Holiday Survival Tips For Children

This time of year can be so exciting and fun-a time to share with family and enjoy building wonderful memories.  For children, their schedule and consistency is important so the holidays can be a stressful time of year if there are too many activities happening.  Keep in mind your child's tolerance level for handling a disruption in their routine.  The pressure to do more and have more is a cultural pressure that you have to measure as a family.  More is often times not better when it comes to kids.  First, if your child typically takes a nap or has a rest time at a certain time of day, try to schedule your activities to allow for the rest time to still take place.  Second, if you know your child's meals will be full of a lot of extra sugar and food they don't normally eat, make sure they have a healthy breakfast and bring along healthy snacks to help balance all the yummy goodies at this time of year.  Also, be respectful of your child's needs in terms of opening gifts.  Many times we can feel obligated for our children to be excited about a gift that someone is giving.  But, sometimes kids open one thing and really want to just play with that toy and aren't interested in anything else.  You can maybe just set the additional gifts aside and wait for your child to be ready.  Another good tip for surviving the holidays is spending at least a little bit of time outdoors.  Bundling up and taking a quick hike or driving to a park and playing is a great way to get fresh air and get away from all the celebrating.  Many children like to know what is happening when their schedule is different then normal.  Sitting down with your child and letting them know the schedule of their day can help them be prepared for things that are different than normal.  Another way to balance out activities is having people to your house where your child is most comfortable and can be in their space while all the celebrating is happening.  This is such a wonderful time of year full of beauty, family time and fun!  Help your child enjoy the season while keeping in mind their needs as well.  Merry Christmas!

Lessons

Everyday at Community Montessori our day begins with breaking into smaller groups and presenting two to three lessons.  These lessons last between 10 and 15 minutes, depending on the lesson and the age of the children.  Our classroom consists of three groups for lessons-youngest group, middle group, and oldest group.  Throughout the week we try to show lessons from all areas of the classroom:  Everyday Living, Sensorial, Art, Math, Language, Unit, Science, Geography and Writing.  Small group lessons are given daily as well as individual lessons during work time.  Maria Montessori actually instructed that lessons only be given individually.  But, one advantage she had with the children she worked with was she had them all day long (early morning to early evening) so there was more opportunity to give individual lessons based on a child's interest and readiness.  I can certainly see the wisdom in individual lessons.  Typically lessons are given silently or with little discussion, depending on the work.  For example, when showing an Everyday Living or Sensorial work, we do not talk at all, only slowly and precisely present the lesson.  Early on the children learn that when we are showing lessons, the work is ours; therefore, we should not be interrupted and our material should not be touched.  Unit works, for example, have more discussion.  We are currently studying the human body, so we may review characteristics of the human body prior or during a work we show. 
During work time, the children understand that if they have not had a lesson on a material, they need a lesson.  The children in our classroom know now that they can ask a teacher or another student to give them a lesson.  Sometimes, children want to see a lesson even if they have already had a lesson. It's reasonable to think that even though we give lessons, the material/work we are showing may not be interesting to all children at the same time; therefore, they may need a refresher lesson when they finally show an interest.  Showing lessons, even if a child does not choose the work immediately, have a lot of value. First, they get to see the materials used properly from start to finish.  It also exposes them to more and more choices in the classroom.  The lesson itself is teaching, showing, presenting new concepts or information even if they don't choose the work itself.  If everyone knew how many wonderful materials and options there are for children in the classroom, they would understand the need to be in the classroom for five days a week.Of course, any time in the classroom is wonderful, but with so many purposeful, engaging materials, being their all week certainly helps support children's development.  The children need time to get their hands on all the opportunities available to them.  So, if you are able to come visit the classroom, come in time to observe your child's lessons.  They are an important part of your child's day at Community Montessori.  When my boys were younger, we began implementing lessons at home:  If there was something new they wanted to learn how to do, we would give them a lesson first, then let them try.  You can do this with anything:  vacuuming, baking muffins, making a bed, brushing teeth, cleaning up a spill, writing a grocery list....it can be adapted to any and all ages. 

