Sunnybrook Montessori School

Last November 60 Minutes did a piece on the Yale Baby lab, where they are studying infants and their understanding of justice and morality.  This 13 minute video is an interesting look at early development.  Are baby’s born with an understanding of right and wrong?  Do they have a sense of justice?

super sillies

We read the story We Are All Alike, We Are All Different, and discussed some of the differences and similarities between us.  We talked about eye, hair, and skin color, who the members of our families are, and some of the things we enjoy doing.

Look, I’m balancing!

spindle boxes

smelling jars

number work

Europe

We began to explore Europe this week.  We looked at the world map and found the continent of Europe, then examined the map of Europe and discussed some of the countries.  Some students used the animals of Europe activity to learn about some new and familiar animals.  Several students did the continent map and the map of Europe puzzles.  We also looked at photographs from some of the European countries.

animals of Europe

world map

After reading the story When I Make Silence, the Silence Game was introduced, and we all practiced being as silent as we could.  We will continue to play the silence game throughout the year.

painting

reading

sound work

colors in Spanish

movable alphabet

geometric solids

pouring water

working those finger muscles

gluing with Tammy

scarf dancing to harp music

During music we began to learn about string instruments.  We learned that they make music by plucking, strumming, or bowing.  We examined a lap harp, and named several other familiar string instruments, such as the guitar, violin, harp, cello, and bass.  Several students shared that they have guitars at home, and we are hoping for a volunteer to join us some morning to demonstrate how to play the guitar.  We listened to some very calm harp music, and danced slowly around the carpet with our scarves.

At the art table we made some leaf rubbings, continued to work on family portraits, and did more pastel drawings.

tree block tower

The sensory table was open for the first time this year, with some maple tree blocks.  The students made some tall towers!

artists at work

counting deditos

During Spanish we continued to count, practice colors, and learn about grande (big) and pequeño (small).

grande!

pouring water

Friday students were busy, busy, busy, once again!  They did a conservation of matter experiment for science.  They had one cup of water, which they poured into 8 different containers, and back into the one-cup measure to see if the amount of water remained the same, even though it looked different in each container.  They determined that the height of the water changed based on the width of the container, but it was still one cup of water.

water experiment

They had a lot of fun helping Henrietta chicken read a letter from Lyn and locating different numbers and words, then answering the questions that were asked in the letter.

serving customers at the pizza and slushie shop

Join us for our FINAL Monday play date on Monday, May 5th from 10-11 AM in the Sunnybrook classroom.  All children ages 2-4, their caregivers and siblings are invited to join us.  We will enjoy an activity, a snack, a story and some songs.  We hope to see you there!

Practical Life Fine Motor Work

A Montessori Classroom is divided into several sections, with four main areas: Practical Life, Sensorial, Mathematics, and Language.  Each area provides materials specifically targeted to skill development within that domain.

The Practical Life Area, also known as Everyday Living, focuses on the development of social skills, independence, responsibility, motor skills and control, and self-discipline.  Students receive demonstrations and engage in a variety of activities in six areas:

• Preliminary activities that involve maintenance of the environment, such as putting away a chair, pouring water, and rolling out a mat for work.
• Care of Self activities that involve hygiene and dressing activities, such as zipping, tying, buttoning, and washing hands.
• Care of the Environment activities that involve folding towels, wiping up a spill, using a dustpan and broom, washing tables, and watering plants.
• Grace and Courtesy lessons such as saying please and thank you, getting someone’s attention politely, greeting someone, and proper table manners.
• Fine Motor activities such as transferring items using tongs and tweezers, cutting, lacing and threading, and opening and closing containers.
• Life Skills activities such as setting a table, wrapping a present, cutting a banana, sharpening pencils, and hammering a nail.

The Sensorial Area focuses on learning through the senses, and is a precursor to many math concepts.  Students use materials that differ by size, shape, color, temperature, weight, texture, taste, and smell.

The Mathematics Area engages children on a concrete level so that they are later able to move to the abstract.  They begin to understand concepts such as number, addition, subtraction, fractions, square and cube, and time.

The Language Area addresses the complex process involved in developing spoken language, writing, and reading.  Children practice the development of sound discrimination, visual discrimination, fine motor skills for handwriting, letter recognition, print knowledge, sequencing, vocabulary, comprehension, and many other skills needed to write and read.