Jacaranda Tree Montessori

A Montessori playgroup in Amsterdam for babies, toddlers, preschoolers

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A warm and cosy December

December already! Bring on the cold weather so we can enjoy snuggling up inside with hot drinks, baking and crafting with the kids, and enjoying some twinkling lights on these long dark evenings.

News from the classroom

We’ve been celebrating Sinterklaas in class these last weeks. We baked pepernoten together (recipe below), I added some Sint gluing activities to the craft area, and we all enjoyed singing lots of Sinterklaas songs at circle time.

Sinterklaas - knutselen met dreumes, een stoomboot maken

Pepernoten
It’s never too late to bake pepernoten even if Sinterklaas is now heading back to Spain on his steam boat. So for those of you who would like to try it at home, here is the recipe.

150 g (2/3 cup) butter
135 g (3/4 cup) brown sugar
10 g (2 teaspoons) ’speculaas spices’
250 g (1 1/4 cup) self raising flour
a pinch of salt
4 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 160 °C (320 °F). Cut cold butter in little chunks and knead through sugar, speculaas spices, salt and self raising flour. Add the milk bit by bit until the dough is smooth and supple. Start making little balls (a bit smaller than a marble). Your kids can help with this: if you give them little pieces of the dough, they will love making the little balls! Line the little balls up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and flatten them slightly with your thumb (I make two batches). Bake for about 15 minutes until light brown.

Getting ready for Christmas
We have our little Christmas tree ready in the classroom – it’s about 30cm tall and sits on a table where the children enjoy hanging wooden ornaments. I like how the children like to place lots and lots in one place!

A Montessori Christmas tree

Next week we’ll be adding some festive craft into the mix too. Will be fun.

School holidays
We have one more week of classes before the school holidays commence. Please note the last class before the holiday break will be Friday 19 December. Classes will restart from Monday 5 January.

My new project – The Montessori Notebook

Did you see my news last week? I have just launched a new idea to the world, The Montessori Notebook – where you’ll be able to find all my notes, ideas, and e-courses about the Montessori approach.

I want to help you all bring Montessori into your daily life. Give you ways to better understand your kids. Practical tips you can use at home. Answers to your questions. And in early 2015, I’ll be giving my workshops online so you can follow along at home, wherever you are in the world. I can’t wait to meet you all over there.

Very soon there will also be a website and e-newsletter too.

So if you haven’t already, I would love for you to come over and follow along! The link to the Facebook page is here: http://www.facebook.com/themontessorinotebook.

And, don’t worry, Jacaranda Tree Montessori is not going anywhere. This new idea will just help me to reach more people. I am so excited!

Upcoming workshop

Hey hey hey! It’s this Saturday. Yes, our Festive Craft Extravaganza is nearly here. The morning session is completely booked out, but we have a couple of spaces in the afternoon session from 3pm to 4:30pm if you would still like to join us. Follow the registration link here: http://www.jacarandatreemontessori.nl/shop/festive-craft-extravaganza-afternoon/.

We are going to be decorating cookies and making beautiful decorations for your house. Plus you can make wrapping paper, take some fun festive photos, and of course there will be singing too! Looking forward to it.

Christmas cookies

Getting ready for a Montessori Christmas

1. Blog post
I had a plan. I was going to get all my Christmas shopping done by 30 November. Wrapped and ready to go. And a homemade advent calendar. You can read the blog post here: http://www.jacarandatreemontessori.nl/2014/11/13/getting-ready-montessori-christmas/. There are also lots of Montessori gift ideas too if you are still looking for ideas.

Well the plan was good, has been moderately successful, but better than last year in any case. A box of presents has been shipped off to my nieces and nephews in Australia, most of the Christmas shopping is done or ordered online. But wrapped and ready it aint. There’s always next year!

2. More Montessori Christmas ideas
And if you are looking for some activities to set up in the home, you should check out “A Merry Montessori Christmas” by Aubrey Hargis. Aubrey is a fellow Montessori blogger and has put together over 20 Montessori Christmas activities. You’ll see she even has a version of decorating a small Christmas tree, just like we do each year in our classroom :). It’s US$4,99 to download – I am not an affiliate but just think it is a fun selection of activities for kids from 2 to 6 years old.

