We spent Monday morning welcoming our new friend, Kian, and hanging out in dramatic play. Many of our friends were ready to say “bye bye” with hats on and bags packed, so we put chairs in the area to serve as seating in the airplane. Soon, the plane landed, and we were ready to take on play-dough. Choosing colors and rolling worms was exciting. Later, we spent time outside helping in the garden, and finished up with yoga, which centered on playing with our facial expressions. We went outside once again, to focus on creating a friendship bracelet, made with the goal of giving it away! They seemed excited to make something for a friend.

Tuesday followed with more play-dough. Using tools to cut and shape the play-dough was a goal. In the afternoon, we had yoga on the deck in the beautiful weather. We were surprised to see how focused our kiddos could be in a new setting for yoga. Miss Amelia was thoroughly impressed. Later, we headed outside with the option of water-color painting. Friends from other classes joined us.

Wednesday morning, we did our usual work. We went outside to practice balancing and sharing motorcycles. We played soccer with Zoey’s show-and-tell pink ball. After waking from nap, we had some moments of silence followed by dancing with partners during dance party fun! We talked about “peace” and “togetherness” as we found partners to dance with. We went outside and collaborated on a sand-art mandala, as a part of our practice in quiet and focused fun.

Thursday came around and circle time centered on passing a beautiful crystal around. It’s weight and shinines sparked the curiosity of every one at circle time. We took turns holding and observing it, noting that at our new peace table, we can quietly observe the rocks as we use our words to try to resolve conflicts. Through a demonstration using finger puppets, Ashley showed what it could mean to have an argument, and then go to the peace table in an effort to resolve it through talking. Every one seemed to pay close attention as we talked about talking through problems. We went outside and had the opportunity to pain mandalas with the teachers. After nap, we used mint from the garden to make tea. We each used a glass mug and a pitcher to pour warm water into our cups. We sipped slowly and carefully until it was snack time. Kian came for another visit, and we headed outside to take our hermit crabs out for some “exercise” in the pink pool.

Friday we spent our outside time having a dance party. Then, we brought out boxes to play in, and small pumpkins that we could all paint. They were very proud of their painted pumpkins. In the afternoon, we made peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches. They had a blast tasting the sweet jams that were provided as we attempted to spread the butter and jam onto our bread. And again, they really seemed proud to have made their own sandwiches!

It was a great week at the Sprout!


Love,
Jackie and Ashley

“Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.” 
― Maria Montessori

It was another fabulous week in the Toddler room! This week during circle time, we read books having to do with animals and pets! Friends brought pictures from home of their dogs and cats, and were able to share the pictures with their friends and have them on display on the chalkboard. Friends had a chance to share names and stories of pets they have, pets they know, or even imaginary pet friends. We talked about Little Dragon, our lizard pet that lives in the front room, our fish, and our hermit crabs, Ursula, Mister, and Bruno.  We introduced a hermit crab puzzle and a frog puzzle, as the kids have been interested in exploring all the ways we can get to know our pet friends. We read books about how to care for animals with tails, as well as books about hermit crabs! We also were introduced to some fingerpuppets of animals, which every one was really interested in.

Monday was a special day because we celebrated Jackson’s second birthday! We had a circle time for him, where we arranged a circle of all the months of the year. We sang:

The Earth goes ‘round the sun

The Earth goes ‘round the sun

It takes 12 months to go around

And Jackson turns one…

To the tune of The Farmer in the Dell, with the verse repeated for every year until their age.

We all had a chance to cheer him on as he walked around the circle, and then he had a chance to make a wish and blow out a candle. Afterword, we were all treated to delicious vegan muffins and other goodies.

That afternoon we did artwork and dramatic play, and Mike gave us a frog that he had found outside. Every ones’ interest in the frog prompted us to bring out our stretchy frogs to create an activity out of it. Every one had so much fun playing with the frog dramatically, that we brought more toy frogs out to be used in the dramatic play area.

