Feelings and Friendship

The Lunchers have been learning about and naming feelings in guidance.  They have helped Sammy Snail learn all about his feelings, too!

They have leaned that there are two types of feelings--Wanted (happy, confident, calm) and Unwanted (sad, worried, angry, frustrated).

The Lunchers learned a new word this week--Friendship. How feelings are handled is an important part of friendship! They are beginning to read How to Be a Friend by Laurie and Marc Brown. They discussed lots of ideas about how to be a friend.

                                              Friends help each other.

                                               Friends play fair.

                                                          Friends listen!

                                                 Friends share and take turns.

                                               Friends work out problems!

                   Friends support each other. They stick up for you! They include you in their games!

                                            Montessori is a place for friends!
Teaching social skills is both art and science. Montessori teachers and guidance counselors team up to provide lessons and practice. Lessons include developing self-awareness as well as identifying feelings in others(facial expressions, body language, "reading the scene"). Time for practicing the language of feelings is included.  We use role play, puppets, and picture books to model how to be open to the possibility of compromise and how to become a flexible thinker and problem solver. The most difficult skill for all is a life skill--the art of responsive listening! Practice makes better!

Yummy, Yummy!

Fruit Salad Day in Montessori is very special.  It is purposeful work since we are making snack for the whole class. It is also language arts, math, and science!

First we label all the ingredients--apples, bananas, watermelon, kiwi, pineapple, pears, grapes...

Then we cut the fruit in half to see what's inside. Where are the seeds?

                               Next each child selects the fruit he or she will cut, slice or chop.

                                   Concentration and...

                                            ... fine motor skills need practice.

                        Using a knife is a challenge whether you are a Luncher or a morning child.

                                 When completed, the chopped fruit goes into the salad bowl.

                                            And when the bowl is full, snack is ready!

                    Yummy, Yummy! Fruit Salad always tastes better when you make it yourself!

Do You Speak Montessori Yet?

Workbench

Maria Montessori designed the classroom as a "prepared environment" because she believed children needed time, space, and opportunities for learning. Children choose their work, serving their need for autonomy, limited only by what is purposeful, what is available, and what lessons they have had.

"The role of education is to interest the child profoundly in an external activity to which he will give all his potential."                                  --M Montessori


In Montessori-- "We are learning how to learn."

Trucks on the Playground

Wagons Take Cooperation!

In Montessori, we share and take turns --"It's just being part of a group."
















Our games include everyone--"We are all friends in Montessori"   

First day of Soccer

Creating ABC Books for Handwriting

Drum Rhythms in Music

     

 In Montessori--we do our best--"Having a go" to try new things. "Practice makes better."

Using ELMO for Handwritng Lessons.  Always start your letters at the top!

                                                  In Montessori--"Love what you do!"

"An interesting piece of work, freely chosen, which has the virtue of inducing concentration rather than fatigue, adds to the child's energies and mental capacities and leads him to self-mastery."
                                                                                                                   --M Montessori

More Is More!

In Montessori we usually say. "Less is more."  However when it comes to the topic of sleep, "More is more!" Sleep is a very important component in brain development.  Our "fantastic, elastic" brains need sleep. Sleep allows the brain to consolidate knowledge from the day's learning. Children in Montessori are always learning so there's a BIG need to consolidate!

Sleep enhances academic performance, regulation of emotions, and memory as well as attention and health.

August is the time to reset the sleep clock so that children get the required amount of sleep AND are ready for their earlier school schedule.  It is important to be on time for school--ready and eager for learning and social life!

Your child can help you build a family bedtime routine that allows him/her to wind down, relax, and get ready for bed.  TV, iPad, video games,(and technology in general) are not usually helpful.  Bath time, reading books together, puzzles,or "sharing time" help children calm. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends most children get ten hours of sleep per night.

Wishing you more!
Sweet dreams! Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite...and you will be ready for the many wonderful days ahead in Montessori.  See you soon!

Summer Reading Lists

Destination--library!  Please click on the links to get the Summer Reading Lists.  This year Mrs. Powers and I decided to pair fiction and non-fiction books.

You may wish to ask your child, "What did the author have to know to write this story?"

You may wish to have a "search party" to find all the facts in a fictional story.

Mr. Powers has found the power of reading aloud!

You may want to invent a fictional story based on facts you learned in a non-fiction book.

You may wish to compare two stories.

                  You may wish to enjoy both genres! Ah! The joy of a good book read aloud!

Commencement

Commencement--A beginning!  The Montessori children celebrated a wonderful year of learning and friendship on Friday morning, May 31. Now the Lunchers are looking forward to first grade. However, all of us need to enjoy our new season--summer!

The Woods Academy Montessori Program--a small, caring community...

...with a "just right" challenge.

             




"Every interaction a child has during the course of a day influences the adult that child will become." J. Deak

"The first duty of an education is to stir up life, but leave it free to develop."
                                                                        M. Montessori

Have a wonderful summer!