School Work Night

On Tuesday night parents gathered at the Montessori school and took on the role of students. The children played teachers and gave us lessons on various learning activities that they tackle on a daily basis. A lot of the learning activities are considered life skills, such as pouring. There are many pouring activities, including one shown here in which Anna transfers liquid from one small cup to another with a ladle. A lot of activities sharpen fine motor skills. Children get to pick what they're going to do each day. In case you couldn't tell, Alexander is observing how oil and water interact one of the pictures. New activities are rotated in regularly, and teachers also pull students aside to work one on one or in small groups on other sorts of lessons. They've been learning a lot about composers lately and have come home telling me all about Beethoven and his hearing loss! Teachers also work one on one with students on more academic activities, as well.

Since mid fall I've been volunteering one morning a week, so I get to observe a lot of what's going on, which I love. Since the beginning of the year I've been working exclusively with kindergarteners on a book they're each writing. They're even going to have a book reading at the end of the year at Border's. How exciting is that! On Tuesday, one especially animated boy was so excited as we talked through exactly how his story would go. With a gigantic smile on his face he said "This is going better than I planned!" His story is about one of his school friends turning into a ghost by a mad scientist. And he and another friend, as well as the police, will somehow swoop down into a forested ghost house to rescue him with special potion.