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I am looking forward to another year of learning and growing together. With great joy I will share with you the stories about what we have been working on in the classroom and provide ideas that you can do at home with your child. "The child who has felt a strong love for his surroundings and for all living creatures, who has discovered joy and enthusiasm in work, gives us reason to hope that humanity can develop in a new direction." Maria Montessori agnes@traversechildrenshouse.org Room Parent |
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Classroom Highlights
3/7/24
Last Wednesday baby Simon George Buehler was born to the Johnson Family. Rowan became a proud older brother.
Max came back from vacation with stories about toucans, macaws, sloths, spider monkeys, and iguanas. He brought us Costa rican chocolate which we tasted during the snack and a clay whistle in the shape of a toucan. We have been taking turns blowing the whistle during the group time. We plan ahead together whose turn is going to be the next day. It is necessary because we need to sanitize the whistle before each use but I like that idea because we are also practicing how to vote and make decisions. The children also started to comprehend the word tomorrow. Concept of time doesn’t exist for toddlers, but at least they understand that tomorrow means: “not, right now”
There has been a lot of growth and maturity happening in our classroom. Dr. Montessori used the term “normalization” to describe the situation when children freely choose their work, exhibit deep concentration and then experience joy from accomplished tasks. They work on their own as members of a peaceful community. The older children started to use words over hands to resolve conflicts. Many activities that weren’t very popular months ago are being used frequently, like clothes washing and washing the leaves of the plant.
After our dragon tree dried out, I replaced it with a fiddle fig tree with large leaves. Unfortunately, the plant experienced some temperature shock because I brought it from the store on a very cold January day. The leaves started to fall and dry out, but Isla, Avery, and Thorin are patiently washing the leaves with a little sponge and I noticed a little improvement in our plant appearance. We are not going to give up yet.
2/23/24
Good Morning,
Congratulations to the Burke Family! Beautiful Baby Viera was born last Friday.
Vienna Hoinsigton from Nido started visiting our classroom and will make the final move on Monday. Very soon Max and Isla will start their transition to Primary and Boden and Piper from Nido will join Vienna.
Last Friday, during our in-service day, we made a lot of new language cards. I was able to change material on the shelves and this week observed the enthusiasm of the children going through the activities. Stretching rubber bands on the small flat tin is very popular among older children. Also if you hear your child asking: “Do you need anybody?” or “I need somebody to love”. Please do not get alarmed. They are not feeling lonely, they are trying to sing “With a little help from my friends”. We have a book with this title, which is a picture book with The Beatles lyrics. After I sang it a few times we listened to The Beatles version. Children immediately got up and started to dance. They are such great dancers!
I introduced a song about birds a couple of months ago. We sing it at the end of the group, using the name of the child and the name of the bird. I was trying to make the language cards more attractive by using the song to introduce the names of the birds. I really didn’t expect such an interest in birds. We went through the Michigan birds and birds that live in North America.This time we are learning the names of exotic birds that children may see during a trip to Florida or South America, or in the zoo. If you would like to meet a real Macaw, you can visit the Square Deal Country Store at Woodmere Ave. Our local pet store has parakeets and conure birds, which are fun to watch as well.
We cannot wait for Max to come back from his vacation in Costa Rica and tell us about all the animals and birds he saw in the jungle.
Next Thursday (2/29) is our spring semester Montessori Toddler book discussion. We will be focusing mainly on chapter 7, "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 last 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).
2/9/24
Ava Gysbers joined us on Monday and was warmed welcomed by the children, who are eagerly helping Ava with serving food, turning on the faucet, or holding hands and walking through the hallway. We also said "Good Bye" to Maggie who starts her journey in Taylor's class next week.
The last three weeks were busy with birthday celebrations. Adrian, Caleb, and Rowan are officially 2 years old. We celebrated their birthday with LED candles, and delicious cakes made by friends.
