autodidactic

Many of the Montessori materials are auto-didactic which allows the child to appraise and correct their own work so that they may enjoy a sense of accomplishment and gain valuable judging skills.
Self correction and self assessment are an integral part of the Montessori approach.
As they mature, the children may become adept at recognizing, correcting and learning from their experience.


cylinder block from Stefanie Mendoza on Vimeo.

The days of our lives

building structures

dancing scarves

      writing letters on the chalkboard

reading buddies

transferring pompoms with tongs

(cute dance moves in the background)

journal writing

spooning beans, classified cards, squeezing 

a sponge, and play dough

boxes and bottles, lacing wooden buttons,

and felt story board

counting activity, cutting snippets,

and sandpaper letters

drawing, colour tablets, 

and boxes and bottles

Why it's okay not to share

In a Montessori classroom, children are not expected to share the activity they have chosen to work with.  For example, a child chooses Boxes and Bottles from the shelf and takes it to a table. She may use the activity and repeat it as many time as she wants, provided she is using it in a productive way. You will never hear me say "Okay Sally, now let Colin have a turn."
Dr. Montessori believed that children need freedom to explore materials without interruptions.
This repetition helps develop their ability to focus and concentrate and helps one become aware of their abilities. This also protects their right to explore at their own pace.
Occasionally, another child may want to use the same material.  He may choose to wait and watch without interrupting, or he can choose another activity.  The child who waits also develops patience.

I have encouraged some exceptions to the sharing rule with the play dough.  I always make enough dough that each child can have some.  I think that it is important for children to also learn that when we have lots we can share with others who have less.

Here are a couple good reads on the benefits of child-directed sharing.

http://www.heathershumaker.com/blog/2013/09/13/throw-away-your-timer-why-kids-learn-more-when-they-dont-share/

http://www.heathershumaker.com/blog/2013/09/19/child-directed-sharing-what-about-looonnnng-turns/

Class of 2013!

knock knock

This post was made especially for our friend Gus.
We hope this puts a smile on your face.



knock knock from Stefanie Mendoza on Vimeo.

Although the initial purpose of this video was to show our friend that we are thinking about him, which in itself is a valuable lesson, many other skills were developed.   Memorizing the joke, illustrating part of the joke, speaking clearly so the audience can understand the joke, and leaving a pause to give the audience an opportunity to think of the answer. Comedy is hard, but these kids make it look easy! 

Collective Addition

Here are some photos of the 'Collective Addition' activity.
* I took pictures with the same group, from two different times - so the children are not in the same spot on the mat, which may be a bit confusing....  They don't switch spots during one equation, but if they repeat the activity I encourage them to sit in a new spot.

This is usually presented with 3 children.  We set up the activity with three sets of small number cards (ones, tens and hundreds) and one set of large number cards (ones, tens, hundreds and one thousand).
Also on the shelf is our 'bank' of wooden single unit cubes, ten-bars, hundred squares and a one thousand cube.

I place number cards on each child's tray and she or he goes to the bank and gets that amount of wooden blocks.



The children join me at a mat where I help them read their 3 digit number and they place it on the mat.

Then all the wooden blocks are placed in a bowl together.

The child on the farthest right (my left) starts counting all the single units.  When he gets to 10, he takes them to the bank to exchange it for a 10 bar.  He resumes counting the units and gets the large number card that represents how many units are left.  

M4H04452 from Stefanie Mendoza on Vimeo.

The middle child counts the tens in the same way.  And the last child counts the hundreds.
I place the large number cards under the small sets and we read the equation.

This activity gives such a wonderful impression of the nature of addition - two or more numbers coming together to form one larger number.

All the World's a Stage

dance from Stefanie Mendoza on Vimeo

R&W from Stefanie Mendoza on Vimeo.