October in Miss Anne and Miss Cara’s Room

October has come and gone and brought with it warm colors, cooler weather, some rain, and lots of anticipation around Halloween. As we settle in to our classroom routines, we’ve also enjoyed a lot of new Fall themed activities, treats, Holidays, and birthdays.

Some of the children decorated Diya’s (a beautiful clay holder with a tea candle) for Diwali to place around the classroom. While others colored or pin punched designs for Dia de Muertos to get in the spirit of Halloween and “Day of the Dead”.

Pumpkins were painted and pumpkin muffins mixed and tasted. Discussions were had on how leaves change color and why it gets darker this time of year. We proudly learned and recited a poem about the month of October and created motions to go with it. Different varieties of apples were passed around and tasted as well as roasted pumpkin seeds.

After two months of getting settled back in to the classroom, we’ve had more opportunities to delve into deeper work. Maps are arranged on work rugs throughout the room, Bank games are being played in the Math area, chalkboards are filled with letters, and works of matching words and pictures are being paired with a helping friend. Beautiful art work is beginning to appear around the space, creative building ventures are undertaken with the Sensorial materials, and careful design patterns are imitated using the metal insets. In the Montessori classroom, every thing, every “work”, has a purpose – from matching color tablets, to trimming a flower to fit a vase, to the basic tasks of sweeping crumbs off a table. Children learn that when they take care of the materials, they take care of themselves, and when they take care of themselves, they take care of each other.

Each day, each month, and each year is new. Every experience is a beginning that leads to a new layer of understanding. Each new lesson received or activity repeated is a step forward in the learning journey. And, it is a joy for all to witness as we celebrate our successes, large and small.