Still in Europe- England

We had moved on from Holland and studied a bit of England last week.  The children engaged in many activities from coloring and learning about the St. George's cross (the Flag of England) to singing songs from England and making scones and having a tea party at the end of the week. 

The afternoon children made scones and then ate some as a snack.  They were able to practice their spreading skills with butter and jam!  (Sorry, no clotted cream here much to our disappointment!)

Later in the week we decorated hats to wear to the "tea" party.  We used a plastic bowl, punched a hole on either side, cut the middle out of a paper plate and taped them together.  The children decorated then we used white yarn to tie together.  Everyone made a hat and were so excited about wearing them to the party.

We had scones with jam, sliced grapes, tea sandwiches (the children helped to prepare these by spreading the cream cheese on the sandwiches) and lemonade which was our tea.

It was fun to have our tea party on Friday.  We were able to practice our Grace and Courtesy as always during the tea party.  We waited until everyone was served to begin eating or drinking, when asking for more we used please and thank you.  At the end of the party, the children were able to clean up independently.  It was a great week in England! 

"Work"

Why do we call what we do "work" in the classroom?  You may have heard your child talking about their "work" and wondered why these small children are using that word to describe what they do every day.  This article by Ana Amiguet at MariaMontessori.com helps to explain.  http://mariamontessori.com/mm/?p=1982

Dissection of a flower

We brought tulips into the classroom this week as we have been studying Holland.  We then decided to dissect the flower and look at all of it's parts. 

After we dissected the tulip and discussed the various parts, the children were able to match the real parts to the cards.

Some children wanted to make their own Parts of a Flower books.

Moving to Europe

Our final continent of the school year is Europe.  We decided to study the country of Holland or the Netherlands as our first country within Europe.  We were lucky enough to find wooden shoes for the children to try on and walk around a rug. 

We also had many small objects representing Holland such as a tiny ceramic white and blue windmill and figurines of Dutch children. 

We wanted the children to try some of the food associated with Holland.  We always take an opportunity like this to practice a practical life skill. 

Using the cheese cutter they are so familiar with, the children cut Gouda cheese and ate it with crackers.

We then offered a waffle cutting work.  We made waffles and did what the Dutch do, apply whipped cream!

The children were able to practice their cutting skills with a knife and fork.

They ate the waffles!

growing wheat grass

We decided to grow wheat grass with the children as we have been studying seeds and talking a little about the environment.  Wheat grass grows quickly and shows us how we can actually help to grow green plants on our Earth.

We prepare the work in advance.   We have a bowl of potting soil, wheat grass seeds (purchased at Whole Foods), a little pitcher of water, egg containers and a small flag with each child's name.

Two scoops of dirt in each egg cup, put the seeds ON TOP (very important for wheat grass) and then water.

Put flags in. 

Each day the children watered the plants, it is important to soak until they sprout which is in about 3 days. 

By day 5, grass is growing! 

The Environment - Making our own paper and recycled sculptures

As it is Earth Day tomorrow, we introduced the children to a variety of activities which links us to the environment and the natural world.   As children in this period of development (3-6) think more concretely, our environmentalism is shown in real life activities we can do.  Besides putting things in the recycle bin so it won't go into the trash cans, we added new activities this week to show how to reuse materials. 
                                                       Paper making was very popular!

We had extra construction paper (bought from a thrift shop) that was used in another activity.  We had the children rip it into pieces and use those pieces for paper making.  They begin by taking a few pieces of paper and putting them into a bowl.

Add water and blend.  It forms a 'slurry.'

Place two pieces of mesh over a coffee can.  Place another can that has no top or bottom over the top. 

Pour the slurry through the top can and let the water drain through.

Take off the top can.

Take the bottom coffee can away and put on the table.

Place big sponge on top, soak up and then squeeze out (several times) excess water in coffee can.

Put on paper plate to dry.

The result: beautiful paper they made themselves! 

The afternooners decided to make recycled art sculptures.

Things, glue and imagination.

Some of the results- amazing sculptures!

Seeds

Spring has sprung and plants are growing and changing.  In our classroom we feel it is important to allow children to have experiences with the natural world.  Through her observations, Dr. Montessori understood children were drawn to plants.  They have "..an anxious concern for living beings and the satisfaction of this instinct fills them with delight."  (Discovery of the Child, 1967, pg. 71) Our children independently water the living plants each day in our environment.  We decided to show them how these plants come to be, how they grow. 

We decided to sprout beans so the children could see the root and learn the different parts of a seed.

Each child prepared their own seed (a lima bean) and had left them in a plastic bag in the sun for a few days.  One day, they sprouted.

We dissected one seed and showed them the different parts.

After a few more days, we can see the root develop.

Some of the children were interested in the parts of the seed and made their own book.