Our new sensory table

I have been using sensory bins from time to time. But this year, I wanted to have a more permanent feature in our classroom and I have been begging my husband for months for a DIY sensory table.

Working hard

Here are a few pictures of what the children were up to the few weeks leading to xmas...


a bit of pre-writing....

 

 

 

A bit of maths ...

Montessori Cards & Counters

Montessori spindle box

Shapes

introduction to halves, quarters and thirds

 

Sensorial activities....


Waldorf tower.. using the circle first on their own, sorting them out by size

then using the rectangles alone, sorting them by length

 

all together now

 

 

more soring exercises by colour and shape

shape and colour again while developing fine motor skills

associating colour to matching picture

 

Developing fine motor skills with the Practical Life exercises...

 

jigsaws are great for little fingers but also develop problem solving skills, concentration, hand eye coordination etc..

as you can see, we are using the Montessori teen beads for the sole purpose of refining fine motor skills (no number, no counting). the hooking up movement is a great exercise for little ones ....

 

 

Fairy tales: Montessori versus Waldorf

Last week and this week, we have been working on the Little Red Hen story. I am trying this year to compliment our curriculum by integrating fairy tale - based projects and activities. Why? Because I have come to realise that fairy tales can carry all the important angles of our program. Fairy tales are timeless and they can open the door to many discussion, topics and issues. They work because the children love them and have heard about them already, one way or another.

 

As I explained before, Montessori doesn't agree with the use of fantasy in books. WHY? Simply because Montessori didn't believe that a young child is able to grasp abstract concepts and that children don't know what is real and what isn't. In the Montessori method of education, the young child (0-5) needs to know and understand the real world before they can appreciate and participate in a made up world of fantasy. Therefore, one of the main reasons why fantasy is not a part of the Montessori curriculum is because it "apparently" disorients young children. This is why Montessori doesn't encourage fantasy play and why in most Montessori preschools, you will not find a play corner or dress ups. This is also why Montessori refers to the activities of the child as “work” rather than play. These reality-based activities (like cutting, polishing, sweeping, cleaning, watering etc..) are important because the children see them as the work of adults (rather than the fantasy play that has no grounding in reality). Materials used in a Montessori classroom are real: there is no pretend kitchen but real plates, pots and utensils. And the children learn how to use them to make a snack for instance.

The most rigid Montessorian will explain to you that dramatic/imaginative play DOES take place in a Montessori classroom as for instance, when a child is preparing food, he/she often takes the role of the mother/the father. When he cuts paper in zigzag, he ends up with a crown he wears proudly as the new King in the classroom. And I do agree with this aspect of the method. Children do enjoy "working" with real apparatus. No plastic please, no fake forks and knives. Let them re-enact what they see at home.

Maria Montessori pushed the theory further by refusing to read fairy tales to the children as she believed that though beautiful stories, they had no place in a classroom at "work". Here is something I really struggle to reconcile with. So, if I was to follow the Montessorian method rigidly, having  children believing in Santa and the Easter bunny would be harmful? Reading them stories about with animals that talk and act like us would be a bad thing to do?  Having a bit of magic in their childhood can damage them? Rubbish!!! This is where I differ from the traditional Montessorisan teaching method.  If the children do find it hard to draw a line between what's real and what 's not, it is only at their sweetest and youngest age and soon, reality sets in and set them straight  (and nowadays, with the help of technology and media) it happens much sooner than before.. Not to my liking! Children do not grow up to believe that Dora the explorer is real. Have you ever heard a child saying that he believed monkeys talked and wore boots? While my son watched Thomas the Tank Engine, or Handy Mandy, he never  expected to climb on a train or use a hammer and heard both of them say "hello" to him!!. These characters are fun and entertaining. Let's not put too much pressure too quick on little mind. And the process of realising what's real and what's not is part of a learning process and intellectual growth. This is why, even though we follow the Montessori method of Education, I do read fairy tales and many of our books have talking animals as main characters. And by incorporating storytelling and fantasy in our curriculum, we do as Waldorf recommended and we nourish the young child’s healthy imagination and creative thinking powers. This way, the children get the best of both worlds/dimensions: imagination through hand-on experiences (Montessori) and role play/dramatic play (Waldorf).  

