Bluebird, Bluebird

Mid-morning, once the rain finally let up, we quickly noticed that the birds had come out for a morning snack. Some of the girls gathered by the door to watch them...

While watching, I heard them talking about all of the birds they were seeing. Cardinals, Hummingbirds, Chickadees and Orioles just to name a few. All of a sudden, one of the girls remembered the song that we've sung together, "Fly Through My Window" by Pete Seeger and decided that they should sing it about each of the birds that they spotted together.

Bluebird, bluebird fly through my window (repeat 2x)
Bluebird, bluebird fly through my window, buy molasses candy
Fly through my window my sugarlump
Fly through my window my sugarlump and buy molasses candy.

Simultaneously, another child and I were working with the Moveable Alphabet, "writing" the words for all of the birds and animals that we saw together through the same garden window.

The beauty is that this material allows her to interpret her own thoughts before having to interpret those of another person. With every word, she is breaking it down to hear the sounds within that word. Using the sounds that she hears, she has made the following words--"kitn, chipmnk, brd, crdinl, oreeyol". Any ideas on the words that she made? (scroll down to see if you're right!)

 Today was a prime example, reminding me again, of how wonderful the Montessori environment is for children. We were able to go at their pace, follow their interests without the pressure or stress of a looming test or academic performance. The beautiful part of it all, is that they were able to gain so much through absorbing all that is around them-- the natural wildlife (science), sounds in words (language), singing "Fly Through My Window" (music), among the other work that was happening in the environment.

(Did you guess the right words? kitten, chipmunk, bird, cardinal, oriole)

The Joyful Children

These child size scarecrows are on display for Roswell's Second Annual 'Boo Ya'll' Contest. Take a walk down Canton street and see if you can find them!

The Joyful Child

Many thanks to Michelle, Evan's mom, for helping build our scarecrow 'The Joyful Child.' He'll be on display at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens until Oct. 31. Stop by for a visit!

Gardening

Last Friday, one of our wonderful parents graciously came to share her time and talents with us planting a new vegetable garden.

We currently have tomatoes and peppers growing and the children were delighted to have an excuse to play in the dirt as we prepared the planters for our carrot, kale and lettuce seeds.

While we were preparing the planters, we discovered a worm!

Then we planted the kale, carrot and lettuce seeds in a circular pattern.

After the seeds were planted, children learned how to water our new seeds just enough. Goodness knows the children LOVE to keep our plants watered!

Amazingly, we came in yesterday morning to find that some of our new seeds had already begun to sprout!

 And today we decided to read, "The Vegetables we Eat" written by Gail Gibbons. The children are already looking forward to harvesting our growing vegetables.

The Gift of Time

If you have ever tried to explain what Montessori is to friends and family you know it can be hard to capture in words. After all, Montessori schools look and feel very different from traditional preschools. The classroom is set up to resemble a house with child sized furniture and beautiful materials to work with.

There are no bright posters on the wall, there are no 'centers' where children are directed to play for 30 minutes at a time, group instruction is very limited, and there are no special subjects taught by adults coming in and out of the class. Hmmm, one might ask, 'Well, what do they DO?'

Instead of teacher centered education, the Montessori classroom is completely child centered. We allow children to become self directed and confident decision makers by giving them long periods of time to work independently or one on one with the teacher.

 Time. Time is something that can be hard to come across, especially for a toddler who is always trying to keep up with adult demands.

As moms and dads we know that keeping a schedule is necessary to meet the needs of everyone in the family. Does this sound familiar? "Come on, hurry up, we're going to be late" "Stop wasting time" "We don't have much time" "It's time to go". I know these phrases are all too common in my house.

When children enter a Montessori classroom they do not have to follow the schedule of an adult. Instead, they instruct themselves through materials that allow them to make their own discoveries about how things work.

Of course, the materials are presented one on one by the teacher  (who keeps very specific lesson plans and records for each child) but once they have been presented the child is free to work with that material for as long as he or she wishes. The child gains knowledge through concrete experience and concentration.





When the child is not waiting for the next person to come through the door, he can stop looking for what is next and enjoy being present in the moment. There is no feeling of 'Hurry up, put your work away, it's time to do ______________." We have the luxury of working at the child's pace in the Montessori classroom, and when children are given time and space what they can do is truly amazing!

