“Our care of the child should be governed, not by the desire to make her learn things, but by the endeavor always to keep burning within her that light which is called intelligence.” ~Maria Montessori

Children have a natural fascination with words, which enables them to begin reading and writing before the age they are traditionally taught. When the child is at the greatest point of interest for language development, the materials in the Montessori classroom allows the teacher to take advantage of this time. Writing begins as soon as the child shows an interest in the spelling of words or in the learning of the sandpaper letters. Writing, or the construction of words with the moveable letters, will almost always proceed reading in a Montessori environment.

Once the child has learned the sandpaper letters, they are then ready to make words with the moveable alphabet. They start out building three letter words of different objects with a short vowel sound. The child will spend a considerable amount of time on the moveable alphabet and building the three letter words. They then can move on to building 4-letter words with blends. The child is now realizing that they can go back over the words they are spelling and pronounce the words. However, this step is not really reading. Reading implies an understanding of words which someone has constructed and this step happens when they are able to match a set of objects with a set of cards on which the names of the objects are already printed. At this point, the child must read the card in order to match the correct card with the correct picture. We can continue to develop language skills with the introduction of noun cards and command cards, which are verbs. These cards allow the child to read a command and complete the command like run, jog or jump.

Moveable Alphabet

The moveable alphabet is then used to create words that include phonograms. The phonograms are a blend of two or more letters that produce a single sound. The children continue to build on spelling and reading these words in a variety of ways.

Gradually the child learns sight words, and words with 2 or three syllables by doing many reading exercises that offer a variety of monotonous repetition. There are many books that help to develop their reading skills and are interesting to the children. It is important to remember that the age at which a child reads is not important, but rather in their readiness to read. If the child is forced at the wrong time or too early, then the child will get discouraged. The wonderful freedom within the Montessori classroom allows the child to be guided by their own interest, which determines their own progress. Reading is the most important key to future learning.

Wow, January was a blast! We had so much fun learning about Space, Antarctica, and Snow. The Solar System was a huge hit with the children. Their fascination and curiosity took them to new levels of learning. We also had some great experiences attempting to build a Roman Arch. The children are learning, growing, and making wonderful progress in their own individual ways.

The Kindergarten students enjoyed their 100th day of school. They created posters with 100 items, played games, and enjoyed a delicious snack. Thank you to all the parent volunteers that helped to make this day so much fun!

Important Dates:

February 5th: Parent/Child Night: 4:15-5:00 last name A-M and 5:00-5:45 last name N-Z

February 12th: Kindergarten Field Trip to Estes McDoniel Marine Lab

February 14th: Valentine’s Day Card Exchange

February 15th & 18th: No School; Teacher In-Service & Presidents’ Day

February 21st: PTO General Meeting: 8:30am Multipurpose Room

“The development of language is part of the development of the personality, for words are the natural means of expressing thoughts and establishing understanding between people.” ~Maria Montessori

The development of writing skills is a two-fold process. First, the child must remember what the shape of the letter is with the corresponding sound and they also must develop the muscular skills necessary for using the pencil.  In an earlier blog post, we discussed the sensorial area of the classroom. In the sensorial area, the children are using the materials which helps prepare them for writing. When a child is expected to listen carefully to perceive differences in the sound cylinders, they are developing strong listening skills to hear the difference between the letter sounds. Vocabulary is growing as the children are introduced to more words. The different materials in the sensorial area are also helping to develop the muscles required for writing.

The Montessori materials in the language area help the children to first learn the shape and sound of a letter, and then develop the motor skill to move the pencil with control. Within the classroom, the children are learning to write by performing purposeful activities to prepare them indirectly and directly for handwriting.

The sandpaper letters are the very first step in learning the shapes of the letters and the sounds. The child is able to feel the shape, see the shape, and hear the sound the shape makes. The children are asked to trace the shape, which is an important step and will help to fix the shape of the letter in the child’s muscular memory.

The children are also invited to perfect their motor skills with the use of metal insets. They are learning control as they trace the different metal inset shapes and learn to fill in the outline with a colored pencil. It is interesting to watch the progression of the lines the children draw within the shape. At first, they are erratic and don’t stay in the lines. As time progresses, the lines become more intricate and controlled.

Once the child has worked with the metal insets and the sandpaper numbers extensively, they are then ready to begin writing. They learn that they are able to make words and numerals with a pencil. Maria Montessori calls this the “explosion into writing.” When the children develop writing in this progressive way, they are spared from many tedious hours of forced effort.  Maria Montessori believed learning should be a natural process and all the materials within the Montessori classroom promote the natural process of learning, which in turn, instills a love of learning within the children.

