Lovely to see you all in class again this week.

Hope you all had a wonderful restorative holiday. Here is a photo from our family holiday in Wales with my husband’s family (out adventuring at a castle on the only day without rain!)

 

And don’t forget the first Coffee & Cake Discussion Group this Tuesday 15 January at 8pm. See the details here.

We had a wonderful day yesterday with 20 families busy crafting, knutseling, baking and getting into the festive spirit with a song or two. Thank you everyone who came along. It was such a nice atmosphere with you all.

A big thank you to Monika from Popolop for creating a storm :: beautiful slingers, glitter madness, and other fun paper crafts. Psst…if you like anything in her shop, you can save on shipping by arranging pickup from Jacaranda Tree Montessori. Those dolls would make the perfect gift for under the tree, so be quick. Don’t forget to email her to save the shipping.

For those wanting to eat more of those delicious cookies, here is the recipe:
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
100g butter
1 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup (or stroop)
1 egg, beaten
1. Grease 3 baking sheets
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and ginger into a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in the sugar. Beat the syrup into the egg and stir into the bowl. Sing merrily while doing this step.
3. Mix to form a dough and knead until smooth.
4. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 5mm thick. Cut out figures and place on baking sheets.
5. Bake in oven at 190 degrees C for 12-15 minutes until golden. Cool slightly, then place on a wire rack.

Yum!

Monika will be back at Jacaranda Tree Montessori soon to run special craft workshops for us. I will keep you posted with details soon.

 

A common question from parents is how to teach their child to stand up for themselves, for example, if your child is pushed or someone always takes their toy.

Here I like to pass on the advice from my children’s first preschool teacher.

1. Use body language

Show them how they can put their hands on their hips. Using strong body language is particularly useful for children who are smaller than their peers.

2. Use words

Even if your child is pre-verbal, you can model the words they can use. In our family we use, “Stop I don’t like that” or “ik vind dat niet leuk”. If it involves a toy, I taught my children to say, “it will be available soon”.

You can also recognise and validate your child’s feelings. You can say, “you didn’t like that when he pushed you” or “it can be upsetting to be pushed huh?” or “I bet you are cross that they took that toy”.

By using this response regularly, your child will learn that they can stand up for themselves and use their words to solve problems.

If your child is the one that pushed, took the toy etc

See the situation through your child’s eyes. They are upset because they were worried someone was going to take what they were using, or they wanted to play with another child and his way of telling him was to push them.

1. Begin by empathising with them, for example, “you really wanted that toy”

2. Remind them to use their words, for example, “use your words. Ask, “can I have a turn please?”” or “did you want to say hello?” or “my turn. it will be available soon”

3. If they continue to push etc, then remove them from the situation and tell them they can return when they are ready to be gentle with the other children.

“The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.”  – Dr Maria Montessori

One of the things that distinguishes Montessori from more classical educational approaches is the way children are encouraged to learn by touching, feeling and doing. In traditional learning environments, children sit at desks and listen to a teacher. In contrast, Montessori children are encouraged to move around the classroom and engage with the wide variety of activities available. They choose the activity they would like to work on, bring it to a table or mat, explore the materials and make discoveries for themselves.

Perhaps someone has shown you how to program a DVD player. It is generally easier to remember the steps if you have the opportunity to try it yourself.

Similarly when children work with their hands, they gain a very concrete understanding of the materials. When we can show children and let them touch and explore, they will make many more neural connections. And later, more abstract learning will naturally evolve from the concrete experiences they have had.

Applying this concept in the classroom:
In our playgroup, we have many materials where the children first learn through touching and exploring with their hands. In the baby classes for example, the vocabulary baskets are filled with objects the babies explore with their hands and mouth. In the toddler and preschooler classes, we then begin the abstraction process, matching the objects to picture cards.

In a Montessori primary school, children will learn about numbers first by manipulating rods, bead chains, sandpaper numbers and more. Then when they move into upper primary, they will learn to do these sums in an abstract manner straight onto paper. This process scaffolds skills, moving from concrete to abstract concepts. In a similar way, when learning to read, the children first touch, feel, and hear the letters whilst working with materials such as the sandpaper letters and moveable alphabet. Later they move onto writing and reading.

When manipulating materials with our hands, you also make use of your motoric memory. This again enriches the learning process. And it can be much more interesting and valuable to make discoveries for yourself than to be simply told what you need to know.

Applying this concept at home:
At home, it is also nice to allow your child to explore. For young babies, provide rich sensorial experiences and objects to touch and explore; and for toddlers and preschoolers, the children love to work alongside you in your daily life, for example, sweeping, cleaning and washing up.

Actions also speak louder than words with young children. So it is often easier to show a toddler, than explain; often easier to work alongside, than give instructions from afar; and more fun to explore the world together.

What do you think? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts – for example, do you prefer to learn in a hands-on way, or more passively? Let us know on our Facebook page.