Archives for December 2016

MOVE with your children this holiday and for 2017!

December 29, 2016 By Jessica Cooper Leave a Comment

It’s the holidays!

Here in North America, children are out of school and perhaps you are taking a few days off from either work or your normal routine. Some of us may take a week off for a trip with family or stay at home (a “homecation”) to take in some of the local fare or complete some of those bigger errands on our to-do list before 2016 runs out . Whatever you may be doing for the holidays, plan on some major chunks of time to experience the outdoors with your family. Most importantly MOVE.

Trudy and John Paradise Valley Woodinville

Our Monday’s 5 mile hike through Paradise Valley Conservation Area, Woodinville, WA.

None of us can ignore the benefits of movement. For your classroom, you may have already put together a unit and materials for children to understand healthy living and exercise. But if you are like me, I need reminding to keep me motivated to get out there and celebrate this beautiful creation of ours. Here is a list, compiled by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, of how regular physical activity can improve you and a child’s overall health:

Movement is not…

It can mean many things to different people but movement is not:

Mall hopping
Sitting behind the wheel for a drive in the country
Being a couch potato watching the tube
Even playing board or card games even though these are great for enhancing logic, language and reading skills as they build connectivity pathways in the brain.
Sitting in a cafe writing a blog post (Oops, that’s what I am doing now!)
Can you think of others? Share it with others. Add to the comments below.

Movement is…

There are so many ways to get and stay moving over the holidays. If you live in a cold climate and need to stay indoors, here is list by MommyPoppins.com, a New York City area website for children, parent(s) and families. If you can go out in cold weather, here are some ideas from the Seattle Children’s Hospital website:

Create a nature book: Grab a camera, colored pencils, glue and a notebook and explore nature. Have kids write down observations and draw pictures of plants and animals. Collect twigs, leaves and flowers and glue them in the nature book. See how many plants a child can collect and take lots of pictures to document the places you explore.
Go on a scavenger hunt: Make a list of items – pinecones, rocks, seeds, etc. Take a basket and collect the items on the list. Be sure to cross out each item you find. Add descriptors to the list as well – e.g. something smooth, rough, brown.
Take a night hike: All you need is a flashlight or headlamp, warm clothes and walking shoes. Get the family together and take a night hike around the neighborhood.
Collect rocks: Collect various rocks for rock crafts. All you need is glue, paint and wiggle eyes.
Watch for wildlife: Grab binoculars, a magnifying glass and a pencil and paper and go for a wildlife watch. Have kids draw the animals they discover.
Go on a color hunt: Grab a couple of color swatches and take the family on a “color hunt.” Help kids write down the color and name of each item, and draw a picture of each find.
Take a bike ride: Take a family bike ride around the neighborhood. Make sure the whole family wears helmets!
Go snowboarding or skiing: Hit the slopes! Spend a day mastering the bunny hills. Skiing and snowboarding are great ways to get kids moving. Just make sure you have protective gear and bundle up.

(For more information on these activities, go to the Seattle Children’s Hospital website)

Put it on the calendar. Make it a lifestyle.

For 2017, put exercise as a recurring calendar item for the entire family. It is a great way to be together and it let’s your child know that taking care of one’s physical health is an important part of our education and lifestyle. Let your child get in on the planning by allowing them to decide some of the activities from various choices. If it’s a new activity you may want to start out slow and not over exert yourself or a family member. Keep it enjoyable and repeatable. Make sure the activities are safe and that everyone is healthy enough to participate. Most of all, have fun.

Ready? Set? Move!

John

Montessori Approach to Observation & Progress Reports

December 22, 2016 By Jessica Cooper Leave a Comment

We were recently asked how we report a child’s “academic” progress. Our two-fold answer to that question is that at the primary-age level (3-6), we observe each child holistically rather than focus mainly on their “academic” progress. We observe, take careful notes, and then record them into the child’s file at the end of a class session.

So what exactly do we observe?

Certainly, “academically” we observe what materials that a child is drawn to, introduced to, struggling with, or has mastered. A check off form can be used for each child, which is kept in a teacher’s binder.(You can find various free downloads on the internet.) This is used as a daily guide and later can be utilized as a reference when conducting a parent-teacher conference, but NOT to be handed out to the parent. The form has all the Montessori activities in the classroom listed with a basic Key, such as:

Introduced
Working on
Mastered

Ratings such as “good, fair, and poor” or “1, 2, 3, 4, 5…” is not an acceptable means of evaluating a child’s progress. Remember, we never assign “grades.”

