Here are some of the card materials we have on our Math and Language shelves this month. We’ve been trying to bring in the themes of Fall and Halloween to celebrate October. I still have mixed feelings about Halloween in the classroom since it’s such a fantasy-based holiday. However, it is a big part of […]
Themes
On the Shelves in October
Fine Motor shelves with an October theme Pouring acorns Tweezing mini pumpkins into a pumpkin icecube tray Spooning and pouring corn kernels Spooning lima bean ghosts. Thanks to Pinterest for the inspiration! Gluing-on-a-dot using Halloween themed confetti Making a jack-o-lantern with basic shapes We have these Halloween themed paper punches available on the art […]
A Simple Montessori Graduation
Do We Really Need a Graduation for Preschool? I have struggled with this question over the years, and more so the last few when we’ve only had preschoolers in our class. Fancy graduation ceremonies for preschool have always left me feeling uneasy. Many of the typical graduation rituals seem so… developmentally inappropriate for this […]
Around the World
Geography and world cultures are a big part of the curriculum in Montessori and we’re very lucky to have families who have traveled all over the world! Here are pictures from some of the wonderful presentations that parents have shared with us over the past few months. Africa Trying on a hat from Egypt Enjoying […]
Painted Lady Butterflies
Painted Lady Butterflies are a common and well-known species of butterfly found in many parts of the world. They are easily recognizable by their colorful and patterned wings. In this lesson, we will explore the Painted Lady Butterfly’s life cycle, habitat, and role in the ecosystem. Studying Painted Lady Butterflies provides an excellent way for […]
Flower Activities
We were given such a spectacular display of flowers for Teacher Appreciation week that we thought it was time to bring out our floral works! Sensorial Exploration Different Kinds of Flowers We have a ridiculous number of picture matching cards and they’re all out on the shelves! I may donate some of these to […]
Happy Mother’s Day
Trillium Moms are the best! You made our classroom look absolutely gorgeous with the stunning array of flowers you brought us for Teacher Appreciation week. Thank you for the love! We hope you enjoy the Mother’s Day books your children have been busy making for you all week! Mother’s Day Book Making Work Here […]
April in Action
These videos show a glimpse of daily life in our classroom during the month of April. The background song is “La Mariposa” (The Butterfly) by Colibri This has been one of our favorite group time songs this month. We’ve been playing a variation of the freeze dance game. When the music plays, we dance around […]
Africa Themed Fine Motor Trays
We made a few minor changes to our fine motor shelf this week. The pouring shelf is practically the same as it has been all month. We just changed the color to green to coordinate with the color of Africa on the Montessori continent globe. Most of the other trays include some sort of […]
The Continent of Africa
We’re learning about the continent of Africa this month! Here we have our materials for the study of Africa displayed on our Geography shelf. I’m lucky to have a sister who travels a lot and brings back treasures for the classroom! So many fun things to touch and examine here! These items are […]
Bugs! Fine Motor and Art Activities on the Shelf
We’ve been learning about bugs: butterflies, ladybugs, grasshoppers, spiders, and cicadas! Affiliate links are used in this post for your convenience. Read my full affiliate disclosure here. The children have begun to bring bugs in that they’ve discovered on their walks. Here we have a black and yellow millipede in this critter case. Examining cicada shells in […]
Learning About Bugs
It’s spring and the season for bugs! We have a little guy in our class this year who is going to be over the moon about this unit. We call him the bug whisperer. Come back next week to check out photos of our Fine Motor and Art shelves filled with buggy activities. Our oh-so-very […]
Australia: Music Playlist
Here are some of the songs we’ve been enjoying during our study of Australia. Our favorites** are starred. These are the ones we’ve listened to almost every day for the past month! The People and Languages of Australasia Waltzing Matilda Give Me a Home Among The Gum Trees ** The Animals of Australia The Kangaroo Song […]
Learning About Australia
We’ve been learning about the continent Australia! One of our parents brought along some wonderful items from Australia to share with us. Boomerangs! Holding a Koala What’s on the Shelf? Here’s our unit studies shelf with materials about Australia Geography of Australia This is our Australia Geography folder full of images from Australia and the Pacific […]
Learning About Japan
One of our families recently took a trip to Japan. They came back and shared a ton of fun things with us! He wore his T-shirt from Japan for the presentation. Where is Japan? Here is the flag of Japan Here are some fans that we can decorate with stickers from Japan. Cherry blossoms Chopsticks […]
St. Patrick’s Day Fine Motor Activities
We have rainbows in the class, but St. Patrick’s Day won’t be complete without a little green! Here’s our fine motor shelf for March Pouring On the very top are our pouring activities, in various shades of green. The mini leprechaun hats are from the Dollar Store and the trays are from Montessori Services (affiliate link). […]
Rainbows!
