"You almost fell, but we held you up!"

On an unseasonably warm Friday, the late morning autumn sun shines on us.  A group of children runs, chasing each other's shadows.  Another group gathers at the picnic table, collecting rocks, leaves, and twigs to play a game of  'store' while closely inspecting their fine specimens from nature.  I watch, quietly.  One of the children who is chasing shadows comes straight to me - arms reaching out as he gets closer.  The hug nearly knocks me over and while I steady myself, another one comes from the side... and yet another from the other side!   "Wow!" I say as I stumble along, trying not to fall.  The children shout with glee, "Everyone, hug!"  When I finally catch my balance, one of the children declares, "Ms. Sasha, you almost fell, but we held you up!"  And at that moment, all traces of self-doubt were erased.  It is so true - what would I do without those smiling faces, the hugs, or even the occasional tears?  Thank you, children for your wisdom, reassurance, and reminder that we the best we can do is keep moving forward, knowing that all is well! :-)

Some photos from this week:

Spooning teff - a traditional grain of Ethiopia, perfect for our study of Africa.

Pouring water into two containers.

More teff - this time using a small funnel.

Fine motor control with green colored water and a water dropper.

Reading practice:  three-letter phonetic reading cards.

Filling the shape of Africa with play-dough.

Counting by tens with the Tens Boards and golden beads.

Writing practice with Metal Insets.

Visual discrimination of size with the Knobless Cylinders.

Working on number recognition with the teen beads and Teen Boards.

Taking care of classroom plants.

Introduction of the Stamp Game.

Addition with the colored beads.

Static addition with the Stamp Game.

Beginning sounds and symbols with the Language Step Board.

Linear counting with the Tens Boards and beads.

Reading practice with three-part phonetic reading cards/pictures.

Writing the names of African animals with the Moveable Alphabet - 'gorilla' and 'giraffe.'

Exciting exploration of the Pink Tower and Brown Stair - "Look, it doesn't even fall!"

Sorting images of animals from different continents.

Function of Words lesson with grammar symbols.

Working with the Lacing Frame.

Filling up the compartment of the Spindle Boxes by first counting the corresponding number of spindles in the hand.  This gives a strong sensorial impression of quantity while highlighting the concept of zero.

Introduction to the Decimals System Cards.

Learning the names of countries in Africa with the Puzzle Map of Africa.

Number writing practice with the Sandpaper Numbers.

Folding napkins - what a great lesson to heighten awareness of precision of movement and coordination!

Reading practice with the Phonetic Object Box.

"Meow..."

...having fall fun, creating outside.

Last Week's Photos...

Ooops, last weekend I was so immersed in setting up our classroom for our study of Africa that I forgot to share the photos I collected throughout the week.  Here they are:

Building words with the Moveable Alphabet.

Addition with the colored math beads.

Reading practice - labeling the environment.

Number writing practice.

"Even," with the Cards and Counters.

Visual discrimination of length with the Red Rods.

Our new apple corer!

Pink Tower/Brown Stair extension work.

Using the smallest Pink Tower cube to measure.

Division with the Stamp Game - the quotient is what one unit receives: eighty-five.

Reading numbers, "Four thousands, three tens."

Matching Peace Cards.

The new color mixing work.

Collecting items from around the classroom for the Memory Game of Numbers.

Working with the Binomial Cube.

Reading practice:  Three letter phonetic words.

Exploring shapes and geometry with the Constructive Triangles.

Africa Study

Last weekend, I spent a couple of mornings in the classroom setting up for our study of Africa.  I am excited to share some of the lessons and activities which will introduce my students to this dynamic continent.

 Practical Life: Dry Transfer activities.


While shopping at a local store,  I came upon a Montessori teacher's dream for African-themed Practical Life spooning and pouring lessons:

Teff, a traditional grain of Ethiopia and kamut, another grain from Egypt.  Who knew?  I am excited to share this information with my students!

Spooning teff.  It is quite granular, yet soft.  I also used teff in a pouring activity using a funnel.

Pouring kamut.

Spooning and sorting various beads.

Making bracelets.

Play dough mat with green play dough.

Practical Life: Wet transfer lessons.
I have incorporated the color green to correspond with Africa on the Montessori colored globe and world map.

A rich assortment of African-themed books (among others).

I look forward to sharing additional lessons and materials as we learn more throughout the coming weeks.

'Continents of Peace'

Peace education is a major component of a Montessori education.  In our class, this topic is highlighted on a daily basis through our interactions with those around us and various materials available to the children.  In conjunction with International Peace Day last month, we began discussing the notion of peace throughout the world.  We looked at the Montessori globe and talked about how people all around the world can work together in creating peace.  The children were moved by the story of the Great Peace March and connected these ideas to the our continent studies.

When I explained that we would be working on a group art project about peace, the children wanted to incorporate the colors of the continents on the Montessori maps and globes.  This, as the children discussed, would be a symbol of peace around the world and they decided that they would work together on a painting called, "Continents of Peace."

The first day we discussed our project and had the children divide a large canvas into seven sections  - one for each of the continents.

Each day, we added a new color and used a different tool for painting.  This picture shows the children's work after the first two days.  Orange for North America - we used regular paintbrushes; Pink for South America - painting with forks!

After a few more days:  Green for Africa - drip painting with spoons;  Yellow for Asia - Do-A-Dot painters;  Red for Europe - sponge painting; and Brown for Australia (in process here) - dot painting with Q-tips.  Later we used white paint to stamp snowflakes for Antarctica.

'Continents of Peace' 
Lastly, we added a white dove and defined the lines with a Sharpie marker.

We will find a special place in our classroom to display our group project and be reminded of how peace begins with each of us!

Color Mixing with Model Magic

We have been talking about mixing primary colors since the beginning of the school year.  During the past weeks, the children have enjoyed many lessons including a Mondrian paper collage, and painting with primary colors.  The latest color lesson is no less exciting and I am grateful to Trillium Montessori for sharing this idea:

Black paper with red, blue, and yellow stickers connected with white lines; tray with white crayon (for name writing), three containers with small pieces of model magic in primary colors.

The child takes two pieces of each color so that he/she may mix the model magic and make a new color.   I showed how to roll the model magic to get the best mixing effect...

Color mixing fun!

This activity is loaded with opportunities for building those hand and finger muscles necessary for writing!!!  Also, the colors are so vibrant against the black paper.  I appreciate how this lesson gives the children another way to explore primary and secondary colors while having so much fun!

Update:  I did end up having to change the containers because the model magic was beginning to dry up a bit in the ones pictured...