School Scenes

We have had many parents come observe our classroom in the last few weeks, and almost every visitor has commented on how focused and engaged the children are at our school! When children are given truly interesting activities, they will focus deeply, and the classroom becomes a truly peaceful place. Here are some scenes from our school from the last couple of weeks:

Washing an underlay - the plastic sheets we use under particularly messy activities - is an activity choice in itself. 

Map work is contagious and it has been spreading lately!

Deep concentration is required to balance the tiniest cylinder on the yellow tower of knob less cylinders. These are an exploratory/design work, intended for older children who have explored the cylinder blocks and have a knowledge of those variances built up. The results, when the work is explored fully, can be quite beautiful.

The teens hanger was not part of my training; however it is beautiful and I decided to try it out. The children absolutely love it, and their knowledge of the numbers 11-19 is exploding!

Peeling and chopping carrots at the beginning of the day so we can have snack.

Polishing metal requires a longer series of steps than most other practical life work. I love finding new metal objects to add to the classroom, especially tarnished brass or silverware that polishes up so beautifully!

Outside, the climbing structure is more valuable for shelter than for climbing on most days. 

Sand pies - classic!

Exploring with the brown stair and pink tower together leads to all kinds of beautiful designs!

Working in pairs gives children an opportunity to learn from each other. Montessori schools strive to give children independence from adults, but fosters interdependence among the children.

Sometimes you have to arrange all the flowers in as many vases as possible! Then our room is beautiful and full of greenery and flowers.

Focusing on learning to use safety pins. I keep them on a hackey sack, and show the children how to open, remove, then replace and close them. They love figuring them out.

Making pomanders with an orange and cloves was a popular winter activity last year, so I brought it back for this year. The smells of clove and orange are enticing, and the fine motor strength required is great for exercising little hands.

I introduced a tapestry table in our cubby room, with two sewing kits available. I can't wait to see what it looks like in a few weeks!

Setting up for big math games takes a lot of focus and order. Because we have been building up these attributes from age 2.5 or 3, when the children reach this age they are motivated and capable to stick to longer, more complex tasks.