 

 

Who said the Montessori method had to be rigid??

We use the Brown Stairs and the Pink Tower in our classroom (please click on the links if you are not familiar with the Montessori method of education).  They are fundamental pieces of equipment in our sensorial area. Some Montessorian teachers are very strict with the way the children use these types of material. And I do appreciate why. However, I do not believe in being too rigid and I always leave room for imagination and constructivism in my classroom. So this week, the children did find another way to build the Brown Stairs and the Pink Tower and use them as a stepping stone to pretend play!! Cool...

Using the Brown Stairs with plastic animals..

Using our Pink Tower with little toy cars...

International Cultural Exchange on our blog!

I have thought long and hard about organising a cultural exchange. I did one before and it has been so much fun. A lot of work but fun! So today, I am sending a meassage to all of my readers. If you are interested, please send me a message on mymontessoripreschool@yahoo.com with your name, your address and if you are homeschooling or if you are working in a preschool setting. Could you also please put your country in the subject line of the email?

PLEASE do not sign up if you do not intend to send any packages!!!! This wouldn't not be fair on those who did spend time gathering their items and paying the postage! To make things even clearer, I think we should have a date set up by which all packages would have to be sent. We will decide on this at a later stage, once I have organised all the groups and sent everybody with their details. I will answer each email to confirm your place in the exchange. Be assured that your personal details will not be shared on this blog and confidentiality is of utmost importance. Your details will only be shared with the people allocated to your group. In the meantime, keep checking this blog for new updates.

I was planning on creating groups of 6 people. Each group will basically send 5 packages and receive 5 from around the world. I will try to make each group as diversified as possible.

Here are some ideas of what could be included in a package (but please, do not feel restricted by the list!):

-Pictures of your school, your house, your church etc...
- Items depicting the national/regional sport
- Sample of food typical to your region
- any items representing your area (cooking utensils, key holders, badges, pins, hats, decorative objects etc..)
- Postcards, stamps, coins,
-Craft representing your country or continent.
- Worksheets or coloring sheets about your country/continent or books on cd (we received several of these and LOVE them).
- Recipes, pics of food specific to your region
- Stories about your country
- Items of clothing that can be found only in your area

.. basically anything you think could be of interest to a child in another country, and anything else that you think would be fun for a child to receive. As long as it is related to your country or your region! So what do you think? Are you in?

Language activities in our classroom

A few months ago, I wrote about all the Montessori pre-language activities we have in our classroom in this post right here. As children progress, I then introduce them to more "traditional" Montessori-type language materials. When do I know when they are ready? Well, if they show interest in letters, in writing and in sounds, then I consider they are ready! And I start by introducing them to the sandpaper letters.

As I discussed in here,  we tend to introduce letters by phonetic sounds rather than by their names. We do not follow the alphabetical order.

We don't have a special set up in our classroom for literacy activities. As part of the Montessori work cycle, I let the children choose the spot of their choice for their work. To be honest, the children have realised (unconsciously) that it is handy to be placed near the language shelf, just in case they have forgotten to bring something with them to the table. Below, you can see our sandpaper letters, our phonic booklets (I will talk about it later on in this post) and my blue container where I store the children's letter and number booklets. These booklets help me to keep record of their progress as they learn sounds with their sandpaper letters (see the post on this record keeping system right here). We also have a "sand" tray for tracing each letter, usually placed on the right hand side of the sandpaper letters on the shelf. A child was using the tray when I took the pictures, so I added a seperate photo below. As you will notice, we are actually not using sand but salt (I find it less gritty and it tends to mark my table a little bit less!!).  

the top shelf of our language shelving unit

When doing a presentation with a child, I station myself  at the table with the child.  To present a sandpaper letter and its sound, we use the three-period lesson: period 1 (This is letter /a/), period 2 (Show me /a/) and period 3 (what's this sound?). As I trace the letter in its writing direction, I also say the sound of the letter, looking straight at the child. Then I invite the child to trace the letter with his index and middle finger. The child will spontaneoulsy give the sound of the letter, though he doesn't have to.

