Climbing, Running, Jumping, and Swinging….. Perfecting our Gross Motor Skills!

Posted on by Sara Kasbarian

“Play is the work of a child”- Maria Montessori

The children put their gross motor skills to work investigating the larger playground that will be their very own next year.  Gross motor skills work the large muscles that are important for walking, running, sitting and other activities. There were many new things to learn and explore that encouraged the children to use those large muscles!  They enjoyed the swings, climbing rocks, more space for running and jumping from petal to petal.  On their own playground they put their muscles to work some more, by climbing trees, running with dump trucks, balancing on the border of the sandbox and sliding!  The children were exhausted from their all hard “work”!

In the classroom the children were able to have a tasting of raw broccoli.  Most enjoyed (in case you’d like to serve it up)!  Some words they used to describe it was bumpy, green, soft, and crunchy.

We have been talking about the life cycle of a frog, discussing the different stages of them (egg, tadpole, froglet, and adult frog). I was able to bring in some tadpoles for the children to look at.  We have noticed that they have grown in the two days we have had them, but it is unlikely for us to see them change into frogs.  So we will just enjoy them for now!

 

Upcoming Events:

June 4th- Field Day

June 6th- Bridge Crossing Ceremony-email to follow

 

 

Mrs. Hood’s Class: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

There is so much focus in Montessori on fine motor skills, I think at times we can overlook the importance of gross motor skills, the development and coordination of those large, gross motor muscles and movements.

In our toddler environment gross motor movements include free movement around the room, lifting and pouring, practical life activities like mirror washing or table scrubbing, sweeping and dusting, as well as climbing, balancing on the beam, spinning in the bilibo seat, rocking in our moose, and on our well loved boat.

Maria Montessori knew how integral movement is to intellectual development. Mental development must be connected with movement and be dependent on it. “Movement helps the development of the mind, and this finds renewed expression in further movement and activity.”

Children need freedom of movement too. We have observed that sometimes our toddlers just need to get outside and exert their energy, to run until they can’t run anymore. To laugh and to chase each other. To be free and just let it all out. To us this free time, this physical exertion is just as important as good nutrition, or a good book. We are thankful for a campus that fulfills the children’s needs in this area. From beautiful environments, to a huge and well equipped gym and from a beautiful natural playground to a large soccer field.

Running, skipping, dancing, hopping, or climbing a tree – using all those gross motor skills are just as important as taking a tray off the shelves and working at a table. Life skills, risk taking, fun, physical exertion, problem solving, critical thinking can all come from gross motor play. Gross motor work also lays the foundation for the use of fine motor skills.

A big Congratulations to the Smith family in their new beautiful addition. Cheyenne was born on Monday May 27th 2019 at 2:57 pm. She is 8lbs and 9oz!

Upcoming Events:

Field day – June 4th

Bridge Crossing ceremony – June 6th

Mrs. Hood’s Class: The Process of Normalization!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

“Normalization is the single most important result of our work.”

-Dr. Maria Montessori
(The Absorbent Mind, p. 204).

Normalization is a technical word borrowed from the field of anthropology. It means becoming a contributing member of society. Dr. Montessori used the term normalization to distinguish one of the processes that she saw in her work with the children at San Lorenzo in Rome. This process, the process of normalization, occurs when development is proceeding normally. She used the word normalization so that people would think that these qualities belonged to all children and were not something special just for a few.

This Normalization appears through the repetition of a three step cycle. The building of character and the formation of personality that we call normalization come about when children follow this cycle of work.

(1) Preparation for an activity which involves gathering together the material necessary to do the activity. The movement and the thought involved in the preparation serves to call the attention of the mind to begin to focus on the activity.

(2) An activity which so engrosses the child that he reaches a deep level of concentration. This step is what we as educators and you as parents recognize as important for education.

(3) Rest, which is characterized by a general feeling of satisfaction and well-being. It is thought that at this point some inner formation or integration of the person takes place.
In our Montessori environment, we see this third step as the time a child is putting away the materials, perhaps talking with friends, and is exhibiting satisfaction with himself and the world.

In our environment we facilitate the process of normalization by offering engaging, hands-on materials, uninterrupted work cycle and minimizing the disruption of concentration.

It’s incredible to see all that your children have accomplished during this period of time working with us!

Creating Beauty and Order

Posted on by Sara Kasbarian

 

“The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences.” Maria Montessori.-

The Children’s environment should have beauty that brings them peace, and the prepared environment should offer structure, order, be inviting and be well maintained.  The children model this by beautifying our classroom with the flowers that are donated weekly.  They really enjoy the process of arranging the flowers and displaying them.  Everyday the children progress in keeping order in their environment by demonstrating how capable they are with returning work to a shelf when they are done, or how they can give a reminder to a friend that may have forgotten.   It still amazes me what they are capable of!!

We are grateful to the sun this week.  It feels so good to be outside and explore all the fun things that are happening in this blooming season.  Our snow peas have grown so much!  Hopefully we will see some peas before school is out!

