Sunnybrook Montessori School

What a glorious week!  We spent hours outside each day enjoying the mud and the sunshine.  It looks like our mud holes are starting to dry up, so we will miss them, though I am guessing you won’t!  There sure were some dirty kids the past two weeks. For Monday art we once again attempted to create some flowers for the Fundraiser Breakfast on Saturday, and then throughout the week.  There was not much interest, but lots of little green people had fun cutting and taping strips for shamrock headbands with Sue on St. Patrick’s Day. We arrived on Tuesday to news that the first two mushers had finished the Iditarod.  Dallas Seavey arrived in Nome first, in a record breaking 8 days 11 hours, and his father Mitch took second place 45 minutes later. We learned about Saint Patrick’s Day – who it honors and how it is celebrated.  We talked about leprechauns and how if you catch one, you get to keep his gold.  When we got to school on Thursday, we discovered that a leprechaun had visited our classroom.  We followed his footprints all over the classroom.  During morning meeting we came up with a plan for searching for the gold.  The students decided to split up.  One group went to check out the double doors where the footprints led, and the other group decided to follow the footprints back and check along the trail to see if he had dropped it.  The second group discovered it buried in a bin of paper.  Everyone gathered to help count it and watch it get sorted, then enjoyed eating their 3 chocolate coins. During circle time we did some ribbon dancing to lively music.
Some Books we read:

Dogteam by, Gary Paulsen

St. Patricks Day by, Gail Gibbons

Clever Tom and the Leprechaun by, Linda Shute

Mush! by, Patricia Seibert

Songs we learned:

Michael Finnegan

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt

Down By the Bay

To Ope Their Trunks

The role of genetics vs the role of the environment has long been debated – Nature vs Nurture.  In my opinion, based on experience and research, they both play a role, with nature taking the lead and nurture guiding the nature.  We each are born, not as a blank slate as John Locke theorized, but as individuals with our own inherent temperaments, which we maintain throughout our lives. Each of us possess the 9 temperament traits on a scale from low to high; Intensity, Persistence, Sensitivity, Mood, Perceptiveness, Adaptability, Regularity, Energy, and First Reaction.

Low key, compliant children do not suddenly become energetic and persistent because we “teach” them to, and vice versa.  Different environments influence how traits are expressed and care givers can guide children, but we can not change them.  A child who is slow to warm up (shy) will likely cling to an adult when they enter a classroom setting with many other children buzzing around.  A child who is quick to warm up (outgoing) will dive right in, talking to anyone around.  These basic temperament traits can be molded through guidance (nurture), exposure to many experiences, and conscious work on the part of the individual and guiding adult, but the inherent trait will not be eliminated.

A child who is extremely persistent (also labelled “stubborn”), will dig in her heels and refuse to comply.  These are the infants who cry and will not stop if you set them down.  They are the toddlers who have two hour tantrums over minor issues.  The harder you push, the harder they push back.   Telling them “No” is never an acceptable answer.  As a parent, it is a struggle to make it through the day.  These children may mellow over time, with guidance, but they will become the go-getters who get things done.  They don’t give up.  They work tirelessly to accomplish a goal.

On the other hand, the “easy” children who are extremely compliant, who do anything we ask, may need help finding that persistence when needed.  They may need help learning to work through challenges, make choices and decisions independently, stick up for themselves, and give “no” for an answer.

Each child is a unique individual.  Helping a child understand his own and other’s “nature” will help him to eventually reach Maslow’s highest level of needs – self actualization.  Understanding, appreciating, and tailoring our guidance to each individual is how we, as teachers and parents, do our part – nurturing the nature.

For further information:

The Nine Temperament Traits (brief article)

Child Temperament: How We Start to Become Ourselves | David C Rettew (10:02 video)

How the Nine Temperament Traits Affect Behavior (pdf)

Who Is My Child? Understanding Children’s Temperaments (44 page workbook)

