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Welcome to the Nido classroom new school year. I look forward to sharing with you the many wonderful things we do in our classroom. Please check here often for updates and links to information. Thank you! jeanette@traversechildrenshouse.org "We see the figure of the child who stands before us with his arms held open, beckoning humanity to follow." ~Dr. Maria Montessori, Education and Peace Room Parent |
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Classroom Highlights
3/13/24
Hello!
I hope you have had a great beginning to March! We had another baby graduate out of the Nido into the Young Children's Community. Boden had his last day with us and has joined the Dandelion Classroom. We have also welcomed two new babies into our class. Quinn and Brynn have joined our little community, and we are so happy to have them and their families.
The Nido is quickly becoming a younger community, so I’ve been thinking a lot about basic Montessori philosophy. This week, I wanted to write about the Human Tendencies and how some of them manifest in very young children.
Through her studies of anthropology and observations as a doctor, Maria Montessori developed her definition of human tendencies as an explanation of human beings and what it means to be human. She envisioned a philosophy that aided human development. She concluded that throughout history, independent of culture or time, all human beings—including children— have the same human tendencies.
As humans, we all have characteristics that put us in relationship to our environments; these are the natural drives that push humans to develop characteristics of humanity. They help us to satisfy our basic and secondary needs and help us adapt to our environment. This adaptation helps us become active members in a culture; they are the building blocks on which humanity has progressed throughout history.
Some examples of human tendencies include the need for order, communication, exploration, work, imagination, exactness, self-perfection, repetition, and movement.
Although babies are not born with any specific language, they are born with the innate human tendency to communicate. Whatever communication is present within their environments will be what they internalize. Human beings develop communication to satisfy the need to express themselves. Written language was developed as a means to communicate with other people who were not present. Communication is so much more than spoken and received language; babies communicate their needs to us through their cries, movements, and other cues.
Children are born ready to explore. Infants explore from birth by using all of their senses. Toddlers explore to help them be in touch with their environment. As adults observing toddlers, we do not always know or understand what they are exploring, but they are satisfying a need by exploring their environment. Exploration helps human beings to learn about things that are unfamiliar to them.
Sometimes we have to explore our environment in order to orient ourselves. We use orientation without thinking about it; it is the ability to find points of reference when we are in a strange place so that we can be comfortable and find our way. Children need an environment that is consistent to provide them with orientation; this helps them feel safe and secure in their environments.
Orientation depends on order, which is the sequential part of life. Human beings have to be aware of sequences so as to find their way. Children have a very high need for order, and they thrive on the security that this order provides to them. One way that the need for order is manifested in infants is through their love of patterns. When the pattern of a young child’s day is interrupted, it can disturb the rest of their day. I imagine many of you experienced this with the daylight savings time shift; not only did the routine get shifted an hour, but the evening and morning look different out the window now. It’s still quite bright outside at bedtime, and it’s dark when we wake up once again. This is not the order that they were expecting, so the transition takes time to adapt to.
If you have time this weekend, observe your child and see how their environment is supporting their needs to satisfy some of these tendencies. How are they communicating outside of spoken language? What specifics of the order of their environment seem to be extra important to them?
2/22/24
Hello Nido Families!
I hope you have had a great two weeks! We have another baby graduating out of the Nido into the Young Children's Community. Vienna had her last day with us this week and has joined the Dandelion Classroom. We are excited to continue to see her in the gym and outside and watch her flourish with her new classmates.
Speaking of toddlers, next Thursday (2/29) is our spring semester Montessori Toddler book discussion. We will be focusing mainly on chapter seven, "Putting It Into Practice", but all questions and comments are welcome. The book is a great starting point for further discussion. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation in the fall and hope to see you all there! If you are interested in signing your child up for aftercare, please click on this link. This sign-up will only be available until Monday (2/26). This conversation is relevant for families with babies, toddlers, and beyond as we discuss how what we do at school translates into your lives at home.
