horsing around (sheepishly)

We experienced a grand tour of the horse stables this past Friday. One of the dads in my school community gives horse tours in the area, and he kindly told us all about the horses and even "shoed" a horse in front of the children! They got to ride the gentlest of the animals - some even rode by themselves in a corral.

Another highlight of the day was the hilarious sheep "chase." A rope was loosely tied around the neck of a ewe (what a good sport she was!) so that when the end was pulled it would easily come off. Small groups of children were put in the corral with the ewe and were charged with removing the rope from her neck. I'm not sure who laughed more - the children or the adults watching them!

It was a nice way to draw to a close the first half of this second semester. Bring on the vacation!

xo,
Meg

building a firm foundation

Concentration. A grand plan. A careful touch. The pleasure of being architect, structural engineer, and construction worker all at once. If you stick your tongue out a bit further, that precariously placed block will most certainly stay put. The young visionary learns all too quickly from an error in judgment, but the driving force of the grand plan leads him right back to the construction site to work up a plan B.

This morning, I was delighted to see that one of my students had placed a photo of the Petronas Twin Towers (once the tallest in the world) on his work rug. With a quick, I'm-on-a-mission gait, he went back and forth from the shelf to his rug, retrieving the pieces of the pink tower and the brown stair. This is the fruit of his labor:

Right on, little man - take an idea and run with it! I swear, my greatest epiphanies as a teacher come from the students themselves. Hats off to you, Diego, for the following idea, which could be used both in the home and the classroom.

Search high and low (and most likely in old issues of National Geographic) for excellent quality photos of architecture from around the world. Include photos of well-known landmarks, such as the Taj Mahal, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Empire State Building, and the Pyramids. Don't forget to also include typical houses from around the world. Mount the photos on card stock, write a sentence or two about the building on the back, and laminate for durability. Keep the photos in a special folder titled "The Architect's Library of Inspiration" or something of the sort. Provide wooden blocks and a sturdy foundation.

I've put a good deal of thought into appropriate (and inappropriate) toys for young children. While I'll spare you a soapbox speech at the moment, one thing I can say for certain - if my own children have no store-bought toys other than quality wooden blocks (and a hefty selection of art supplies), I would say that they wouldn't be missing out on a darn thing. But then again, I'm one of those weirdos who has never owned a television and never will and who is planning on having nightly family jam sessions with my future children.

The word on the street is that these blocks are amazing. I'm also partial to the sets that are available from Michael Olaf's catalogue. We have the Roman Arch set in my classroom as part of the physics curriculum, and I'm personally envious of any child that has the deluxe wooden block set. How cool would that be?

To sum it up - provide blocks, and they will build.

the color of love

What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than with a feast of wholesome red and pink foods? Watermelon, strawberries, hibiscus tea, and perhaps a mango or two, if they are handy.

Valentines Day is just a subtle whisper on the north wind down here in Mexico. With no Hallmark, no florists, and no candy hearts, Valentines Day is a chill deal. I must say, I don't envy all of you who were "required" to make 20+ valentines for classroom events. Although, I sure wouldn't mind some of these cupcakes - please and thank you! I can even eat them in style on my plate.

May you celebrate love and friendship wherever you are.

snapshots

"Dressing-up", an extension of her work with the dressing frames, done in front of a mirror.

A puppet made at home, from an old sock. Love the holes for her fingers.

Singing while doing the movements with the "Song Cards" work. Also, notice that one of my children has made me a cup of tea in the background.

Drawing on a window in the outdoor environment.

The Five Senses definition stages

I don't know how he does this. I can barely do it.

Que tengan un buen fin de semana!
(Have a good weekend!)

xo,
Meg

loving those latkes

As part of my effort to diversify the winter holiday experience for my children, today we prepared and enjoyed latkes, lit a "menorah", and learned a few traditional Jewish songs.

Latkes are very simple to make. Check out this site for recipe ideas.

Here's the lot of them not noticing that I'm taking their picture. ;) For the menorah, I used what I had available - eight tea lights.

Speaking of holiday traditions, the Holiday Traditions Exchange shipping deadline is this coming Monday! Also, don't forget to share any photos of swap packages (both sent and received) by uploading them to the flickr group.

Here's to a lovely (and productive?) weekend! Wish me luck as I do the layout for the new patterns!

once upon a time there was a little boy who loved play-doh

But his teacher thought he was too little to make it himself on the stove ...

So she put together a special, no-cook play-doh making exercise just for him.

