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