Project Work in Our Casa Classrooms

Since our return from the March Break, our oldest students have been enthusiastically engaged in project work.  (Our oldest students are those who will be turning six this year and attending grade one in September.)  Their time in the Montessori Casa (preschool) program has been rich in formal and informal Language experiences.  Through their work with the Montessori materials, they are able to write, read and interpret what they read.  They are now using these skills to expand their horizons and to investigate, to explore and to discover the world around them.


Our first projects were about animals.  Beautiful research texts were set out in the classroom.  Each child chose a book and read it on their own.  Next, each child answered some questions about the animal that they chose. The answers to the questions were written in sentence form using correct capitalizaiton and punctuation.  A drawing of the animal completed the project.

A Polar Bear Project

A Bat Project



The children were eager to share the information they had learned with their classmates.  One of the wonderful things about a Montessori classroom is that it is filled with children of varying abilities.  Together, we form a community in which everyone learns from one another and everyone contributes.  During circle time, the children read their projects to their classmates.

This project work provided the children with an opportunity to practice their Language skills and to gain knowledge.  This has led to other child-driven projects in our classroom.  The oldest children in our full day classroom are currently in the midst of an intriguing project that they initiated.  It will be shared in a future blog.

Happy Easter

This week brought some spring-like weather to our little corner of the world.  Outside, the snow is melting, the birds are singing and we even saw a robin!

Inside, the children were very excited in anticipation for the upcoming Easter weekend.  Yesterday each child decorated an egg to take home.  This year marked a departure from our usual dip and dye egg decorating.   We found a kit that included a container resembling a salad spinner.  You place an egg in the bottom of the container, add drops of dye, close the container and push the button on the top.

The egg and dye spin around creating beautiful patterns.  Some children chose one colour while other children wanted a few colours.  This is what they looked like.

We hope everyone has a beautiful weekend filled with good things.



When is the Real Spring Getting Here?

Today marked the first day of Spring in the northern hemisphere.  Since coming back from our March Break, we have been discussing the characteristics of each season with the children during circle.  The children would look at the calendar and count the 'sleeps' until the arrival of the first day of Spring.  Today, the wait was finally over.  Unfortunately, the first day of Spring looked identical to the last day of Winter.




First Day of Spring 2013

This left the children quite puzzled.  Why is the grass still covered with snow?  Where are the flowers and the birds?  Why is it still so cold?  Why is it snowing?

We were all hoping against hope that the first day would look something like it did last year.

First Day of Spring 2012

One of our 4 1/2 year olds was so disappointed that she asked her mom "When is the real Spring getting here?"  It is a question we would all like to know the answer to.

For now, we will continue to make the best of what the weather has in store for us.

'Critters' Comes to Visit

On Thursday, Marty Cummings from Critters came to visit our school.  He did two presentations and brought many interesting creatures for us to see, touch and hold.

Bandit - California King Snake

The first critter to be introduced to us was Bandit, a California King Snake.  Marty told us that Bandit likes to eat other snakes so he doesn't have many playdates.


K. with Bandit wrapped around him.

Next up was Custard, a Bearded Dragon.

Custard - Bearded Dragon

Custard - Bearded Dragon



Custard is not even a year old.  Her skin looks very sharp but it is actually very soft.  Bearded Dragons have the amazing ability of being able to close their ears!

C.  holding Custard.

  

Cocoa, a baby Guinea Pig, was the next critter we met.

Cocoa - Baby Guinea Pig

Cocoa is from the rainforest and loves to eat dandelions.  Guinea pigs squeak like pigs when they are happy.  This is how they got their name.  Cocoa was squeaking loudly and was very happy to be here with us.

Franklin, the Tortoise, was next.

Franklin - Tortoise



Franklin lives in the rainforest and loves to eat strawberries.  When he saw C.'s red shoes, he thought they were strawberries and started crawling very quickly towards her.



Franklin making his way to C.'s shoes.

Next we met a Red Strawberry Horned Frog.

