Last week was...interesting...

Our new cleaning fish rocks work!

My assistant was out last week due to a stomach bug. I was fine by myself during the class because we only have seven students, which is within Ohio's ratio rules for one teacher. At lunchtime, a substitute/floater teacher came in to relieve me (I leave at 12:15 to pick my son up from his school). I get a text in the evening, "What do I do if egg shells get in the fish tank?" Apparently, while she was helping a student in the bathroom, another student decided to test the boundaries, and take fistfuls of crushed eggshells from our eggshell crushing work. Then the next morning while I was netting the rocks and eggshells out of the fish tank with some students the egg shells went down the toilet (then later a pair of socks) by the same student. The student walked quickly to the bathroom, and it looked as it he was clenching his cheeks because he really had to go to the bathroom. I thought very little of it because he it toileting independently. But then I heard laughter from the bathroom. So, I went to check and sure enough, the student had put a fistful of shells in the toilet, as well  As a result, the students responsible for the toilet today were not permitted to walk freely in the classroom for the remainder of work period, I brought them works they requested to the table. Then they worked on picking up the egg shells that were on the floor. The egg shell work is being removed from the classroom (hopefully after this testing phase is over we can add it back, because the ultimate goal is to make chalk with the egg shells). In addition, tomorrow the rocks from the aquarium will be dry and the students that were dumping the egg shells in the aquarium will spend tomorrow removing the shells from the rocks so we can put the rocks back in the aquarium. Another new rule will be that they may not close the bathroom door for privacy. They had been trustworthy up to this point in the bathroom, but with the bathroom experiments today we’ll put another layer of security on this. This is a great teachable moment. Our rules exist for a reason (to keep the fish safe, to not break the toilet) and to break those rules have consequences that aren’t fun. Breathe...

My Monthly Art Gallery

Haddon Sundblom, "Fireside Santa", 1930s

One of the differences between Montessori and traditional preschool is how we decorate the classroom. We do not use posters, alphabets, etc. The beauty and simplicity of the classroom is one of our hallmarks. It allows the focus to stay on the materials and the children.

For my classroom, I also try make the decor in the classroom meaningful, a reflection of what the children are seeing in the world around them, as well as a way to introduce art and famous artists. In my Montessori training I remember a story about a child looking at a famous painting with Dr. Montessori. Dr. Montessori was looking at it as most adults do, but the child saw minute, seemingly insignificant, details (a mouse in the corner) because they looked at it with different eyes.

Admittedly, this is a new area for me, as I am not well versed in the area of art and art appreciation. So, I am constantly learning. And I look forward to being able to offer my students other art outside of paintings. But I am starting where I know a little (December was my first month of trying this art gallery).

December Art Gallery

I am starting with the painting above, as it was the students' favorite in the gallery this month. Really, the only one that they took notice of. This is the Coca Cola Santa, created in the 1930s that everyone has adopted as the look of Santa (red coat and hat, rosy cheeks, etc). Sundblom said he based the look on the 1823 poem "A Visit From Saint Nicholas" (what we now call "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"), and used his neighbor, a postal worker, as the model. The children definitely noticed his shoes were off and all of their questions had to do with that.

"The Christmas Tree", Alexei Mikhailovich, 1910

"Santa with Elves", Norman Rockwell, 1922

"Christmas in the Brothel", Edvard Munch, 1903-4 

"Christmas Night (The Blessing of the Oxen)", Paul Gauguin, 1902-3

"Adoration of the Shepherds", Caravaggio, 1609

"The Adoration of the Magi", Leonardo da Vinci, 1481

"The Mystical Nativity", Sandro Botticelli, 1500

January Art Gallery

Interestingly, many of the pieces in January have similar names and are from a similar time period. Apparently, the Northern Hemisphere was under a deep freeze at that time, they called it a mini-ice age.

