Sunnybrook Montessori School

The wacky weather was at work once again!  We went from snow pants to T-shirts in a few days.  We sure enjoyed the warmer temperatures, and took advantage by spending as much time outside as possible.  There were several construction projects on site, from brick and mortar walls to city skyscrapers.  We were visited by the superheroes Thor, Captain America, The Hulk, and Black Widow, who enjoyed showing off their strength and skills.  There were lots of running games, bike riding, digging, making mud soup, and vampires as well. The Monday students marbled paper for art by squeezing paint drops on water, swirling it, then gently laying their paper on top to print.  They made some truly beautiful pieces.
Timelines were introduced on Tuesday, and many children made season timelines with pictures of winter, spring, summer, and fall. The sensory table was once again busy with lots of children strengthening those fine motor skills and their imaginations building a variety of creations out of Knex.
We continued to discuss seasons and plants.  We pretended to be trees with our feet as roots, our bodies as the trunks/stems, and our arms out as branches with leaves.  We learned that plants, unlike animals, produce their own food using sunlight.  We very gently pulled a spider plant from its’ pot and shook the dirt from the roots so we could examine all of the parts. The ocean theme also continued.  A student brought in her shells and sea stars to share with the class. The children enjoyed some videos with Sue of a puffer fish puffing up when he felt threatened, then deflating when he felt safe, a giant octopus capturing and eating a shark, and an angler fish with his light lure hanging from his head.  They shared what they learned during circle time with all of the other students.
We played some parachute games, including a new one called “Great White Shark,” where everyone keeps their feet very, very still under the parachute, and a great white shark swims around underneath until it “eats” someone by pulling on their feet.  That person then becomes the great white shark and “eats” someone else.  The children were so very careful to keep their feet still to make sure the “shark” was safe in the ocean. On Wednesday we had lots of cooks working together to mix up a batch of pancakes to eat with our maple syrup that we had purchased at the farmer’s market in the fall.  So yummy!
Three fifth birthdays were celebrated this week!  Each birthday child took a turn orbiting the sun five times, while everyone counted, then blowing out the candle after being serenaded with the “Happy Birthday” song.  On Thursday we enjoyed delicious purple frosted cupcakes and gingerbread men.  Friday students ate yummy chocolate or confetti cupcakes. For Friday science, we read about ways that ancient people measured and where an inch originated (the width of a thumb) and foot (the length of a foot), and how the first standard tools of measurement (rulers) were created based on the length of the “ruler’s” (king/emperor) thumb and feet.  We did some BIG measuring.  We took the tape measure outside and used it to measure large objects, including the sand box, balance beam, the fence, the garden, and a sled, and recorded our findings. The books we read:
A Bad Case of Stripes by, David Shannon

A Tree for All Seasons by, Robin Bernard

Seed to Plant by, Kristin Baird Rattini

Pancakes, Pancakes! By, Eric Carle

Oh, No! by, Candace Fleming & Eric Rohmann

Zero by, Kathryn Otashi

The Day the Crayons Quit by, Drew Daywalt & Oliver Jeffers

A Boy and a Bear by, Lori Lite

How Tall, How Short, How Far Away by, David A. Adler

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by, Judi Barrett

New songs introduced:

Phytoplankton (Lyn’s accurate version of a food chain based on the song “Slippery Fish” – really, since when do whales eat sharks!?)

Our version goes: phytoplankton, bivalve mollusk, green crab, octopus, harbor seal, great white shark

Octopus’ Garden

Yellow Submarine

How many times a day do you find yourself saying, “No” or “Don’t” or “Stop it”?

Using positive language is a goal that we strive for daily.  This means that rather than “No” and “Don’t” and “Stop it” we try to make our wording positive.  Positive language not only limits the number of “Nos” and “Don’ts” so that they are more powerful when you truly need them, but gives important teaching information about what is acceptable behavior.

Rather than “stop running” we say, “Please walk in the classroom” or “When we get outside you may run.”

Instead of “Don’t grab” we say, “Ask if you may have a turn when she is finished.”

Rather than “Don’t sit on the table” we say, “You may sit in a chair.”

Instead of “No yelling” we say, “Please speak more quietly, like my voice.”

So when you need to firmly say, “No hitting.  We do not hurt others,” it has more impact and does not get lost amidst all of the “nos” and “don’ts” and “stops.”

It takes a lot of thinking when you first begin, but giving positive teaching information about what behavior is acceptable will help guide your child on her way to understanding everything that she can do, rather than what she can’t.

