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.

Spring

Spring has sprung, and with the warmer weather, the students all seem to have so much more energy. They are pulling out their summer clothes, bouncing around the classroom, and coming to school full of energy. Smiles galore, the children come in each day ready and excited, but are they sometimes a little too energetic?

As I observed the energy in the room today, it reminded me a little bit of spring in high school. As the temperatures rise, everyone wants to get outside. Students are restless in class, looking out the windows; there is a feeling of summer in the air.

For the preschoolers, though, it is sometimes a little bit harder to keep them focused, simply because so much is still new to them. Today, the inchworms first started to appear, which was big news to the three and four year olds I’ve been working with. They all wanted to catch the inchworms, watch them inch their way along the bench, name them, etc. While this was fine at recess, when it came time to line up and sit on the bench to wait to be picked up, the inchworms became a little bit of a distraction. When they were reminded of the difference between playtime and work time (and also told that if they didn’t stop, their next recess would be shortened), though, they were able to come back to attention. I guess we all need a little reminding sometimes of when it’s playtime and when it’s time to go back to work.

Tea Time

Today I was able to spend significantly more time at the preschool than I have in the past, allowing me to interact with the students a lot more. I was there early in the morning to help set up and greet the students, and again later on. When I returned to the school after my own class, I was able to catch the tail end of circle time before lunch and recess.

The major excitement at school right now is the upcoming Mother’s Day Tea. Next Wednesday afternoon, the students will all get dressed up and bring their mothers to school in the afternoon. In class, they have been practicing taking orders for whether their mothers would like tea or coffee, and with milk, sugar, or lemon. One of the activities around the room that they can choose to do also prepares them for the tea, as they practice pouring water from a teapot into cups without spilling. Also on Wednesday, the children have been learning several “mother’s day” songs that they will be presenting. At circle time, we practiced the songs and the hand motions, but throughout the day, the lead teacher was getting the children to sing along as they went through their activities, using the repetition to help them learn. Another technique she used helped the children both to remember the words and to pay attention. In going through one of the songs that the students have practiced a lot, the lead teacher purposely switched around words, saying (for example) father’s day instead of mother’s day. The kids thought that this was hilarious, and were quick to correct, albeit politely, their teacher. I thought this was a great way of going over the songs. Not only did it keep the students’ interest, but by repeating the songs each time the teacher made a mistake, the students actually heard the song several times; this repetition helped them to learn the song. Besides all of this, they had a lot of fun going over the songs.

Sharing

Today’s special activity for the five year old class was stringing together the clay beads they made yesterday in preparation for their big Mother’s Day Tea, which takes place in about two weeks. The lead teacher called students over one at a time to assemble their bracelet, while the other students worked independently or in small groups on activities of their choice. Another teacher also went around, as I did, to assist the students and make sure that they stayed on task.
Being a new face and a younger student, the students are always coming up to me, saying “will you play with me?” or “Will you help me color this?” It can be hard when there are four or five kids, all pulling you in different directions. Today, especially, I introduced the idea of sharing my time with all of them. I explained that I can’t be in five places at once, but that I would float around the room, sharing my time with all of them. It took a little while for them all to understand this and that asking me several more times wouldn’t help, but they ended up catching on. I did puzzles with two girls, then helped another with coloring, and then worked with a boy on his math/spatial skills. And in the end, it all worked out. When I go back on Monday, we’ll see if they remember or whether I’ll be greeted by a group of enthusiastic kids all wanting my attention. I’m guessing it’ll be the latter, but at least they are excited. We will see what happens come Monday.

Circle Time

Today was my first experience with “circle time.” Going to the preschool right after C block and staying only for the lunch block before returning to class, I came in expecting to not do very much, figuring that the whole time would be recess and lunch, as it is for the toddler and transition class. Today, however, I worked with a class of older students who have a different schedule.

When I arrived, the students were independently working on a variety of activities, from counting boards to workbooks to a game of memory. Then we had circle time. We opened with singing a few short songs. There is a “Good Morning” song that they open with every day, but the children are also learning some special songs for the Mother’s Day Tea that they host each year to honor their mothers. After singing these songs, we went over what today’s date is and used counting and subtraction skills to determine how many days are left in the school year. We talked about the morning’s activities and the importance of being friendly and kind to one another.

In order to dismiss the students to lunch, the teacher would say (for example), “Emily and a friend whose name starts with “ch” may go to lunch.” Then Emily would have to find that person and they could go to lunch. This struck me as a really good way to stagger the lunch rush. Going in pairs prevented the group from running over to lunch, and the kids also had to work on their phonetics without really thinking about it.

The more I thought about it, I realized that is what a lot of the Montessori activities seem to do. They get the kids to learn so many different things without really knowing it. Just like finding a partner to go to lunch with, all the tasks are fun, but target a certain lesson or skill, whether it was motor coordination, letters, numbers, or something else.

I’ve come to find that there is a lot more thought behind all the activities than I initially thought.

Vacation's Over...

Welcome back! Just like us, Monday was the kids’ first day back after a week of vacation. The preschool tries to follow the local public schools’ schedules concerning vacations, holidays, and snow days, so they were also on vacation last week. I had hoped to talk to some of the older students about their vacations, but did not get the opportunity to do that on Monday. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be working with the older group of kids, and I’ll be able to follow up with them on how their vacations went!