Important Dates:

January 21st-No school

January 30th-Kindergarten Re-Enrollment Information Night @ 5pm. This meeting is intended for parents of current pre-K students turning 5 prior to September 30th entering kindergarten for the 2019-2020 school year.

January 31st- First Grade Re-Enrollment Information Night @ 5:00pm. This meeting is intended for parents of current kindergarten students entering 1st grade for the 2019-2020 school year.

February 1st-PTO Family Dance

SAVE THE DATE

February 5th-Parent-Child Night (Times below are recommended guidelines to avoid overcrowding, but please let us know if the other time is better for your family in order to attend.)

Last Name-A-M @ 4:15-5:00PM

Last Name-N-Z @ 5:00-5:45PM

As 2018 comes to an end and we think back to the beginning of the school year, we can’t help but feel proud of each one of your children. There has been incredible growth. We are so excited to see what the rest of the school year will hold.

December has been consumed with Europe studies. The children have loved learning about the different countries in Europe, completing the Europe puzzle map, and learning about all the different animals that can be found on the continent.

December has also been filled with learning about different Holiday Celebrations from around the world. In the cultural area of the classroom, you can find children learning about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, St. Lucia Day, and Christmas.

We know December is a time of giving and sharing with those in need. This year we are showing our love, support, and generosity to one of our own, Cash Martin and his family. Cash was a part of our classroom until he fell ill and had to leave for the reminder of the school year. We have begun raising money for their family and so far the outpouring of love and support has been an incredibly humbling experience. We have had students donate their own money to the cause and that has been an incredible thing to witness.  We can’t thank you enough for all you have given and continue to give for this family. Our fundraiser will continue into next week, 12/17-12/20.

Upcoming Dates:

Winter Break: Half Day on 12/21 (dismissal at 11:15am), No School from 12/24 – 1/7, School Resumes Tuesday, 1/8

January 21- No School; Martin Luther King Jr Day

January 30- Kindergarten Information Night, 5:00 pm

January 31- First Grade Information Night, 5:00 pm

“The child, making use of all that he finds around him, shapes himself for the future.” ~Maria Montessori

The use of our senses help us to make sense of the world and what is happening around us.  When new objects are presented to children, they examine it using their senses. With this kind of natural exploration, Maria Montessori felt this was the best time to give the children material to help sharpen those senses and enable them to understand the impressions that are given through the material.

The material provided in the sensorial area of the classroom help the children to become aware of details. This is accomplished by offering strongly contrasted sensations like red and blue, then various graded sensations such as different shades of the same color. The children are able to understand concretely what is red or what is blue, followed by an understanding on a more abstract level. This particular concept can be seen while the children are using the color tablet boxes. From primary colors to shades of colors, the children are using their senses to understand the meaning of color.

Within the sensorial area, there are different qualities that are being taught including color, weight, shape, texture, size, sound, smell, etc. Every material is made so there is little variation. For example, the color tablets are all the same size, and the sound boxes are all the same size and weight. The only difference is the actual sound the cylinders  make. With practice and repetition, the mind is able to be trained to appreciate differences.

One of the very first activities introduced to children is the Pink Tower. This work introduces the children to three-dimensional objects. There are 10 pink cubes graded in size from one centimeter cubed to ten centimeters cubed. The blocks are the same size, color, shape, and texture. In order to complete the activity, the child must recognize the gradation in size and build the tower beginning with the largest cube and placing the smallest cube on top.

Another introductory work is the Brown Stairs. The children are introduced to size in two dimensions. There are ten prisms with a constant length of twenty centimeters, but the width and height vary from one centimeter to ten centimeters. The children will create a stair-like structure. The terms thick, thicker, thickest and thin, thinner, thinnest are introduced.

The pink tower and the brown stairs together are used as an advanced work, once the children are comfortable with the two works separately.

There are several other works in the sensorial area which allow children the ability to explore using their senses. They find joy in mastering these works at their simplest form and then being challenged with extensions. Below are some more pictures of different works the children enjoy doing in the sensorial area.

IMPORTANT DATES:

December 7th: PTO Bazaar & Holiday Craft Fair

December 21st: Kindergarten Assembly & Half-Day dismissal at 11:15

December 24th-January 7th: Winter Break; Happy Holidays (school resumes 1/8/19)