Work or Play?

One of the most important aspects of the Montessori Method is that Montessori is not all about academics. Montessori schools pride themselves in educating children as a whole and witnessing growth in all aspects of their lives.

In the classrooms, the jobs that students get to choose from are all grouped into different categories, including math, language, cultural, sensorial, and practical life. Rather than focusing solely on math, writing, science, etc. it is this variety that allows Montessori students to achieve a more complete education.

In previous posts, I have talked about some of the cleanliness expectations that the students are held to as well as some classroom jobs that, mainly cleaning up their jobs and any spills that are associated with their jobs and with lunch.

Today, though, I noticed another example, which, while simple, gives some insight into the Montessori school. Being a beautiful day, a Friday, and a day of high energy, we were outside in the morning for a good amount of time, letting the students get some of their energy out before going inside. Students were playing on the swings, the slide, chase, and house, just like usual. But then one of the teachers decided to bring out two small hand brooms that would go with dustpans incase any of the students wanted to use them. This first struck me as a rather odd idea, and I wondered whether students would want to give up valuable time on the swings (for example) to use them. But I was wrong. A huge crowd (all ten students) ran up to the teacher, wanting to use them. The two lucky students soon got too work, brushing off the play structure and the edge of the sandbox. At first they were content simply working, but it soon turned into a game of Cinderella.

Montessori’s vision is to foster a love of learning that will last all your life. This merging of play time and work time while learning practical skills is just one example of how learning can be anywhere, and learning can be fun. I guess it’s important to learn to turn work into something fun from a young age.

New Jobs

Another day gone by means that we are one day closer to the end of the school year. Everyday at circle time, the class goes over what the date is by counting forwards from the first of the month. Another chart counts the days left of school; by “taking away” or subtracting one each day, they’re left with the number of days left between school and summer.

Today at circle time, though, there were a few new things. Over the weekend, the teacher pulled out a few new jobs for the students to do. As they are starting a mini-unit on the ocean, the teacher added three new ocean-related jobs to the classroom. Montessori classrooms are constantly changing around the jobs in the room in order to introduce new skills and to keep the students engaged. Then the teacher shows the students how to complete each job; that is what happened in circle time today.

The first new job was for one to four people. There was a box of magnetic, upper-case letters. Students used a magnetic fishing pole to pull out one letter and then had to match it with the lower-case letter on the sheet. As the students noted, this was an example of a “letter work”, meaning that it worked on their words and spelling.

The next job was a “numbers work.” The classroom has a triangle of beads; the first row has one bead, the second has two, the third three, and so on. Each different rod has a different color bead, so the three-rod is green, the four rod is red, etc. The new job was a picture of a sailboat drawn in the outline of these rods; students were expected to count out the beads on the rods and color the picture according to the bead colors on the rods.

The third and final job was another “number work” in which students had to classify different sea-related items into groups of the same thing; for example sea glass, shells, and wooden sailboats. For the numbers one through nine, there was a different item that had each number: one seahorse, two shells, etc. The students had to line them up from one to nine.

Nature Walk

Yesterday, (Monday), there were only three students that stayed for the afternoon session (who were not sleeping). Thankfully, it was a gorgeous day, as there was a parent meeting inside that kept us outside. We spent a while on the bikes and cars, but then we took an adventure - we went on a nature walk!

The school is located in the basement of a church, and the church grounds are very well kept. Birds were chirping, flowers blooming, new things growing, and the kids were very excited to explore. We looked at the lily pads in a little pond and speculated what could live there. We saw a birdhouse and watched for birds while the teacher explained the different bird calls and pointed out a mourning dove. Sitting on the steps so quietly, the students quickly became engaged in their surroundings, whispering excitedly as they pointed out ants and birds to me. I think Montessori got it right when she said that children are naturally curious, these ones definitely were. As we continued on our walk, we passed a pear and an apple tree and admired the baby fruit. Then we came across some dandelions whose seeds were ready to be scattered.

All the while, the teacher kept explaining everything; when I looked back on the mini “field trip,” I realized that there was a lot of learning that happened. We talked about different types of flowers, different parts of a flower, birds, ecosystems such as ponds, and so much more. The teacher did a really good job of explaining things, and took some complex material down to levels that the students could understand.

Friday

Friday. Friday’s are great. It’s the end of the week, which means two days off. At preschool, Friday also is a day where there are fewer kids that come, meaning that everything is a little calmer. Even with the two classes sharing one classroom, everything was quite manageable today. In the “older children’s” classroom, there are so many new and exciting activities, which made it fun for the visiting class.

Part of a Montessori education is the importance of growing as a whole person; this means that school is not just academics, but promotes the development of a person as a whole. Following through on this aspect, I’ve found that a lot of the jobs, or activities, that are laid out around the room have to do with gaining skills needed for life. There are activities in which you have to transfer liquids and other materials without spilling (pouring liquids), a board for practicing essential skills such as mastering the zipper, snaps, Velcro, etc, and much more.

