This fall Clare and Sam will both go to the Montessori school that she has been attending.  Clare will be in her “third year” in place of going to traditional kindergarten at the local elementary school and Sam will begin the Montessori Children’s program.  We went back and forth about where to have Clare go to kindergarten, but ultimately she decided to stay at her Montessori school so that she can stay with Sam.  It’s a small school with just two classrooms and Clare will be in one room and Sam will be in the other.  We’ve really liked the school for the small, close-knit community, the loving and thoughtful teachers and the education that Clare’s received.  Sammy is soooo excited to go in the fall and I think his classroom will be a great fit for his personality and interests. 

 Here are a few pictures of Clare’s activities at school (taken by the school).  Montessori has very specific materials and ways of using them to develop certain skills.  I’ll do my best to explain what is happening in the pictures, but some of it will be guessing 🙂

This is Clare and a couple of buddies checking out some Christmas lights in a glass vase.  I’m not sure what the Montessori lesson is, except maybe it’s exploring different lights? 

 In this one Clare is grating soap bars into soap flakes and mixing it with water to “make milk.”  I think they then use the soapy “milk” to wash things, since scrubbing and washing are very big in Montessori classrooms.  Everything that you see has a very specific process behind it – Clare brought over the “soap work”, set it up with the underlays and trays, put on a smock and then did the work.  When she was done she cleaned it all up, put it away in its specific places and wiped up any water and soap spills.  Later in the afternoon it will be a child’s job to wash the smocks and wipe down the tables and chairs. The children are all given quite a bit of responsibility for caring for the classroom.

 

Playing with metal shavings with the magnetic wand.

 

 

Clare is in the middle of the bottom of this picture.  She and a group of friends are listening to a lesson from their teacher. Clare’s teacher is a very sweet, soft-spoken woman who runs a calm and orderly classroom with an incredibly gentle, yet firm, hand.  Clare adores her and has learned quite a bit from her.