Bruno Toddler Classroom Blog

The start of a new month brought lots of outside time to the toddlers! Both classes picked flowers during nature walks, and Classroom Two blew lots of dandelion flowers. One afternoon, the children helped Ms. Britt build garden beds for the new vegetable garden. The garden will be a wonderful way to learn where food comes from, how to care for the earth, and lots of patience!

This week, Classroom One welcomed Whitt, Griffin and Ellie Mae to the class! The children started learning about fruits and vegetables and enjoyed matching plastic vegetables to the bulletin board. Some of the job highlights were the magnetic dinosaurs, tonging transfer, fruits and vegetables shape sorters, and kinetic sand dino sensory tub. They also had fun exploring the new Pikler triangle climbing arch.

Meanwhile, Classroom Two began investigating safari animals. Their favorite jobs included pouring water, opening and closing containers, sorting wooden shapes, matching safari animals to pictures and working with the wooden car-hauler trailer. Another highlight of the week was celebrating Micah’s birthday with his parents!

March’s weather can be quite unpredictable, often starting out harsh and stormy (like a lion) but gradually transitioning to milder and calmer conditions (like a lamb) as the month progresses. This past week, the children experienced some cold days, but we ended the week with beautiful, gentle, and pleasant weather. We have observed and discussed this transition, and the children are beginning to understand different types of weather conditions and how to dress appropriately for them.

In the toddler classrooms, we started the week by dressing in green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The children enjoyed special activities and crafts in honor of the holiday.

Additionally, this week, the Alabama 4-H Science School visited our campus. They did a presentation on raptors, and the toddlers were delighted to see the birds up close.

Classroom One Highlights: Interlocking fish tiles, rainbow stacking, shamrock put activity, ocean animal and picture matching, magnetic building shapes, “Ring Around the Roses” outside with Ms. Kathy and Ms. Britt, sea animal sponge painting, and tong transferring activities.

Classroom Two Highlights: Magnetic fishing activities, spreading sun butter on rice cakes and adding raisins on top, taking turns rolling a ball to each other, celebrating Mickey’s 2nd birthday, learning the song “Hurry, Hurry, Drive the Firetruck,” and making bubbles by mixing water with dish soap and whisking.

Our program provides carefully designed experiences that cultivate each child’s sense of independence, self-respect, love of peace, and passion for self-chosen work. As Maria Montessori said, “The greatest gift we can give our children is the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.”

This week held a lot of fun and unique experiences for the toddlers! Both classes enjoyed a nature walk by the pond, and Classroom One saw two geese fly overhead and splash in the pond! Dr. Maria Montessori once wrote, “There must be provision for the child to have contact with nature; to understand and appreciate the order, the harmony and the beauty in nature.” During library time, Mr. Brendan read a counting book, and the children helped count the objects. Another highlight was watching the mini excavator dig right outside the classroom window. The children were so excited to see the machine in action! One afternoon, parents were invited to look at the insect display, and the toddlers loved pointing out their work!

In Classroom One, the toddlers learned two new songs, which quickly became their favorites: “Hop Little Bunnies and “Hurry Hurry Drive the Firetruck.” They also enjoyed matching an ocean animal from a job to the same animal on the bulletin board. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day approaching, Ms. Britt painted the toddlers’ feet to create a footprint craft. There were a lot of smiles and giggles that morning!

Classroom Two also started a St. Patrick’s Day craft; the toddlers painted shamrocks! A new job that involved putting sticks into a shaker was introduced and became a crowd favorite. The toddlers still enjoy doing puzzles, especially the bug puzzle with magnets attached to the pieces. On Thursday, one child noticed the garbage truck driving by, and a crowd quickly formed to watch the truck empty the dumpster. They are so observant!

March is a month of change as winter fades and spring approaches. The days become longer, and we can feel the arrival of spring on the horizon. While winter has its beauty, after months of chilly weather, we eagerly anticipate the moment when the world comes out of hibernation, allowing us to enjoy the wonders of the season of rebirth—warmth, sunshine, and blooming flowers!

