Map of South America

Although we have been studying Antarctica, children are always able to work with the puzzle maps we have used in the past. They are located on a special rack. One of the afternoon children decided to 'pin' out each country in South America and assemble a map of her own. She used our special pin punching work to punch around a line representing each country.

This was a big accomplishment for her! She worked very hard and was proud of her work. She now understands where all of the countries in South America are located! This type of work can be done for all of the puzzle maps.

Handling something fragile

One of the lessons we wanted to give is how to hold something fragile. We have fragile items in the classroom and all children can benefit from being shown how to handle such items. As we have been studying birds and have made our own nests, we decided to bring out one of our real nests and demonstrate how to hold something fragile.

We took the nest out, showed the children how to hold their hands and then transferred the nest to their hands.

Today we used a special bell from India. This gave us a chance to not only hold the bell carefully but to also ring it carefully. The children all wanted a turn and were in fact, very careful.

Erasing Work

In the Montessori practical life curriculum we have specific activities that are out for children to work with to increase their skills in many areas. We also must 'follow the child.' This is a crucial part of the Montessori philosophy. There is no erasing work set out for us but we created one as we saw children interested in erasing! We created this work by placing papers with pencil marks, a big eraser on a tray and a big paint brush. The children take the paper, place it on the tray and use the eraser. Once the paper is erased, they take the tray to the trash can and brush the remains away. They can then take the paper home or recycle it. While we have specific skills we focus on in our class, we also feel it is important to comply with what Dr. Montessori said - "always follow the child."

Pumping Water

On our science table this week we put out a simple water pump in a bowl of water. The children were immediately drawn to this and began to experiment. They quickly learned how to move the lever up and down to create water flow.

We discussed how the water is pumped and comes out of the spout. They will be able to interact with this all week.

Birding!

We are continuing our study of birds this week. Today we made more birds nests which will be discussed in a future post. Although we are discussing different characteristics of birds as a whole such as where they live and what they eat, we are also looking and listening to a different bird each day. We are creating a bird book that the children will have at the end of our study. We have a special book that has illustrations of birds and a button to push to hear how they sound. Each day the children look forward to what the bird of the day is and request to push the button to listen to the bird. They look at pictures of the birds and color their own page while listening to the sounds that bird makes.

We have also been "birding" by looking out of the window with the binoculars. This is a popular activity but requires us to initially demonstrate how to use the binoculars.

Our third vertebrate study- birds!

We have already studied two vertebrates: mammals and fish (please see previous posts). We are now on to our third vertebrate: birds! We have so many activities to reinforce the information of the characteristics of birds. Birds have feathers, they lay eggs, most build nests and can fly. We begin this by coloring a book about birds and discussing these features. Along with the bird book, we have small models of birds the children can look at and interact with while coloring their book.

We like to have various art and practical life activities that focus on what we are studying. Here we have bird feather gluing. The children are able to touch and feel the feathers while experiencing a practical activity like gluing.

We also have some sewing cards related to birds. This helps the child practice their sewing skills and adds a point of interest.

What do birds eat??? Some eat seeds and to help understand this concept, we made pinecone bird feeders! We gathered pinecones outside, placed on a tray, spread shortening, rolled in bird seed, attached a pipe cleaner and took home for the birds to enjoy!

Our afternoon children made muffins on Tuesday with sunflower seeds on top. We talked about what birds eat and decided to sprinkle some seeds on the top of our muffins! They also had banana and coconut inside. Yum!

We have many more bird activities coming! Stay tuned! We are working on a real bird experience!

Antarctica - wax resist painting

Another way to help understand Antarctica is by coloring or painting pictures. We decided to use the technique of wax resist.

The child takes a small piece of wax and rubs it over the areas where no paint will go.

Fill up the small pitcher with water to the blue line.

Paint.