Sharing Time ~ A Yoga Demonstration

Every month at our little yellow school, each child has their own Sharing Day.  The children have shared many things with their classmates such as holiday souvenirs, items from nature, favourite books and art work that they have made. Occasionally, an older child will demonstrate an experiment. The children look forward to their Sharing Day.  As soon as the next month's calendar comes out, the children are looking for their day and begin to think about what they will share.

In March, the full day children were treated to a delightful yoga demonstration by sisters M. (3 1/2 years old) and M. (6 years old).  The sisters brought in a book of yoga poses and a yoga mat for their demonstration.       

A Book of Yoga Poses

The sisters began by having their classmates do a few stretches.

Getting Ready

Stretching

Once everyone had done some stretching, M. and M. took turns demonstrating poses.  They asked for volunteers to come to the mat and try the poses.

M. and good friend E.

Little sister M. and a friend are demonstrating a pose.  Big sister M. is checking their form.

Both sisters would consult their yoga book to make sure they were demonstrating the poses they had chosen.

The Swan

M. and S. doing the Swan pose.

M. helping S. with his form.

 The sisters encouraged their classmates to try each pose.

V.  is doing an amazing Swan pose!

The Table Pose

M. is doing the Table pose.

M. is checking everyone's form.

Doing the Table

Three year old M. is demonstrating a pose.

The children enjoyed this presentation very much.  They listened well and followed all of the directions.  At one point, six year old M. did say "I will not continue until everyone is seated." prompting her classmates to settle down. I can already see a budding teacher in six year old M.  As the teacher in the classroom, I was also a participant.  The sisters had their presentation well in hand.

This was not the first time that six year old M. had done a yoga demonstration for her classmates.  Here are some photographs of M.'s presentation in February 2014 when she was just shy of her fourth birthday.  She is one of this year's graduates.  How time flies!

   

 

Presentations such as these occur often in a Montessori environment.  Those unfamiliar with the Montessori Method of education may be wondering how it is possible for young children to display such self-confidence and respect for one another.  Put simply, the Montessori environment with the Montessori materials and simple rules that everyone must follow, is very effective at helping children develop confidence in their abilities and the realization that they share the world and must respect everyone's rights.  While most people associate Montessori education with strong academic skills, it is the more subtle lessons learned ~ such as respect for one another, perseverance and self-regulation ~ that provide Montessori students with the tools needed to be successful in the world.