Technically, we are not allowed to cook on the premises during our operating hours. However, I'm happy to report that we've made some very important progress towards obtaining a food service license this month! We are all looking forward to providing our children with opportunities to prepare and serve themselves healthy snack options throughout the day - both integral components of our fully-implemented Montessori program.
In March, please join us in welcoming Blair from Fritz Baumann & Sons as he works on the plumbing upgrades in our kitchen necessary to obtain our food service license. Please also join us in celebrating our progress by joining us at our inaugural community event: Potluck in Fellowship Hall on Friday, March 13th from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM!
Elliott works with a set of small bottles and boxes, building strength in his hand while developing (the often taken for granted by adults) opening and closing skills.
Everleigh tries her hands at the same basket of opportunities later in the month!
Evelyn engages with two more advanced practical life activities - the bow tying frame and metal polishing - developing fine-motor control and concentration along the way!
Isabela stayed very busy during work time in Children's House East this month, tackling puzzles and matching activities among many other things!
Elliott seems to especially enjoy the snow! Many of our children have discovered how to use their outdoor gear as a sled on our very small hill this month.
Isabela seems to especially enjoy the leaves! Recognizing and categorizing the shapes of different leaves is the focus of many Montessori materials in both Children's House and Elementary environments.
Leo changes out of his "outside shoes" at his cubbie after a lot of running outside.
Leo folds up a little apron while Evelyn works on the lacing frame - two more good examples of all the practical life work accomplished this month.
While practical life activities and outdoor time continued to form the basis of the children's work this month, many also branched out to other areas of our Children's Houses. Here is Wally mixing up and matching the cylinders from all four cylinder blocks on a table that happened to be a perfect fit for the activity.
Here is Kindness working to organize and balance the ten cubes of the pink tower on two different days!
After mastering the use of a particular sensorial material with all their senses, we often ask children to try the same work without the use of their sense of sight. Leo and Evelyn use the same cylinder blocks as Wally above with an added challenge through the use of blindfolds.
Carsten works with one of the most beautiful activities in Children's House East right now, stone sorting!
Kindness uses a dusting cloth to carefully clean and admire a set of blue stones used in more a advanced math work. Children are often offered this type of opportunity to care for a material they are not yet ready to engage with in the typical ways.
Carsten seems to be exploring the relationship between some toy ships on the table and their appearance in the mirror.
Kindness focuses on an all time favorite practical life activity across generations of Children's Houses: soap grating! The product of this work is used in another popular option: cloth washing.
Elliott uses a circle puncher to make blue and yellow circles. Judging by his fresh "boy bun", it is probably early in the day!
Wally admires his work on a puzzle put out in our nap room for a child from a prospective family late one afternoon. The puzzle was found and saved, like so many other treasures, while preparing Karl Road Christian Church for renovations last spring. While the puzzle is not dated, the UNICEF logo dates from the early 60s (just like our building).
Wrapping up this month's post, check out Evelyn's perseverance in building her writing skills this month! I have often observed her recording/supervising her younger classmates' work and on her way
to the mailbox to post a letter!
We're looking forward to another great month of new work and play!