A Thanksgiving Blog Post

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am overwhelmed with all of my blessings and gifts in my life.  I am so thankful mostly for the people in my life~my family, my church community, the CMS community, my neighbors etc.  I am also reminded that this life is not easy.  Somewhere along the line of growing up, there seems to be a belief that if you do A, B, and C, life will be 'easy'.  Not so...life is hard-relationships are not always as we want them to be, people we love are hurting or sick, or maybe we are hurting or sick.  There are tough financial situations that bring daily stress to one's life as well as aging parents, special needs children, job loss....the list is endless regarding challenges in this life.  But, as a dear friend has recently reminded me, there is always hope.  Hope is a funny thing....it's in all of our hearts-the hope that things will turn around, that we'll get to spend time with or mend a relationship with someone dear to us, the hope that someone will come home or get better....hope is very powerful.  In our classroom, we see tangible hope in the children.  Maria Montessori believed world peace begins with children and I completely agree with her (no surprise there eh? :)).  We see hope in the children as they display compassion, empathy, love, friendship and loyalty.  We see that in their young little hearts, they have the power and capacity to do and say things that some adults struggle with.  We had an incident in the back room last week that was so powerful, it moved me to tears.  Alfie Kohn was the guest speaker at the Cincinnati Montessori Society conference in the Spring.  He has challenged the teachers at CMS to allow children to work through their conflicts rather than trying to 'fix' them for them.  It's been hard, but we have seen the fruit when we have been able to walk out what Alfie Kohn suggests.  The back room was full (9 children and myself).  Two little girls were having a conflict over a choosing the same table to work.  One girl was sitting in the chair and the other little girl had her leg wrapped around the leg of the chair.  I hear 'I was here first, no I was here first, no I was here first'......I walk over knowing that this would be a great time to really help them work through it together vs. me resolving the problem.  I go over and begin reflecting what each girl is saying to the other (simply repeating their words).  Girl A was saying 'I was here first'...so, I say, 'It sounds like A thinks she was here first'....Girl B says 'But, I was here first'.....so, I say, 'It sounds like B thinks she was here first'....this went on literally for about 8 go arounds with them saying the same thing and me repeating it.  As this was happening, the room became silent and all children were watching/listening.  In the midst of repeating what the girls were saying, I was also saying, 'it seems like we have a problem-how can we solve the problem'.......after going back and forth several times, another little girl came up and very sweetly said, 'I actually saw what happened (good thing in the hindsight that I didn't see what happened-it may have swayed me one way)'....so, I said, 'Oh, would you mind sharing what you saw?'...so, she proceeds to tell what happened, speaking to the girls directly and the girls were listening intently.  It was clear that the little girl who was sitting was indeed there first.  As the little girl finished telling what had happened, the little girl standing welled up with tears b/c she knew what the little girl was saying was true.  At that moment a little boy walked to the kleenex box, and brought the little girl a tissue.  She then said, 'But, I want this table'.......The little boy who brought the tissue then pointed out to the little girl another table that was available.  She then went over to that table and the children got back to work.  I was blown away at the power of this exchange.  All the children were empathetic to the situation-they were bothered that two of their friends were in conflict.  This was not about who was 'right' or 'wrong', rather, it was about the children building the skills/confidence to work out a conflict which they did beautifully.  This process took about 10 minutes which is a lot of time for this type of issue; however, so worth it!  All the children in the room witnessed and learned an important lesson and got to see first hand a healthy way to work out a difficult issue.  I learned later that the little boy who gave the kleenex to the little girl had ran to another room to report to a teacher that 'we have a problem in the back room'.....this is their very serious work of learning to manage themselves and get along with one another in a respectful way.  So, on this Thanksgiving Day I am incredibly thankful for the children in my classroom who teach me powerful, important life lessons each and everyday. 

What Happens When Children Wait?

