Just not ready

Well it wasn't as much as it's been in the past, but I still spent a lot of the day breaking C's focus as he fingered things on the shelf. "No, C. You haven't been shown that, you're not ready yet."

And it's true; sometimes the children just aren't ready. It's silly to try and teach a child how to cut out a flower design if they can't yet hold scissors confidently. Or, as was the case today, sewing a button is pretty much impossible to do independently if you can't thread a needle. C has been fondling the small spools of thread on the shelf since practically day one, so I thought I would show him what they were for so he could have some direction.

The oh so tempting spools of thread

Let's just say there were some mixed results. The activity itself is very simple. There's a needle in a pin cushion and a pair of scissors in the small basket. The child brings the basket to the table, then chooses a single spool of thread from the stand. They measure it to the length of the table, cut it with the scissors and then attempt to thread the eye of the needle.

That's basically the whole activity. Once they successfully thread the needle I introduce them to the fact that we will need to knot the thread and demonstrate how, but this is an extension that I don't expect them to master before going on to the next activity. Tying a knot can be really hard to do.

So even though C has some limited patience when I give a presentation I thought this would be simple enough for him to sit through, then try for himself. Needless to say he was very excited when I finally offered to show him the thread. He had a hard time sitting still while I demonstrated how to measure the thread, I finally had to ask him to put his hands in his lap.

The next problem was with the scissors. Now the scissors I have in this activity really don't cut very well, which compounded the problem. C kept trying to use two hands to operate the scissors, so of course the thread kept sliding away since he couldn't grip it. Also, the spool kept getting knocked off the table and he didn't quite understand that if he simply pulled on the thread instead of picking up the spool it just kept unwinding. So pretty soon we had a large tangle of thread on the floor. I wound it back out for him, trying to explain what he needed to do so that didn't happen. Then I tried to help him cut with one hand so the other could hold the thread. He's been doing a lot of cutting with paper, but I haven't paid close attention to his technique to see if this is how he normally cuts, or if the dull scissors were prompting him to try some different techniques.

Finally we got the thread cut and all the extra back on the spool. That's when C finally buckled down and got busy. He spent nearly 15 mins trying to thread that needle. Each time I peeked over at him he'd have a puzzled look on his face as he stared at the uncooperative thread.

Unfortunately the next time I looked his chair was empty and the work was still on the table. I got C headed back to clean up his work when I noticed that the needle was gone. No clue what he did with it. C kept pointing at the pin cushion when I asked where it was, but I could not feel it anywhere inside and got him looking under the table for the needle. We never did find it, and I had him put the work up on my counter to be 'fixed'.

So I'm a little bit torn. It doesn't seem like he was really ready for the presentation. He didn't have the necessary scissor control, or reliability to leave the needle in the pincushion as requested. However he did spend a good chunk of time focused on threading the needle. Hopefully he'll build up the skills to handle the other steps but until that point I'm going to have to give him a hand. This is one of the skills I hope I gain as I get more experience as a teacher; how to better judge if a child is ready for a presentation. Though with them there's always going to be the element of surprise!

We're workin'!

Wow! Only one month in to school and already I had trouble giving presentation because the children where too busy working and I didn't want to interrupt them. That's wonderful!

Ok, ok, so it wasn't all day and it wasn't always everyone, but as the general flow for the day I think I can confidently say that they were all pretty busy. There were a few times when I was busy helping one child or another and someone else would be wandering or need my assistance in some way, but by the time I could get to them they always seemed to have either fixed the problem or chosen a work to do. It was great!

The two C's at the cloth washing stand

C repeated the cloth washing activity I had shown her pretty much perfectly. If you know anything about small children you should have realized by now that sometimes they're spot on with their imitation, but not always. I was so proud of her for remembering all the steps...well and of course for using the lovely stand my parents had built for the classroom.

S meanwhile was actually practicing things, a big accomplishment for her as she normally just observers others and waits for me to give her a new presentation. It seems like the funnel pouring work was entertaining enough to hold her attention.

O and W, my two usual rambunctious ones, were their usual bouncy selves, but both found some things to engage in with for some longer periods. O was very interested in the new clay I put out, one with a more natural color and stiffer consistency than what was on the shelf originally. I think it will be great for all the children to use it, since they need to use more of their hand muscles to manipulate it.