I wrote about art in Montessori classroom in my previous Classroom Highlights. Here is more on the art subject. I hope you will find some of our ideas helpful.
Most of the time the children practice making lines, squiggles, and shapes, but around 2.5 sometimes they may say out loud what they are drawing. When looking at their work it is important not to ask them what it is but rather provide feedback: “ I see you made a line over there in blue”.
It is important to use good quality media. Here are some of the examples of art trays on our shelves:
- Crayons: chunky beewax crayons or regular crayons broke into short pieces
- Watercolor pencils: triangle pencils that last for years
- Dot
- Markers
- Stickers
- Water colors
- Oil pastels
- Chalk
- Tempera Sticks
- Stamps with handle: Melissa and Doug
- Scissors and strips of paper
- Playdough with cookie cutters, rolling pins, paint scrapers, garlic press, or citrus squeezer
- Gluing box: gluing pre-cut shapes with the liquid glue applied with the brush
- Glue stick and pictures cut out from magazines
- Hole puncher
We also have a cuddy with a spray bottle (water and drop of dish soap), scrubbing brush, and drying mitten ready to clean the paint from the tables and easels. This is another opportunity for gross motor work and most of the time the children need just a gentle reminder that they need to clean paint from an easel or table. They are eager and happy to do it!
Many years ago I came up with the idea of introducing classical art to children. The purpose behind this activity was to develop art appreciation, language, and feeling comfortable when looking at the art piece. I collected art cards and was very good about changing them every two weeks until we moved into a new room years ago. When Anna arrived, I knew that she studied art in college so I proposed that she take over the project. Anna not only organized the existing art collection but has also added more pieces to it and changes the prints periodically.
The pictures are hanging on the child’s level. At the beginning younger children tried to climb the shelves and pull the pictures down, but after we practiced looking with eyes, instead of hands and guiding them through what they were seeing, they stopped reaching for the frames. Sometimes art prints are grouped by theme: birds or flowers. And sometimes by artists. Children started to notice new pieces. Just recently one of the older children looked at the print by Jean-Michael Basquiat and said: “Hm…that’s new”.
1/26/24
Good Morning,
Last week brought some cold days and we stayed inside during our recess. We missed playing outdoors and it was nice to be able to go outside again. Brian and Max were hard at work at the playground cutting the stairs in snow, tunnels and caves. Yesterday, on Payton’s request Brian and kids decorated the tall snowman with grapes for eyes, carrot for nose, half of pineapple slice for mouth and ends of the oranges for the buttons and ears.
We have been drinking herbal teas and warm water with lemon and honey to beat the cold coming through our classroom. The children enjoy sipping warm beverages from the little porcelain mugs. I put all our classroom teapots to use.
For a small teapot equivalent to two tiny mugs I put 2 slices of lemon and squeeze it with the spoon and add tablespoon of raw honey. Then add boiling water from the kettle. I prepare the lemon water for an afternoon snack, about an hour before children sit down at the table so the water is still warm but not hot. It has a pleasant sour and sweet taste. Everyone is really good with handling breakable mugs.
Recently, we have been very busy exploring art. In the Montessori toddler environment art is understood as a process, during which the child learns how to use a particular tool and develops fine and large motor skills. Art is also considered as self-expression. The child craves lots of repetition, creates piles of paper and often after some time doesn’t even remember that the picture was created by them. Usually children older than two years want to share the art work with parents and important people and they fold it or roll it and stuff into their backpacks. Youngsters leave their papers on the trays because as soon as the need of experimenting with the media is met, the ready product ceases to have importance for them.
I will continue about art in my next Classroom Highlights.
1/12/24
Good Morning,
Coming back to school brought a few tears from the younger children at carline, but as we settled back into the classroom routine everyone became happily engaged in work. Washing clothes and feet, putting coins in the porcelain piggy bank, were the most popular activities. We are going to make carrot-apple juice today, so since Monday Avery and Max have been peeling carrots.
