Earlier this month we discovered a bird nest in our Critter Cabin; we were excited to show the children and teach them about the bird who lived there. The bird, we learned, is a Phoebe who had nested last spring and had three babies. One morning during our outdoor recess, a child came up the stairs and asked to be picked up to check on the nest. They were so excited and exclaimed “There’s a Mama bird in there!” We were able to take a picture of the nest and saw that there wer

“Hey, I see a beetle!” exclaimed an enthusiastic child as she gazed through her handmade nature viewer. A week prior, the children carefully painted recycled paper towel rolls. Once their nature viewers were dry and ready to use, we hit the forest on a beautiful day. The children were invited to look for signs of spring. Some children saw birds, insects, flower buds, etc. “I see mushrooms,” one child noticed fungus growing on the bark of a tree. “Look, a pink rock,” another c

Every Thursday at second circle, the children participate in a literacy circle with Luda. This includes shared reading, introduction to concepts of print and beginning strategies for reading. The first time a Big Book is introduced, the children have a picture walk of the story. They talk about what they see in the picture on each page and what the story might be about. They try to figure out what will happen on the next page; some of the children even try to predict what

Every Thursday we end our morning by practicing fine motor skills through hand strengthening activities and letter formation practice. A recent activity to build hand strength caused a lot of delightful laughter in the classroom: working with clay! Using clay, which is harder to manipulate than Play-Do, the children focused on making different shapes like spirals, “snakes”, and three dimensional sculptures. “Look how long my snake is!” cried one child as she furiously rolled

As teachers in the Montessori classroom, we always look forward to the look on a child’s face when they are presented a new work. During our morning circle time in the Seedlings room, the children were recently shown a new work- basting. This work can be found in practical life and includes a small plastic basket with two glass vessels, a large, whole hand grip baster, and a sponge to clean up spills. Miss Stephanie set up her presentation table and carefully carried the work

Our library is a common place to find children during work time in the Preschool classroom. The shelves are frequently rotated with various books based on current areas of interest, seasonal themes and classics. Many of the children find comfort in exploring books independently or quietly with friends. Children are often observed choosing the same book on several occasions and have been overheard inventing their own dialogue to go with the illustrations. By exploring picture

Some of the quintessential Montessori works in the classroom are the puzzle cubes. They are found in the Sensorial area and vary in difficulty and concept. The final puzzle cube appeared on the shelf and the children are ready for the new challenge. This cube involves three levels of colored blocks that vary in height. The children must complete each layer before moving to the next one. One of the first children to attempt the puzzle cube was a second year friend who had

On a sunny but cool day, the Kindergarten class enjoyed a day outdoors celebrating Earth Day. The children ran from activity to activity, exhilarated from the fun of a morning of “school outdoors”. Some kids busied themselves making pine cone bird feeders, while others planted cat grass seeds or wrote and drew in their nature journals. The morning culminated in a ceremonious moment in the nature courtyard where we hung up the birdfeeders for our feathered friends to feast upo