Thursday, October 29, 2015

Montessori means…. following the children.

During our day the children often choose the independent activities set out in front of them on the shelves - classic Montessori materials and and visual art materials. Often we also create new work to follow their interests or do spontaneous activities based on the energy and interests of the children.


Alicia enjoys leading the children in yoga when they need to move their bodies in different ways.


Sometimes children lead games, using the games modeled by an adult. Here he is leading the Sound Game, which is a fun way to teach phonemic awareness.


On a whim we built this little shelf from a kit bought at Ikea. In the afternoon we all took turns painting it and it now holds peat pots planted with seeds on our outdoor patio. Activities like this gives children ownership over their environment and the impetus to care for the things around them.


Scrubbing work is more fun when you are next to a friend. Often children can be overheard comparing - "My work has soap! Does yours have soap? Do you have a scrub brush?"



Some days are too nice to stay inside - the nearby park offers a fresh way to play!

Friday, October 2, 2015

Enjoying the End of Summer

Though fall has officially begun, we have enjoyed quite a bit of summery weather over the last few weeks. Perfect weather to celebrate the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot!

We need schach, the branches that cover the top of the sukkah! The wheelbarrow can help transport branches.

We can bring them by hand too. 

Someone else can have a turn with the wheelbarrow.

The completed sukkah is a lovely place to gather.

We decorated mini-sukkahs by choice for gluing work this week. Not everyone chose this work, and each was decorated in its own way.


We gathered in the sukkah to say the blessings and shake the lulav and the etrog, the four species that we use on sukkot.

Every child was eager for a turn. It was too heavy to hold alone so Ariel gave some help.

Being outside has been refreshing! What have we been up to?

Looking for insects and other creatures under logs and stumps has been a very popular activity.

We are digging up the sod for a new flowerbed - we will plant bulbs and watch as they grow and bloom this spring.

Everybody in! Sometimes a new element, like a tarp over the climbing structure, can spark all kinds of adventures.


Chag Sameach! Happy Holiday!