"Winter Landscape", Wassily Kandinsky, 1909

"The Magpie", Claude Monet, 1868-9

"Landscape in the Snow", Vincent Van Gogh, 1888

"Drum Bridge and Setting Sun Hill at Meguro", Utagawa or Ando Hiroshige, 1857

"Snowy Landscape", Pierre Auguste Renoir, 1875

"Hunters in the Snow", Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565

"Winter", Caspar David Friedrich, 1811

"Winter Landscape", Grandma Moses, 1940s

Kintsugi, Wait! You Let Toddlers Use Glass!?

Yes. We use glass and ceramic in a toddler, even in an infant, community. And there are several reasons, the aesthetics, the real material (glass and ceramic are closer to a natural state), and it is breakable. What? Breakable materials in a community of young children? Isn't that unsafe? Honestly, it depends on your definition of unsafe. They could break a material and get cut on it. This is true. However, they are being closely supervised, and any cut would, worst case scenario, require stitches. On the other hand, to not learn how to carefully handle items causes long term unsafe habits. Adults seem to think that at some point children will just be mature and careful enough to use breakables. The reality is, and this is born out in the research, children just do not learn how to properly handle these materials. Therefore their ability to handle these items is severely stunted, leading to more dangerous injuries because adults assume competence based on age and provide less supervision.

We had one of those breaks yesterday in class. A child aged 2 year and 10 months dropped a glass tray 

and it broke. 

We swept the glass, with a broom then a vacuum, and made sure that everyone was wearing their hard soled slippers. We saw that there were three large pieces that were potentially repairable. So, I saw an opportunity for two lessons. One in repairing a broken item, rather than simply throwing it away. The second was something I learned on social media, a technique used in Japan to repair broken ceramics called Kintsugi. where the break is repaired with gold and becomes part of the life story of the item. While our classroom budget does not allow for the purchase of gold, it does allow for the purchase of gold acrylic paint and a small tube of super glue. We first painted the broken edges with the gold paint, then I applied super glue and held the pieces together. It seemed to work! On Monday we will return this to its place on the shelf, with an addition to its life story.

For more information on Kintsugi: https://mymodernmet.com/kintsugi-kintsukuroi/

A New Adventure/ My December Classroom

Happy New Year!

Something popped into my life at the end of November that fit in easily, and has been thoroughly fulfilling. A local Montessori school had their toddler lead guide leave with a family emergency, and they needed a fill in. They were able to accommodate my son's school schedule, and his school was able to allow him to stay for lunch so that I could be there for the children's entire work cycle. I began at the beginning of December, and made many changes to the environment, and the students adapted beautifully. A month in and new habits are being nicely engrained: spills are regularly being cleaned up, they get their placements out before snack, put their dishes in the bin after snack, and switch to slippers when they arrive.

Here's a look into our December classroom:

As you enter the classroom to your left you will find a shoe shelf and chair to sit in while putting on and taking off shoes and slippers. On the shelf is a shoe horn for those difficult shoes. Next to that is the care of the the environment shelf and the sensory table. At the sensory table for December we were washing a baby.

Left-to-right on the top shelf (too high for student's to reach), is a candle that spins with the heat of the flame, facing towards the parent observation window is three resources for families to check out: "The Joyful Child" by Susan Stephenson, the NAMTA DVD "What is the Montessori Toddler Community?", and "How to Raise an Amazing Child" by Tim Seldin, and and LED candle.

On the care of the environment shelf is (left-to-right):

Top: "I Can Help" book, plant, watering can
Middle: small broom and dustpan, duster, table washing work
Bottom: flower arranging, hammering tees

Next while walking to the left is a ball tracker. This work has four balls: red, blue, yellow, and green. I took the photo while a student was chasing down the errant three balls :-).

Then we will come to the wagon with jugs to place in and pull around. NOTE: I use thick juice jugs rather than milk jugs. They split less easily when dropped.

Next we come to dropping bells into a jug. The younger members of our community can use a palmar grasp, the older members can use the string on the bell ornaments to drop with a thumb-forefinger grasp.

Next we come to drawing on the window with a window crayon and then washing the crayon off of the window. In the caddy is a squeegee, a spray bottle, and a microfiber cloth.