I wanted to let everyone know that Madison will be out of the classroom for all of March and return to us after spring break. We have a long term sub, Alisha, who will be filling in for her. Alisha has previously worked in both 3-6 and 0-3 classrooms while she lived in Ohio. If you have any questions about this, please let me know.
To continue the previous classroom highlights discussions about independence, I’d like to briefly discuss independence with eating. Many of the families in the Nido practice Baby Led Weaning with their infants. More information about Baby Led Weaning is available at Feeding Littles or Solid Starts. I’m happy to talk about this with families individually as well. As a note, here is a study that shows no difference in incidents of choking with BLW vs purees.
Babies who eat table food from day one are practicing infant self feeding by default. They are offered a plate or bowl, and they use their developing fine motor skills to bring that food to their mouth. This is a messy process, but is so good for their development. It allows for sensory exploration and helps encourage hand-eye coordination.
With our babies who start with purées before transitioning to table food, we still practice infant self feeding. We offer the babies a preloaded spoon and allow them to bring it to their mouths themselves. This helps to introduce safe limits around their body as well as the Division of Responsibility around food.
The Division of Responsibility comes into play as children get older and more selective about what they eat. It is the adult’s decision what is offered for meal times, and it is the child’s decision what they eat from what is offered. Typically developing children are intuitive eaters who will eat what their body needs. A toddler’s eating schedule can be a bit different than an adult’s, and we need to consider their whole day or even multiple days to see if they are getting adequate nutrition. Some children will eat little for several days and then eat a lot. Some children are consistent eaters unless they are ill. These are observations to make as your child grows into a toddler and preschooler.
2/9/24
Hello Nido Families!
It is the time of transitions in and out of the Nido. We have new baby in our class; welcome to Eve and her family! Eve is another younger sibling of a child from the Fern classroom, and we are so happy to have her with us.
New skills are being practiced and developed in the Clover classroom, and everyone is working on independence in their own ways. Our youngest learners have been focused on rolling and reaching; our middlest learners have been moving forward and considering pulling to stand, and our oldest learners have been working on independence with dressing and undressing. Our four senior babes have all had lessons on the zipper frame and the Velcro frame, and we have been encouraging them to participate in getting ready to go outside and taking gear off on the way back inside.
I’ve talked to a few families about clothing that allows for movement in the Nido. Allowing the babies to have their feet bare helps them with using their toes to creep, crawl, and pull to stand without slipping. Onesies and one piece outfits help with this as well because they keep their stomachs covered and do not bunch up while they propel themselves forward or over. As babies begin to move more, their clothing needs change to allow for independence. Separates are helpful as babies begin to walk and then work on independent dressing. Looser tops and pants with elastic waists help facilitate this independence. Having a shirt that is free of snaps also allows them to practice sitting on the toilet.
When babies begin to solidly sit, we can encourage them to push their arms through their sleeves while changing clothes. Once they are a bit older, we can help them reach up to pull their shirt down over their head. When they are standing independently, we offer them the chance to help pull up their pants after diaper changes. Another part of the development of independence is in offering choice. Even very young babies can be offered a choice between two shirts, sleepers, or pairs of pants.
If you have a moment this weekend, observe your child to see how their clothing is helping their movement or see what they are able to do independently while changing clothes. Our oldest children have really blossomed in their interest in this area.
1/25/24
Happy Friday, Nido Families!
It has been a busy two weeks! We have a new baby in our class; welcome to Walker and his family! We are so happy to have them with us. I sent home rosters with new photos including our newest classmate.
In The 1946 London Lectures, Dr. Montessori stated “The hand is the instrument of intelligence." There has been an interesting contrast in fine motor or hand development in the Clover classroom over the past few weeks. Our littlest learners have been working on developing their fine motor skills. There is a lot of intentional grasping and hand to hand transferring happening over on the movement mat. They have been exploring rattles and the ring on a ribbon mobile. Our middlest learners are well into pincer grasps and practicing picking tiny bits of food up on the table. They also will pick up any tiny speck they can find as they begin to crawl across the floor. Divergently, our oldest learners are working on refining that which they have already developed. There is a lot of refining of their pincer grasps and they are starting to use both hands together. They are working on stabilizing fabric to pull a zipper down and using their utensils at the table.
