Montessori Country Day

Mom, Dad....I’m bored. "Makes you feel put on the spot, right? You might even feel like you're a bad parent. Most of us pressured to solve this "problem" right away. We usually respond to our kids’ boredom by providing technological entertainment or structured activities. But that's actually counter-productive. Children need to encounter and engage with the raw stuff that life is made of: unstructured time." https://www.ahaparenting.com//boredom-busters-good-for-kids

Lots of families are loving this activity - a drawing series from children's author and illustrator, Mo Willems! https://www.youtube.com/playlist

Age appropriate chores for children!

"Any child who is self-sufficient, who can tie his shoes, dress or undress himself, reflects in his joy and sense of achievement the image of human dignity which is derived from a sense of independence." - Maria Montessori

9 Questions Parents May Have About Coronavirus

1931: Maria Montessori Time Magazine's 100 Women of the Year! https://time.com/5/maria-montessori-100-women-of-the-year/

Follow up post: Parents, starting to get tired of singing Happy Birthday while you wash your hands? How about the chorus of Prince's 'Raspberry Beret' or Toto's 'Africa' instead?

"By now, your children may have heard about the new coronavirus, whether it’s from a snippet of a news briefing or from other kids at school. They may have family members who live in affected countries, or who have been quarantined here because of recent international travel. So what should you tell kids about the coronavirus, and how?" https://parenting.nytimes.com/childr/coronavirus-kids-talk

Handwashing - from our Woodland campus Lower Elementary Guide: You might be asking yourself why your child has begun singing the happy birthday song while he or she is washing their hands. Here is the answer. We had Grace and Courtesy lessons this week on the proper way to wash their hands and the best strategies to prevent spreading germs from a cough or a sneeze. And, we discussed the importance of washing their hands after they’ve been in contact with their body.... Our hand washing lessons involved slowly singing the happy birthday song twice while using soap and water to wash all parts of the hand, including between the fingers and the tops of the hands. I invite you to sing out loud or to yourself whenever you wash your hands too!

Montessori Monday.... from the Toddler Guide at Bergamo When people walk into a toddler classroom the shelves, the materials and the lack of clutter are always questioned. What is this material used for? Why are the shelves arranged from left to right? Is it safe for my toddler to use scissors? Each material in the toddler environment is set up in an isolated color to help build concentration. Many of the materials help with the beginning stages of a child’s fine motor skills... like clay to help strengthen tiny fingers. Other materials like gluing and being able to use scissors refine those fine motor skills and isolate the use of our writing fingers. All of the materials presented help the child to self construct and prepares them to enter into the primary environment where they begin to learn letter sounds and eventually to write in cursive! This weekend I watched my son fill out a form effortlessly in cursive. I then asked him to fill out the same form in print and it took him much longer and his writing was not as neat. I’m so happy and appreciative that true Montessori continues to focus on a dying skill in public school education. P.S. if you watch closely as he writes in cursive his hands never lift from the page making writing easier and effortless.

"...simple storybooks have the power to teach infants and children new words, actions, and even more complex scientific concepts like camouflage and evolution. "

From our Pocket Rd. campus Toddler Guide: So, Netflix has a series that came out this week called Babies and I encourage EVERYONE to watch. This series is part of the work we as AMI Assistants to Infancy guides are doing every day with young children. Maria Montessori was a scientist who began observing young children and went on to later develop the Montessori Method/Philosophy that we practice today. The brain development of infants is so fascinating, intriguing, and so... important during the first 3 yrs of life when it reaches almost 90% the size of what it will be as an adult. Watching this series gives me chills! Last week in Seattle during our Refresher Course, our lectures were practically the blueprint, outline, script, etc. for everything this documentary discusses. Thank me later, Your friendly neighborhood lover of tiny humans https://youtu.be/e3HuD9Ehb_0