When we turn we come to our art easel. We are currently using a paint brush and long green construction paper (12 x 18) with red paint to make wrapping paper. I only put about half an inch of paint in the cup each morning and refill as necessary during the work cycle. After the work cycle I clean the cup out. To hang the paper I attached a magnet strip to the easel and I use washers. This is easier than clips for the toddlers.

The other side of the art easel is a chalk work. Red and green chalk and a sprayer and sponge to clean (the cleaning is more popular than the drawing!). You can also see our Rainbow Rocker behind the easel.

Beside our window washing is our art and music shelf (left-to-right):

Top: drying rack, Christmas cactus
Middle: dough work, holiday card making (see below for close-ups of both)
Bottom: Jingle Bells book and bells, drum with drumsticks

Both of these art works are open ended. While I make have a goal in my mind, I do not create a model for the children to follow. I also do not tell them it is a gift for their family. I let them create, then I saved it if they wanted to. Not all students made one and it is not required of them.

A wreath ornament from my youngest (19 months old), and my oldest (will be three at the beginning of March). The dough used is Model Magic.

 

Wrapped and finished gifts with holiday cards attached.

Continuing on around the classroom, this is our Peace/Self-Reflection Corner (left-to-right):

Top: meditation jar, desktop fountain (which has been great for learning self-control and how to watch something with hands behind back and not touch), and lavender filled stuffed frog

Bottom: "Guess How Much I Love You" book and stuffed animal

Next stop the beloved fish tank. Another classroom addition that has been great for teaching self-control and care of living things. Five 25 cent feeder goldfish are in here, saved from being another animal's next meal!

On the science shelf is (left-to-right):

Top: fish feeding, "Let's Have a Pet" book, Golden Pothos cutting, fish book and a stuffed fish for naming parts of the fish
Middle: "Wet Pet, Dry Pet, Your Pet, My Pet" book, fish in water, gluing parts of fish
Bottom: rock exploration (geology), fizzy water (chemistry), Juniper branch (berries removed and placed in a salt shaker for smelling) and pine cones (life science)

 

Next we come to our calendar. The ornaments we are adding to our tree mimic the bead bars in the casa classrooms. This is an indirect lesson, we are only counting number of days in the month, not each line. We do not have a circle or calendar time, this is a first come first served work and members can also take it apart and reapply as much as they would like.

On the language and math shelf is (left-to-right)

Top: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" book and stuffed animal (it was being loved when the photo was taken), plant, "Twas the Night Before Christmas" book

Middle: matching photos and objects, Frosty the Snowman (see below for details)
Bottom: ornament for calendar, goldfish matching and sorting (using colored Pepperidge Farm goldfish crackers), matching photos and shapes

matching photos and objects

Frosty the Snowman

matching photos and shapes

Continuing on, is our cooking station. Depending on what is on the menu, we will use a crockpot, fifth burner,or toaster oven. This month we made wassail and hot chocolate in the crockpot.

Our dishwashing stand and laundry hamper below.

Our broom, sweeping guide, and mop for caring for our community. These are in almost constant use!

On the care of the self shelf is (left-to-right):

Top: box with bangles, tissue box, plant
Middle: velcro frame, large button frame
Bottom: brushing teeth, dressing a baby (see below)

brushing teeth

dressing baby

On the care of the environment food prep shelf is (left-to-right):

Top: compost crock, placemats, napkins and silverware
Middle: pouring water, snack item 1
Bottom: snack item 2, making a pomander, bean pouring

Our snack changes daily and we put out the necessary prep and serving materials.

Plates and glasses for snack.

On the sensorimotor shelf is (left-to-right):

Top: rainbow stacker, table work mats, geometric grading puzzle
Middle: geometric lock boxes, disk on horizontal dowel, disk through slot
Bottom: triangle stacker, bead stringing, screw block

Floor work rugs are next to the shelf.

Tree for decorating. Underneath is a recycling bin.

And finally our cubby area.

Bathroom waiting and changing area, and of course, bathroom reading material!

Bathroom cubbies for changing clothes.