I recently made some little books for the children to practice their sounds. I printed pictures of words with the initial sounds in question. I cut them out, and made little cards that I then laminated. And finally, I bound them together and voila!! Basically, there is just a picture (or 2) on each page. The picture begins with the corresponding letter sound.  When we read it, we emphasize the beginning sound (i.e.  /mmmmm/ mop). On the front cover of each booklet, you can see the corresponding letter. I have tried to reproduce the effect of the sandpaper letters by gluing some couscous seeds all over the letter.

 

(I am sorry.. for some reason, the above photos wouldn't come out the right way!!)

Once the children have been introduced to a letter, they can refer to the above booklet. For example, if they are learning about /c/, they pick the C booklet, point at each picture on the page, saying the word loud to hear its initial sound. I found it to help the children retain the sound of the letter much easier. The more practice and the more examples you give them, the better. This also can be regarded as a pre-reading exercise as it requires the children to read from left to right. I also ask them to plac their index underneath each photo to prepare them to reading.

When we have finished a full set of 4 letters (for example /a/, /c/, /m/ and /t/), I also like the children to practice further before introducing new letters from a diffrent set. So, following the Montessorian method, I created 2 other exercises.

First, I bought a plastic enveloppe and write the letters of a set on the front. I printed and laminated various pictures of words starting with corresponding sounds and placed them in the enveloppe. The children pick the 4 sandpaper letters they have studied as a set and placed them on the top of the table or the mat. They then take the pictures out, place them in a neatly stack in front of them and picking the 1st card on top. They say the word loud. They then have to place the card under the letter which represent the initial sound of the word.

For the second exercise, we proceed the same way but instead of pictures, we use objects. I keep the objects in a box labelled with the letters of the set in question.

It is important to note that at that stage children do not need to know the name of the letters. They just need to know their phonic sound. Most of them will actually have assimilated both name and sound, but this is not  requirement.

I know.. I said at the beginning of this post that I would talk about more "traditional" Montessori language materials. These activities are not "technically" Montessorian but they are based on the same principles. We are talking about the pink language series (pink object box and  pink picture box with the moveable alphabet, the pink picture and object box with reading cards etc...), the blue and green series etc...

Pink Object bo and Large Moveable Alphabet

Blue word list

Yet, the booklet and the 2 exercises I have set up are very much adapted to the needs in our classroom. A few children will swiftly move to the "traditional" language activities before the end of the year, though the local primary school teachers have asked us, local Montessori preschool teachers,  not to introduce the children to any letter and sound before their entrance in the primary school system. Why? I am not really sure. I think they fear the children will be given the wrong tools to familiarise themselves to phonics and letters.

However, I went to my son's parent/teacher last Monday and I have to say I was secretly delighted to see what I saw. Stefan is 5 and  started primary school last September. You'll be glad to hear that he is a model student (did she have the right child???). No, seriously, what struck me was her quick presentation of their pre-reading learnings.  She explained to me how they have started blending sounds to make words with the children in her class, after having learned the phonetic sound of each letter. I refrained myself from telling us that this was exactly how Montessorian teacher present pre-literacy exercises to the children to prepare them for reading and writing. I was not ready for a debate and neither did I have the time. But this proved to me that, once again, the Montessori method of education follows the individual needs of the child and his longing for hand-on learning experiences. Montessori has been copied by many educative systems throughout the years and I am proud to be one of its fervent followers. Did you actually know that in the 1980's, in France, the department of education had banned the name of Montessori from its textbooks? My mother who was at the time working as primary school teacher with children from 2 to 5 years old has told me that Montessori was a name not to be pronounced!! Why? She can't remember. What she didn't realise is that the French national curriculum for that age group was actually an adapted copy of every idea and method developed by Montessori!! Two examples: the silence game and the walking on the line. Inspectors had advised her to introduce these activities in her classroom... She only found out that these were actual Montessorian activities when I finished my first training and started reading all the notes she took over her 27 year career. She couldn't believe it!!! Neither did I!!!



