Wow! We have had a fantastic return to school! The children came back into our environment without so much as a hiccup. Chris Robertson stopped by on Tuesday to wish everyone a Happy New Year and he was flabbergasted by how the children went about their work and routines as if they hadn’t been off for 13 days! Your toddlers have come so far since Phase-In…Be proud! We also noticed that the children looked a little bit taller with fuller cheeks…they have grown so much in such a short period of time!

So everything is going well except for the weather. Due to the severe cold, we have been visiting the gym to utilize our gross motor skills and to burn off big energy. Having this space available to us has been wonderful. When possible, Mrs. Pascarella sets up obstacle courses for us, gets out special equipment, and helps us play games. When she isn’t available, we borrow some of our favorite materials (balls and hoola-hoops) and play Simon Says. We plan to use the gym anytime it is below freezing outside (taking wind chill into account as well).

I cannot believe that this is the last blog of 2017! Your children have grown so much in the few months that they have been in our Toddler environment. I am overjoyed by their development, and love them to pieces! Thank you for sharing your beautiful children with us!

To close out the calendar year, I would like to share some of our favorite memories with you…enjoy!

Last weekend I was in my attic retrieving my Christmas decorations and stumbled upon a black bag. The label on the outside made me shout with delight…my husband and children thought I had injured myself due to my shriek! I found the wooden doll cradle and high chair that belonged to my sister-in-law. She gave these items to my daughters a few years ago, and now they are living in our toddler environment.

I found a small bottle, bowl, and spoon for feeding; a rattle, finger puppets, and books for entertaining the “baby”; and we have the little pillow and quilt my mother-in-law made for the cradle. All the items are in a basket should the children wish to use them when playing. I am so happy I found these treasures for another generation to enjoy…the children LOVE them!

Large and small eye droppers came out recently to exercise fine motor skills. The large droppers created a lot of laughter as we squeezed air on our head to blow our hair.  We also used the large droppers to have cotton ball races. This was challenging for little hands, but what a reward to make those cotton balls move!

The small eye droppers were used for a different purpose. The children squeezed blue, green, and purple colors onto coffee filters and watched them bleed together. We will cut these into snowflakes to decorate the room with a wintry feel.

And finally, before it really becomes winter, we have been enjoying the mild fall weather with plenty of outdoor learning. Crunching leaves under our feet, playing tag and football on the field, and relaxing in the sun on the bench are a few of our favorite activities.

Young children are compelled to observe and explore their environment. In our toddler program we provide opportunities for observation and exploration, encouraging children’s natural sense of adventure.

This week we introduced painting on the easel. The main objectives of this exercise are first, the development of Hand-Eye Coordination. Dipping the paintbrush in and out of the paint pot requires a steady hand, and a keen eye working simultaneously. Second, Small Motor Control. Holding the paintbrush itself and whooshing it across the paper in the direction you want it to go, is hard work when you’re small. Think of all the pre-writing skills they are learning  just by holding the brush!. Third and I will have to say my favorite goal: Creative Independence! There are no rules when it comes to painting. There is no predetermined product. Just a process. The children can plan their own painting, from start to finish without any interference from adult rules or directions. The only thing they must remember, is to paint only on the paper.  The sense of satisfaction after they finish their master piece is just incredible to witness!

Children have also seem to LOVE working with the Slime! The strange characteristics of this material invites the children to experiment and discover the multiple ways it can be used.  It flows somewhat like a liquid, spilling out onto the table, but is very obviously a solid.  It is ooey and gooey and cold to the touch as it flows between your fingers and down your arms.  It clings to your hands, but it is not really sticky… SO fun!!….Children used it to create bridges, creatures, pretend food and so much more!! One lesson we learned:  just don’t put it on your hair! One of our little friends found out it was not a good idea! Thankfully we count on the support of the greatest nurse who patiently combed the slime out of this child hair. Our friend left the nurse’s office with very clean hair, a smile on their face and all without a single tear!  Hooray for exploration!

The Bilibo seat is a new addition to our Movement area. Children love exploring the different ways it can be used. Head control and skills of Balance and Coordination are some of the benefits of using this seat! It helps the children to release safely so much of their energy as well! We all love it!

This week we also had the privilege of having our Middle school volunteers with us! All the children just absolutely love them and love the attention they receive from them! Our children have created a bond with their older mentors and we are thankful for  having them join us every time.

