Have you heard of La Vaca Lola? Maria Montessori believed that the initial six years of a child’s life are crucial for a child’s 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. This is why one of our goals is to offer a Toddler Spanish immersion experience in our environment.

La Vaca Lola (The Cow Named Lola) was a song introduced this week to our students! And, oh boy! They loved it! Based on our farm theme, children have been learning names and sounds of different farm animals through books, object to picture matching works, games, puzzles, outdoor sensory activities, and movement.

Animals are a great source of encouragement for language development! This week we focused on one of the most beloved farm animals: the cow. Some new vocabulary words were given: Head, back, tail, horn, eye, hoof, udder, white and black.  Children also had fun practicing mooing around the classroom as we learned the sound the cow makes.

At the end of the week we also had a fun sensorial experience that resulted in a magical art project. For this we used food coloring, cotton swabs, dish soap, and of course, milk. As milk has fat in it, the food coloring can float on top of the fat. When you add the dish soap to the milk, the fat separates and moves, making magical milk art! The smiles on the faces of the children were priceless! At the end of the experience we placed watercolor paper in the milk and captured a print of the art they made.

Moo Brown Cow by Jakki Wood, Busy Farmyard by Betina Ogden, and The Farmyard Jamboree by Barefoot Books were the favorite books this week.

As we are looking to encourage language, I highly recommend you to take advantage of this beautiful weather and visit a farm near you! Practice naming all the animals and their sounds with your child and encourage him/her to repeat after you. And here, just in case you also want to join us in the fun, I will leave you the musical video of La Vaca Lola. Go ahead, turn up the volume and enjoy with your little ones.

Please have your child to wear something BLUE on Monday, September 21 to recognize and celebrate the International Day of Peace.  Blue is the universal color of peace.

” Movement, or physical activity, is thus an essential factor in intellectual growth, which depends upon the impressions received from outside. Through movement we come in contact with external reality, and it is through these contacts that we eventually acquire even abstract ideas. ” -Maria Montessori

Your children have been enjoying our outdoor environment so much! They are developing their large motor skills by climbing our big rock and the hill to get to the top of the slide. They also like to practice walking on the big rocks path. They run and enjoy exploring in our forsythia tunnel! Some of them love walking around the sandbox frame and others seem to love the tree stump walking path which offers a bigger challenge for balancing!

Toddlers have an inner need to reach their maximum effort. Hand-powered materials build upper body and arm strength as well as develop cardiovascular health. In the classroom your toddler fulfills this need using different materials. One of them is a heavy wagon. Some of the children like to push it empty, others like to put some materials or heavy balls in it, and some children really enjoy asking their friends to hop on so they can give them a ride around the environment. It’s usual to see some children struggling a bit when getting to the corners of the classroom but it’s fascinating to observe how they find ways to move it around. This week in our outdoor environment, we introduced some big wooden spools. Some of the children even attempted to push the spools up the hill! So fun!

We also had the opportunity to enjoy playing in the rain this week! Some of the children were so excited to taste the rain and jump in the puddles, while some enjoyed watching the drops falling on their rain jackets and their friends jumping around.

Children also enjoyed a drum session and exploring some new works in the environment! As your children continue to become aware of their peers, new friendships have been developing and children have been participating more and more in community gatherings. Some of the favorite songs this week were: “Listen and Move” by Greg and Steve and “Drive My Car” by Laurie Berkner. The Animal Boogie by Barefoot Books was the most acclaimed book by the children.

If you would like to access your child’s weekly schedule, including enrichment classes, you can do so on myfwm.org. Go to the Parents module and select Student Schedules. If you have more than one child at FWM, you can access all from this one location using the drop down menu.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Hood and Ms. Maria 

Your children have started to settle in little by little. There are less tears everyday at drop off time and more dancing and giggles throughout the morning. As your children’s confidence and trust have increased, they have started to explore the environment more intentionally. They have even started to socialize with some of their peers. Those that are able to say a few words have started to recognize and call their friends by their names.

As the children continue to use their freedom of movement and freedom of choice, some ground rules have been introduced. One of those rules is Respect for Others’ Work. In traditional school settings children this age are encouraged and even expected to share. Sharing is a very important concept, but for children of this age it’s a task that they are not developmentally ready for. In our environment we encourage the concept of taking turns instead. This encourages patience, mindfulness, independence, order, and concentration. Children don’t feel threatened by the idea that another child will take their material away, instead they can peacefully work with the material until they are done. When children want to work independently we encourage them to say: “This is my work. Please don’t touch.” We also encourage the children to observe quietly how other children are working with a material. It’s so fun to see that even at this young age children are able to work on mastering these skills! They just need the encouragement to do so.

Another rule we introduced this week is We Respect our Materials. As guides, we model slowly and consistently throughout the morning the importance of carrying and handling our materials in a gentle way. If one of our students decides to throw a piece of material across the room, we encourage them to use one of the balls instead and we verbalize to them in a few words how we should use the materials. “We throw the ball.” “We are gentle with our materials.”

On another note, children had a blast exploring our toddler fun outdoor space and learning new songs. Some of the children’s favorite songs this week seemed to be: “Walking in the Jungle” by Super Simple Songs, “We are the Dinosaurs” by Laurie Berkner and “La Lechuza” by Plim Plim.

We are excited for a new month and all the fun we are about to have! Stay tuned and enjoy the pictures of your beautiful children!

Mrs. Hood and Ms. Maria