Patience pays off

Well, it's finally happened. The youngest children that stay all day (the ones we call the nappers) can just about do the entire afternoon schedule without us. After about 5 months of practice these 3 year olds can follow a routine that takes an hour and half and contains four big transitions between environments.

They no longer need reminders to wash their hands before lunch, and other than a few sneaky ones remember to eat their protein and vegetable before diving in to that delicious fruit and crackers! L still has some issues with this, she absolutely loves the gluten free pretzels her mom packs and they're often gone before a teacher can even realize that she's say down and started eating! The nappers all know how to pack up their lunch boxes and clean up their table. Without any reminders they put those same lunchboxes away and get dressed to go outdoors.

Here's where most of the trouble is, not because they don't know what to do but because zippers can be tricky. And that darn second mitten! The first one can go on just fine, but how on earth does one put on the second one without a thumb? I think only one of the nappers has actually figured this mystery out, and mainly because she's too impatient to go outside to wait for a teacher to help her, she wants it on NOW.

Anyways, once dressed they know to go out the door to the playground, including opening AND shutting that same door! They have become experts at standing in line to wait and take their boots off, including how to scoot up the line when someone else goes inside. Some still need a reminder about when it is their turn (we only have 2 at a time on the bench to take off boots because of space issues), but our two smallest girls, Q and J, have started to figure out how to watch for a space to open up.

All the nappers have figured out how to get their boots off, even if the elastic of their snow pants gets in the way. I was so proud today to finish getting off my outdoor things, turn around and see three small children already finished and carrying their boots inside. There wasn't even any whining about it being cold in the back hallway, or about wet socks from the puddles of melting snow!

We've recently had a schedule change so the elementary students are eating lunch in the room where our shelves for boots and shoes are. This means that not only do the children need to remember to switch their boots for their inside shoes, but they need to do it surrounded by a crowd of excited and noisy older children. I am happy to say that all the nappers can successfully navigate this hazard with the barest reminder.

They have become such experts that at this point I can simply stand silently in the coat room while they hang up their snow pants and jackets. S and L usually need reminders to tuck their hat and mittens in to the sleeves, but other than that there isn't much for me to do.

Al the children know where they need to line up for the bathroom, and even which games or songs they can do while waiting. E has taken it upon herself to run the games (usually trying to guess which animal the child is thinking of), though I think this is mainly because she wants to be the first one to think of an animal! Each of the nappers remembers to walk quietly to the nap room door, remove their shoes and gently tip them against the wall before entering.

Phew! That's a lot of steps!

Sometimes the kids don't take the most direct line,
but they do get to the final destination eventually!

But hang on, there's more.

Those who don't sleep after an hour know that after they are dismissed by the teacher that they should come and find me, they no longer linger in the hallway looking lost. E, S and J all were awake today and as soon as they finished getting their shoes on came out in to the big room, searching for me to ask if they could help with the cutting I was doing.

For the children who don't sleep, they've learned that waking up after the teacher has gone means they should quietly come out, put back on their shoes and go to the classroom. Today Q woke up about half way through nap and even though she was really upset about missing her socks she managed to get her shoes on and get in the classroom to come and ask for help. O also woke up early, and she has even more to remember since she sleeps in the coat room. Each day she needs to roll up her blanket, put it by the nap room door, and put back the books she looked at. That's quite a few things for sleepy 3 year old to remember!

So yeah, it's a crazy schedule, but it's what we've had them do all year. If there's ever a strong case for consistency this nap routine may be it.

Sometimes there's more chaos than order

Today I stopped a child cutting a table with scissors.

Today I found two children playing hide and seek with the coat room door.

Today I saw a child encouraging another to dunk their snack in the water cup until it splashed.

Today I spotted a child army crawling around the classroom.

Today I noticed two children using a working mat as a boat. (creative but....)

Today I halted a lot of running/skipping/hopping/twirling feet.

Today I caught one falling child (doing one of the above actions)

Today I beheld several colliding children (also doing one of the before mentioned actions)

Today I watched a child fall out of a chair.

Today I observed a child chewing on a pencil.

Today I noticed two children standing on the windowsill.

Today I found the tablecloth underneath the table.

But today I also taught a child how to sew a button, watched another begin taking responsibility for his work, and yet a third child concentrate, oh so carefully, on building a delicate tower.

Sometimes there's more chaos then order

P.S. Can I blame the full moon...or is that cheating?

What's something every school has in common?

Notes on the window for parents

The passing of germs and alerts to prevent pandemics of school-wide proportions. It's the annual chicken-pox alert at school! Ok, so it's probably not quite an annual thing, but I'm sure it's close to that. We've already had reports of lice earlier this year, now chicken pox, as well as the normal coughs and colds that travel around in this season.

We had 8 children out sick today. 8. I think that might be a new record. It felt so quiet in the classroom with that many gone, and I felt almost in the way. One of the reason Montessori classrooms limit the adults in the environment is because we want to step back and let the children work without interference, even if they're not doing something exactly right. Normally in our classroom there are enough real problems (like thread tangling, or lost scissors) that keep us three adults busy enough to not interfere too much and give the children a chance to figure things out on their own.

But today with so many children gone (and I will admit they were some of the ones who require more attention!) it was a different story. I found that I had to force myself to back to the counter and just observe for a bit, recording what lessons each child was practicing. Now I do want to say that normally I really like just taking time to sit on a stool and just observe. However today we had some students from the local university came to observe and as we had four of them in at a time all the stools were taken and I felt slightly awkward just standing at the counter to observe. It's kind of amazing how the smallest things can throw you off. I have to remember that, it's a part of the reason we really try to keep the environment organized and clean for the children. If everything has a place and is in order, one knows what to expect and can focus on other things.

Maybe tomorrow it will be a more normal kind of day and I focus on really observing. There are some children who need new work to do and I'd really like to observe them a bit and see what they're really interested in. It always makes a presentation go better when they're actually engaged and interested!