Even in the day to day working of the preschool, the students start to learn about cleaning up and pitching in. In the classroom, there is a stack of cloths, a pitcher of water, and a crate for the dirty cloths. If something spills, (while practicing pouring, for example), the kids know exactly what to do. Grab a cloth, wipe it up, return the cloth, and they’re on their way. In other classrooms, spilling something is a big deal because the teacher has to deal with it. But here, if you just spill a little water or something like that, it’s no big deal. It makes everything run a little smoother while also giving the students the opportunity to learn about cleanliness and responsibility.

Communication

Having no voice and working at a preschool aren’t necessarily the best combination, especially on so-called “wacky Wednesday.” That’s right, when I woke up this morning, my voice was practically gone and really scratchy. Pair this with two preschool classes (one of which is incredibly excited for their upcoming Tea which, after spending weeks preparing for, is in a matter of hours) who are sharing a room, and you have a recipe for a loud morning. As it turns out, everything went fine. The early morning was the hardest, because other teaching aids came in later during the day, so there were enough people to help keep the students on track.

The hardest part for me was the lack of the voice, but I was able to work things out. I just had to go over to each child I needed to talk with, sit down right next to them, and talk to them. As it turns out, my lack of voice probably caught their attention a little more, because I got many a question about it. “What happened to your talk?” one kid asked me. Overall, going and talking/whispering to the kids worked well, the only downfall was if I was across the room and saw someone running, for example. Normally I’d be able to say, “Name, walk please” and continue working with another child, but not today. If I wanted to say something I had to go up to them individually, since my voice didn’t carry. Today though, was pretty calm, and the other teachers were able to take care of situations like that. Overall, though, I realized the importance of being able to effectively communicate; I guess that’s why we stress to the preschoolers just how important it is to be able to use their words and explain what they’re feeling. Communication is key.

Wacky Wednesday

Today’s the big day! One of the two preschool classes has their much-anticipated Mother’s Day tea today! Because of configuration problems with the set up for the tea, today was deemed “Wacky Wednesday” at the preschool. One of the classrooms was all set up for the tea, so both preschool classes shared space in the other classroom this morning. Talk about a crazy start to the day. In actuality, though, it all worked out quite well.

For the students visiting the other classroom, they had a great time trying out all the new and different jobs, most of which were different than the ones in their own classroom. There were magnets, pouring activities, a wide variety of building materials, different colorings, and so much more to explore. I also noticed that there was a lot of intermingling between the two classes, as students who are not usually together during the day were playing together all morning.

While there are a few sets of siblings in the two classes, I didn’t really expect to see so much mixing between the two different classes. As I think about it more now, though, I’m starting to realize that this is one of the hallmarks of a Montessori education: mixed age group classes.

The Montessori Method of teaching encourages classes to mix up the ages of students. This doesn’t mean that an infant and a five year old will be in the same class, but ages will differ within reason, typically with one class encompassing a two to three year age span. The general idea behind this is that students will be able to learn from each other; there will always be another student working at your level. Additionally, students tend to stay in the same class for two or three years before moving on, so having a range of ages allows there to be some turnover each year without completely disrupting class dynamics. This gives the students the opportunity to both feel confident in class while also encountering new people and new dynamics.

Duck, Duck, Goose!

On Friday, at recess, we played duck-duck goose. It was recess time and the transition period between the morning and afternoon sessions. A lot of the kids go home around 12:30, so from about noon to 1:15, everyone is outside playing, while the youngest children who stay all day go to sleep inside. Fridays are generally pretty calm days, so once the morning kids had left, there were only six children left outside.

Playing duck-duck goose reminded me of my own preschool and elementary school years, and how much fun it could be. But it also made me realize that when kids are young, age makes a huge difference. As we get older, ages blend together. The difference between 16 and 17 isn’t really that noticeable, and people will hang out with friends both older and younger than them, sometimes significantly so. Especially with mixed classes, sports, and other activities, the boundary between grades is really quite flexible.

As duck-duck goose reminded me, though, this is not the case in preschool. The difference between three and four and four and five is huge in terms of speech, social aspects, motor control, and so much more! The older kids in the group of seven clearly stood out, they were a lot more competitive and into the game. The younger ones didn’t grasp the game in the same way, as they would go in circles multiple times, laughing and enjoying the attention, before saying “goose.” One kid in particular, the youngest one in the group, didn’t really understand the game. Whenever someone said “goose” he got up and ran around in any direction, with a huge smile on his face, clearly having a good time. While the older students were a little annoyed at the beginning, they calmed down and we were all able to enjoy a fun game outside on a beautiful Friday.