SHOW AND TELL
Bring picture of a US land-scape feature, either natural or man-made.
Topic: US Geography
Our land from sea to shining sea
The value we’ll be studying is self-reliance, and what we can do when we find ourselves in dangerous or just uncomfortable situations.
For safety we’ll learn how to deal with bad situations.
Outside, we’ll do a trust walk.
The songs we’ll be singing are America the Beautiful. Deep in the Heat of Texas, When the Saints Go Marching In, Them Bones, Dixie, and Camptown Races.
For creative dramatics, we’ll practice tactics to keep ourselves safe.
Our art activities are napkin ghosts, paper bag pumpkins, cotton swab skeletons, and cheesecloth ghosts.
For motor development, we’ll work on stamina with racing, jumping jacks, and squat/jumps. For motor planning, we’ll blow cotton balls, play animal walk charades, and pretend we’re a worm.
THREE STAGES OF LEARNING
Children in the Montessori classroom go through three stages of learning. When they are first introduced to the material, they quickly grasp the concept of what is to be done. But with immature muscles and incomplete understanding of the task to be accomplished, generally their intent is far ahead of their ability. They may understand that water is to be carried carefully and poured into another tiny pitcher, but much of the water is spilled before their task is complete. As the adult observing this stage, our role is to be patient. The child will learn – and clean up the mess.
In the second stage, both form and order come together. The child is able to thoroughly understand what she is to do, and she is able to perform the work skillfully and with grace. At this stage in the learning cycle, the child basically performs the work as she has seen it demonstrated. At the third stage, we see incredible creativity bloom from the child’s intelligence as he begins to practice and vary the lessons. This is where Montessori’s freedom to move beyond structure is soon evident. The child, who at three years old could hardly move a pencil inside the metal insets, at four carefully traces inside and outside edges, and at six creates wondrous designs and colors using the same equipment he used three years ago.
At every stage, the child freely progresses into the environment prepared for him. He moves at his own pace; there is no pressure causing him to fail before he can learn to succeed. The progression is natural, joyful, and typically far ahead of more traditional educational systems. So when you see your child working with the same equipment she worked with six months ago, be confident that she is moving purposefully to her own inner clock, always forward.
General
Safety – Our safety topic for Halloween covers stranger safety. It’s a misnomer to tell our children not to trust strangers in order to avoid abuse. The vast majority of abuse is done by a person well known to the child. Our topic will focus on how a child can know if it’s a dangerous or even just uncomfortable situation and how the child can deal with it. Ask to see what we’re teaching so you can reinforce those lessons outside the school.
Classroom News
Outdoor Play – When the children are outside it is a time for unstructured play, fantasy play and sometimes alone time play. While outside Dawson saw something that looked strange to him, he motioned to the teacher to take a look and what we saw was an Asp and what a perfect time for a lesson on the fury creature. Kenny helped his classmates fill up the small green bucket with sand, while others were using shovels Kenny used his hands and although by the time he made it to the bucket most of the sand had fallen from his hands he continued to help until the task was completed. Luke heard his class mate Raelyn ask for water and choose to retrieve it himself and hand it to his classmate and when she responded with “thank you” Luke displayed is happy smile.
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