The little boy has never been happier! Every day at school he makes a batch of play-doh to share with the rest of the children on the art shelf and a special green batch to take home.

4 tablespoons of white flour
2 tablespoons of salt
1 dropper-full of vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of water

Add the dry ingredients in a bowl. If you want to add a few drops of food coloring, make sure to add it to the water, otherwise it will be difficult to get a uniform color. Little by little, add the water. At first, stir with a spoon - once all of the water is added, start smooshing the mixture with your hands until it reaches the desired consistency. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge when not in use. Most likely, it will end up drying out after a day or two of heavy use.

Psst ... want to see more recent pics of classroom happenings? I just posted a bunch over at Flickr .

xo,
Meg

experiencing autumn

The crisp wind carried them as they ran up, down, through, and around. Freshly fallen aspen leaves found their way into tiny pockets. Autumn has found it's way to the Sierra Tarahumara, and into the hearts of its littlest residents.

worth a 1000 words

The look on her face when she counted to 1000 for the first time

The "concentration tongue" and a smile while doing yoga

Being mesmerized by Chopin

characteristics of practical life activities

Here's a good example of a practical life activity that is culturally relevant here in rural Mexico. Sandra is removing the corn kernels, one by one. Later, she or another child will mill the corn outside. To complete the process, an older child who has had a lesson can make tortillas to share with the class as part of the day's snack:

What is practical life? My short answer - everything the child does to care for herself and to help maintain the community in which she lives. Practical life is the basis of any Montessori community or any home. Without it, living in community, be it in a family or in a classroom, would be impossible. Here are just a few examples of practical life activities:

Wiping your nose
Setting the table
Washing your face
Preparing food
Washing dishes
Feeding the animals
Cleaning the house
Cleaning your shoes
Zipping your coat
Buckling your shoe
Doing the laundry
Caring for your garden

Some of these things we (adults) enjoy - some of them we come to abhor, and some of them we do without even thinking about it! Young children, on the other hand, truly enjoy the activities of practical life. They help them to develop coordination, concentration, and independence. In addition, they are gaining new skills, developing helpful and selfless habits, and learning to adapt to their culture.

Here are the basic characteristics of practical life activities:

Familiar
Practical life exercises are things the child has already seen regularly in his family life. She might
have witnessed an older sibling, a parent, or a grandparent perform these tasks on a daily basis. Perhaps she has even done certain exercises before coming into the Montessori environment. This familiarity helps the child orient to her new classroom.

Culturally Specific
The exercises should be relevant in the child’s day-to-day life. For example, if the child lives in
Southeast Asia, the practical life exercises offered by the directress will differ from those offered in France. If the culture eats their meals with chopsticks, it would be useless to have an exercise dealing with setting the table with a spoon, fork and knife. Practical life activities should help the child adapt to her environment.

Real
Providing the child with real, functional tools and activities conveys to the child that her work is
valued. (Another key point here is that the activities themselves should be purposeful. We must ask ourselves - is tweezing beads from one tray to another really a purposeful activity? Not really. While there are MANY activities that we could come up with that "help the child develop her pincer grip," these don't really have a place on the Montessori practical life shelf. Before putting an activity on the shelf, ask yourself: "Would I do this in my day-to-day life? Is this necessary to maintain my classroom (or home) environment? Or is this simply busy work?" Such busy work that the child enjoys and which helps her concentrate would, however, be very appropriate to place on a toy shelf.

Physically Proportioned
Well-proportioned tools help the child to fine-tune his motor skills and perfect precise movements. The size, weight and design of the material should be taken into account before offering it to the child. It should be heavy enough to provide tactile feedback to the child about the success of his movements, but should not be unwieldy or awkward in his small hands. Michael Olaf and Montessori Services provide wonderful child-sized items.

Breakable a.k.a. "Get rid of that sippy cup!
The value of glass in the environment extends beyond its aesthetic qualities; if the child recognizes that a piece of material is breakable, she will show care in her movements. In addition, a glass pitcher weights more than its plastic counterpart, giving the child feedback on her actions. In the event of a breakage, the teacher acts very detached and impartial about the accident. She does not lecture: she simply states that it should be swept up. The teacher removes the broken material and its corresponding exercise from the shelf and waits for several days before replacing it. This gives the children an appreciation of and respect for the material, knowing that it cannot be immediately replaced.

