Toddler ADM: September 2020

Hello Everyone!! 

It is hard to believe that September is over! We first want to introduce you to our classroom, and then you may scroll down further for more information from this past month. For individual shots, we asked the children to remove their masks so we could get a photo of their smiles. 

Toddler ADM Crew

Echo 

Leela

Marky 

Tess 

Ada 

Jonah

Cazi 

Eddie 

Izabel 

Amina 

Luke 

September News

Building Routines

What a wonderful first month of our school year! The children have adjusted quickly and smoothly to their transition into school. They are true to the toddler nature and have been exploring the materials in the environment with great interest. They are working on some of the routines such as taking work off the shelf and bringing it to the table/floor, using a work rug, putting away their work when they are finished, pushing in their chairs when they leave the table, and sitting while eating (“When you eat, you sit). With each day, the children will need less reminders; but for now, they are still working towards mastering the routines of the classroom.

Children under 2 years old will typically need more guidance when it comes to cleaning up their work and returning it to the shelf. When it comes to putting the materials back into a basket, or on the tray we will give simple directions, and repeat them as we do the action. For instance, when putting legos away, we will pick one up and slowly place it into the basket saying, “In the basket.” We will do this for one or two, and then hand the child a lego to have them finish cleaning up their work, still repeating, “In the basket,” as they clean. Sometimes younger toddlers may need an extra step of “hand over hand,” which is you taking their hand(s) to physically guide the action. As Maria Montessori said, “What the hand does, the mind remembers.”

Toddlers as Helpers

Some of the children have absorbed more leadership roles and responsibilities; and with each day they become more excited to help, and are proud of their accomplishments. Some of these jobs include helping children to complete a task, cleaning the work that was left out, assisting with Grace & Courtesy lessons at circle, choosing which books to read or songs to sing, drying up spills, and reminding friends to wear an apron for water work and painting work.

Grace & Courtesy Lessons

Ms. Dominique and I have begun reinforcing the classroom routines through Grace & Courtesy lessons during Circle. What does this look like? Perhaps a Grace & Courtesy lesson for the day would be teaching children to walk up to an adult and tap them when they need help, rather than screaming across the classroom. At Circle we will utilize another adult in the classroom and do a role playing situation. For example, the other day at Circle I was talking to the children about how to ask for help. I provided them with two scenerios, the second one being the answer I wanted. “If I need help from Ms. Anja, should I scream for her ‘Ms. Anja!’ or should I walk over quietly and tap her for help?” The returners and some of the children exclaimed, “Tap her for help!” Also, when we say “Tap for help” we will physically tap our arms to provide them with a visual. Then if a child calls across the room for help with something, we will look at them and tap our arms. This signal often reminds them to walk over to us, and when they do we thank them: “Thank you so much for walking over to me and asking for help.”

Facemasks 

The children have been doing really well with wearing their masks during the day. The one deterrent is that towards the end of the morning some of them become wet from either chewing on them or from runny noses. To keep them feeling successful and safe, we are asking that the children, 2 years and older, have a minimum of four masks (two for the morning and two for the afternoon). 

“Help me to do it myself”

Self care leads the way to independence; and you know, or will soon learn, toddlers want their autonomy. Some ways to help with your child’s growing desire for independence, is to look around your house to see what you can change, to allow your child more freedom to do for themselves.  Here are just a few ideas:

• Have towels down low and accesible (your child can clean his/her own spill)
• Have a small trashcan so your child can throw away trash 
• Have a small dust pan and brush for your child to help clean (or at least explore with it)
• Give your child time to try to do things (put on shoes) before stepping in to help

For more guidance with creating a child friendly environment at home, click here for Ms. Michelle and Ms. Dominique’s Guide To Bringing The Montessori Approach Into Your Home  

Books

Some of the books that have been a hit with the children are Please Baby Please by Spike Lee & Tonya Lewis Lee, The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Don Wood, Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle (a classic), Not A Box by Antoinette Portis, and It Looked Like Spilt Milk  by Charles Green Shaw.

The children have really been enjoying our song books too! Some of the books are Let It Shine by Ashley Bryan, Everything Little Thing by Cedella Marley, and Jenny Jenkins adapted by John Feieraband. Click here for a YouTube video of Jenny Jenkins. 