We can’t wait for the adventures coming during the next weeks as children prepare for the holidays! It’s going to be fun!!!

 

 

We invited our Community Service Volunteers, Sadie, Katherine, and Liam to break bread with us last Wednesday. The children were so excited to share the bread they made with their good friends who feel like family to us all.

The room was incredibly quiet as everyone munched away on the fruits of their labor! Some children enjoyed one piece while many others had three to four slices! This recipe was a big hit, and thanks to your generous donations, we will be baking it again.

Your beautiful children were wonderful hosts as we served our guests their food and water first. They also showed Liam, Sadie, and Katherine an excellent time after snack by taking them around the room to show them our favorite activities. Laughter, smiles, and hugs were abundant and exactly how we hoped our get-together would be.

We had such a special time celebrating our new friendships and bonding over good food and fun. Our community is amazing, and we love having these opportunities to spend time together.

We hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving with the ones you love.

Cheers!

Showing gratitude is an important part of who we are as humans. It strengthens our relationships and our connection to our communities and even makes us happier and more compassionate people.

Although adults understand the worth in expressing gratitude, young children find it more difficult. Gratitude involves being sensitive and empathetic to others, and truly appreciating what others do for you. While children can quickly learn to say please and thank you, it takes time and guidance to help them truly learn to be grateful.

Dr. Montessori understood implicitly the value in fostering a grateful nature in children and helping them become compassionate citizens of the planet. That’s why in our Montessori environment, gratitude is key. We regularly take time with each of our students to express thankfulness for specific things, but last week Gratitude was our main big topic. The most popular things our children expressed to be thankful for were: mommies, daddies, siblings, and of course ice cream, chicken nuggets and pizza! 🙂

We had a great time baking banana bread and sharing it with all our friends in the FWM community. Children learned names of ingredients and had the opportunity to touch, smell, watch, and obviously taste the fruit of their work.

They enjoyed working hard on creating a special gift of gratitude for their families and they loved our Thanksgiving gathering where they expressed how thankful they were for their friends. There were so many organic hugs and “I love yous” that all our hearts were just so full of joy! We closed this special time by sharing a delicious ice cream sundae full of fresh fruits! Children were so thankful, their smiles said it all!

A Big THANK YOU to all the parents that donated ingredients for the bread and Thanksgiving celebration!
Also, thanks to Kristen Rio for donating all the glass jars for the children’s craft and for also being our great class parent.

Thank you all for donating your baking items on Tuesday! Due to a schedule change we weren’t able to bake until today, but it was well worth the wait! Today’s rainy weather was the perfect time to stay in and make our pumpkin bread!

All experiences are language learning experiences, but today’s baking made it extra fun! We named all the ingredients as we used them, while also smelling and tasting nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves! The children used their practical life skills as they measured, poured, and stirred the ingredients together.

The bread was still baking after our 11:30 dismissal, but we will freeze the bread until Tuesday so we can enjoy it then. We made two loaves so we can share the second with our school community during our Thanksgiving gathering on Wednesday next week. Each class bakes several loaves of bread and shares them with the entire school as a way of coming together and showing our gratitude for one another.

Thank you again for your very generous donations! We had a wonderful time baking and look forward to doing it again soon. We love you for all that you do to support our amazing group of children. We are truly thankful for you all!

Maria Montessori used the scientific method to study children’s natural learning processes. She found that the child absorbs the culture they are in effortlessly and without fatigue between the ages of 0 – 6. Whatever the child is exposed to is internalized by the child and accepted into the child’s own being, imprinted on his soul. If a child is surrounded with music, the child will be a musical person. If a child hears their parents singing, the child will sing. If a child sees their parents dancing, the child will dance.

She called this the child’s “Absorbent Mind.”

In addition to our music enrichment class every Tuesday, children are exposed to meaningful music experiences everyday. They learn the names of the instruments they are playing and they learn how to properly play them. Children also recognize the importance of being polite and waiting until everybody gets their instrument before selecting a song and grabbing their instrument to play! Children are directed to recognize hand gestures for tempo, dynamics, and their favorite: the closing of the song.  They all love to hold their fists up and watch how everybody’s instrument stops at the same time! Their smiles say it all! We call this our “band time.”

This week we also enjoyed the gym a couple of times and worked on balancing. In addition to the regular fun, we also practiced on how to ride a scooter and how to hop over hula hoops.