In a world where things are so fast paced, there is a place of peace and refuge in a Montessori classroom.  The classroom is not chaotic, not loud, not fast, not rushed....rather, our classroom is calm, peaceful, quiet (but, not silent) and respectful.  One of the many skills and lessons children learn in a Montessori classroom is self-control and how to wait.  There is one of each work in a Montessori classroom-there are many, many works, but only one of each work.  So, from the beginning children learn if a work is not available-another child is choosing it-then, they wait.  They don't go to the child and tell them they want it, they don't take it away from a child-they wait.  When we see children waiting, we see that many times, it's challenging.  They are typically not used to waiting.  But, wow-what a wonderful life skill!  Children also learn that they can do a work as long as they want-a teacher will not ask them to put a work away, a child can not dictate how long they work-they can work as long as they would like, as long as they are being purposeful and engaged.  They also learn to wait when a teacher is working with another child and is not immediately available to answer a question or help.  We ask children to place their hand on the teacher's shoulder so we know they are there and they wait.  Those moments of them holding back from getting what they need right away are moments of growth and moments of understanding that they are not the only one with needs.  They learn to respect others needs through this process.  One beautiful thing that is born from this is that children are helping one another and not reliant on the teacher.  This is another wonderful aspect of the Montessori classroom.  Children are also learning to wait during lessons.  During lessons teachers show works.  When a teacher shows a lesson-it is her work.  Our hope is that children are quiet and respectful while the work is shown.  We use words like 'this is my work', 'please let me concentrate while I show you this lesson', and 'please do not touch my work'.  The children learn this by watching and really love and appreciate when they have a work, it's their work. They can invite someone to do the work with them, but it's not ok for someone to interrupt or touch their work without being asked. 

Sometimes in our busy, rushed world, it's hard to teach children to wait.  But, know that is completely ok to have to wait.  In fact, many wonderful things happen when we are waiting.  Our message to children needs to be, we hear you, we care about your needs and what you are asking, but I'm asking you to be patient.  Not serving their needs immediately sends a message that what you are currently doing is also important-not more, not less, but also important.  It also can give a child an opportunity to problem solve.  For example, on line this week a child was standing in front of me explaining that someone took his spot on line.  I was greeting children on the line and was unavailable to help work out the conflict.  The child said the same thing to me three times and I looked at the child pointing to the child I was greeting indicating that I wasn't available.  Right then, a child on line near the conflict whispered to the child next to him to please move down and then asked the child who was talking to me to sit down and he did.  I wait, he waited and it worked itself out. 

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Unit Studies in our Classroom

Each month in our classroom, we study a new unit.  The unit study is an opportunity to go into depth about particular topics or interests that are relevant to children.  In September, we studied fruits and vegetables. This month we're studying transportation, and next month we'll study the human body.  With all units, we have object to object matching, object to picture matching, picture to picture matching, puzzles, sorting, 'parts of' books', and 3 part cards.  We also try to bring our unit study into other areas of the classroom. For example, in the Everyday Living area, children may scoop or pour fruit.  In the math area for our transportation unit, we have several counting works out with cars, trucks, airplanes and boats.  The unit study also allows us to give information about a topic that children may not have heard before.  When we studied fruits and vegetables, we talked about how fruit grows on trees, bushes or vines and that vegetables are parts of the plant that we eat:  root (carrot), stem (celery), leaves (spinach/lettuce) and flower (broccoli).  Three part cards are a wonderful work used throughout the classroom as well.  It has a picture with the name of the picture on it, then the children match the picture and the word.  For example, we had apple three part cards.  There is a picture of an apple, then all the different parts of an apple-stem, core, flesh, seeds, and skin.  Each card highlighted each part with a picture and name-the work is great for building visual discrimination skills as well as building vocabulary.  The children love working with our unit works and love learning new information about very familiar subjects!

General Layout of the Classroom

When families are first learning about Montessori, there is a lot to take in about the philosophy, classroom structure, materials and lessons.  Even as a teacher having taught nine years in a Montessori environment, I am still learning and seeing the many benefits of a Montessori environment.  Every work, every choice made in the space regarding furniture, folder boxes, rugs, materials, is a well thought out process that is discussed thoroughly with all the teachers.  We constantly go back to the philosophy and ask ourselves why we want to do things a certain way and how it sets children up for success.  We make decisions and then watch how the children interact with the decision made.  For example, we recently changed our folder box to a larger one.  We noticed the children were having trouble finding their folder because the folder box was smaller and the folders weren't able to move easily.  So, we purchased a larger one and it's much more successful or the children and they can be independent putting work in their folder, then taking their work from the folder to their backpack. We also recently moved two tables in the our Math room because we noticed how crowded it was with rug works when the tables were in the space they were.  We moved them earlier this week and the improvement has been wonderful!

