Veterans Day

It's Veterans Day. Many schools are closed for the day but you can still incorporate Veterans Day in your classroom.  You can adopt a soldier and write letters to him/her. At circle time you can explain why we celebrate Veterans Day. Your art center can be overhauled for the occasion. Make flags, paint with red, white and blue, make necklaces with red, white and blue beads, the possibilities are really endless. If you are in a Montessori classroom, change over your practical life center. All of the work can be changed to red, white and blue. Change your water color, sponges and the like. Maybe your children have family members that are in the military. Invite them in to speak or have a special breakfast to celebrate their service. Enjoy the day, remember why we have Veterans Day and teach your children about our servicemen and servicewomen.

Leaf Rubbing

It's an oldie but a goodie.........
Go outside and take a walk or just go into your yard and find some interesting leaves. I find the easiest way to do this is to then tape the leaf to something. I taped it to a table. Then take some paper and put it over the leaf. Rub gently with a crayon and by magic the leaf appears. It was especially exciting when I used multiple crayons........

art, floor, and table mats.....hmmmmmm what are those?

In a Montessori classroom you will find art, floor and table mats. Sounds strange, I know, but trust me-they are fabulous. For art mats, think about a plastic place mat. Cut it in half. Now you have two art mats. When a child is doing art work at a table in the classroom, they need an art mat. This mat defines their space. This is their space to do their art work. A table mat works the same way. If a child is bringing, for example, a manipulative to the table, they first need to get a table mat. A cloth place mat works really well here. It again, defines the work area of the child. Lastly, floor mats. If a child is doing work on the carpet, he or she needs to get a floor mat first. A very small throw rug that can be rolled up works well. This floor mat defines the workspace of the child. It is a notice to everyone else that this child is working, do not disturb. The other children and adults in the room need to respect this, and walk around the mat. Imagine a classroom of 18 children. Lets say 8 are working at tables and 10 are working on the carpet. Now, imagine those 10 children and their 10 different activities all over the carpet. Kids, puzzles pieces, blocks, and manipulatives all over the place. Now imagine those 10 children, all sitting at their own designated place. They are each working with their own activity, at their own mat.........ahhhhhhh so wonderful, peaceful, and calm. If you haven't seen it before, trust me, it works.......and it's wonderful. If you have multiple children at home these type of mats can be purchased and used in the home as well.

Watch your language

Language, it's an interesting concept and it is quiet complex.  Throw children into the mix and it is even more complex. Babies love that high pitch tone that adults have when talking to them. As babies grow into toddlers and beyond it is time to ditch the high pitch. It is a pet peeve of mine to hear grown adults speak baby talk to a 3 year old. As adults we need to speak to children in an age appropriate manner. Get down to their level, I mean this literally. Don't tower over them. Sit down, squat down, do whatever you have to do and look them in the eye to have a real conversation. Use words that they will understand, do not talk to them like babies or like little adults. They are neither of these things.
If a young child does not know how to express themselves, give them the words to use. For example, two children are fighting over a toy. You may have seen the whole scenario play out but our job as adults is to have these two children work it out. They may need help with the words. Little Emily is crying because another child took her toy and she is standing there crying. You may say to Emily"Why are you upset" Emily stands there and points to the other child. You then may say, "Did Jane take your toy?" Emily nods her head yes. You then say to Emily " Tell Jane that it is not ok to take your toy." Emily does this and so on. You, as the adult, need to teach the children in your care how to communicate. We have to teach them everything else, walking, dressing, why not language also?
Children will look for approval from the adults around them. It is find to say "Good job" every time your child shows you a piece of art they have created or after they build an amazing block structure. However, lets take it to the next level. If a child shows you their latest drawing, they may be looking for your verbal approval. Lets be honest here, you may look at this drawing and think, "I do not know what this is a picture of". Instead of saying "What is this?" (Imagine how crushing that statement could be to the child) , try saying "Tell me about your picture." This puts it back in the hands of the child. He/she may then tell you a fantastic story about their picture. It is their picture after all. Lets say a child shows you their painting hanging on the easel. Instead of "Nice work" try saying "I like the colors that you used". You are still giving a compliment but the ownership is given back to the child. This is a hard habit to get into after years of saying "Good job" but it is well worth it. Try it and see what great conversations begin.......

Halloween/Fall fun for school or home

For me, this is the best time of year. I love the cooler temperatures and the fall colors. The fall season lends itself to many activities for home and the classroom. Please feel free to add your fall activities, lets share our best ideas.
If you have water activities in the classroom or a water table at home-turn that water orange and use fall color sponges to clean it up.
Fill your sensory table with rice or pasta that you have dyed orange. Fill the table with small, age appropriate Halloween items. You can use spider rings, fake leaves and so on. You can also use this same idea with language activities. Still fill the table with rice/pasta, put in a few letters to encourage letter recognition. For example, put in the letter H for Halloween, add objects that being with the letter H.Instant language activity.
Go on a nature walk and find some leaves. Tape one to a clipboard and put a piece of paper over the leaf. Rub away with some crayons in fall colors.
Art activity-Cut off the top of a small pumpkin. Hold it by the stem, dip in paint, then stamp on paper. The possibilities are endless.
Make homemade playdough and use orange food coloring. Add some pumpkin spice too, smells great!
If you are working on counting or one on one correspondence in your math area or at home, break out those Halloween items again and count spiders, pumpkins and the like.
Here is my favorite and it's so simple. Get a basin and fill halfway with water. Add a small pumpkin. Give the children some soap, sponges and towels to dry the now shiny clean pumpkin. Pumpkin washing is always a big hit!
Halloween/fall lends itself to tons of ideas!! Have fun, I can't wait to hear what you come up with.