Hi and welcome to our classroom blog! Or what we may also call an online journal or diary of our classroom happenings. I'm Ms. Leah, the classroom guide. I'll be writing here as often as I can, so I hope you enjoy!
Throughout my Masters in education I was constantly reminded of the importance of purposeful communication with parents and how it leads to improved parental involvement. I found through my teaching experience that writing weekly newsletters and creating student portfolios were great ways of showing parents the work in which their child was involved. I've also kept a daily journal briefly describing our school day and many parents have commented that it was a wonderful springboard for conversation with their child after school each day. I feel an online format like this not only allows for more up-to-date chronicles of the children's day but also provides an opportunity for community building, a goal of any Montessori program. Plus, for awhile now I've been interested in trying this whole blog thing. So here goes...
Life at iMontessori School
It's been a busy start to the school year! There has been heavy emphasis on grace and courtesy procedures. However, freedom was given to the children to choose the work that interested them most. There were incredible moments of focus, inspiring examples of leadership and sharing, and many many successes as we met new friends and learned to get along with old ones.
On the first or second day of school I gave a lesson on the "Pink Tower" to the entire class. I first demonstrated how to carefully put out a rug and then, cube by cube, acted out how the tower should be dismantled and reassembled in a calm manner. A few students chose this work during the work cycle and it was amazing to witness their focus AND the excitement that came when they were successful!
We have a "peace area" in our classroom where children are welcome to go when they need to calm or re-center themselves. Purple is said to be a calming color and in the basket are objects the children can hold while they sit.
Some returning children went straight to more challenging work before an introduction or re-introduction lesson was given. This is the "100 Board". Many students stopped to observe it being used and some students even organized themselves to work together!
The "Knobbed Cylinders" were a popular choice this week when the children were allowed freedom to explore the language, math, and sensorial materials.
So far, I have only been able to give lessons on the "Metal Insets" to the children who have expressed interest. Here is an example of a child focused at work and then excited when their work was put up on display for others to see.
"Push-pin" work has been available to students who have completed "Metal Inset" tracings and want to continue with a coinciding sequence of activity.
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| Tracing the letter "a" and creating an "a" in a tray of grits. |
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| "Red and Blue Number Rods" |
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| "Cards and Counters" |
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| "3-Part cards" |
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| "Puzzle map" |
Above are examples of independent work with very little guidance and after only short introductions to the materials. A young child can really do impressive things!
Table Work
Much of our work at the tables have involved the development of "Practical Life" skills. We have also seen a lot of creative art with play dough, markers, crayons, and paper-and-glue collages. Puzzles were also an extremely popular choice for many of the children!
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| "Scooping" and "Pouring" work |
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| Developing fine-motor skills with tweezers and pom poms |
The "Nuts and Bolts" work helps enhance the children's eye-hand coordination.
We love playdough!
and puzzles!
and puzzles! |
| "Crayon rubbings" |
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| Cutting exercises |
Cleaning Up After Ourselves
Weeding Our Garden
Look What We Found!
We Grew It From Seed. And Then We Ate It.
We Prepare Our Own Snacks
And We Like To Be Outside
Wow, that was a long post now wasn't it! Other postings shouldn't be as long... I was just catching up on the first 8 days of school. Hope you enjoyed!