Red Strawberry Horned Frog

Boris and Natasha were up next.  They are cockroaches.  They live in the rainforest and only like to eat salad.  They each have five eyes!

Boris and Natasha - Cockroaches




Then Pepper, the Rex Rabbit, came out of her cage.  She was scratching away during the presentation and couldn't wait to come out and see us.  Pepper loves to eat bananas and is extremely soft.

Pepper - Rex Rabbit



Next up was Chico, the tarantula.

Chico - A Tarantula

When Chico gets scared, he sheds his hair.  His hair makes his enemies very itchy.  Boy tarantulas can live to be about five years old while girl tarantulas can live to be about twenty.  In the tarantula world, girls rule.


The last critter to come out and see us was Stabler, a Ball Python.  When Ball Pythons are scared, they will make a ball and hide their heads.

Stabler - A Ball Python

Some of the children wanted to hold Stabler by themselves, while others preferred to be with a friend.


A. with Stabler.

E. and Y. with Stabler.

R. with Stabler

M. and I. with Stabler.

We were so glad that Marty brought his critters to our school.  We had a fun and fascinating morning together.

Look Who Likes Montessori!

Last week the following picture of President Obama had the Montessori community buzzing.  



President Obama visiting the College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center in Decatur, Georgia

I shared the picture with the children at our school during circle time.  I began by asking the children if they knew who President Obama is.  Many children said yes.  One of our five year olds needed further clarification.

J:               Excuse me Mrs. P.  Do you mean Barack Obama?

Mrs. P.:     Yes.  President Barack Obama.

J:               Oh I know him.  Barack Obama is the boss of the
                  United States.

The rest of the children seemed to understand this.  Now that we all knew exactly who we were talking about,  I went around the circle showing each child the picture.  I asked them to pay special attention to what President Obama was doing but not to say anything until everyone had had a chance to see the picture.   Their expressions changed as they looked at the picture and saw something they recognized.  Once everyone had seen the picture I asked, "What is President Obama doing?"  They enthusiastically responded in unison "The Pink Tower and the Brown Stair!". 

The Pink Tower and the Brown Stair (also referred to as the Broad Stair) are Montessori materials found in the Sensorial area of the classroom.  The Sensorial materials were designed by Maria Montessori to offer young children concrete experiences in classifying and comparing their environment.  The Sensorial materials isolate particular qualities such as colour, texture, shape, sound and weight.  The Pink Tower and the Brown Stair are two separate activities.  Once the child has mastered the early presentations, the materials can be combined.  The President is working with an extension of these materials.

While President Obama was working with these materials, so were some of the students at our school.

When the President and the children finished their work, their collective joy at a job well done was clearly evident.  

Note:  President Obama and his administration are currently in the process of expanding the USA's Early Childhood Education programs as mentioned in his State of the Union address earlier in February.  Although the actual program and curriculum have not been finalized, it may draw from many different philosophies of education.  In 2010, President Obama nominated Dr. Margaret McLeod to join the National Board of Education.  Dr. McLeod is a former Montessori teacher.  The preschool shown in the pictures does not identify itself as Montessori, yet there are Montessori materials throughout the classroom.  



Scenes from a Valentine's Day Party

On February 14th, we celebrated Valentine's Day at our little yellow school.   It was a busy week as we celebrated both Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day.

We began our celebrations by decorating Valentine hearts.

Once all of our classmates had arrived, we took turns handing out our Valentine's cards and treats.

Here is a cute idea for a Valentine.

Glad we're in the same school!









Once we had done this, both classes of children joined together in the downstairs classroom for the Valentine's Day feast. 

There were so many yummy things to eat.  We even had heart shaped donuts!

We all wore red, pink or white for the party and hearts were everywhere!

There were hearts on our clothes.

 

There were hearts in our hair.

One little girl even had hearts on her nails.

 

 

Here is a photograph of our sweet group.

 

 

 



We received a special Valentine from one of our lovely students.  It is a painting of our school.  It is now on the wall in our full day classroom.

All in all we had a fantastic Valentine's Day.  We hope yours was just as great.