Put your coat on, Bro!

If you are a preschool teacher, you will know how frustrated it can be sometimes to get the children ready to go outside.. especially during winter when they need to be so well wrapped up. Some of the older children are more than capable of  putting their own coat on and zipping it up ; and they even help the younger ones to dress up. Yet, many are still struggling with this aspect of our routine.

Most parents are aware of the importance of teaching their child to be independent, but still do far too much for their children. And I am a guilty mother too! How many hours have I spent performing unnecessary tasks for my own children because it was quicker for me to do it? I often ended up feeling exhausted, drained and often resentful. And this can happen in our classroom too. If we spent too much time snacking for instance, we are sometimes rushing to get out and get a bit of fresh air and it is easier and quicker to dress the kids up. So I have been thinking a lot during this Xmas break. One of the main aspects of our curriculum is to teach the children self -reliance and to boost their self-esteem. Not doing a great job here in that department, are we?All the children need is to be given the tools to be independent. They need a strategy as well as the time and opportunity to try to do things for themselves. I need to show patience and to encourage them to be patient too. It takes practice to master any new skill, and for a toddler, it may take many tries for success. A 3 year old should learn to put his/her own coat and hat on but might not be able to fasten it up. A 4 to 5 year old should also be able to put on his scarf and gloves on all alone.

So this is what I have prepared.

Sasha on To the Lesson, has created a series of signs she posted by the children's cubbies to help them get dressed during those long winter months (see her post right here). This inspired me. So I copied her idea and I made an eye-catching little poster for the children to follow. It is now on the wall in the entrance where the children have their clothes hangers.

I also browsed the internet and found a simple but catchy little song that we will be rehearsing every time it is time to dress up. I have added the video below (it is from  NorthBerwickNursery ).

Put your coat on, put your coat on

And keep yourself nice and cosy

Put your coat on, put your coat on

And come on out to play

(Repeat with hat, scarf and gloves).



Of course, I will also be giving them the tools to be independent. According to Montessori, learning to put on one's own jacket not only develops independence but also muscular co-ordination. This can be an individual or a group exercise. Tell the child(ren) that you are going to show him/them how to put on a jacket. Take your own coat and lay it flat on the floor, making sure it is open. Stan by the collar side of the coat, place your 2 arms in the sleeves and swing back both arms together so that the coat slides into position. Then, you invite the child(ren) to go and get their own jackets and let them have an individual turn at putting on their jacket. Look at this video I found on You Tube. This is exactly what I am talking about:

What do you think? What do you do in your classroom? 

What have we been up to?

We have been very busy in preschool these past 2 weeks. Children have made tremendous progress. Some of them could hardly make a simple jigsaw on their own... most are now able to work on their own and they take such pride in their achievements! Others could barely hold their pencils properly and many were just doodling.. Look at what they can do now:

Something we have noticed a lot as well in our classroom is role play or pretend play. As you may be aware, when we talk about fantasy play Montessorians usually believe that "fantasy should be postponed until the child is firmly grounded in reality." I want to make it clear here that even though I follow Montessori's method of education, I would NEVER discourage or reproof a child who is engaged in imaginative play of their own design.  It is not the allowance of fantasy that should be postponed. I simply take care to avoid the planting of fantastic ideas in children's heads. Remember that Montessori herself asked "How is it possible for the child's imagination to be developed by that which is in truth the fruit of the adult's imagination?". I really believe that imaginative play is a wonderful thing. I just don't want that type of play to be directed by what we, adults, provide the children with. Cildren shouldn't need plastic spoons, toy kitchens etc.. to develop their imaginations. They do this quite well on their own. In our classroom, we have many fantasy/imaginary stories and have lots of open-ended art materials (for example, play dough.... I have eaten so many "pretend" pizzas so far this year!!) . They play some sort of superman game outside with their friends. The kids play "house" sometimes when cleaning up or helping to prepare snack or "you're the mom, I'm the kid". The difference is that we, teachers,  are not doing it with them - they're coming up with it themselves. Imagination springs from the child, not from a predetermined creativity curriculum, diecut crafts, or a teacher's mind... "let's pretend to be supermen and I'll give you a cape." We don't have a dress-up corner or a home corner in our classroom. But children don't need them to be imaginative. When the weather is really bad and we cannot go outside and play, I sometimes get a prop box with very random things in it: a scarf, a hat, a real stethoscope, postcards or used envelopes, etc... And that's all they need to start imagining. Lately, they love playing "teacher" together. They gather on the mat and one of them pretends to be the teacher during a "pretend" circle time:

