Bruno Toddler Classroom Blog

“The senses, being explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge. Our apparatus for educating the senses offers the child a key to guide his explorations of the world, they cast a light upon it which makes visible to him more things in greater detail than he could see in the dark, or uneducated state.” Maria Montessori understood the importance of sensorial exploration in the formative years. Practical life and sensorial activities offer young children opportunities for hands-on learning and exploration. Through touching, seeing, listening, tasting, and smelling, children develop manipulative skills, eye-hand coordination, as well as problem-solving and thinking skills. Our “Egg Lesson ” this week is a perfect example of how the children gained knowledge through sensorial exploration as they watched the first egg crack and the yolk and egg white fall into the bowl while the hard boiled egg, when cracked, did not. They each got their own hard boiled egg to crack, peel, and eat!

Everyday, weather permitting, we explore the great outdoors! We love to dig in the mulch and fill up our bucket, wheelbarrow, or dump truck. We develop our muscles as we run, jump, climb, slide and ride a trike. We love to find pinecones and small sticks and create things too!

What is in the Fall Basket job? I cant wait to use my senses and explore it!

Lacing takes lots of patience and eye hand coordination but it’s FUN!

These ‘Emotion Eggs’ are not for cracking but a fun way to do color matching!

Manipulating the alphabet one letter at a time!

We celebrated Ground Hog Day with a book, a song and pictures of a Ground Hog named Punxsutawney Phil who did not see his shadow so only 6 more weeks of winter!!

We enjoyed a coloring sheet to celebrate the 100TH Day of School!

“We call it material for the development of the senses, but sense development is merely the consequence of the urge to do something with the hands. The children also gain the ability to control their movements with precision, and this skill brings them closer to maturity.” Maria Montessori

Every day our students come to school eager to choose a job and work with that material to the best of their ability. They are acquiring new skills and working towards mastery through teacher-directed lessons and lots of practice! These newly acquired skills allow children to perform everyday tasks in the real world. For example, when our toddlers made their own vanilla pudding, the acquired skills to make the pudding came from practical life spooning, pouring, and stirring jobs on the shelves. Learning to roll a mat will help them to roll their own rest mat. The practical life job of opening and closing containers will help them learn to open and close their lunch box. The Montessori classroom is truly an environment for lifelong learning!

We had so much fun making our vanilla pudding. It was yummy!!

This number puzzle is one of our favorites!

Bottle opening and closing. Sometimes you might find a hidden surprise!

The children have shown such determination to put on /take off their own shoes, boots, and jackets. They love to say, “I DID IT”!

” The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child’s own natural desire to learn.” Maria Montessori

Concentration is the act or power of focusing one’s attention or mental effort. Just as adults need time and space to concentrate, so do children. Therefore, in a Montessori classroom, children are given the time and space to work without interruption with age-appropriate hands-on materials that capture their attention and interests. A child who is interested in their work will have an easier time concentrating and absorbing knowledge. Whether they are pouring rice from pitcher to pitcher, constructing the Pink Tower, matching object to picture, or categorizing land, air, and water, children are practicing their concentration skills so they can complete their tasks. Both teachers and parents can help children by allowing them to discover for themselves and not ‘rush in’ or interfere with their work. Children develop sound concentration skills through repetition and lots of practice just like us!

On Friday, we sang Happy Birthday to Lexington who turned the big THREE! We celebrated with mom, dad, and all his friends. Dinosaurs are Lexington’s favorite!

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

The Montessori classroom is a place of activity and wonder. It is prepared in such a way as to ignite in each child a ‘sense of wonder’ as children become active participants in their learning. Young children are curious by nature and keen observers. Therefore, the Montessori classroom is filled with hands-on materials that offer children opportunities to explore and create using their senses. One child creates ‘a house’ out of blocks while another constructs ‘ a rocket ship’. Another child who was pouring water from pitcher to cup, put her hand in the cup of water to see what would happen to the water in the cup? Whether children are inside the classroom lacing, animal matching, exploring the sensorial bottles, or outside building a nest with bark, popping bubbles, or watching a bird fly, children are acting upon their sense of wonder and creating the person they will someday be.

“If the idea of the universe be presented to the child in the right way, it will do more for him than just arouse his interest, for it will create in him admiration and wonder, a feeling loftier than any interest and more satisfying. The child’s mind will then no longer wander, but becomes fixed and can work.” Maria Montessori

We were so excited to welcome the children back for the new school year! Our students seemed eager to see their friends, explore all the new materials and jobs, and have fun together playing on the playground. We have observed the children becoming more motivated to choose their own work, help us with toilet training, and put on and take off their coats and hats, as well as share with their friends. Self-care and practical life are very important skills for this age group as they help young children develop order, concentration, control, and independence. The children have now developed the confidence to continue to pursue the more academic areas of the classroom.

“If teaching is to be effective with young children, it must assist them to advance on the way to independence.” Maria Montessori

We would like to welcome our five new students, Zadie, Jayden, Camden, Hank, and Thivian to our classroom. The children are doing a great job of making them feel welcome! Please remember to return library books by this Thursday as our new library day is Friday at 8:30. Also, remember Mr. Winter is here so coats, jackets, hats, and mittens help your children stay warm on the playground!

