One, Two Buckle My Shoe!

Practical Life: Shoe Buckling
I spied this pair of shiny black buckle shoes while at the local Goodwill Store. For $1.99 I found our classroom's most popular practical life work! This one pair of shoes has been on several pairs of toddler feet since being introduced on Monday.
I'm going back there soon to try and find some Velcro sneakers, most of my students wear them, and I think these would be equally popular as an activity.
Happy Buckling!
Peace,
MM

Dancing with the Dolly....

When I was a little girl, my mother used to pick me up and spin me round the kitchen floor. We would dance and she would sing,
"Dancing with the Dolly with the hole in her stocking, knees keep a rocking, hole in her stocking, dancing with the dolly with the hole in her stocking, knees keep a rocking oh my!"
Dancing is one of my favorite things to do. Dancing with my boys, dancing with my husband, dancing with my girl friends...
Lately we have been doing allot of dancing with our toddlers at Cornerspring. Here's a picture of Little One with a rainbow ring to twirl. We were dancing to Frank Letto. What are YOUR favorite children's CDs? Please share!

Some of my favorites are:
Frank Letto
Raffi
Sweet Honey In the Rock
Buckwheat Zydeco

Dance like no one is watching!
MM

Peace and Quiet

This is a picture of our classroom's Peace Corner. The basket on the right holds several little cloth dolls to be used for play acting, conflict resolution between our almost 3 year olds, and simply to hold for comfort. The star fish is obviously not a soft texture but is beautiful and an exotic item to a toddler's eyes. In the corner are a set of my child's affirmation cards and a post card that has an image of hands of various sizes working together to carefully hold seeds. There is also a kaleidoscope and (not pictured) a view finder with a disk of baby animals. (I think it was being washed at the time of this photo!) Little One spent some time in the Peace Corner yesterday, making the little dolls talk to one another in the mirror. He moved too quickly for me to get a photo of him!
Peace to you~
MM

Bye Mom, It's Off to School I Go

Well here he is, Little One, not so little anymore, off to "MY school". Everything is "MY" this week. He's happy and aside from some occasional transition issues, he's lasting until just about lunch time before he starts asking for Middle Man (his favorite person in all the world) his big brother. Lunch is tricky, but I think it will get easier next week when other children will stay too. Tomorrow is the last day of Phase-In.
Montessori Papa is hanging in, his first week teaching 6 to 12 year old children in a Montessori classroom. Middle Man is one of his students. This should be an interesting year for our family. Little one with me, Middle Man with Papa, Bigger Than Me a sophmore in high school! Yesterday was his birthday, he is now 16!!!
Where does the time go? Bigger Than Me was once upon a time, Little One and it seems only Middle Man's age for a moment! Tonight I signed his permission forms for Drivers Ed!!!!!
Next week I'll post about the classroom works. Some of you have been emailing me for details. The MOST popular activities in the toddler room right now are:




Mellisa and Doug's wooden veggie cutting
the one to ten teddy bears
the pink tower
and
the five little ducks language book basket

I'll share more soon.
As always,
Thanks for reading!
PEACE
Jennifer

On the Same Page

We're off to a great start. My assistant Mallory and I are in sync. I couldn't be happier. She's sweet and smart and obviously wants to learn more about the why and how come of the Montessori way.
And I love it when she calls Little One, "Ollie", like they've always been chums. He adores her and I couldn't be happier...did I already say that?

Here's hoping you and your co-teacher/assistant or spouse, are getting off on the right foot and enjoying one another as you begin this school year together.
There are so many joys in this work; sharing them with someone who is looking in the same direction as you is such a helpful added piece that makes the bumps in the road easier.

Phase in is a wonderful thing. With fewer kids it is an opportunity to get to know each one of them (and their parents) and to have the afternoon for conversations with your co-teachers. A time to share observations and connections made.
PS:
Little One has successfully napped at school these past few days! Say a prayer he will continue to when other small people are trying to do the same thing.
How is school going for YOU?
In PEACE,
Montessori Mama

And so, I keep at it...

Here is a sketch, an idea for an illustration for my book.
My publisher awaits more, NOW. And I have fallen behind. I prefer to work in paper, cutting and gluing and giving shape and depth to a figure rather than be dependent on my line drawings. The problem is that this book is to be printed on lavender paper and requires simple line drawings. I'm out of my comfort zone. But, I so want to be the illustrator of my own book! I mean how cool would that be?! I'm in need of constructive criticism, I know I have not shared the book with you all but from these few sketches I wonder if you could give me feedback. Am I on the right track? Do you want to see more?
Any comments are welcome.
Thank you
~Jennifer

Happy Birthday Maria!