Our classroom has several areas:  Everyday Living, Art, Manipulative, Sensorial, Math, Language, Geography, Science and Unit (this is an area that changes monthly-We study something new every month (Transportation, Mammals, etc)).  In every area, works are sequenced on the shelf from simple to complex and concrete to more abstract.  Through the lessons presented, we guide children through a series of skills and watch carefully before presenting something new.  We always want children tasting success as they progress.  The works on the shelves are placed left to right which lays a foundation for left to right reading.  Rug works are presented left to right as well.  The children are presented a process that best sets them up for success and helps them organize their materials in the space they choose.  Within each work on the tray, materials are also set up from left to right.  For example, when we present pouring or spooning, the teacher presents the work pouring from left to right and when they spoon, they spoon from the bowl on the left to the bowl on the right.  When counting works are presented, numbers are placed at the top of the rug from left to right.  Sound boxes and pre-language materials are presented from left to right.

Children learn almost immediately that they get one work out at a time.  It truly does amaze me how quickly the children learn that this is how they do things in the classroom.  The language we use for cleaning up is 'getting it ready for the next friend'.  Children are asked and presented when shown the work that they prepare the work for the next person who will choose it.  Certainly, as young children, they learning how to clean up.  But, building the awareness in them that how they return a work to the shelf affects their community is important.  Sometimes, a child will choose a work and it's messy.  They often know who had the work prior and will go to that friend and ask them to clean up the work.  Every time I have seen this happen, the child very willingly goes back to clean up the work.  It builds a strong sense of respect in the classroom as well as personal accountability.  It's a much more powerful accountability when it comes from another friend vs. the teacher. 

I hope this gives you a little insight into our classroom at Community Montessori. 

www.CMontessori.com

Social Skills in the Montessori Classroom

One of the many things I love about Montessori is that Montessori teachers see the 'whole' child-developmentally, academically, socially, emotionally, and physically.  There is a myth out there that says simply placing children in the same room and having them do activities helps them develop social skills.  I disagree.  Developing social skills needs to be a value in the classroom as well as modeled by the teachers/adults who are around the children.  Using manners, demonstrating what Montessori called 'Grace and Courtesy' and always being respectful of the child are key ingredients to helping a child develop social skills.  When new 3 year olds enter our classroom, often times, it's their first experience at engaging with people other than their immediate family or close babysitter.  So, they are learning how to greet or talk to a friend, ask a teacher a question, tell someone they have to use the restroom, and express their many needs they may have throughout the day.  In the Montessori classroom, we intentionally talk about these situations-how to say hello to a friend, how to introduce themselves, how to ask a friend to have snack with them or how use their words to express an emotion.  We will also role play these situations so the children can actually see and hear how these social situations are played out.  When teachers speak to one another, they do so respectfully, and in complete and clear sentences.  Over the last three weeks of school I have witness some precious moments as we have been acclimating children into the environment.  I watched a little girl (second year in our classroom-3 year old) walk another child through the steps of snack using gentle, sweet words as she reminded this little boy what to do next when choosing snack.  They both walked through the many steps of snack (choosing name, washing hands, laying out napkin etc).  When they both sat down to enjoy their banana and water, the little girl said, 'So (child's name)-what did you do today?'....she was practicing with her new friend some conversation skills.  They sat together for about five minutes talking back and forth with one another.  They were practicing a very important life skill-communication.  I also watched as one of our first graders observed a new 3 year old looking at and touching the Pink Tower.  The first grader came over to me asking if she could please give (child's name) a lesson on the Pink Tower because she said that he looked interested in it.  I, of course, said yes and proceeded to watch this little girl give a complete and thorough lesson on the Pink Tower as this 3 year old sat in awe and watched her.  She engaged him and allowed him to touch her work and help her grade the cubes.  They worked together for close to 15 minutes and she was modeling to him some wonderful social skills!  There are so many layers to the Montessori classroom.  So much is going on in every area~sit back and let the children show you!