For those interested in finding out more, there is a lot of information out there if you google Positive Language, but here is a link to a beginning guide for parents: How To Use Positive Language to Improve Your Child’s Behavior

As always, we all continue to work on this, and sometimes we make a mistake.  Fortunately, mistakes are opportunities for learning, and hopefully we will remember the next time!

The first week of spring brought the return of winter weather.  We were a little confused, but made the best of it.  We dressed in our warm gear again, raked and shoveled paths in the snow, and got some wrestling time in with Sue. For Monday art the children learned how paper is made from trees and did some paper recycling of their own.  They ripped up paper into little pieces, then added water and chopped it into paper pulp in the blender.  We poured it out onto screens then the children pushed out the water while trying to flatten it with their hands.  Most of the paper could have used a little more fiber to help hold it together, but we had some cool results. During the week the children used stencils to create pictures.  On Thursday they also did some water color painting on coffee filters. The sensory table was filled with Knex, which required a lot of fine motor skills and became quite the social activity! We were excited to welcome and talk about the season of spring, despite the decidedly non-springish weather.  We read and talked about the late winter/early springtime activity of tapping maple trees to collect sap and boiling it down into syrup.  Those who had tasted sap shared that it is a sweet sugar water drink.

A new box was introduced, which will hold the mystery number of the day.  The children can look inside, count the items, then write their name and the number of items in the box.  They are encouraged to get help from a friend or teacher as needed.  We will open the box every Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday at circle time, count the number of items, and read the written names and numbers.  The goal of this activity is to build community, encourage number recognition, and strengthen name and number writing skills.
Sue introduced some students to scuba diving last week, which led to further exploration this week.  As it is a difficult concept to understand, she showed them some videos, which led to curiosity about whales, sharks, and other ocean life.  She showed some of the students videos of whales and sharks, some alongside scuba divers.  It was a little disconcerting for some of the children to see how large whales are and how close the divers were to them.  Sue pulled out some string to measure the classroom so we could compare the length to that of a blue whale.  They discovered that the classroom is only about 45 feet long, about half the length of a blue whale!  We also discussed why humans need tanks to breath underwater, while sharks don’t, and that whales are mammals like humans, and they need to surface to breath.  The children were excited to create posters about what they learned, which we hung on the wall.
On Thursday we celebrated a fifth birthday with delicious orange and pink cupcakes.  The birthday girl was all smiles as she held the globe to orbit the sun five times, once for each year since she was born.  Happy Birthday, birthday girl!
Friday students continued to learn about measurement.  We read a story about two brothers who find sticks, which they order from shortest to longest, then from thickest to thinnest.  Everyone took a long piece of paper which they used to measure things around the classroom, comparing their lengths. We had a visit from the Easter Bunny, whom everyone was excited to see.  The bunny got lots of hugs, and some theories where discussed about whether it was the real Easter Bunny or not.  Some said yes, while others said that the zipper on the back was an indication that it was not, in fact, the real bunny.
The stories we read:
Earth Cycles by, Michael Ross and Gustav Moore
North Country Spring by, Reeve Lindbergh
But No Elephants by, Jerry Smath
Sap to Syrup by, Inez Snyder
Annie and the Wild Animals by, Jan Brett
Spring (Seasons) by, Sian Smith and Rebecca Rissman
Sugarbush Spring by, Marsha Wilson Chall
A Beginners Guide to Bear Spotting by, Michelle Robinson
A book about sticks and measuring them, but I can’t remember the name

The songs we learned:
Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail
Little Bunny Foo-Foo

Jeanine Fitzgerald, who owns the Fitzgerald Institute in Northboro, Massachusetts, visits the North Country yearly to speak.  She is a leader in working with children, particularly those with challenging behaviors, and she always has new and insightful information to share.  One tip she suggested several years ago, which a friend recently told me about, was to stop telling children, “Just a minute . . . “.

Jeanine suggested that rather than saying “Just a minute . . . ” we give children who are waiting for us real information about when we will be available, because “just a minute” is never just a minute.  Giving them information about when I will be able to listen/help also helps me to follow through and not get redirected.

I never realized how many times a day I say, “Just a minute . . . !”  So lately I have been trying to follow her advice.  It takes some thinking, but I am getting better every day.  Now, instead of “Just a minute . . . ” I say:

“When I am done helping George I will come find you.”

“I will be available to help after I finish introducing this to Sarah.”

“I can listen to you when I have finished my conversation with Lance.”

Try it!  I think you will be amazed by how many times you say “Just a minute . . . ” each day!