One morning recently at circle we let the children know that there was a new work we were excited to share with them. This work was located in the Practical Life area and made of brightly colored felt and plastic pieces. All of the children tend to notice new works and are curious about any new activity. Kate presented this work at circle carefully stretching felt flower shapes onto buttons. Once finished, Kate quietly tiptoed behind Klara and tapped her on the shoulder. “

“Aaa…aaa…apple” a child enthusiastically volunteered to match a toy apple to the letter “a” during a literacy presentation. The children joyfully raised their hands to participate in matching a basket of objects to the correct initial letter sound. Montessori education focuses on the letter sound first before the letter name in preparation for reading. Since the start of the school year, we have focused on a new letter sound each week. Each letter is first introduced by invit

The children gathered around a friend at the Practical Life table. A new work had been presented: pouring with a small, ceramic teapot and carrying the teacup. There were whispers in the room of a special event for the moms of the Pre-Primary class called Mother’s Day Tea. There was only water in the little teapot and cup, but they eagerly prepared for the real day. A girl organizes the teacup on the saucer, ensuring it is directly in the center. She holds the teapot hand

Spring has finally come to its senses and decided to stick around for a while here on the coast of Maine. The children have shed layers of snowsuits, hats and mittens, and heavy coats and now run about the playground joyously unencumbered. This time of year is poignant for many reasons: teachers reflect on another school year gone by in a blur, thinking of how much and how quickly the children have grown while in their care. Children begin to ponder the idea of moving to new,

Spring is here on the Seedlings newly renovated playground and we are feeling so excited to be back outside on a regular basis. We have been exploring all the new equipment and discovering ways to work with each other. All of the various areas have provided a context for dramatic play. The house is a space where friends can pretend to share food and go to sleep. In the boat we pretend to go fishing, travel to islands and catch lobsters. Our friends have also been taking care

The children have been learning about the instruments of the orchestra at their weekly music circles. At one music circle, they played percussion instruments to represent different characters in the story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. They had drums, triangles, shakers, tambourines, music boxes, bells and xylophones. The loudest instruments, such as the drums, were the papa bear. The softest instruments, such as the triangle, were the baby bear. The instruments of

“Raise a quiet hand if you remember which country we are studying right now,” a teacher prompted the children at morning circle. One child proudly raised his hand and shared, “Asia!” “That’s right,” the teacher replied, “Asia is the continent we are studying and Russia is the country.” She reviewed where Asia and Russia are on our globe. “Today we are going to talk about architecture in Russia. Architecture is a form of art like painting or sculpture. It is the planning, desi

This year’s Earth Day celebration was filled with several fun activities for the children to enjoy. We spent the last few weeks building up to our Earth Day celebration by talking about ways to care for our planet during weekly peace circles. The children are very invested in their role as caretakers, often finding bits of trash on the playground and courtyard to throw away. Nature journals were created by the children to take home as a way to continue their exploration and a