In Montessori philosophy, we talk a lot about freedom within limits. This is true in the Nido as well. The babies are free to explore the classroom as long as they are not harming themselves, another person, or a material. The oldest babes have heard many reminders over the past few weeks about which materials are safe for banging or pounding. There is a flurry of desire to bang and experience the cause and effect of that motion. We have been working on redirecting these children to a hammering work or a ball pushing work. If the banging continues with inappropriate objects, we remove the material from their hands.
We offer this freedom to allow the babies to learn to be successful independently; this aids in the development of the will. Every time a child experiences the idea that they can do something on their own without any help, it furthers the development of their will. With very small babies, this looks like observing without interruption while they work on developing gross motor skills such as rolling, crawling, or pulling to stand. We set up the environment for them to be successful by placing objects just out of reach for them to work on rolling or crawling towards. So many of the materials in the Nido are designed to be multi-functional. Some both roll and aid in the development of various grasps. One of my favorite is the interlocking discs; they roll, are thin enough to encourage a pincer grasp for an older baby, and are a great shape for hand to hand transfer for a younger baby.
Take some time this weekend to observe your baby's developing hand skills; they might surprise you!
I hope you all have a great weekend!
1/11/24
Hello Nido Families!
Welcome to 2024! We were so excited to welcome all the babies back into the classroom. Our friend Nora has moved up to YCC in the Primrose classroom. We’ve enjoyed seeing her outside every day when we go to the playground. We have also welcomed Kennedy and her family to the Clover classroom. It’s been so much fun to see our three littlest learners together on the movement mat; observing them is a joy because they all interact so differently with the mobiles and smaller tactile materials.
We continue taking some of the children outside everyday. This week our oldest few friends have gone from sitting in the snow and waiting for someone to come up to them, to standing at the table and chomping on snowballs with the children in the YCC. Sometimes they even get sled rides from their older peers. I know that even a little cold wind can leave some redness on the babies’ cheeks; if you have lanolin, aquaphor, or something similar that you would like us to use as a barrier on your child’s cheeks outside, please let me know.
A huge part of Montessori education is a focus on independence. This looks different at every age. In the Nido, independence can look like an infant having long periods of focus on a mobile or high contrast cards. It can also look like learning to regulate their emotions without immediate adult intervention. For older babies, they begin to learn to self feed and listen to their body’s cues about fullness. As they start to move, they learn the limits and capabilities of their bodies. They start to explore their environment and the materials around them in new, sometimes unexpected ways. One of the biggest things we can do to aid our child in their independence is to sit on our hands and observe for a few seconds before intervening. A cry does not always mean they need immediate help. Sometimes it can mean, “I’m struggling with this.” When we are observing the children in the Nido, we never let them suffer, but struggling is essential to their work. Allowing the children to work through small struggles on their own or with small degrees of support builds capability and confidence.
12/1/23
We had so much fun celebrating our Harvest Feast last Tuesday. We sang Over the River and Through the Woods at group leading up to the day, and I put up a photo of a more traditional American Thanksgiving dinner on the wall so we could talk about the holiday.
Our holiday photos have now shifted to a photo of shoes filled with St. Nicholas Day surprises and another photo of a family lighting a Hanukkiah so we can talk about Hanukkah. We also have a lovely book about Hanukkah candles on our bookshelf and two other new books to talk about the shift into the winter season. Our current festive songs include Jingle Bells for the transition into winter, Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah, and Deck the Halls for Christmas. See the lyrics here for the way we sing these songs. If your family has any seasonal songs to share, we would love to sing them in the classroom.
If there are any holidays that your family celebrates at this or any other time of year, please let me know so we can talk about how I can best add representations of those holidays in our classroom.
We are also saying goodbye to our friend Levi as he moves across the hall into YCC. It will be nice to see him outside and in the gym and watch him continue to grow as he transitions into his new classroom.