Tuesday we were busy with work in the morning, and yoga in the afternoon. During yoga we passed a beaded necklace around and took turns investigating the special beads which came from another country. We got to feel the texture of the beads and try on the necklace.  After, we had snack, and Ashley took the time to talk about how to split a tortilla into equal parts. Every one paid close attention as she talked about how to make halves and fourths. When snack was over, we had a chance to give our pets a snack in order to take care of them. Every one had a chance to place a piece of food on the crabs’ “plate” which was a small shell.

Wednesday friends had a chance to help get the garden prepared for plants. Every one had a chance to use shovels, rakes, and their hands to dig and loosen the dirt. We also explored jump ropes on the playground. I took pictures with every one who showed interest in the jump ropes. We practiced jumping or stepping over the rope, and swinging the rope over our heads. It was quite a challenge! In the afternoon, we had a chance to decorate our own hermit crab shell, inspired by the book reading of A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carl. Later that afternoon, our late-stayers had fun using soap, water, and sponges to beautiful our playhouse.

Thursday every one had a very late nap. Once every one got up, we had time to eat snack, and then spend some time on the deck pushing cars around, and letting our pets get some exercise by walking around a kiddie pool full of sand outside. They had fun saying “hello” to the crabs, and watching them come out of their shells whenever a teacher held them up!

I missed Friday, but heard that every one had a blast watching the rain outside, and cooking with Ms. Liz! In the future I will be sure to email every one regarding any days I know I will be missing, but at the last minute didn’t realize I hadn’t saved every one’s email yet! I will let you know next time!

It was an awesome week at the sprout!

Love,

Jackie

It was a wonderful week in the Toddler classroom! Each day during our circle time, we discuss the day of the week, the date, and the weather. We’ve been featuring books that have to do with potties as part of the theme we worked with throughout the week.

Every one has enjoyed their time working in the mornings. Tula gravitates toward quiet reading time, scooping beans, and fitting pipe cleaners into holes in a container. Hunter has been interested in sorting bears by color and counting, as well as using magnets to dress a magnetic doll. Jackson has been interested in observing our hermit crab friends, using magnets, as well as using the car and house puzzle which requires you to sort by size. Olive has been interested in sorting the bears by color, using the pipe cleaners, and identifying magnetic numbers and letters. Kai has been interested in using foam puzzles, and sort by size puzzles, as well as putting batteries in flashlights and observing the crabs. Sophie has been interested in stacking blocks, sorting bears by color, and using knobbed puzzles. Ancel has been interested in stacking blocks, putting batteries in flashlights, and using sort by size and foam puzzles. Noah is really interested in stacking blocks, using magnets, and putting batteries in flashlights. Genevieve has been very interested in pipe cleaners, scooping beans, quiet reading, and dressing the magnetic dolls. Every one gets super busy during work time, and it’s great to see every one learning how to be respectful of their friends (we practice not disturbing others as they “work”), and responsible for their materials (we practice using works carefully, and putting them in their home when we’re done using them).  It’s great to hear the Montessori lingo in use. I’ve heard lines like “I’m working; I need space” and “I clean up my work.”

Every one has also been taking full advantage of our dramatic play and art areas. Friends can independently find paper and markers to use, which they do often. The monkey, knight, and butterfly costumes are in constant rotation. There have been many houses built, many car races, and many babies fed and patted to sleep.  We’ve also been doing lots of awesome outdoor exploration, working our large motor skills by pushing cars, wagons, and wheel barrows around, and bouncing on balls.

Monday and Tuesday afternoon, we did yoga with Miss Amelia, where we had a chance to practice deep breaths, create our own yoga moves, and practice active relaxation. On Wednesday, we explored boxes and building Ikea furniture (it’s fun to turn necessary activities into lessons!). We also explored toilet paper, discussing what it’s typically used for, and practiced how we can tear it apart. We were able to count the squares of toilet paper, and observe and discuss what a square is. On Thursday we designed our own underwear using paint, and on Friday we made cookie dough using a recipe for vegan cookies. It was a fun-filled week full of love and learning.