As a follow up on our harvest theme, we have been studying the life cycle of pumpkins and this week the children have worked hard on their Pumpkin Book.



And to relate the theme to Halloween, the children have also created their own pumpkin. I cut out some pumpkin shapes out of card board. They painted them orange and glued some pumkin seeds all over them. Once they were dried, they painted them in orange again and finally varnish them. I added eyes and mouths and voila:

Pincer Grasp - Practical Life Activity

Today, I introduced a new practical life exercise: collage. Usually, I let the children use a stick of glue. BUt today, I decided to be a bit more adventurous and to follow the guidelines I have received during the first part of my on-going Montessori training. The idea is to show the child how to transfer glue onto pieces of paper and then place them onto a colourful sheet of paper.

This exercise aims at developing the chidren's hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills. I think this also helps them to practice their spincer grip fo future use when holding a pencil for writing. And of course, I love watching the attention the children put in choosing where to place each piece of paper. Some of them needed to cover the whole sheet, others picked the same colour, and several decided that less was more! Their creativity is unique and this is what I like watching them painting, building, colouring, drawing and in this instance gluing.

How to record progress on sandpaper letters and numerals

One thing I needed to do this summer was to get a bit more organised as far as my record keeping in our language area is concerned. While I used to be able to know exactly which letters and sounds a child had mastered from the top of my head, this very inefficient and poorly thought method let me down many times as the number of my children started to rise last year. For this reason, I needed to find a better way to keep my observations in order. I needed something easily accessible and practical.  And then, I found an very interesting post on To the Lesson. Sasha shared with us how she uses little booklets with  the entire alphabet on the inside cover. Each time a child has been introduced to a sound /letter or has mastered it, she records it in the booklet. So I “stole” this fantastic idea and adapted it to the needs of our classroom. You see, in Montessori education, we tend to introduce letters by phonetic sounds rather than by their names. Each letter/sound is introduced in an order that permits the child to make out words.  Different schools have different orders. The one I chose to follow is suggested in How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way by Tim Seldin.

This is a wonderful book written by one of America's most respected Montessori educators and authors.  Here it goes:

1.  c  m  a  t 
2.  s  r  i  p
3. b  f  o  g
4. h  j  u  l
5. d  w  e  n
6. k  q  v  x  y  z 

So using Sasha’s idea, I spent a few hours making little booklets. In the inside cover, I have written the 6 sets of letters studied in our classroom. Each page of the booklet has picture (an apple for a, a tractor for t etc..) to represent the sound. Under each picture, the child can trace the letter. I have decided that once a child has completely mastered a sound/letter, I will let him/her trace the letter in question. When opening a booklet, I  will be able to see straightaway how far he/she has gone in her learning of the sandpaper letters. By the way, I got the pictures from Homeschool Creations.

As I mentioned in my post on our new calendar (here), we have a Letter of the Week added to our routine at circle time. It goes without saying that each letter will also be introduced following the order mentioned above. I will not introduce any other set until I am satisfied that the children have mastered the set. The children moving faster will be able to do extra work using our letter boxes and the moveable alphabet.

And to keep the momentum going, I decided that I could create the same type of booklets for numerals. No sooner said than done:

What do you think? What do you do in your own classroom? Let me know.