C working with the scissors

The other C in our classroom was also pretty busy today, I still needed to watch and make sure he stuck only to materials had been shown, but luckily when he does take out a work he stays very engaged with it; especially the snipping work with the scissors. He really likes the little origami envelopes to tuck the pieces in once they are cut.

M, is my student who can be so quiet that I'm not always sure what shes' up to. Today I watched her do the pasting over and over until she had three pages covered in little shapes. I think the main reason she stopped was she ran out of good shapes! She put the work away when she was done, but I noticed the table was a bit sticky still and asked her to wipe it up. She absolutely jumped on that task and in less than a minute the table was sparkling! Not too bad for a girl who usually likes to say "I don't want to."

I saw this possibility in the beginning of the year, and I'm really glad we'er getting to that point where they have enough things that interest them to keep busy all morning. Of course I have to be careful not to distract them. Which means I can't read books, sing songs, or play sound games with anyone else. S asked near the end of work time if I would do a sound game with her. I said yes and she barely had time to get the basket of objects before C was rolling out a mat for us to work at, while the other C and M were cleaning up their work as quickly as possible. W wanted to join us right away, and did an ultra fast clean-up when I reminded him about all the split peas he had spilt on to the floor.

Oh well, I guess I can't complain since they did actually clean everything up before coming to join us!

Working, working, everyone is working.

Follow the Child (literally)

As I've said before in this blog, I have such a small class that I don't have an assistant with me. Usually this isn't a huge deal, though of course there's always times where I wish I had another set of eyes and hands to help out. However, a big part of the Montessori experience is having the children learn patience while waiting, and work to solve problems on their own. That's what most of my students experienced today while I was busy shadowing one specific child.

In the beginning of the year I told the children that the three rules of our classroom were: 1) Walk in the school, 2) Return things to the shelf when you're done, 3) Wait to touch something until you've been shown how to use it by the teacher. It's the third one that has been giving C, trouble.  When he doesn't have a work out he's most likely to be found standing at a shelf, fiddling with the materials on it. He's not trying to take them out to try and figure out what they are for, he's just fiddling with them.  Now I know it's pretty natural for the children to be curious about the materials, but this is going a bit beyond that. I've even had to take a few materials out to keep him from playing with the small pieces.

I've given him some mixed reactions when this happens. Usually remind him we don't touch things we haven't been shown how to use and that he needs to wait. If it's a work that he might be able to handle though I will go and ask if he'd like a presentation. Unfortunately there are a few specific things that he keeps fiddling with that are not appropriate for him to learn right now, I know he doesn't have the concentration to use them yet. So I spend much of the time reminding him that he needs to wait, he's not ready yet.

Because it's been such a recurring problem I made it my mission to try and spend all day shadowing C. I put together a special clothespin work to present to him; he LOVES pining up wet cloths on our drying rack and commonly uses up all the clothespins in the basket. I made a point to also show him a pasting activity that he's been trying to use with the watercolor paints. He spilled quite a bit of glue and so spent more time cleaning up then actually pasting, but hopefully knowing how to use the glue applicator will stop him from using it to try and paint with!

Follow me!...though I might not know where I'm going....

All day I watched C, trying to catch him before he tried to take things off the shelf, showing him new materials and suggesting things when he looked a bit lost. It was a tricky balance, trying to let him work independently while keeping such a close watch on him.

We'll see tomorrow if all that shadowing has any effect on his inquisitive fingers. At least it gave me a chance to spend some time connecting with him, and the other children were pretty good about keeping themselves busy. It just might take more time though....hopefully I can keep being patient about it.

I've turned into...my teachers?

When I was in preschool I was only half-day like all my students right now. Up until that point I had basically stayed home with my mom or been taken care of by one of my Aunts. So it was a pretty big deal when, one day, my mom was trying to tell me something and I replied "But Miss Anne said.....!"  My mom said she had to pause for a moment to take in what had just happened. It was a turning point. I had stepped out in to the rest of the world and she wasn't necessarily a part of it.

I hate to say it, but I think I reached that point with one of my students today. C came in with her hair down and slightly messy. Luckily she had a ponytail left over from yesterday and asked if I could put it in for her.

