning activities, and care of the environment materials. The wood polishing activity is no longer used as table work. The children are welcome to take the wood polishing tray to any shelf that may need to be polished.

Our flower arrangement work is now just a tray, funnel, and pitcher on the shelf vs a station. This extension is another way the children will develop their executive function. By limiting the material on the tray the children need to think of what they need and where to find it in order to complete the task.

On Wednesday, the children came into the class to see a surprise. We finally got two new goldfish. The children will pull up a stool, sit, and observe the fish.

Along with feeding the fish, the children can now participate in feeding the birds outside. They help fill the bowl with seeds and with an adult they can bring the food outside near our window.

Wednesday’s weather was absolutely amazing. While using the hose to fill the bins for waterworks a few children decided it would be fun to run through it. This lead to a spontaneous morning of water play. All the children were full of laughter and smiles as they ran around through the water.

Reminder: Monday, May 3rd – No school, Professional Development Day.

Mrs. Wilson: Caring For the Earth and the Littlest of Creatures

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind.” — Maria Montessori

We started this week exploring insects. Some of the new activities available are sorting the insects that fly from the ones that crawl, painting with a (fake) worm, life cycle of a butterfly object to picture matching, and using a magnifying glass to search for the hidden bugs inside a book.

We also received our caterpillars this week. The children are learning to observe the growth of the caterpillars each day. We also are learning that insects are our helpers and we need to care for even the littlest of creatures.

Here is the song they are learning to name all the parts of an insect.

Head (Point to head.)
Thorax (Point to the chest.)
Abdomen – abdomen! (Point to stomach.)
Head, thorax, abdomen – abdomen!
And eyes (Point to eyes.)
And mouth (Point to mouth.)
And antennae, two (Stick 2 fingers up.)
Six legs (Wiggle 3 fingers on each hand.)
And there’s an insect for you!

Along with learning about insects, we introduced recycling. The children rinse off the plastic containers and bring them into the recycling bin. We also added a compost bin into the classroom. The children are learning that we can throw our food scraps into the bin vs. the trash can. We will later use our compost to nourish the garden. The seeds that the children planted on their own have already started to sprout. Some will stay here at school so we can create our own garden and some will be sent home.

Our outdoor environment has some new water activities as well. The children have enjoyed using these on warmer days. They can choose to use bubble whisking, and water scooping and pouring. There is a bin with smooth flat rocks for building and scissors so they can practice their cutting skills. The children are welcomed to use the scissors to cut the tall grass.

We will be adding more water activities throughout the rest of the year.

Happy Birthday!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Wilson and Ms. Sara

Mrs. Hood’s Class: Marvelous Wonders!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

“We cannot create observers by saying ‘observe’, but by giving them the power and the means for this observation and the means are procured through education of the senses” – Maria Montessori 

The grass is getting greener, the birds are chirping louder, and after a long winter, we continue to happily observe how the Earth wakes up from its deep slumber. Even though we witness this season every year, it feels so magical every time! 

Like Dr. Maria Montessori, we believe that nature is a patient teacher and that Earth is our classroom. Corresponding to how we teach children in the Montessori tradition, nature provides us with both concrete and abstract learning for students of all ages. At our level, children have experiences that introduce them to marvelous wonders by using all five of their senses to comprehend concrete things and build a foundation for understanding the processes of natural life.

This week children helped to decorate a habitat for some very special guests in our environment: caterpillars. The amazement in your children’s eyes is indescribable but we can tell you that they seem very excited about our new visitors. For the next few days your children will be able to observe the metamorphosis of a butterfly. We introduced this week the first stages of its life cycle  and children seem to be very curious about the anatomy, movement, and feeding procedures  of the caterpillars.  

In honor of Earth Day we also started the plant studies by planting a seed using a transparent container, cotton, water and of course, a seed. We chose a bean! During the next couple of days your child will observe the life cycle of a plant and since the container is transparent, they will be able to see how the roots grow first. It’s very exciting! 

As another highlight of the week, the children enjoyed their outdoor time exploring water. The calming effect that water has in a toddler’s life is just incredible to witness! Children practice their fine motor skills by pouring, scooping, mixing, squeezing, and experiencing a lot of cause and effect. As a reminder, please make sure you send some of sets extra clothes for your child as our spring adventure continues! 

Lastly, children explored asparagus for food testing this week and this vegetable was a complete hit! We hope you add it to your list of favorite toddler foods.

We hope you have a happy weekend and remember to stop and smell the flowers! Nature brings a lot of healing and, oh boy, how we need it! 

Enjoy, 

Mrs. Hood and Ms. Maria

Time outside!

Posted on by Stephanie Thomas

We are enjoying the beautiful weather outside as much as possible. We know that rainy days are headed our way and are taking full advantage of our playground.

We have had several visits from our Community Service Volunteers over the past few weeks. FWM Middle School students devote one hour every six days to work with those younger than them. This is a pleasurable time for all involved as the children begin to see each other as an extension of their families and class communities.

Mrs. Wilson: The Adventure with Mrs. T and Rain Puddles!

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

This week the children continued to explore lessons related to weather and spring. They were introduced to the life cycle of a chicken and a plant. Outside the children have an option to explore the sensory bin filled with life-like worms. They can choose to use tongs to pick up and collect the worms into bowls. Thank you Mrs. Hood for sharing this wonderful activity with us.

On Wednesday, the children had a special visitor stay with us for the day. The children were called to circle and we introduced to them Mrs. T. the box turtle. Mrs. T is a very sweet and gentle 36-year-old turtle. The children were eager to have a turn to hold and pet her. We taught them to hold her carefully like holding a hamburger or sandwich. We pointed out the parts of her body and talked about all the different kinds of food Mrs. T eats.
Mrs. T enjoyed some time outside exploring the playground. The children sang her songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Mary had a Little Lamb. Another child sat down to read a book to her. By the time it was nap time Mrs. T sure did need a nap too!
We can’t wait for Mrs. T’s next visit!

Thursday, we were so thankful for the warm spring air and rain. This gave us the opportunity to get outside and jump in puddles. The children were elated while given the freedom to run and jump from puddle to puddle. It was such a joyful experience and even more when Ms. Sara and I joined in!

“When life gives you rainy days, jump in the puddles.”
Mrs. Wilson and Ms. Sara