Today is the anniversary of Maria Montessori's birth. Written in Italian on a commemorative tablet at the Montessori family grave in Rome are these words:
Maria Montessori
1870 - 1952
Famous scientist and pedagogue
who dedicated her entire life to the
spiritual renewal and to the progress
of humanity through the child.
She rests in a Catholic cemetery
Noordwijk (Holland) far away from the
country she had so profoundly loved, far
from her loved ones buried here. This she
decided, to give testimony to the universality of her work, which made her a citizen of the world.

Universally she is renowned as a physician who became an educational innovator ~a woman who removed rigid benches from classrooms and replaced them with small movable tables and chairs. In this comfortable environment, filled with ingenious materials of her own design, she invited children, ages three through six, to select work according to their own interests, thus taking advantage of their individual sensitive periods for learning. The teacher who had formally been seen as the source of all knowledge and discipline in the classroom, became a gentle guide who prepared the environment, intensely observed each child, demonstrated the materials that the children had individually chosen and encouraged the children in self discipline.
This is how the world knows Montessori, but how many know that behind all her educational efforts was her continuous desired to reform humanity ~ to uncover the true nature of the child ~ in order, ultimately, to bring peace and harmony to the world?
~from Aline D Wolf's Nurturing the Spirit

"The child is endowed with unknown powers, which can guide us to a radiant future. If what we really want is a new world, then education must take as its aim the development of these hidden possibilities." ~ Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

In PEACE,
Montessori Mama
PS I drew this picture long ago but have been reluctant to share it because I dislike the pearls. Oh well, it's one of those things I wish I could do over but time has never allowed me. So enjoy the sentiment & ignore the pearls.

New Found Music!

I just came across the music of Renee and Jeremy and needed to share this song with all of you!
You're a Miracle a song by Renee & Jeremy

are you the sun
are you the moon
are you a watermelon bug in june

are you a frog
are you a bee
are you the kitty kat up in the tree

everything is possible
cause you're a miracle
everything is possible
when you're around
cause you're a miracle, uh huh
a little a miracle, oh yeah
cause you're a miracle, uh huh
a little miracle, oh yeah

are you a fish
are you a fly
are you a hummingbird buzzin on by

are you the beach
are you the sand
are you the wave that washes up upon the land

everything is possible
cause you're a miracle
everything is possible
when you're around
cause you're a miracle, uh huh
a little a miracle, oh yeah
cause you're a miracle, uh huh
a little miracle, oh yeah

do do do's

are you a seed
are you a tree
you can be anything you want to be

cause you know it's possible
cause you're a miracle
everything is possible
when you're around
cause you're a miracle, uh huh
a little a miracle, oh yeah
cause you're a miracle, uh huh
a little miracle, oh yeah
cause you're a miracle, uh huh
a little a miracle, oh yeah
cause you're a miracle, uh huh
a little miracle, oh yeah

do do do's

Isn't that lovely? I'm going to teach it to my toddler class.
Last night was our parent night at the new location. Montessori Papa did a wonderful job, I was very proud. Everyone did a wonderful job! . It was exciting and encouraging to know that so many families are choosing this educational path for their children.
It's going to be a truly amazing year!
In PEACE,
Montessori Mama

Everything is a Process

It's a process, preparing the environment. And I look forward to it being completed!
Have mentioned my new assistant? I LOVE her! She's young and interested in learning MORE, MORE! I love her energy and enthusiasm for this new position she's taken on.
Tonight is our parent orientation night! I'm feeling confident about the room being pulled together before parents arrive, but I am worried I'll forget to say something important.

I am really enjoying this new space! There is a nice amount of sunlight coming in, and after working in several different small rooms, having one space is such a treat! When time allows, I'll post more pictures and descriptions of the works in the classroom. Right now it's a busy time and my focus has been on preparing the environment.
I hope all of you are enjoying building your 'nest' also! Weather it is your classroom or your living room, the children you care for will welcome and appreciate the space your prepare with their needs in mind.
More to come...
In PEACE,
Montessori Mama

Lovin' this Book

Yesterday I participated in a workshop for early childhood educators and was given this beautiful book. [Thank you Born to Read!] Interestingly I was going to buy this book for my classroom.
If you haven't read it I highly recommend it. For the illustrations alone! It's so bright and beautiful. At the workshop we grouped together and came up with ideas about how to use this book children 3 to 6 years old.
Here are some of the ideas we came up with:

Remaking the title page (or any other beautiful image in this book!) as a bulletin board or display in classroom. Written on the petals of the flowers, a quote from each child in the class, "If Peace is..."

The leader of the day chooses one page to share and tells why they picked that particular page.

On the very last page of the book it says that this book was inspired by the students of a particular school. Read this page and ask your students if they would like to create their own peace book.

Also while there I met a lovely woman named Anne who turned me on to The Hunger Site PLEASE visit this site and make a contribution to help our world's children.

PEACE to all of you and your beautiful children,
Montessori Mama