"Do you want a pony on top like you had yesterday, or one in the back like me?" I asked

"Like you!" She burst out, grinning up at me. I couldn't help but laugh a bit as I pulled her hair back into a slightly messy ponytail. Weirdly enough it's easier to put one in my own hair than someone elses! "How's that?"

"Good!" C answered, bouncing around before going off to work.

Now I can't say that mom or dad will notice, but I have a feeling that the words "Teacher Alex said...." can't be too far behind!

Milestones

We had a major milestone in our classroom today- our first visitor!

Our school had a photographer come in to take some pictures for the school website. I had prepared the children the day before a little bit. At our morning meeting I first told them we were going to have a visitor, then before getting ready to go home I had them practice introducing themselves.

Well none of them did introduce themselves, or ask her name (at least that I heard) but they definitely were pretty excited to see her. It was almost like I had done a magic trick. I said that someone would be visiting, and oh my gosh! They did!

Actually M was a bit nervous. She actually began to set her work up at a table and then when the photographer came closer to take a picture of someone else I noticed M kind of circling, watching. I asked if she was a bit nervous and she said yeah so I offered to sit by her while the photographer was there. That was all it took to send her back to her work (she was doing the orange squeezing and really didn't want to stop!).

The photographer was in and out all morning and I did tell M that she could say she didn't want her picture taken if she was too nervous. She actually worked up the courage to say so, though she was still a bit nervous and moreso shouted it across the room when the photographer came back in. But hey, she said what she needed to say.

Other than having one nervous child they all did very well with having a stranger in the room, which is great because we should actually have a lot of visitors to our room and I want them to become so used to this and comfortable in the room that they can keep working as though no one is watching. Not that it'll happen when their parents come to observe I'm sure but I can hope!

Sometimes they just need to be upset

Today was a stressful day for both  me and the children. We had 4 incidents of broken glassware today.

4.

That's a huge number, despite the fact that nearly everything in the classroom is breakable an item actually doing so is pretty rare. I'd say once a week, even in my young classroom. They were all very legitimate accidents; a heavy tray slipping from soapy hands, a slick tray sending a bowl sliding, a wet floor making a child slip and fall. However, I think it really threw the children off, distracting them and making them feel a bit lost and unable to focus on work. I know it made me upset and have a shorter temper. And I'll be honest, it was my actions that made these children upset.

But I feel they were justified (both my actions and the children!), and that's ok. Sometimes people just need to be upset, and learning how to deal with it is a part of growing up.

The first incident happened when C ran across an area where glass had just broken. The children have already been taught that when glass breaks they are supposed to back away until I clean it up. I had just spoken to C, reminding her to stay back until I was done. She seemed to have heard, but just as I scooted a little bit to reach a different spot I saw her dart across the area.

"Stop!" I shouted to her, making her freeze. "C, you just ran across glass, I need you to sit down on this chair right now so I can make sure you don't have any on your shoes." She stared at me with wide eyes and immediately obeyed. She didn't make a peep as I carefully examined the bottoms of her shoes. I knew there probably was not glass there, but really wanted to reinforce the point that what she had done was not ok. After checking I told her once more not to enter that area until I was done. She nodded, obviously upset and made her way over to the library (her usual 'safe' place).

I finished cleaning up the glass and went over to her. C was sobbing quietly, just like I had guessed she might be. I knelt in front of her and apologized for yelling at her, and asked if I had scared her. When she nodded I apologized for that too, then went on to explain that I had done it because I was afraid that she was going to get hurt. I kept it simple and I could see her listening to what I said. At the end I apologized once more for scaring her, then asked if she forgave me. She did.

I can't say I"m proud of making C cry, but it do make for a great learning opportunity. Not just her learning that I was very serious about the glass rule, but that I was also concerned about HER and wanted to help her out.

The second incident involved W. He was part of the little sound game I was doing with two other children. He was already not  very focused and kept interrupting but I thought I would give him a chance to try. As I pulled out the objects I showed them how the small shovel had been glued back together and let them know we needed to be careful with it. When W successfully identified the shovel as starting with the 'sh' sound, I let him take it from the pile, reminding him that it has just been fixed and was fragile. He immediately started grinding it on the mat and, surprise surprise, it broke again.