IMPORTANT! This type of reporting is just one element of the “bigger picture.” Looking at the “whole child,” our focus turns more to the following categories:

Behavior and social interaction
Communication and language skills
Work habits
Perceptual and reasoning ability
Motor skills – fine and gross
Environment interaction

These six categories, above, require handwritten observation notes as opposed to a check-off a list. Included within these categories are subcategories, with the following goals in mind for the child:

A joy of learning
Self discipline
Attachment to reality
Self confidence
Enjoyment of quiet
Willingness to listen
Inquisitiveness
Desire to explore
Love of order
Appreciation of nature
Respect for others
Respect for materials
Peace-making skills
Ability to concentrate
Exercise freedom of choice
Show self initiative
Care for the environment
Spirit of cooperation
Ability to work independently
Exercise self care

Again, through careful observation and note taking, this is how we are able to monitor each child’s progress, holistically. On that note, happy observing!

How To Swaddle a Baby

December 13, 2016 By Jessica Cooper Leave a Comment

Here’s another Practical Life activity for the classroom. With the holidays upon us, many will read to your children the Christmas story of Jesus’ birth, where you will come across the passage that says: “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” The Gospel of Luke 2.7.

To swaddle a baby is a technique that mimics the coziness of the womb. It can keep your baby warm and comfortable, as well as help him or her sleep better and longer. Back in 2010, we posted this classroom activity and thought you might enjoy it!

For this activity, choosing a life-like and life-sized doll is important when placing it on your Practical Life shelf. Although the demonstration sheet, below, states the targeted age level as 6-9, one could confidently place this in the primary-age classroom as well.

To help you create your step-by-step visual, go here to Mayo Clinic’s slide show: How To Swaddle A Baby

How to diaper a baby…with a cloth diaper (preferred) and with disposable diaper:

Below, is the Demonstration Sheet by Kaori Fujita of Spring Valley Montessori School
Given at The PNMA Spring Sharing Fair, Spring 2010

Taking Care of a Baby

Curriculum Area: Practical Life
Age Group: 6-9 years
Prerequisites: Dressing Frames and Cloth Folding
Direct Aim: Learning how to care for a baby

Materials:

basket
infant-size doll
disposable diaper (cloth preferred)
cloth diaper
pins
diaper cover
receiving blanket
infant-size clothes
step-by-step picture books:

Book 1 – How to Swaddle a Baby
Book 2 – How to Diaper a Baby with a Disposable Diaper
Book 3 – How to Diaper a Baby with a Cloth Diaper

Presentation:

Invite a student to the work.
Show and name what is in the basket to him/her.
Demonstrate the lesson (one book at a time, in the order of the book number).
S/he may repeat the lesson by referring to the book as a guide.

Variations/Extensions: Carrying a baby in a sling, dissecting a disposable diaper (absorbent material experiment), baby anatomy

Functions of Learning – How To Raise Brilliant Children

December 12, 2016 By Jessica Cooper Leave a Comment

Here is a learning page which is very Montessori in it’s approach. Plus, it offers some keen insights into the functions of learning and why your child’s 21st century report card should contain 6 C’s. Below, click on the image for the full article over at KQED, an affiliate of NPR and PBS.

(Click image for full article):

The 6 C’s are functions of learning most of us have already figured out and we probably use them on a regular basis. Where this article may accelerate our own thinking is how one synthesizes functions like collaboration and communication (oops! I just gave away two of the six) to help a child develop a mindset of mastery for a subject or idea? It also offers an important reminder that critical thinking skills are often explored and developed by a child when the adult offers reflective listening. Simple enough but often overlooked.

This article offers a great deal of information on how we can help the child have those “Aha!” moments while taking them further and deeper into their own discoveries. It also helped me as an adult remember that in an age of information, wisdom is the outcome I seek for myself and the child.

Here’s a challenge for you to share in our comments section:

Offer one of the 6 C’s of a child’s 21st century postcard and explain how you recently used it at home or in the classroom?
Which of the 4 levels of development have you recently seen unfold in a child’s life?