Attractive
The material should be aesthetically pleasing, clean, and functional. Children are attracted to
beauty and order, and the teacher recognizes this and assures that all of the exercises and materials are ready for the children before the start of the day. (A word about plastic, here. Instead of filling your home or classroom with plastic trays, take a visit to your local thrift stores! Thrift stores, in fact, are the BEST place to look for trays. On one trip a while back, I was able to fill a large box with the most beautiful silver trays - each one original. The advantage of silver trays? You can now put out a silver polishing activity!)

Color-Coded
Color-coding the exercises to indicate level of difficulty helps the child to choose work independently. It also adds to the beauty and order of the environment. Do not sacrifice beauty for color, however. Like I said, a silver or brass tray is much more desirable than an orange plastic one.

Orderly
Order is found throughout the practical life exercises. The exercises are presented in order of
difficulty and then displayed on the shelves in order of difficulty. The teacher places the more elementary exercises on the left of the shelf; the more challenging exercises are toward the right. The presentation of the exercises themselves remains consistent. The steps are clearly
demonstrated in sequential order. In an activity such as table washing, the teacher displays the necessary tools in the order in which they are needed, from left to right. This attention to order helps the child integrate and form connections between things in his environment.

Limited
The children are presented with enough activities so that their interest remains peaked. This
does not necessitate an exceedingly large number of exercises - even less if you are homeschooling! First, the environment should only contain exercises that are pertinent to classroom life. The child would be overwhelmed if presented with too many choices. Giving them a tenable number of choices helps them become decisive and come to understand their own preferences. In addition, the child’s natural tendency is toward repetition; therefore it is beneficial to have a limited number of activities on the shelves. If given the opportunity to repeat an exercise, the child will acquire a level of mastery, and the consequent independence. Instead of placing everything out at once, consider rotating activities to maintain interest.
Only one type of each exercise is on the shelf. If a classmate has already chosen the shoe polishing exercise, the child will have to choose an alternative piece of work. It is an important and constructive lesson to learn that one’s first choice is not always available. The child begins to understand that the classroom
community shares its resources.

Phew! Did you make it this far? Then you must really be interested in Montessori! If you want to learn more, join the Montessori By Hand Yahoo group in the side bar. Sign up for a nice little Montessori-style surprise! (Hint: read my most recently posted message to the Yahoo group.)

apples

Apple pie. Apple cider. Apple juice. Baked apples, cinnamon and sugar. Applesauce. Warm, apple smell drifting around the kitchen and enveloping you like a mohair scarf. Apple picking. Apple crates. Apples coming out your ears.

Here are the apples of my eye, making apple juice and peeling, coring, and slicing apples to be dried in the generous autumn sun.

Yum.

something's up my sleeve

I've been working on a child's art smock pattern for the last week or so. Wonder what this teacher does with little bits and pieces of her spare moments? Here's a peek:

I'll be working on writing up the pattern this weekend. Lately I've been able to get a good deal of pattern design on the time card because my husband is spending all of his "leisure time" applying to grad school. Maybe, just maybe, the child's art smock will be available in a fortnight or so ... a blink of an eye and a few twirls of the hourglass!

harvest time

Fruits of the land and their little hands

Last spring we planted corn, squash, potatoes, and beans on a little plot of land a short walk from the school. Yesterday the children harvested the early corn, called elote. Did you realize that what we know as yellow "corn on the cob" is simply the early harvest? All corn is yellow at this stage. If you leave it on the stalk until October, all corn hardens into colorful Indian corn, known here as maiz. I never knew, even though my family planted corn when I was a child. We must have harvested it all early, given the fact that we didn't make corn tortillas from scratch.

Here in Mexico the maiz is essential, as it doesn't spoil and can be stored through the winter. It is a major food source for the indigenous Tarahumara people, who live as subsistence farmers on a diet consisting mainly of corn tortillas and beans.

On my plate (literally and figuratively) this weekend is a recipe I've had since I was in Montessori school. We affectionately refer to it as "Meggie's Montessori Harvest Loaf Cake." I hope you love it as much as I do!

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 cup cooked (or canned) pumpkin
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Cream butter and add sugar gradually. Cream at high speed until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs. Beat well. Alternately add dry ingredients and pumpkin, beginning and ending with pumpkin. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Pour into a loaf pan that has been greased on the bottom. Bake 1 - 1:15 at 350F. Cool completely.