The first three months of the year will bring changes to our community. You may hear from your toddler that Noa is in “crimary” (Primary). Noa will start in Megan’s room on Tuesday. I am sure that she will be enthusiastically cheered by her loyal friends as she is only moving across the hall. In February Maggie will join Taylor’s class and in March we will say farewell to Max and Isla.
Our youngest friends Adrian, Caleb, and Rowan will turn two in a couple of weeks and we will soon be welcoming Vienna, Boden, Piper and Ava to our Dandelion YCC community.
We had our first school assembly on Wednesday. Keith Aleo played percussion instruments to a recording of Martin Luther King’s speech “I have a dream”. The assembly took place during our daily gym recess and I was skeptical about taking the children to the performance since the gym is recognized as a play area. But they were very receptive and sat through it all without interrupting for 30 minutes and thoroughly enjoyed the performance. We have explored a lot of music during the group times and play various instruments. I often see that children have a special sensitivity to music.
During the next assembly in March we will have the chance to hear a tuba performance and in April will watch a ballet.
12/14/23
Good Morning,
We have been trying to plan interesting snacks and luckily the kitchen has been a great source of ingredients. On Monday, pizza was accompanied by tomatoes, cucumber, red onion salad, which wasn’t enthusiastically received by the toddlers. But the next day we turned the salad into a delicious dip, with the addition of cream cheese and help from the food processor. Every last bit of the dip was wiped up with the pita chips. On Wednesday, Max and I made a simple guacamole with just avocado and salt and it also was very popular. The rest of the avocado was used in a cocoa-avocado smoothie. We hope we will be able to make even more delicious snacks on a daily basis, after we return from our holiday break.
A language activity basket with accessories is back on the shelf. This activity teaches the names, and was always a popular activity among the children. The basket, which is placed by the little table next to the hair brushes, offers fake child size glasses, hair band, bead necklace, watch, bracelet, and clip-on earrings. These items are distributed among the children everyday. You can check for yourself:
Our classroom is decorated with boughs of evergreens, sumac, and rose hips. We are ready for the holidays! Have a wonderful and healthy holiday and happy new year! Thank you for sharing your children with us. We have lots of fun together.
Warmly,
Agnes, Anna, Brian, and Shea
11/17/23
Good Morning,
Thank you for the great conversations during our conferences. I was happy to hear that many of you were instinctively implementing the Montessori method in your home and including your children in daily tasks. After all, they really want to be like us and mimic what we are doing.
The beauty of working with young children is that they change constantly. They have a need to test certain behaviors and see our reactions. Since the majority of the children in our classroom are just 2 years old and younger, we see a lot of experimenting behavior. And this week things started to change…There is more cooperation happening between the children. They have started to seek each other to help with dressing, showing how to perform activities.
Avery, who is an expert on putting on socks, was abruptly escorted to the bathroom by Noa, because Max needed help with putting socks on his feet.
The cooperation is also visible in the gym when it is time to put equipment away, everyone chips in.
During the first week of November, Shea, Max and TJ planted daffodils in the courtyard, outside of our patio. Since we had a lot of bulbs left we finished planting daffodils this week. Avery, Noa, and Maggie helped with placing daffodils in the holes I made with a bulb planter. I explain that the bulbs are going to rest in the ground during the winter and bloom in the spring. After I cover the bulb with soil, I pat the ground and say: “Grow well”. We kept on planting and one of the children said: “sleeping”. I asked “Is the daffodil sleeping?” “Yep!” and another child started to pat the ground and say:”Good night!”
We have started to talk about our Harvest Feast and Thanksgiving. We listened to the song “Thanks A Lot” performed by Raffi. We have a book under the same title and will be learning the lyrics.
Thank you so much for the new books purchased for our classroom during the Horizon Book Event!