Much growth occurs in nature throughout March, and we are also witnessing this growth within the toddler classrooms. The children’s vocabulary skills are expanding rapidly as they learn new words! As Maria Montessori said, “A child can only acquire the words he hears spoken around him. This is not teaching but absorption. Children have absorbent minds; they effortlessly take in knowledge from their environment.”

In Classroom One, the learning environment has been transformed into an Ocean theme. The students are enjoying new books, puzzles, and materials related to sea animals. Some favorites are the tactile sand exploration job, magnetic fishing job, velcro fishing job, sea animal matching job, and the interactive ocean theme bulliten board.

This week in Classroom Two, some highlights included the animal tile insert activity, a magnetic bug puzzle, dancing with scarves, dishwashing, and spraying and wiping the tables after lunch. The children also observed the new bulletin board where they colored their names, pointed out personal photos, and taped bugs. Melissa conducted an impromptu lesson on hair braiding, and the kids loved looking at themselves in the mirror!

We hope you enjoy the following photos that capture the growth within our toddler classrooms. The children are blossoming with new developments!

We had a wonderful Montessori week, which started out with our own peace ceremony. We sang “March for Peace” and talked about what makes us feel peaceful. On Wednesday, grandparents visited to see the toddlers’ insect display and share a special treat with their grandchild. There were many hugs and smiles throughout the morning! We had more visitors on Thursday: firemen! Two firemen showed the toddler and primary students their firetruck and discussed fire safety. The children were so excited to see the lights on the truck and walk around it! Another big highlight of the week was spending time on the playground in the sunshine. The children enjoy going down the slides and simply running back and forth!

This week, Classroom One made butterflies with Ms. Riley to hang on the insect display. The popular jobs included gluing colored shapes on paper, reading in the little library, the “put” job (placing a red chip in the piggy bank), a language matching job (matching several words like “alligator” and “balloon” to Aa and Bb cards), and the tractor job. They had a lesson on the parts of an insect and still enjoyed naming the insects on the bulletin board. Also, Jones turned 3 years old this week, and his family came to help celebrate!

Meanwhile, Classroom Two had a lesson on peeling oranges, and the dinosaur washing job returned. Other favorite jobs were water transferring, wooden cylinder, dinosaur puzzle, and pizza making. A few of the toddlers shared pieces of the pizza with Ms. Krysten, Ms. Melissa and even some classmates! One morning, we used the sand tables, and they enjoyed burying and finding objects, like shells and sand molds.

“Peace is what every human being is craving for, and it can be brought about by humanity through the child.”

~ Dr. Maria Montessori

“Love fills the child’s consciousness and affects his self-realization. When young children feel love from parents and caregivers and witness love between others that are close to them, they develop kindness, respect, and dignity.” -Dr. Maria Montessori

February is a great opportunity to focus on friendship, kindness, and love. In our toddler classrooms, we intentionally explore these themes, creating an environment that allows children to engage with feelings and practice kindness. Our teachers consistently model positive behavior by using phrases like “gentle hands”, “please,” and “thank you,” and checking in with classmates by asking, “Are you okay?”

This month, we have utilized engaging books and materials about feelings and emotions to facilitate learning. The children actively participate by looking at pictures of people showing various facial expressions, such as “angry,” “scared,” “glad,” and “sad.” These discussions help them understand that experiencing various emotions is entirely natural. 

Classroom One had a fun-filled week with gross motor opportunities such as dancing with scarves, running around the gym, lining up and pushing the blue scooters, and practicing dribbling a basketball. Within the classroom, the children enjoyed creating insect crafts for our Insect project, which will be highlighted next week. Classroom One began and ended their week by celebrating birthdays! Camden turned 3 on Valentine’s Day, and Ian turned two on Thursday, February 20th.

Classroom Two highlights from this week are: insect crafts, a water transfer job, a mystery box of Blue items, a spinning gear job, and dancing to “Hop Little Bunnies .” Refilling the bird feeder and bird watching has also been a favorite.

Looking ahead, our teachers will continue to prioritize creating meaningful experiences that foster a genuine love for learning through a diverse array of activities, promoting both emotional and intellectual development.

The toddlers had a wonderful week learning and getting ready for Valentine’s Day! Both classes incorporated Valentine-themed items into their jobs. They decorated bags for the Valentine exchange and finished painting their wooden heart ornaments. A big thanks to the parent volunteers that help the children make these fun crafts! After the Valentine exchange on Friday, the classes came together to enjoy a special parfait snack!