Thank you to all the Grandparents and Special friends that were able to visit on Friday.  The children truly enjoyed showing you their classrooms!  Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

 

Up coming events to look out for:

5/31- End of the Year Celebration @ 5p

6/4- Field day*

6/6- Bridge crossing ceremony @ 10:15*

*more details to follow

 

Toddler: Fine Motor Skills

Posted on by Sara Kasbarian

Our toddlers have been busy working on their fine motor skills.  Fine motor skills involve the use of the small muscles that control the hand, fingers, and thumb. They help children perform important tasks like feeding themselves, grasping toys, buttoning and zipping clothes, writing, drawing, and more. The ability to complete self-care and every day tasks helps a child’s self esteem and confidence to increase.  The children have been very successful using the works in our environment. We hope you continue to allow your children to practice these skills with you at home.  Some activities could be simply be playing with play dough or cutting, pouring, transferring, lacing, beading, and painting.

The children were also fortunate to be able to visit the music room (again) where they were able to play the xylophone. The children loved sliding the mallet across the xylophone to hear the different sounds it made. We used both a wooden and metal xylophone. The children showed joy hearing all the different sounds!

Thank you to the sun that finally showed its beauty this week!  The children were excited to get outside and enjoy the warm weather.

Mrs. Hood’s Class: The Big Day!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

On Monday morning the children arrived to the environment and found a new sound, the sweet sound of peeping little chicks starting the hatching process. Children were curious and expectant! We were thrilled they were able to observe the external pipping process. This starts when the inner membrane has been pierced and the embryo starts tapping the eggshell repeatedly with its egg tooth, a sharp and strong structure that can temporarily be found on the top of the beak of the embryo. Repeatedly tapping the eggshell in the same spot causes the shell to weaken and eventually break. Pipping demands great effort!  

While cutting, the embryo turns around inside the egg, using its wing for direction and legs as the driving force. Once it  has cut a 3/4th circle in shell of the blunt end of the egg, the embryo tries to push itself out of the egg by forcefully stretching its legs and finally becoming free. The newly hatched chicks looked very wet, tired, and vulnerable. A while after hatching, their down feathers dried and they became fluffy and more active.

The children were amazed and super happy to see the baby chicks! They petted them very carefully and showed great love and respect for them! Now the chicks have been moved to a prepared environment,  the farm where they will grow and be taken care of appropriately.  

A huge thanks to the Heggland family for all their hard work and support during this process! What a great experience this was for our toddlers!

 

“The things he sees are not just remembered; they form a part of his soul”

– Dr. Maria Montessori 

 

Check out this video of one of  the baby chicks hatching in our classroom!

Mrs. Hood’s class: Practicing concentration!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

Learning cannot happen without concentration. Concentration cannot happen without interest. Whether we are learning to brush our teeth, write our name, bake a cake or solve complex algebraic equations, there is intense concentration specific to the task at hand.
Concentration is a skill that needs practice to improve and develop.
Our Montessori classrooms provide an environment that offers the time and opportunity to practice deep concentration. The uninterrupted work period enables the children to focus on a task for as long as they wish without an adult-imposed schedule. The adult in the environment is cautious not to interrupt and break the children’s concentration. As the ability to concentrate improves, the children also develop better self-control and self-regulation.

What can we do to nurture and protect concentration at home?

In recent times there has been a strong social message for parents to spend lots of ‘quality time’ with children. This could be because of the increased amount of time typically spent away from the home. Parents sometimes fear their children may get bored and try to compensate for the loss of quality time by providing videos, iPads and computer games that can keep children occupied.
It is important to spend meaningful time with your children interacting with them. It is just as important to offer children the opportunity for self-initiated play and the time to become bored. The best way to develop concentration is to practice it, and the best way to let children practice is to avoid interrupting when they are beginning to pay attention to something.

Here are some suggestions for you to do at home:
– Observe your child and identify what it is that holds his attention.
– Arrange the materials he uses so they are accessible and organized.
– Nurture his creative endeavors.
– Resist the urge to interrupt when he is deeply concentrating. Just supervise.
– Be a good role model and show your child that you have work that needs concentration.
– Provide uninterrupted time to complete his task or activity.
– Ensure your child has opportunity to develop his gross motor skills through outdoor play.
– Work on relaxation and introduce meditation or quiet time at the end of the day.
– Adapting these practices at home will support your child to develop concentration, a skill essential to success in schooling and life.

“Concentration is a part of life. It is not the consequence of a method of education”. ~Maria Montessori

A reminder:

The deadline for this year’s FWM sweatshirt is the end of the day on Monday. Order yours now! FWM Sweatshirt Order

Toddler: Sensory Learning

Posted on by Sara Kasbarian

Our Toddler environment is like home and everything in the environment encourages sensory based learning. We focus on fostering this age group’s ever-growing need for independence, order, movement and language.  The children work independently, or in small groups, and are introduced to each material at the appropriate time for their individual development.

“The training and sharpening of the senses has the obvious advantage of enlarging the field of perception and of offering an ever more solid foundation for intellectual growth. The intellect builds up its store of practical ideas through contact with and exploration of the environment” ~Maria Montessori

A reminder:
The deadline for this year’s FWM sweatshirt is the end of the day on Monday. Order yours now! FWM Sweatshirt Order