Wow, what a week! The children have been working hard in many areas. Apple printing was a fun activity for those who wished to partake. One day they cut the apples in half and dipped them into red paint before stamping onto their paper. The next day they cut the apples and painted green paint to the flesh before stamping. The easel has also encouraged many group art pieces. Our room is now nicely decorated with apple prints and drawings in marker.

The hand washing station was introduced this week as well as some new fall-themed transferring items. The hand washing station’s purpose is less about getting hands clean and more about awakening the children’s senses. Listening to the sound the water makes as they pour the pitcher into an empty bowl. Feeling the warm water on their hands as well as the slippery soap and then the dry towel are all great touch experiences.

The children were pleased to work with small pumpkins, fabric leaves, and a leaf-shaped cookie cutter in our Practical Life area of the environment. The activities found in Practical Life provide real life experiences for children. The exercises in Practical Life develop motor control and coordination; develop independence, concentration, and a sense of responsibility. Everything in Practical Life is purposeful.

Every Thursday, FWM Music Teacher Mrs. Kim comes to our environment to sing and dance with us. Mrs. Kim plays her guitar for us, and brings egg shakers for us to play along. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, we provide our own music and movement class for the toddlers. We sing, dance, and play tambourines while The Laurie Berkner Band plays in the background. We have also done this with music by Raffi, but The Laurie Berkner Band is what really gets us shaking!

And today was a big step (pun intended) forward for our group! We were able to change everyone’s shoes together on the benches before entering the environment! Although we left half of the playground in the hallway, we had a successful transition and are thrilled to add this to our routine. Stopping on the benches also allows us to hang up coats, hats, and gloves in lockers.  This is part of our Montessori Care of Self lessons. Once we have our shoe procedure down, we will begin asking the children to place their outside gear in their lockers themselves.

“Any child who is self-sufficient, who can tie his shoes, dress or undress himself, reflects in his joy and sense of achievement the image of human dignity, which is derived from a sense of independence.” Maria Montessori

 

And the fun continues! This week children focused on learning how to properly serve snack for themselves. This multi-step activity encourages independence and practical life skills like transferring, setting a table, cleaning dry and wet spills, sitting properly etc. It also exposes the children to Math exploration by counting the pieces of food they are expected to put on their plates. In addition to all this, we get to work in a very important area of our curriculum: Grace and Courtesy!. Children learn to wait their turn, be mindful of others and how to invite a friend to join them for snack. As an extension, children learned how to spread sunflower butter into their crackers! It was a big hit!

We also got to enjoy a very fun Music enrichment class with Ms.Kim! Children learned new songs, danced and jumped… it’s always like a big party in our classroom! In addition to this, some of our new daily favorite songs come from Laurie Berkner band. This week “We are the Dinosaurs”, “I’m Gonna Catch You” and “Let’s Go Swimming” were the most requested by our little friends.

Our favorite book this week was “Press Here” by Herve Tullet. The children LOVED to follow the instructions within the book which included pressing the dots, shaking the pages, tilting the book, recognizing primary colors and more. The mystery of what will happen on the next page brought a lot of giggles and excitement!

Reminder:
On Thursday, October 19th (from 1pm to 9pm) and Friday, October 20th (from 7:30am-11:30am), FWM will be holding Parent & Teacher Conferences.

This is an important time to meet with your child’s teacher about how your child is progressing at the school. Scheduling for Parent & Teacher Conferences will be done on MyFWM.org in the Parent Module. The sign up will be open Tuesday October 3rd.

Please note, conferences are typically 20 minutes long; however, each slot is 30 minutes in order for teachers to take notes and prepare for the next parent conference.

Thank you in advance for being punctual to your Parent & Teacher Conference and for adhering to the 20 minute limit.

 

Middle School students in our Toddler class? Yes, it’s true! FWM has a wonderful community service program from which our class benefits. We’ve already had two visits from our volunteers, Liam, Katherine, and Sadie. Our Toddler children adore these three “big kids” who stop by about once a week for an hour to play, work, and learn with our students. This is a great example of how multiple ages support and benefit from one another. Our Toddlers look up to the the middle school students for guidance and to learn how to do new things. Liam, Katherine, and Sadie enjoy their visits as they share with our Toddlers their knowledge and nurturing,  compassion and love. The bond between these two groups of children was evident immediately as little hands held big hands to work together. It has been a truly rewarding sight to see. We look forward to many more visits throughout the school year.

Reminder:
On Thursday, October 19th (from 1pm to 9pm) and Friday, October 20th (from 7:30am-11:30am), FWM will be holding Parent & Teacher Conferences.

This is an important time to meet with your child’s teacher about how your child is progressing at the school. Scheduling for Parent & Teacher Conferences will be done on MyFWM.org in the Parent Module. The sign up will be open Tuesday October 3rd.

Please note, conferences are typically 20 minutes long; however, each slot is 30 minutes in order for teachers to take notes and prepare for the next parent conference.

Thank you in advance for being punctual to your Parent & Teacher Conference and for adhering to the 20 minute limit.

 

What a fun week we have had! Children in our class love exploring the environment! They have been engaging with the materials for longer and longer periods of time. Practical life was a very busy area this week. Spooning, transferring, opening and closing, twisting, buttoning and more, are exercises that help the child’s development of the hand and prepare them for future writing. Curiosity is in the air and desire for vocabulary enrichment is evident. Children are also enjoying making new friends and getting more familiar with the routines.

The new wooden slide and wooden boat in our environment allows for the children to explore their gross motor skills indoors! Climbing up the stairs to the slide, squatting down to a seated position, and pushing themselves down the slide are all wonderful gross motor exercises. Climbing into the boat and rocking it supports core muscle development. These structures are very exciting, so we have added “waiting” chairs for those who are waiting their turns. 🙂

Transferring is a staple activity in the Montessori classroom. Students develop their fine motor skills, focus, and concentration while transferring small objects from one bowl or small container to another. Grasping, pinching, and pouring are getting those hands ready for handwriting in the coming years.

Every day we look forward to seeing your children arrive each day. Phase-in has been a wonderful experience. It is nice to see the children arrive to school less apprehensive than the day before. It is a pleasure to watch them grow as we help them to develop trust and independence.

The Toddler age is a unique stage of growth. In response to this unique stage we encourage your child’s need to explore through their senses: to touch, taste, move, listen, observe, and make noise. At this age children crave independence and are curious and eager to learn. We offer a balance of gentle group experiences while responding to your child’s need to explore the world and exercise independence. We respect each child and allow him or her freedom and guidance to explore the world.