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Guest blog post

And if you still have time for one more thing, I’m very honoured to have my blog post about visiting museums with young children featured on The Montessori Bloggers Network. If you missed it before, it’s got lots of fun ideas for making trips to museums interesting for your kids. Follow the link here: http://montessoribloggersnetwork.com/making-museum-trips-fun-young-children/. Yes, that is a cute photo of my kids at the Art Gallery in Sydney aged nearly 2 years and the other just a few months old. I love that shot.

visiting museum with young children
I’ll see many of you in class this week and next. But as this is the last post of the year, I’m sending you all much love for the festive season and look forward to catching up in 2015. Miss you already!

I’m looking forward to a cosy break in Amsterdam. I’ve a list of festive things I want to do like visiting Intratuin to see the Christmas displays, snuggling up with my kids, drinking lots of hot chocolate, and baking lots of cookies!

Have yourselves a great one…

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All the latest news including why I’m reading about introversion

How are you? Wow. It’s really Autumn now in Amsterdam. The clocks have changed and herfstvakantie has already been and gone!

You won’t believe where we went. Normally in the herfstvakantie, we like snuggling up at home with lots of pyjama days and a few low-key outings with friends. So imagine my surprise when my parents announced that they would like to send the kids and I to Africa for a 5-day safari to celebrate my approaching 40th birthday later this year. A-f-r-i-c-a!

Have you been to Africa? What an amazing place. There is such an energy to the place: inspiring, calming and breathtaking. And now, it’s quite surreal to be back cycling through Amsterdam to classes as usual. I’m carrying around all the positive vibes I received from my trip and bringing them to the children in class :).

africa

 

In this post I’d like to share with you a book I just finished and some guest blog posts that I wrote. Hope you enjoy them.

Book review
“Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking”, by Susan Cain

 

quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking review

 

 

This book had been on my radar since I heard a radio interview with Susan Cain about a year ago. And after receiving a copy at Christmas I’ve been picking it up here and there when time allowed.

The book opens with an analysis of why you are expected to be extroverted in today’s society. There is such a strong bias in this direction. Characteristics such as assertiveness, charisma, gregariousness and social dominance almost reflect a superior type of person.

Maybe it’s not you that has introverted tendencies, but your child. People want your child to be confident and chatty. And if they are not, they receive the label “shy”.

So it was such a revelation to read this book and think “a-ha, it’s because I’m (or my child is) an introvert!”.

I recognise myself a lot in this book. How I need quite a lot of alone time to decompress from busy social events, why at social events I’d rather just chat to one or two people than “circulate”, and why I love working with parents and children and also enjoy the quiet time in between classes to get ready for the next group.

The book looks at the biology behind introversion and extroversion, and how your environment affects who we become.

And I like the chapter on introverted kids and how schools should start to recognise that group participation and open-plan classrooms don’t work for every kid.

I talked about the book with my kids. And last weekend when I asked my 12-year old daughter if she wanted to do something together, she replied, “No thanks mum. I think I’ll have some introverted time to myself”. So cool that she is becoming so self aware at her age.

I must admit that I didn’t find it the easiest book to read and introversion/extroversion is just one personality trait that makes up who we are. But I would definitely suggest starting with her TED talk and plunge deeper into the book when time allows.

Guest blog posts

A tour of a toddler classroom in Amsterdam

Montessori-Toddler-Classroom-Tour-in-Amsterdam

Recognise this classroom? Yes, it’s Jacaranda Tree Montessori!

We are featured in a guest blog post over at Trillium Montessori with a tour of our classroom. Check it out here: http://trilliummontessori.org/montessori-toddler-classroom-amsterdam/

Some of my favourite Usborne books

There are some lovely Usborne books for young children and I was asked to pick my favourites for Buy English Books. Click here to see the results!

usborne

News from the Classroom

Next week is the last week of this course. So I am busy working my way down the waitlist to fill the last spaces for the new classes which start from 10 November.