Our ice rink rapidly melted away throughout the week, leaving glorious mud and grass.  The children created a drainage system at the back end of the playground so that all of the rain water and snow and ice melt could flow down the back hill into the field below.  They loved watching the stream they created run through the playground and out under the fence.  They shoveled mud into sleds and hauled it across the playground, creating another giant mud spot.  We played a lot of freeze tag and word tag again.  It was great to be able to run and move, though the mud was almost as slippery as the ice! For Monday art the children began creating flowers for centerpieces on the tables at the Welcome Spring Breakfast fundraiser being held on Saturday, March 19^th.  The rest of the week they used rainbow color paints to create bright colorful works of art. Magnatiles filled the sensory table, resulting in many animal houses, star wars ships, and crazy towers. Dinosaurs were placed in the block area, and the children had a lot of fun playing with them and learning their names.
We intermittently continued construction on our log cabin.  The children very carefully gripped the paper towel and toilet paper rolls between their fingers while hot glue was applied and very carefully attached them to the house, making sure to keep all skin away from the glue.
This week was dedicated to the Iditarod, which started on Saturday, March 5^th, and will last for about 1½ to 2 weeks.  We learned that the Iditarod is held annually in Alaska, and runs from Anchorage to Nome.  There are about 60 dog teams and mushers, and we learned a little bit about some of the lead mushers.  We learned that the Iditarod began in honor of an emergency serum run to bring aid to the people of Nome who were suffering from a Diphtheria outbreak in 1925 and about Togo, the dog who ran the longest leg of the serum run with little rest in harsh conditions.

For Friday science we read the story, How Big is a Foot?  We discussed the difference in foot size and measured each student’s feet.  They were excited to see that some of them had the same length feet.  They were introduced to a ruler, which is a standard length, but we used our own feet to measure different things around the classroom, recognizing that the “measurements” would not be the same due to the differences in the lengths of our feet.  They practiced walking heel to toe to get an accurate measurement, then wrote down their findings on their record sheets. Books we read:

Home by, Carson Ellis

Kiana’s Iditarod by, Shelley Gill and Shannon Cartwright

All Alone by, Kevin Henkes

In My Heart by, Jo Witek

Togo by, Robert J. Blake

How Big is a Foot? by, Rolf Myller

Yertle the Turtle by, Dr. Seuss

Giggle, Giggle, Quack by, Doreen Cronin

New Songs introduced:

Micheal Finnegan

Where is Thumbkin

She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain

As parents and teachers, we want the best for our children, and our natural inclination is to praise them when they do well or accomplish something that we approve of.  We clap when they get the puzzle piece in the correct spot.  We say, “good job” when they zip their jacket.  We exclaim, “What a beautiful picture you made!”  But in doing so are we actually diminishing their internal motivation and personal satisfaction in a job well done and replacing it with a need to please and seek approval?

Research by psychologist Carol Dweck of Stanford University has demonstrated that “Praising talent and ability makes kids afraid of difficulty and it makes them wilt when they have setbacks.”  (For an overview of this research watch this 4:51 minute video).

In a PBS Parents online article titled “The Difference Between Praise and Encouragement,” Author Vicki Hoefle explains the problems with praise and what to do instead:

The Problems with Praise
Praise focuses on:

* perfection rather than progress and improvement

* a right or wrong outcome rather than a meaningful experience

* good or bad decisions rather than the decision-making process

* pride or disappointment rather than acceptance and support

Praise trains children to depend on constant feedback regarding what a “great job” they are doing. This dependency shatters rather than builds a child’s self-esteem.
Praise trains children to inquire, “Do you like it?” “Did I do a good job?” “Are you proud of me?” “Did I do it right?” Children begin to believe that what others think is more important than what they think about their choices, actions, accomplishments and mistakes. Praise jeopardizes the child’s ability to develop their own internal compass to guide the decision-making process.

Praise fractures the relationship between parent and child. Without even realizing it, parents may be using praise as a tool to direct and manipulate the child’s behavior. The message is clear—I approve of you when you … and I do not approve of you when you. … Living with this kind of constant judgment can damage not only the child’s confidence but also the relationship.

So If Not Praise, What?
The remedy to the problem of praise is encouragement. Encouragement can be given at any time, to anyone, in any situation. It is an observation, an acknowledgment, a statement that focuses on effort, improvement or choice, and it helps to promote self-esteem and a sense of well-being, confidence, insight and resilience.

I admit that I still mess up on a daily basis – I catch myself praising, rather than merely saying, “thank you” or asking “How did it feel to accomplish something new?” or just sharing an encouraging smile and not saying anything at all.  I even sometimes question – “Is this praise or encouragement?” because not all the information I have read agrees on exactly what is best to say.  And how detrimental is it to sometimes say, “What a beautiful picture!” when it really is a beautiful picture?  But I will keep thinking about it and trying my best, both for your children and mine!

For more information on the difference between praise and encouragement, click here and here and go ahead and do your own research on the topic.