11/3/23
Hello Nido Families!
We had such a great time for Pumpkin Fun Day! Early in the day, we cut into a pumpkin and scooped out the seeds and pulp from inside. Many of the babies enjoyed touching and playing with the “guts” of the pumpkin. In the afternoon we continued our pumpkin exploration by carving a face and creating a Jack-o’-lantern. Some of the older children tried tasting the raw pumpkin pieces that came out. This was a simple and fun way to experience Halloween in our classroom.
As a reminder, if there are any holidays or special celebrations that your family observes, please let me know, and I will work with you to bring these important events into the classroom.
Last month, we had a small group of parents gather to discuss the book The Montessori Todder by Simone Davies. We are hoping to have another such conversation in the spring if we have enough interest from families.
Last week we welcomed Emmie and the Wheaton family into the Nido. We are so excited to have a new tiny friend to get to know. We also said goodbye to our sweet friend Charlotte when she moved up to the Primrose classroom in YCC. We are so excited to continue to watch her grow and visit with her on the playground and in the gym.
10/3/23
Hello Nido Families!
We’ve had a busy two weeks. The children have been enjoying music and playing the various instruments in our classroom. Instruments in Montessori 0-3 environments tend to be exclusively percussive and monotonal to allow children the opportunity to explore cause and effect. There is an evolution from the early days of babyhood when they just begin to be able to shake a rattle to the older infants who bang and shake harder and louder to listen to what sounds can be produced; by the time they are older toddlers, they are able to shake and hit their instruments with more control and explore dynamics within the instruments themselves. Once children move to Primary, they are given lessons on chromatic instruments. In the Nido, almost anything can become an instrument to the babies; puzzle pieces, balls, wooden toys, and trays all can be tapped or banged to produce different sounds.
We also have Group every morning where we play shakers and sing songs. We usually sing some variation of a Hello or Good Morning song followed by two or three other songs. Sometimes everyone stays with us to sing, sometimes children use the time to crawl or walk around with the shakers in their hands. We sing many of the same songs as those on the YCC song list we compiled several years ago. In the past few weeks, we’ve added Five Little Pumpkins and Way Up High in the Apple Tree to the frequent rotation as we’ve moved into fall.
Finally, we also occasionally play music for the babies when they are exploring the environment. We avoid constant background music as we are trying to make sure the babies can experience language directly when we are talking to them or reading to them. If you have any favorite songs that you listen to at home with your children, please send them to me and I’ll make a playlist for the Nido.
I’ll also add a reminder that we have an Adult Learning Opportunity later this month. We will have a book club-style discussion about Simone Davies’ book The Montessori Toddler on October 26th at 4pm. This will be a facilitated conversation wherein all the 0-3 guides can help answer questions about how to translate what happens in the classroom to your home environment. There is a signup on the linked webpage so that we can adequately prepare childcare.
9/21/23
Hello Nido Families!
Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! Thank you all so much for welcoming me into the guide role in the Nido. It was wonderful to get to spend time with many of you last night at our class picnic. I’m glad many of our current families got to know some of our future families and welcome them to the TCH community.
We have had a great start to the school year. It’s been amazing to continue getting to know all of the babies and watch them investigate our environment. They’ve all been exploring movement so much, and we’ve enjoyed going outside almost every day. As the weather becomes less predictable in the fall, please consider finding a rain suit for your child that we can layer warmer clothes underneath. Several children already have rain suits, and they work well as a layer against wind as well as the mud that is typically left over from the morning dew.
As I mentioned at our Back to School night, we have an Adult Learning Opportunity next month. We will have a book club style discussion about Simone Davies’ book The Montessori Toddler on October 26th at 4pm. This will be a facilitated conversation wherein all the 0-3 guides can help answer questions about how to translate what happens in the classroom to your lives at home with your children. There is a signup on the linked webpage so that we can adequately prepare childcare. Almost all of the children in our current class are entering into the toddler phase of life, and Simone Davies’ book has a lot of information about the way toddlers develop and how we can aid them.