Behind The Scenes

I just wanted to share a side effect of having everything at a childs' height. Eli went to put his work away and ended up face to face with the drying rack that just so happened to have a freshly painted piece of work on it. Needless to say I then became a hair shampooer. Now imagine me wrestling with a I don't want to get my hair washed two year old (halfway kidding:) I caution you to take a look at your enviroment before setting up the drying rack area. Life is Fun! Happy Friday!!

Oh My! Look How You Have Grown!!

Do you remember Eli when he was first presented with how to use a brush to groom his hair?

Look at him now! Cleaning up after using the cornmeal tray to trace Sandpaper Numerals:)

When I was observing him working with the cornmeal I was saying to myself "Oh boy, does anybody else see this mess of cornmeal". I was secretly hoping that one of the children would come to the rescue and begin to clean it up . As soon as he put his work away, he went straight to the broom and dustpan. Eli didn't miss one spot! This is huge, the power of a multi-age learning enviroment.                                                                       

                                                                        

                                                                              

                                                                             

Another Reason Why I Love Montessori

During the month of September we practiced a number of practical life skills that can't be shelved. Like how to ask for a lesson, how to wait while I am speaking to someone else, etc. One of the key presentations that the children was presented to was how to ask if you can watch another friend while they were working. They have done great with grasping this concept, and it has done wonders for the childrens' respect level that they have for each other. The children can accept hearing "No, not right now", this is  a huge step in their developmental stages. It also has helped my job tremendously in regards to guiding a prepared,peaceful enviroment, also children are becoming interested in many works that they see their friends working with.

Here is a photo of Andrew observing Ken while she was working on an activity. The first words that Andrew spoke before he sat down was "Can I watch" . When Ken was putting her work away he finally asked the question he had been waiting to ask, "you think you can show me that". I just love it!!

                                                                               

Making His Own Work

DJ was playing around with his toob of prehistoric objects. The objects have their names written on the bottom I noticed this before making the purchase and was happy that these objects were labeled.While playing with the toob DJ was asking me to help him name the objects. When I turned away and came back DJ was doing this.....

  Writing the names of the objects to make picture to word matching work.

DJ wanted the labels to look a little more appealing so he glued them onto pieces of construction paper.

 Invited Mumble to do this work with him once he was satisfied with how the labels looked.

 Found a container to place his work in.

                      
              Then DJ placed the work on one of our cultural shelves.

                                                             
                                                                                 

Multiage Groups in the Montessori Enviroment

Although we don't have as many children that are in regular montessori classrooms, we do have the multiage groupings in our favor. This is a very important aspect when choosing to use the montessori method. I have had parents who enrolled, that were at first turned off that their two and a half year old would be working alongside another four year old fearing that they may be too socially immature and problems would occur. Another reason is that they were not ready to let independence develop. They really without saying it wanted a "daycare" where the provider cleans the child messes as the child walks away, they want a provider that allows the child to walk around with their sippy cup all day. Once I give them the run down on how their childs' day will go they become a little more comfortable. What actually gets them to enroll their child here is observing the children while they are working. I love the montessori method and I love it because I have seen children completely emerge since I begin implementation of the method. They are magnets to the work with no encouraging words necessary. The whole design of the program includes every kind of learner there is. What inspired me to write this post is my observation of the children right now working with the brown stairs. They were untouched for weeks at a time and as soon as one child discovered a brown stair extension everyone is wanting a presentation for some they want another.  

 It all started when I  presented the brown stair extension with the marble to Andrew.

Then Jamesha quickly got the brown stairs back off the shelf.  Ann whose face you can't see wanted to still work alongside Jamesha got the pink tower work off the shelf.

 Ann built the pink tower and then Jamesha was copying Anns' work with the brown stairs discovering an extension to this work.    

                                                     

                                                                              
     Now Jessica and Vinny repeat the brown stairs work everyday.

                                                                                          
Jessica and Vinny are just one year younger than the children in the first two photos. But just trust me they discovered this "new" work by observing their older peers and having the freedom to use the material.

Laminator Queen

 Michelle is the best help that I will ever have with helping me with the children that attend our little schoolhouse. Michelle reads to the children whenever they request, helps me invent some great activities, and now she is named the Laminator Queen. Michelle did a wonderful job with her interview at her new school, she was placed in the honors program.

                                                                                  
I pray that Michelle continues to stay on this wonderful path, if she does I am sure we all will hear great things about her in our future. If you like the printables that you see N from The Learning Ark was gracious enough to share this download with her readers. N's blog is very informative I suggest you read through her blog especially if you are just starting to implement the Montessori Method.