Hello from the Montessori Children’s House! Our first month of school is coming to an end, and the children have learned so much about their roles in Montessori learning.
Students are gradually using the term “work” instead of “play” when describing their activities. It’s not that we correct them into using the terminology, but one of Maria Montessori’s basic tenets is that play is a child’s work. Exploring and handling materials is not just fun, it’s how a child makes sense of his or her world. Comparing sizes, shapes, and colors helps a student organize, and organization is a very important part of learning. How many questions in later grades begins with the phrase “Compare and contrast”? This is the foundation of those skills. We use the word “work” to remind ourselves, and the children, that what they are doing has value and purpose, since in today’s world, the word “play” often denotes the opposite. This past month’s theme was about apples. At circle, we cut an apple in half, to better see all of its parts. The children used describing words to tell about the fruit. We discovered that the apple’s skin was “dry” on the outside, but the inside was “wet,” or “juicy.” The skin was called “smooth” and “shiny.” We don’t eat the core, which houses the seeds. The apple hangs on a tree by its stem. We read in a book that apples grow in places called orchards. At another time, we tasted three different kinds of apples - a red delicious, a granny smith, and a macintosh. Everyone voted on their favorite apple, which we recorded with tally marks. Finally, every child participated in making a delicious homemade applesauce! Some students predicted what the apples would look, smell, and feel like once they were cooked in the crockpot. This October, we will be discussing more fall topics, especially the leaves from deciduous trees that are changing.
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Ms. Teresa is just one of the three fantastic teachers in St. Mary's Montessori Children's House! |