Songs

Here are some songs that we have been singing each day: 

Halloween Cat

Halloween cat

Halloween cat

Why, oh why, do you meow like that?

Not I nor the moon

Like your tune

Sooooooooo SCAT!

Owls in the Tree

One, two, three

Owls in the tree

One, two, three

You can’t scare me Boo! (clap)

Tiny Tim

I had a little turtle,

I named him Tiny Tim.

I dropped him in the bathtub to see if he could swim.

He drank up all the water!

Glub, glub, glub (pretend to drink water)

He ate up all the soap!

Num, num, num (pretend to eat the soap)

And now he’s sick in bed with a bubble in his throat!

Bubble bubble bubble! Bubble bubble bubble! 

Bubble bubble bubble, bubble bubble, POP! (clap hands together)

Birthday Celebrations

We are excited to celebrated your child’s birthday! For birthdays, we suggest a snack anywhere from cupcakes, cookies, fruit salad, muffins, or donuts, etc. just as long as they are nut free; additionally, we do have an egg allergy in our classroom. For safety purposes we ask that if you bake something to please wrap each item individually and to label the indgredients. Store bought items are preferred as they are packaged, and contain the ingredients. You may choose to decorate a poster board with your child and attach some photos of them throughout their life- as a baby, their first birthday, a family trip, and with family. The choice of how many photos is up to you, you can have 1 photo or many. We hang the poster up for the week so friends can see it. Your child will be able to create a birthday crown and we will have a special birthday circle. During this circle, the child will walk around a candle (not lit) with the globe as we tell a short story of their life. Afterwards, we will sing happy birthday and then the birthday child chooses the songs/books they would like to hear. We will use our school camera and share those photos with you.

Cultural Celebrations

Please us let know about your family’s culture and how you choose to celebrate. We are a community who loves to celebrate each other! We will hold conversations at Circle, read books, make artwork, and sometimes have a tasty treat. This past month we celebrated Ramadan with the children. At Circle we spoke about reflecting on how we are kind to others and how can we help others. We gave the children a few affirmations to consider, like: 

• I am kind when I bump into my friend and ask if they are ok
• I am kind to my friends when I keep my hands on my own body
• I am helpful to my friends when I walk in the classroom

We also spoke about the importance of family and appreciating the love that we have in our lives. We have been sending good thoughts at Circle to our families and the people we love. When this happens, we close our eyes to picture who we are sending our good thoughts to and then we say, “I love you. I hope you are happy and healthy.” We open our eyes and pull the good thoughts out of our heads, and then give them hugs and kisses before coutning to three and throwing them out of the window and to the receiver. 

Ramadan Mubarak!

*Correction: Ramadan is celebrated in the ninth month of the Musilim Lunar calendar, which is in the Spring. We are always learning from our mistakes and growing, and will continue to reflect throughout the year.  

Fire Drill

We practiced our first fire drill on Wednesday, September 30th and it was very successful! At circle we prepared by talking about the importance of fire drills, and why the noise is so loud- if people are sleeping, they need something loud to wake them up and get them to safety. We mentioned that sometimes there are flashing lights and that is because some people have broken ears and cannot hear so well, and the lights help them to see that there is an emergency. When walking in line, everyone must have quiet voices and keep their hands on their sides.

• Important dates coming up:

  • Thursday, October 8th: Toddler ADM Coffee with Ms. Michelle and Ms. Dominique 9:30 am – 10:00 am via Zoom

    • This is a time to meet with us to discuss what has been occuring in the classroom. During this time, we like to present you with one or two pieces of work that the children enjoy, possibly sing Halloween Cat for you, and touch on the importance of setting limits and why they are beneficial to children! We plan on speaking for about 15 minutes and will leave 15 minutes for questions. 

  • Friday, October 9th : Staff Professional Development ALL SCHOOL CLOSED

  • Monday, October 12th: Indigenous People’s Day ALL SCHOOL CLOSED

Thank you so much!!

Ms. Michelle and Ms. Dominique

Enjoy the slideshow from September!