A Great Start to the Year!

It’s a whole new classroom this year! September has been a lot of fun, and the children have proven to be resilient and graceful navigating the odd, new requirements of social life and school. The Montessori curriculum teaches us the importance of building independence, making good decisions, adaptation, intuition, responsibility, mindfulness, taking care of one another, and learning new sequences. And so it goes, this September has been one big lesson in Practical Life! 

In just the first month, the children have learned to use their very own work mat and set of tools (instead of pulling them from a shared collection), keeping them organized throughout the work day. It’s already common knowledge in our class that finished work is placed on the “Sanitation Station” to be cleaned before it can be used again. If it is not cleaned, it’s not available, and this is a crucial lesson in patience. Everyone is wearing a mask and independently pulling it up when it happens to slip down. They take it off for snack, lunch, and rest, and sometimes need a little help to put it back on, but asking politely when you need assistance is another lesson in grace and courtesy. 

Of course, September has not all been about transition. The children are already so at home in the classroom and have been busy on all types of work from magnets to pinpunching to fractions to pouring to maps to writing letters! I know you must be eager to get a peek into what we’ve been up to, so here’s a batch of pictures from this transformational first month. Enjoy!