"Oh no!" he exclaimed, holding it out to me. "It broke," I said and took it from him. "W, I'm going to ask you to leave our sound game. I can't have you touching the objects if you're not listening to the rules." He looked at me in utter shock, he could not believe I would say such a thing.

"I listen!" he insisted. "No, you weren't listening, you  need to find something else to do." He stood up and started bawling in frustration. After a few seconds I let him know he needed to stop as he was distracting the other children. He cried even louder and I escorted him over to a chair and let him know he needed to sit down because his crying was distracting the other children.

He continued to cry and screech, watching me the whole time. Once he tried to come over and tell me he was ready, still crying and yelling. I sent him back, saying that he was still being too loud for our
 group. The other children couldn't stop staring, but I ignored him. Soon enough he pulled himself together though and went and chose a second activity.

Was he really truly upset, or was he just frustrated that I had stuck to what I first said to him? I don't know. What I do know is that when something similar happened later he recovered much quicker from my reinforcement of limits.

So did it hurt him to be upset? Personally I don't think so. What it did was help him learn how to deal with that frustration and anger. Something that's going to happen again in his life...a lot I might even venture to say.

The Importance of precious things

"C why don't you choose which book you'd like me to read and I'll carry our special reading mat." It took a little bit to convince C that one book, not two, was all we needed, but eventually she made a choice and we set out to find a spot on the carpet to read about the day in the life of a police officer.

I don't think I was even 3 pages in before the entire class was gathered around, listening. They had even all put their work back on the shelf before joining us, score! Everyone sat relatively still and quiet as I read. I'm slowly introducing the idea that we don't talk during stories. It's a tricky balance because I do want them to ask questions about what is being read, but at the same time it isn't ok for each of them to interrupt and say they've seen a police officer (especially since when one child says it they ALL feel the need to say it!).

Still though, they really enjoy being read to and were all eager to stick around for a second book. I gave the first book to one child to return and chose another to pick out a new one. Meanwhile C did one of the sweetest things I saw today. She noticed that our little reading mat had gotten a bit rumpled from someones foot and reach out to smooth it back down. When she finished she gave it a little pat and sat back, a smile on her face.

That is why I have made so many things for the classroom. ...ok so I didn't make the reading mat (thanks mom!) but the principle is the same. But it's not just the having of lovely objects that makes the classroom special, it's how the children are introduced to them.

I didn't just take the reading mat out one day and roll it on the floor. No, I carried it slowly and carefully with the children watching. I told them how my mother had made this special mat for our classroom to read books at. I made sure to unroll it with very deliberate motion, smoothing it as I went along. I pointed the little book icon on it to the children, telling them again that it was a special mat for reading. Then, and only then did I gently place the book upon it.

It's not enough just to have these things. If children don't' know that we value things, why should they?

Missing faces

It wasn't the first time a child was missing from my little class, but I think it was the first time the other children noticed. They're just beginning to realize that these other children are going to be with them all the time. They're starting to learn names and occasionally match them to the correct face!

This is something else that differentiates Montessori from most mainstream preschool programs. Though of course some programs have children who seem to be there whenever the place is open (especially in lower income areas), many higher income parents choose to have their children attend preschool only a few days a week. This leads to children coming an going, and a class where the community dynamic changes daily. This is actually one of the reasons I really recommend the Montessori approach to a lot of families. Regardless of where you want your child to be academically most parents can agree that they want their child to have friends and other children they feel comfortable spending time with.

The classroom down the hall was missing six students today. Not only did it make a huge dent in the student to teacher ration (lunch was done almost 10 minutes earlier!) but who was playing with who also shifted. At recess I noticed a few children, drifting lost without their favorite playmate to engage with. Meanwhile others where more adventurous and branched out to newer friends.

It's not that it's something bad, or even necessarily good, it just is and it will be a part of life. These children will cycle through friends their entire life and they're just now starting to realize what that means to them and how they're going to deal with it.

We're not dealing with eternal children here, we're watching adults being formed.

Montessori Sunday: The prepared environment (tour edition!)

