Other people's children

During last Thursday's parent workshop, the topic of disciplining other people's children came up.  I thought you might find this interesting.

Visit to the Museum

Compassion

If a child in our class is sad, another child will almost always try to cheer that child up, usually by offering a toy, or, if the sad child has a special "lovey" - a doll or a stuffed animal from home - by finding and offering that.

We hear so much about how young children are selfish, it is easy to forget that they are also very compassionate.  It is developmentally appropriate for children to be self-centered, but that does not mean they have no sense of empathy.

Sometimes adults unwittingly discourage children's compassion.  We notice so much more when children take toys from each other.

I don't think our class is unique in that the children show caring behavior at least as often as they fight, but I do hope it means we are doing a good job of NOT training the children out of their natural compassionate caring tendencies.  

Butterflies!

Our butterfly kit has arrived, with 5 tiny baby caterpillars.  It will take about 1-2 weeks for them to form chrysali, and then another week or so for the butterflies to emerge.

5-4-3-2-1

Here are some of the counting down songs we have been singing in class, in case you want to sing them at home.  I couldn't find the exact same versions of the songs that we sing, so some of the words are slightly different.  

Only we sing it a little differently; "Five green and speckled frogs sat on a hollow log..."

All work and no play

You've heard me say it before, and I'll probably say it again.  When children play with toys, dress up in fantasy costumes, build with blocks, or have tea parties with bears, they are doing nothing less than their job as children.  This is why at FPH, and at any Montessori school, the children's activities are referred to as work, not play.  Not that there is anything wrong with the concept of play.  Many of us adults could probably benefit from more time playing, and more time being playful.  But sometimes, when parents talk about children playing, there is an implication that we do not take what they are doing seriously.  We love that they play, we think it is adorable, but it is only play, after all.  

But remember, it is not that children get to play instead of work, it is that they love their job.

Montessori birthday celebration

The New Year presents an opportunity for learning about months and years and the passage of time, and the Montessori birthday ceremony fits in beautifully with this theme.  The birthday ceremony is an essential part of the history and geography curriculum.  In it, the birthday child holds the globe and walks around a sun.  The child makes a revolution for each year of his or her life, so a child turning 3 would walk around three times.  Children who attend Montessori elementary schools continue this tradition.  I once had a middle school student tell me that what she missed most about her Montessori elementary school was the birthday ceremony.