11/06/23
Good Morning,
During the last two weeks we have been incorporating pumpkin into our snack menu. The children made pumpkin muffins and enjoyed pumpkin smoothies. Last Thursday Anna and a group of children carved a Jack-o-lantern. Isla insisted on a scary Jack-o-lantern so Anna carved one scary Jack and one happy Jack. Children helped to scoop the seeds out and on Friday they helped to season the seeds with oil and salt and oil and cinnamon sugar.
Everyday we spend about 30 minutes to 1 hour outside. We usually get outside at noon and the length of the time outdoors per child depends on who comes in first for a nap. Usually our youngest children end up heading inside at 12:30. With the colder weather we made sure everyone was bundled up and temperature comfortable. We have quite the large collection of donated winter gear so the children had the chance to try on snow pants last week.
It is time to start sending snow gear! Please, label everything clearly with marker or stickers. Patagonia and Jack & Cat brands are very popular among families and we often end up with two or three identical items of clothing. Please, let me know if you would like us to send the snow gear home every day, at the end of the week or keep it at school and send it home at the end of the season?
Below is a short video presenting how to put the coat on “ Up & Over” way. Years ago one of the parents shared a funny anecdote about her daughter. When it was time to get ready to go outside, Kolette would throw her coat on the floor. The mother would try to help her put it on, and Kolette would protest because she clearly wanted to do it on her own, and every time she would throw the coat on the floor. Wise mom decided to inquire with me on the subject of this strange behavior and was nicely surprised how genius her own child was.
I am excited to talk to you about your children during our conferences!
10/20/23
We have been singing songs about pumpkins and Halloween and talking about decorations, costumes, and other symbols that the children may come across during Halloween. Showing children how holidays are celebrated in our culture helps them adapt to their time, culture and space. Adaptation to life is one of the goals of toddlerhood.
We have some simple books about Halloween and language cards with images of Halloween. Some Halloween images can be scary for a young child. Seeing a person in a costume or in a mask may upset their sense of order or they might not understand that the costume is not real. Sometimes your child may protest against putting a Halloween costume on, because of sensory reasons, the costume may feel too fuzzy, too ticklish, too scratchy or too bulky. Your child may not have enough words to express that they don’t like something which may result in screaming for help and looks like a tantrum. Sometimes children may be scared of animals and dressing them in a furry costume may be very distressing for them.
This year I decided to put a Halloween costume on the shelf for children to choose as a work. Noa volunteered to try on a ladybug costume during the group time and now the costume is available for everyone to try on. We also tried a wolf costume and an octopus hat.
Last year the wolf costume was too scary for younger children. This year older friends are interested in putting on only the feet and torso part, but not together with the wolf head. Payton who loves hats was courageous to try wolf head on.
We can help the children understand the idea of Halloween costumes by using vocabulary like: “Max is wearing a wolf costume, he is pretending to be a wolf, but he is not a real wolf. It is Max dressed as a wolf.”
I hope you are reading Waypoints each week and have synced our Family Calendar with your personal calendar so that you stay up to date on everything happening here at school, especially our learning opportunities that are designed for you. I’m especially looking forward to our book discussion on Thursday, October 26. Pick up your copy of The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davies and start reading!
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10/3/23
Good Morning,
It was good to see everyone at Jacob’s Farm. Since our picnic, I have noticed more children interacting with each other at the playground. With last week’s summer weather we’ve enjoyed being outside! Brian showed the children how to rake leaves and they have been making leaves piles everyday. We also made the first batch of carrot - apple - celery juice. There were many helpers peeling carrots and chopping apples. We hope to add making juice a part of our weekly routine.
The children are still talking about the turtle that visited our classroom. My Hermann's Tortoise Diego spent Tuesday in the closet waiting for his doctor appointment after work. Although Diego only made a 15 minute presence in the classroom, it apparently made an impact on the children. They have been asking everyday if the turtle is at school.
In the last classroom highlights I wrote about the independence of dressing. Today I would like to share a few ideas on how to support this independence at home by creating space for your child.