This week our toddlers were busy as elves at Santa’s workshop painting plates, decorating sugar cookies, practicing Christmas songs, decorating bags, and making colorful ornaments with dot markers. On Friday, we wore our pajamas to school and celebrated with pizza, a movie, cupcakes, and a book exchange. We also celebrated Ms. Lana’s birthday with donuts! Happy Birthday, Ms. Lana!

It was truly a wonderful week filled with fun activities, special treats, and a visit from our mommies and daddies for our sing-a-long. What a wonderful sense of community as we all came together to celebrate our children! A special thank you to Betsy’s mom, M’Liss’s mom and dad, and Zola’s mom for making our holiday festivities such a huge success! We also want to thank all the parents for taking time off to hear your little elves sing their favorite songs. They did an amazing job! We wish all of our families a very merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This past week the children were full of energy and holiday cheer. They spent each day practicing their holiday songs, decorating bags, finishing up bird feeders, and decorating the Christmas tree. On Tuesday we cleaned our boots to make them all shiny for St. Nicholas! Also, we have been working on something special for our mommies and daddies!

The boots were all shiny in hopes that Saint Nicholas would come!

To our wonderful surprise, Saint Nicholas came! He filled our boots with goodies!

What a wonderful week we had! Parents don’t forget about all the festivities happening this coming Friday including wearing our pajamas to school, pizza, a movie, a book exchange, and a special Sing-a-Long just for our parents! Happy Holidays!!

” The satisfaction which they find in their work has given them a grace and ease like that which comes from music.” Maria Montessori

The toddlers were busy as bees in a honey hive exploring all the new materials on the shelves. They are working with a variety of puzzles, and pre-reading exercises such as sequencing a story, object-to-picture match, patterning, things that go together, and letter-to-picture matching. These language activities provide for speech and new word development. The older and younger students have loved building the Brown Stair as well as other sensorial manipulatives. Of course, the water and practical life jobs are their favorites! Pouring, spooning, sorting, spreading, sweeping, crumbing, hand transfer, and hammering provide opportunities for eye-hand coordination, concentration, order, and independence. The children love art and will be working on some special holiday art activities this week and next week.

The children are making bird feeders out of pine cones, Crisco, and bird seed. They have really enjoyed this activity and will be taking them home. We’re still working on them.

Ms. Carmen, our German teacher, has been teaching the children a Christmas song in German and about St. Nicholas and German traditions. The children can’t wait for St. Nicholas to come and fill their boots with a surprise! We are so grateful to celebrate the diversity of our campus’s holiday traditions and celebrations!

Just a few reminders to bring a water bottle, backpack, and lunch with your child daily. Jackets are required to play outside in cold weather. If you have not already done so, make sure your child has adequate diapers, wipes, and extra clothes. We thank you for all you do to help us help your children be the best they can be!

“It is not that man must develop in order to work, but that man must work in order to develop.” Maria Montessori

This past Friday was a beautiful representation of our community as all the Primary students came together to share a ‘Thanksgiving Feast’. The children had some of their favorites including chicken nuggets, bananas, and mac and cheese. Don’t forget the best part, the cookie! Every day is the best day to give thanks for our family, our friends, and our school, but for the little things too! A warm thank you to Betsy’s parents for making our Thanksgiving Feast a huge success and to all of our parents for sharing your amazing children with us!

This is our ‘Thankful Song’ that we sing with our children before we eat lunch every day. “We are thankful for happy hearts, for rain and sunny weather. We are thankful for this good food and that we’re all together.”

We enjoyed visiting Ms. Sarita and Ms. Cristina’s classroom to see their wonderful presentation on Diwali. The children were good about not touching the Rangoli, ( Diwali sand art ) and using their ‘science eyes’.

We LOVED putting on our boots of many colors and splashing in the puddles! We can’t wait to do it again!

Bubbles here! Bubbles their! Bubbles bubbles everywhere! TODDLERS LOVE BUBBLES!!

We love hugs and being grateful for our friends!!

Practical life activities are the heart of a Montessori toddler program and include both care of the self and care of the environment. Children learn to pour water, spread cream cheese on a cracker, sweep the floor, crumb the table, and put on their shoes. The direct aim of these activities is to refine their fine and gross motor skills while the indirect aim of these activities is for children to develop order, concentration, coordination, and independence. Children enjoy and repeat these activities allowing for an attitude of “I can do it myself”. They now have the necessary skills and mindset to progress to more academic work. Maria Montessori said, ” Any child who is self-sufficient, who can tie his shoes, dress or undress himself, reflects in his joy and sense of achievement the image of human dignity, which is derived from a sense of independence”.

Enjoying a Fall nature walk!

“We do not teach the children these things ( practical life activities ) to make little servants of them, but because we have observed that of their own accord children actually take the greatest interest in perfecting all the movements of daily life.”