Crafting fun

toddler crafts for halloween

 

A great idea from one of the mums! We had a great time making bats in class this week getting ready for Halloween.

Upcoming workshops

First aid workshop for parents in English
This Saturday 9:30am – 3:30pm (now full)

Introduction to Montessori
Thursday 13 November, 8pm – 9:30pm
A free introduction to the Montessori approach including:
1. How Montessori works
2. A tour of our classroom
3. Demonstrations of how to work with the Montessori materials
4. Montessori primary schools in Amsterdam
5. Some quick tips for setting up your home
If you would like to join us, you can reply to this email.

I hope you all have a fun Halloween. And we’ll be getting ready for Sint Maarten from next week :).

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Hunting for Montessori materials for home

What a busy couple of weeks. My youngest has just turned 12. So we have been busy celebrating as well as applying for a high school(!). It isn’t just a cliche when they say how time flies. I still have such vivid memories of holding her in my arms and her gorgeous giggle. Well, I can still enjoy the latter at least ;)

I hope you have all had a great week. Today’s post is a guide to where to find some bits and pieces to set up some fun Montessori inspired activities for your child. I spend a lot of time hunting for activities, baskets, jugs, and materials that are just right for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. So I hope these pointers help you in locating some treasures for home.

If there are any other items from class that I have not specifically covered, jump over to our Facebook page and I’ll see if I can find a source for you.

hunting for Montessori materials for home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hunting for Montessori materials for home

1. Activities
To find a wide selection of wooden puzzles, sorting, stacking, posting, threading activities and musical instruments, you can’t go past the wooden toy shops here in Amsterdam. I drop past these stores frequently and the stock is always changing: http://www.jacarandatreemontessori.nl/our-favourite-toy-shops-in-amsterdam/

Our favourite coin box can be found at stationery shops like Gebroeder Winter or specialist lock shops.

Another activity that is easy to set up at home is a basket full of purses with hidden treasures inside. To find such purses, take a look down at the Albert Cuypmarkt or in Ta Hwa Oriental Art & Gifts (Singel 514). And I find those little treasures hidden inside often on key rings at Blokker and just remove the keyring.

I also love Schleich animals – they are more expensive but great for gifts from doting grandparents. These are available at Intertoys or good wooden toy shops.

2. Craft supplies

For small scissors, painting supplies, Staedtler 3-in1 woody pencils and water colour paints, I love:

* Knutsel & Frutsel – Hoofddorpweg 19-21
* V&D – Kalverstraat
* Gebroeder Winter – various locations
* De Vlieger, near Muntplein

For paper and paint brushes in various sizes, I visit Action, Hema or Van Beek Art Supplies.

3. Baskets & Trays

Baskets and trays are perfect for organising the activities on your shelves at home. Again you will need to drop by a few shops to get a good selection but I often have success at Hema, Action, Xenos, Zara home, or Blokker.

4. Snack area

It can be fun to set up a cupboard for your child to help themselves at mealtime, for example, with their own bowl, plate, cutlery and glasses.

Some suggestions:
* I find the small Duralex glasses at Hema or Blokker
* You can find nice enamel bowls at De Emaillekeizer off the Albert Cuypstraat or small metal bowls at Ikea
* Handmitts are handy to have at the ready, available at Hema and Ikea
* You can also find cute tin boxes for crackers at Ikea or Xenos

5. Cleaning

You can also include small cleaning items in your kitchen area, for example, a mop, broom or dustpan with brush. You can generally find these at good wooden toy shops.

6. Furniture

A small table and chair creates a lovely space for your child to sit at with an activity or to eat a snack. Most of ours are from Ikea but we have cut 10cm off the legs.

There is also a detailed post of my Ikea picks here.

Happy hunting all!

I found that once I had small children in the house, I never looked at things in shops quite the same. I still find myself picking up random objects and seeing if their little hands will be able to manage the clasps, locks, etc. I hope I have inspired you a little too in your hunt for some fun materials for your home. 

Do let me know where you have found your favourite Montessori-inspired activities over on our Facebook page. Or let me know what you are looking for and hopefully someone will be able to help you.