I've previously written about the importance of preparing the environment in these posts- http://thepointsofdeparture.blogspot.com/search?q=prepared+environment

This post is slightly different as it really showcases how this may look in the actual execution. Of course every classroom is highly varied based on the furniture and space alloted to the teacher. I'm actually quite curious to see how much my own classroom changes over the course of even just this year!

Introductory shelf, including puzzles, bead stringing,
fruit matching, a lock and key, and lacing activity.
There are also some cleaning things as this shelf is
next to the sink and space where the brooms are hung

Cleaning area, including child sized mop, broom,
dustpan and brush for the table and floor

Sink with soap and towels for washing hands.
Underneath are some cones to mark off wet areas and
some towels for wiping up spills on the floor.

Dish washing stations. There is a tub for soapy water, one for rinsing
and the drying rack in to the right on the sink.
The shelf below has a tray for the dirty dishes (they wash one thing at a time),
extra soap and sponge cloths, as well as two bins for 'clean' dishes
that are used to transport things to the dishwasher at the end of the day.

Food preparation shelf.
The activities with orange apron involve making food.
The upper shelf holds some materials
for arranging flowers and caring for plants

Flower arranging station and dressing frames.
This old desk is taller, allowing the children to stand
while they trim flowers and arrange them in vases.
Currently only a few dressing frames are available,
when the stand is full it will need to be moved so
the children can reach all the frames easily.

Snack area.
Here we have a hutch with all the snack supplies.
Currently the snack is already pre-measured in dixie cups
but as soon as they are more trustworthy the children will dish their own.
The fridge currently hold extra snacks (to keep them from being
contaminated by eager fingers) as well as halved oranges and
slices of lemon for  the food activities.

The drying rack for wet cloths and art work
(please note that I had removed all the extra clothspins at this point,
usually the children use 6 or 7 for each little cloth!)

Our snack table.
The children have a cross stich picture to admire
and can also observe part of the garden from here.
Later in the year This table will be set for two children at a time.

 

Resupply shelf for spills cloths, aprons & oilcloths

Custom built stand for cloth washing (thanks mom and dad!)

Chalkboards and my observation stool.
From this spot I can easily see  most of the classroom to take notes.
There is also a chair for the children to sit by me if they need or want to.

Spoken language shelf.
This shelf is also a work in progress and will grow as the children progress.
Currently sound game objects and sandpaper letters are displayed on top
while spoken language cards, some poetry books and biological activities are below.

Library area
I already gave the children a special presentation
on the treatment of  public library books.
So long as they're respectful we have an endless supply
of great literature from the local library!

Flags with land and water forms.
This stand is actually for the puzzle maps,
but as we will only be using one this year I have re-purposed
them to hold the materials for teaching about
islands, lakes, peninsulas, etc.

Sensorial Shelf 1 (back)
I was so excited to find this little table for the red rods!
The child haven't yet had trouble reaching the cylinder blocks on the top shelf,
even with these other stands in the space, but I'll keep watching.

Sensorial Shelf 1 (front)
This has mainly visual materials, including the two cabinets
for geometric shapes, and botany

Sensorial Shelf 2
This shelf has more of a mix of materials for different senses.
On the shelf behind it (currently turned backwards as the children
aren't ready for the materials yet) holds more geography works.

Practical Life Shelf (water works)
This is the biggest shelf in my room and will probably be rotated
throughout the year. Currently the top has easier exercises like simple pouring.

Sewing Activities
This is one of the few shelves that probably wont' have much rotation.
There is an introductory sewing activity, a needle threading work, button
sewing, and a running stitch work. All can be modified slightly to add difficulty.

Art shelf
This shelf has definitely gotten a lot of use already!
Most of the basic activities will remain out all year,
though they will be changed up by adding different colors,
shapes or textures to work with. 

Polishing shelf
All the montessori polishing activities are here,
as well as a basic folding activity and grace and
courtesy cards.
Sometimes it's where things fit, not where they make sense!

The Peace table
Haven't had to use this yet thankfully!
But eventually it will serve as a quiet space for the children
to meet and talk their problems out.
When they solve it they can ring the bell together.

Student bins
Obviously there's some room to expand here!
On top of this shelf are some objects for polishing,
dusting cloths, our 'sun' for birthday celebrations,
and (a class favorite!) our bead string for counting the days.