At school, when the children enter the coat room they are expected to hang their jacket and backpack on the hook, place the boots neatly on the floor, under the jacket, place the hat and other clothing items in the cubby. They are very capable of doing it because it is very natural for young children to crave order in their environment due to the sensitive period for order they are going through. At home you can support their independence and need for order by providing a low hook on the wall in your entryway. Make sure that the jacket has a loop easy to slide on the hook. You can tie a piece of ribbon to the tag or to the loop which is too small to handle by the child. Designate the area for shoes/boots: a basket works well or a mat on the floor. Add another basket for hats and mittens. The last important item is a small chair for the toddler to sit on, while changing the shoes. Keep all the extra clothing items in the closet. Here are some more ideas on how to organize the entryway for a young child.
Take a look at your child’s bedroom. We tend to store the clothes in the closets that are too high or offer too many choices. Think about a low dresser or a child sized armoire, where you can offer only two choices of each item: two t-shirts, two pairs of pants or leggings, two pairs of underwear, two pairs of socks, two dresses. Allow the child to make choices and dress themselves with as little assistance as possible. The tall vertical mirror on the wall would be helpful for the child to see the final step of dressing effort. The clothes might end up backwards or insite out. It doesn’t matter as long as the children did it by themselves and are feeling comfortable. Having two legs in one pant leg may not be safe for walking but instead of pointing out that something is wrong we can simply state: “I see that you have two legs in one pant leg. Does it feel comfortable? Let me help you take one leg out…” There can be similar conversations about shoes which are not matching the right feet.
9/21/23
The school year started with a few tears but after three weeks the children are settling into our new routine. We started off with some nap time issues, but we have changed our daily schedule and nap time is going more smoothly now.
Our YCC community is officially named Dandelion, which is such a special plant to young children. In the spring they love to pick up yellow flowers, and later, they love to blow the seeds in the air. Dandelion is also an easy name to pronounce.
Avery and Jett turned two during the last two weeks. We celebrated their birthdays with citrus cake and zucchini muffins. During the birthday celebration we light the candles and sing “Fire’s burning”. The children often reflect on the birthday celebration through their play and make cakes in the sandbox. Yesterday Max made a candle out of the jello tin and sand and we sang “Fire’s burning” in the sandbox. You can also hear us singing : “Making cookies with Mama”, with Maggie leading the chorus. We have been listening to a Kathryn Christian CD “I’m a Michigan Kid” through the whole summer, trying to learn the words to our favorite songs. I learned that you can find Kathryn’s songs on Spotify. It is so precious to see the children clapping and dancing to the Michigan Kid song. Check it for yourself!
I am focusing my attention this year on helping children become more independent. Independence is one of the main principles of Dr. Montessori’s method. Since the subject is very broad I will touch on different aspects of independence in my Classroom Highlights.
Today I would like to write about fostering the independence of dressing themselves.The first step to the success of the child is offering the clothes that will be easy to put on: stretchy fabric, loose fit, velcro and zippers easy to manage by the child. Show your child how to put on a piece of clothing by breaking each action into steps and slowing down your movements. Give your child verbal guidance followed by gestures, but make sure that the child is working with you, paying attention and not looking somewhere else and talking. Children learn through practice and need to be allowed to struggle with it a little. Sometimes I see a child trying very hard to pull the pants on the back over the diaper. The child may make a frustrating sound, but I stop myself from intervening, and later when the task is accomplished the child beams with pride. He accomplished the task by himself!
It is important to incorporate dressing into a daily routine. Wake up your child early enough so you could spend time together getting ready, instead of rushing and dressing your child yourself. Evenings are usually more relaxed and also can be a good practice for taking clothes off, and putting pajamas on. Allow for simple choices between two possibilities: Do you want to wear a blue t-shirt or green t-shirt.
You can get more ideas here from my favorite blog “How We Montessori”.