Happy harvest,
Meg

P.S. If you haven't added your comment yet to the previous post, head on over and do so! Check back tomorrow morning to see if you are a winner of one of my sewing patterns!

yoga photos

Here they are! Twenty-five yoga poses fit for children, ages 2.5-96! The necessary factors finally came together - sufficient time, a sunny afternoon, and a great model! (Thanks to Maria who was in my class for two years. I just had to tell her the name of the pose and she hopped right to it!)

For instructions on how to implement these yoga photos in your home or classroom, visit this post. To print off your own set, head on over to my Flickr photos. Those of you who already have a Flickr account can have prints made and sent to you. Simply click on the Children's Yoga Poses set, and on the set's main page at the top you will see the button "Make Stuff." Click on QOOP make prints. Ordering prints this way will cost you about $5.75, shipping included. There's also the option of downloading the photos onto your computer, copying them to a disc or memory card, and taking them in to be printed off yourself.

Update: The yoga card photos are also available for download through my Box.net account, in a folder called "Yoga Cards." Those of you living outside of the U.S. will have to use this option, as Flickr doesn't send prints to other countries.

Here's another way to order the prints from Flickr, if you don't want to go through QOOP:

To order prints from my main page, click on the picture to see a larger view. From this view, you should see an "order prints" button along the top of the picture. Click on it - it will ask you to change your printing preferences and verify that you are in the US. After you go through this little detour, a link will be displayed that asks you if you want to return to the photo you were looking at. Click on that, and now you should be able to order the size that you want and add it to your cart.

I hope your children love them!

Namaste,
Meg

back to school

Every year, my dad would take a picture of me on the first day of school sporting my new backpack and often interesting (especially from 5th grade on) hair-do. I mean ... it's awkward enough to be a pre-teen, but at least ten times worse when you're a pre-teen in the early 90's! I will spare you these embarrassing photos. Instead, here's a peak at this year's back to school get-up.

My Note Taker! Imagine my thrill at finding this pattern at Pink Chalk Studio! It's super easy to follow and yields amazing results. I highly recommend it to any fellow teacher - especially Montessorians, who find themselves taking just short of a gazillion notes per school year. It would also be a great asset to anyone parenting Montessori-style (yeah - we're all about observing the child, if you haven't guessed already!)

Here's the front of the note taker with it's other handy pal, the fabric-covered binder that holds all of my classroom records. If you're interested in my record keeping system, check it out at my Yahoo group.

And, of course, my "grown-up backpack," (a.k.a. pleated handbag from Bend the Rules Sewing) which is large enough to hold the aforementioned teaching essentials and my Nikon D80 so that I can provide you with shots like this:

xo,
Meg

Yoga in the Classroom

I've had wonderful results with the yoga exercise I put together in my classroom. Here's proof - one of my 3 year-olds smiling with glee in Tree Pose.Here's what you need for it to be independent work in the Montessori home or classroom:

1.) A mat. The mat you see in the photo is not ideal, but it's what we have here in the mountains of Mexico. I would buy a cheap mat and cut it down to size. 1.5 meters in length should do the trick for the 3-6 year-olds.
2.) Two baskets for the cards.
3.) Laminated cards of children doing simple poses, with the name of the pose written below the photo.

**I wish I could offer you my files, but they were lost along with the school's old computer. But, if you can hang on a few more weeks, I promise to make an awesome yoga posture photo card set for you, with a few of my expert students as models. In July, we're traveling to California for a little vacation at my childhood home. Waiting at the doorstep should be a Canon EOS 30D digital SLR camera! Whoopee! I'm getting tired of having to push my camera in just the right spot in order to get it to focus - and getting over-exposed shots about 95% of the time, no matter what pretty incantations I offer up.

The presentation is simple:
1.) Place one basket with all the cards facing up just above the top of the mat. Place the empty basket just to the right of the full basket.
2.) Sit on the top of the mat and remove your shoes. Place them to the right of the empty basket.
3.) Remove one card and contemplate the posture. Place it face up in the empty basket, and slowly move into the pose. Take three to five deep breaths (you decide based on the child) and return to sit at the front of the mat. Continue with a few more posture cards.
4.) Replace the cards in the basket to the left. Invite the child.

Namaste,
Meg

The Year in Review

As the school year finally winds down here in Mexico, I thought I'd share some photos of my Montessori class. Enjoy!

Picking corn
Visiting the horse ranchLetter to brother

First sandpaper letter lessons

Vacuum experiment

Making Tortillas

Washing Hands

Serving coffee to a guest

Singing while making cookies

I've picked the winner, have you? :)