A Fun Surprise!

This past Sunday was the kickoff for Sunday School at Cross of Life Lutheran Church. The bounce house was left overnight so our kids could enjoy using it too. It was very interesting to watch it get blown up....

Once the dalmatian was up it was time for fun!

The slide was super fast!

We had to stop because it was time to get ready for carpool. See how M. is helping B. get her shoes on? This is a perfect example of how children benefit from mixed age groups. M. is taking on a leadership role and B. is learning from her friend not only how to put her socks and shoes on, but a beautiful example of giving help when it's needed. What a great start to the week :) We'll see you tomorrow!

Practical Life in the Toddler Community

E. washes napkins and placemats

This week brought the first day of school for many children in our Toddler Community. We are so thankful you have chosen COLCM as the place to begin your child's eduction and look forward to seeing the children grow during their years with us. The Toddler Community is specifically designed to meet the young child's particular needs. Maria Montessori called these needs 'Human Tendencies.' Some of the human tendencies that are met in our community include order, consistency, routine, movement, communication, and caring for the self and the environment - also known as Practical Life. 

A.C. enjoys cleaning the windows

Practical Life is the area of our curriculum that teaches life skills. Human beings of all ages have an innate desire to communicate with others, to challenge themselves, to do important work, and to contribute to the environment around them. When children are allowed to do 'real work' of washing dishes, scrubbing a table, preparing food, etc. many wonderful things are taking place on a developmental level. First the children begin to master self-control. If a dish gets dropped and broken, there is no one to tell the child 'you did this the wrong way,' rather the child learns through natural consequences he must use more controlled movements.

This picture is from last year but I love the joy on E's face - he did this pouring work for about 15 minutes!

 If a child is scrubbing a table and gets off all the dirt, the success is clearly apparent to him. No adult offering him stickers and rewards can take the place of a feeling of satisfaction in a job well done. This leads to a healthy self-image and self-esteem that is developed from true accomplishments. Allowing the child to participate in the activities going on around him demonstrates a tremendous act of respect and confidence.

T. and G. get our picnic table nice and clean for a spring picnic

When the child is older and doing more academic work, he will draw from his early success in the Practical Life area. Not only does Practical Life allow the child to experience completing a task and the subsequent good feeling that goes along with real accomplishment - it also teaches the child to think in an orderly and logical manner, paving the way for reading and writing in the Primary class and beyond.

Children have always shown us their interest in Practical Life by pretending to cook and clean, take care of a doll, carrying out adult conversations, etc. But when  given the chance they would much rather be doing the real work of the family and community, instead of pretending. This year we will be talking about lots of ways you can include your child in the important work of Practical Life, starting with our Parent Ed night on Sept. 30.  We're looking forward to it and looking forward to a great year with the toddlers!

Enjoying a community snack

'I know happiness does not come from things. It can come from work and pride in what you do.'
- Ghandi

Triangles and Hexagons and Parallelograms, oh my!

This week, our new geodesic dome was built and added to our playground equipment. The children had a blast playing on the dome and they have discovered all sorts of ways to climb it!

After climbing yesterday, we thought it would be a great idea to take some of the shapes from the Geometry Cabinet and see if we could find them out on the playground.

With excitement, the children started to see all sorts of shapes in our outdoor environment. They discovered we have equilateral triangles, rhombuses, hexagons, squares, circles, and rectangles just to name a few, in our outdoor environment alone!

I love how the Montessori environment and materials allows for learning shapes such as these in a way that promotes a love of learning--not to mention that we just love hearing three and four year olds talking about hexagons and equilateral triangles.

The Geometry Cabinet is part of our Sensorial Area of the casa. As we are well aware, children take in absolutely everything without a filter, almost in the same way that a camera takes everything in through its viewfinder. Through refinement of the senses, the child opens the door for more opportunities.

This is truly the beginning of exploration and discovery and these concrete experiences enable the child to have a tangible purpose with which to observe in the environment. The child becomes more conscious and then explores with greater joy, discovery and focus. When the child is given just enough, the result is profound.