We decided to honor St. Patrick’s day with a rainbow theme this year. Who doesn’t love rainbows? (Since we have only preschoolers in the class this year, we won’t be going into the science of rainbows.) The Colors of the Rainbow The children can use these Montessori Color Tablets to sequence the colors of the […]
February in Action
Here are the videos of our classes in action during the month of February! Parents, please check your emails for our February newsletter. [vimeo]https://vimeo.com/60799636[/vimeo] [vimeo]https://vimeo.com/60799635[/vimeo]
Antarctica: Learning About Whales
We love whales! Here are a few of the books we’ve been using Some of the children spontaneously took out the world puzzle map and globes while they examined the books about whales. I love when they start doing these things on their own! One of our parents emailed us this little gem: “You must have […]
Antarctica: Learning About Penguins
As part of our continued study of Antarctica, we have been talking about Penguins. Here’s a cute little Penguin book I found for beginning readers. I printed out one copy on blue paper for the class. I will be binding it together into a book for the shelf. You can get it at […]
Learning About Antarctica: An Overview
We began learning about the continent Antarctica this week. Here are some of the new materials we’ve had out on the shelves. I will be posting more in the coming weeks so keep an eye out! Pictures from Antarctica Our Geography Continent folder has some great images depicting a variety of scenes from Antarctica. You […]
Valentine Theme Activities
It’s February – here are some of our favorite classroom activities for this time of year! Pre-Literacy This is a fun matching work that Ms. Rashidah created for us last year. I like how you have to look carefully to make sure you get the correct pair of valentine stamp stickers matched up. Math The […]
Learning About Space 2
Here’s our unit studies shelf with many of the Astronomy materials described in our first Learning About Space post. The Universe nesting boxes My school is in the town of Cary, which is in the State of North Carolina, which is in the country of the United States, which is on the continent of North […]
January in Action
Here are the latest videos from our class! If you’ve been following our blog for the past month, check out these videos to see all of our winter activities in use! Parents, check your emails for our January Newsletter. See our earlier videos on Vimeo and YouTube Linked to these great early education blogs […]
Learning About Space
Here’s our unit studies shelf with many of our Astronomy materials. This is our Solar System basket. I paper mache’d the foam planets from a kit in order to make them more durable. The booklet has a great song entitled “The Family of the Sun”. I used a product called sculptamold on this styrofoam […]
Animals in Winter
This is our Unit Studies shelf with activities to help children explore what animals do in winter. Here’s our setup for making animal tracks in playdoh. A little glitter in the white playdoh can make the work even more attractive. I used the animals from our North America box for this activity. […]
Free Preschool Printables for Winter
Here are some highlights from our early literacy shelf (pictured above) in January: What’s Missing on the Snowman? from A Child’s Place. Scroll down to the “printouts” section near the bottom of the page for this free printable PDF. Snowman Sequencing from Teach It With Class. I Have, Who Has… Winter Words from […]
January- What’s New on the Art Shelves this Winter?
Pinpunching snowflakes and mittens. The mittens can be decorated with little dots or paper-punched snowflakes Pinpunching a snowman and decorating with various items Cutting coffee-filter snowflakes. I like to pre-fold and pre-draw the lines, then paperclip together to help the younger ones manage this work. Older children can be shown how to prepare the […]
Fine Motor Activities For January
Pouring sparkly pom poms Pouring blue rice Pouring blue water using a funnel Spooning gel beads in a snowman dish Spooning sparkly balls into dimpled foam packaging Straight pins into a shaker. I put the shaker in a little winter-y bowl Tweezing and sorting fuze beads Using an eye dropper to add one drop […]