In Classroom One, Ms. Britt decorated the bulletin board to reflect the insect theme, and the children enjoyed naming the insects and pointing out their name and picture. They heard a story about an egg boy and was introduced to the emotion egg job. Other favorite jobs included the Geo board, spooning hearts, and insect tong transfer. The toddlers also learned about what it means to be kind.

Earlier this week, Classroom Two had a great time dancing on the outdoor classroom stage and learning how to spread sunflower butter on graham crackers. Spooning wooden balls into cups and transferring hearts with tongs were two of the toddlers’ favorite jobs. They also decorated bags and colored hearts for their peers who were absent on Valentine’s Day.

The toddler classrooms have been full of activity this week! We started the week with the Trike-a-thon that helped to raise funds for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. The toddlers and primary school students raised over $3,746 to help children fight childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. What a great way for our students to learn empathy for others and learn to ride their riding toys safely!

Classroom One enjoys exploring their new learning environment filled with bugs and insects. Many new job materials fill their classroom: insect tong transfer, insect object-to-object matching, bug sensorial rice bowl, insect picture-to-picture matching, and arranging the spiders from biggest to smallest. Many insect books and craft activities also fill their classroom workday!

Some highlights from Classroom Two are doing the snowman transfer job, reading books, Valentine’s Day crafts, and filling the bird feeder for birdwatching. They’ve already seen several birds, including a red cardinal!

Both classrooms continue to enjoy practical life jobs such as sweeping, mopping, crumbing, flower arranging, and taking care of their dishes and trash. The teachers are delighted when they see the students engaged in their work and observe them concentrating on the task at hand. 

In The Discovery of the Child, Maria Montessori states, “At some given moment, it happens that the child becomes deeply interested in a piece of work; we see it in the expression on his face, his intense concentration, the devotion to the exercise.”

This week was full of giggles and smiles from our toddlers! They were thrilled to run on the playground, point out airplanes, and watch the geese nearby. The students also spent time in the “little library” to look at books and listen to stories. While it was raining on Friday, Mr. Brendan brought the library experience to us by reading a book and letting each toddler pick out a book to take home. However, we did not let the rain stop us from going outside to explore! The toddlers put their raingear to good use by walking and splashing in puddles. You could feel their excitement in the air!

In Classroom One, the students enjoyed handwashing their snack plates and cleaning a mirror. They especially liked jobs that involved spooning objects into another container, stacking cups, and matching vehicles. Some new lessons included arranging flowers, coloring snowflakes with markers and painting a snowy owl.

Meanwhile in Classroom Two, dinosaur washing, animal puzzles, and “freeing the dinosaurs” were still the favorite jobs. The students also moved to music by tapping sticks and waving scarves. There were several moments when the toddlers would work together to build a block tower, knock it over, and repeat the process multiple times.

“The first essential for the child’s development is concentration. The child who concentrates is immensely happy.” -Dr. Maria Montessori

The Montessori philosophy believes that concentration is a fundamental aspect of a child’s development. The ability to concentrate and focus one’s attention on a task is crucially important because it helps children learn and improve, which leads to self-confidence and positive self-esteem.

The teachers can observe the students deeply involved in their work throughout the school day. We have provided a variety of activities to encourage the students to choose from. In our classrooms, the toddlers often work in groups to learn a lesson. For example, this week Ms. Kathy led a lesson on towel folding. In addition, Ms. Krysten demonstrated a lesson on freeing the dinosaurs that were taped onto a work tray. In both of these lessons, the students had to focus and concentrate on the movement and use of their fingers and hands. This, in turn, is improving their fine motor skills. The students are definitely developing confidence and a sense of accomplishment. One of our favorite things to hear throughout the day is “Look, I did it!”.

This week we spent the colder days enjoying inside activities. The toddlers were thrilled to use their gross motor skills on the indoor climbing blocks and mats. Later in the week, we enjoyed exercising in the Bruno gym and walking to the library for storytime. Our librarian, Mr. Brendan, had many new books for us to choose from. We ended the week celebrating Milo’s 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday to Milo!