Because I have class C Block every day, I’ve found that I tend to miss the circle-time morning lessons a lot. Monday was no exception. The only free time I had to go to the preschool was right around lunchtime, but I made the most of the time I had, working with the toddler and transition classes again.

At recess, I kept an eye out over the kids, who were all very excited to try out a new plastic car, which was a great addition to recess activities. After recess, we all went inside for lunch. The kids are very much self-sufficient and well behaved, so I sat and talked with them, helping to open containers when they needed it. Most of the children leave school after lunch, but a few stay for the afternoon. I read a few books and played with toy cars before naptime. One of the hardest things about naptime is getting the very youngest children to sleep. Sound travels quickly, as the whole school is basically in one hall, divided up into three “rooms,” so its really important that everyone stays quiet. While we separated the two youngest ones, they still enjoyed “talking” (should I say babbling) to each other through the makeshift wall. After calming them down though, we were able to get them to sleep.

Despite being there for primarily recess, lunch, and naptime, I did learn a little about accident reports. At recess, one of the little girls got her finger pinched between a plastic car and the bench. One of the teachers got her all cleaned up; she had a cut on her finger and the nail was bent back a bit. However, she was unhappy enough that it warranted the teacher to file an accident report, explaining what happened, where the accident took place, and what care was given for the injury. I hadn’t really thought that such seemingly little things would require paperwork, but looking back it makes sense.

Tomorrow I will be able to spend a little more time at the school in the afternoon, so I am looking forward to helping out in the classroom a bit more.

Always Something New

Today, I was with the older group of kids, mainly four and five year olds. I arrived early this morning, so I got to see all the children being dropped off. Most all of them were so excited to be there, and quickly found an activity to start on right away.
I was somewhat surprised how quickly the kids found something to do. Whether it was painting, completing a puzzle, building with blocks, or playing with the counting beads, everyone settled in so nicely. The main teacher also took a few students aside to show them an activity that was designed for them. When they arrived, she greeted them and said, “I have an activity for you!” This hands-on style of learning really seems to keep the kids engaged and sincerely interested in what they’re doing.
Throughout the classroom, there are a variety of different activities neatly organized on shelves. During the week, the teachers change some of these, taking out things that have been there for a while and adding new ones to spark the students’ interests. The teacher then encourages the kids to look around for the new activities, kind of like a scavenger hunt. I was going around the classroom with one of the younger boys, asking him which activity he wanted to do next and which was his favorite. As he was pointing out all the activities that were new in the past week, I started to realize how much work it takes to prepare all the activities and constantly involve new ones in the curriculum.
As my internship continues, I will likely remain with the older group of students. Having only been there for a few hours at a time due to the classes I have at school, I will be interested in seeing how their whole day comes together, from morning activities to circle time to lunch, recess, and their other daily activities. As I start to piece together their typical school-day, I will keep you updated!

The First Few Days

After a few days of working at the preschool, I already have a lot of friends there! Even though I’ve been moving between age levels and classrooms, the kids run up to me, wanting to play or color or just give me a hug. They’ve only really met me once, but they look up to me as well as the two other high school students working there and are excited to see some new faces.

As I mentioned, I have been switching between classrooms, helping out as needed, especially with some of the teachers being out sick. As the woman in charge told me, there’s always something that can be done. I have spent some time with the toddler/transition class – the youngest of kids there – as well as working with a group preparing for kindergarten next year, mainly four and five year olds.

With the youngest students, I’ve only been there towards the end of their day. At recess, I watch to make sure everyone’s playing nicely together and nobody falls asleep or tries to run away. After recess they all have lunch, and I helped out in general, opening their Tupperware containers, getting forks and spoons, etc. They are really quite self-sufficient and very talkative as well, even with the youngest kids there is never a dull moment. After cleaning up, most of the youngest kids leave for the day, while the others take a nap. I helped them to get their blankets and calm down before going to sleep.

Working with the older group was different, and was the first group that I worked with during “school time” rather than lunch or recess. We read a book, practiced writing, and spent some time both coloring and working with letters and numbers in workbooks. They are all at different places in the books and work independently, but all were engaged in their tasks.

As my schedule permits, I hope to be at the preschool during more of the morning and afternoon “working” hours so that I can really be engaged with the kids and learn about what they are doing.

The Project

As my senior year is winding down, I'll be spending a good deal of time not at my high school, but instead at a local preschool where I first attended school. Through a senior project known as S.C.O.R.E., I'll be spending fifteen hours a week at the preschool until early May, when I'll start working there full time, at thirty hours a week. The ages of the children I'll be working with range from infants to kindergartners, and I will be going back and forth between the various classrooms, doing whatever tasks need to be accomplished.

The school is a Montessori school, so it is run slightly differently from your typical school. The Montessori Method of teaching is based on the idea of freedom within limits, which I'll describe in more detail in later posts. Working in this setting, I hope to gain insight into the Montessori Method of teaching as compared with more traditional methods.

Before I talk about my day to day work, though, I wanted to make at least one post that explains some recent happenings. With all the rain we've received lately, lots of people's basements have been flooded. The preschool is no exception. And while they are up and running again, the classrooms have had to be moved upstairs into the church's main function hall. Classes are continuing as usual now, but there are still a lot of things being sorted out. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what it's like on the first day!