Montessori Birthdays

In Montessori, birthdays are a celebration of life, and so we have a birthday walk ceremony that the children get to participate in when it is their birthday.  Today, it was India's birthday, and I thought I would snap some quick pictures to show off this sweet ceremony and to show how much the children love it.

The ceremony is a concrete way for young children to understand the months, seasons and the earth's revolution around the sun.  It is also a way for the children to feel special and to connect with their place in the world.  The ceremony begins with the birthday child placing a sun (a lamp) in the middle of our rug and turning it on.  The lights are then darkened and they hold a small globe to symbolize the the earth's rotation around the sun and the passing of a year.

As India starts to walk around the sun the first time, Miss JaNae talks about how she were born, and the things she could have done while she was a baby.  The second time she starts around the circle she has turned one, and she would be walking, and talking.  The third time she starts around the circle she has turned two and Miss JaNae talks about how she is trying to keep up with with her siblings and how she came to visit Miss JaNae at her school.  Once she walks around the circle her fourth time, she stops.  She has turned four!

After her life walk, the kids sing happy birthday to India and then count to her birthday number in two languages - which India gets to choose.  Today she choose Spanish and English. 

In honor of their day, the birthday child will often give a small snack or treat to the class.  We usually wait until we are outside and ready for pick up before the birthday boy or girl gives these out.  As each child's parent or ride arrives, they go and give the birthday kid a special Happy Birthday good-bye and receive a small treat from him or her.  India brought cookies - and she had a lot of fun receiving all her birthday wishes and handing out treats to her friends.  Thank you India for letting us share your special day with you!

Please remember that parents are welcome to visit the classroom any time they wish, and we would be honored if you would like to attend your child's birthday walk.  As always, you can call Miss JaNae if you have any questions.

The Earth

Today we learned some new signs to go with our new song about the Earth. We are learning that the Earth is made of  land, water, and air. The classroom had several new works to go along with this theme.

The children all worked hard as usual

Since they all worked so hard we got a rare treat.. our classroom pet snake, Snakey, ate for us!

Our Day

Do you wonder what your little one's day is like at school? We follow a basic structure each day so that the kids know what to expect, and what is expected of them. We always start our day the same way - we go over the calendar and discuss the month, day & year. We talk about the weather and seasons, and then we have our class leader for the day lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Did you know your little one could say the pledge? Ask them to repeat it to you.

After the pledge it is time for our lesson. Today we had a lesson on our five senses and Miss JaNae introduced a new work available for the children to do on smelling. You can find out what our daily lessons are on by looking at the calendar that Miss JaNae sends home every month.

Once the lesson is over for the day it is time for the children to go to work.  They are excused from the mat and allowed to work on whatever they choose.  The classroom is divided up into different basic areas.  There are sections for mathematics, language, and practical life.  There is also a reading and listening center.  The children can work independently or with a teacher in one of these areas on a project of their choice.  Each area has dozens of different activities to choose from.

The children love their work time.  Once work time is over we gather back around the carpet to do Show and Share.  This is one of the children's favorite activities.  Each day two children are picked to bring a show and share surprise and they get the opportunity to teach about it from the clues they picked with their parent.  They are always so excited to show off their treasures.  Once show and share is over we take a break for a snack, thoughtfully provided by our snack friend of the week.  Once snack is over with we gather around for a last round of songs or a story and our day is over.  Whew!  Who knew your children were getting so much accomplished.

New Year, New Class

We are so excited that school has finally started.  It is so wonderful to meet all the new students and watch as they make new friends, discover all the wonderful work they can do at school and learn the Montessori way.  This year there are 20 students in our morning class.  It is amazing how quickly this class has "normalized."  They are happy and productive and get along well.  We have been focused on introducing new work, and learning about our five senses.  Here is a quick picture that introduces our class:

We will post as often as possible to give you a glimpse into your child's day.  Please remember to stop in and visit whenever you want, or call Miss JaNae if you have questions.  Here is a short video of the children going on their rocket ship ride!