Tag Archives: kids activities

Outdoor Learning Opportunities

While we all remain safely inside our homes, you may have noticed some significant and beautiful changes happening outdoors. This year, the grass seems greener, the flowering trees fuller, the skies bluer, and the sun brighter. It could be that we have a greater appreciation for these springtime changes given current circumstances, or it could be, as some hypothesize, due to a decrease in pollution as people stay home. Whatever the reason, the outdoors is more welcoming than ever this spring.

We’ve all heard that fresh air is good for us, that the vitamin D that we get from exposure to the sun is important, and that both can boost our immunity in general. Most definitely being outdoors on a sunny spring day can lift our spirits. So, as we continue with our physical distancing and alternative learning, why not integrate learning outdoors into a daily routine? Parents can move some of their children’s school activities to the deck, the driveway, or the backyard. Montessori learning is experiential, and incorporating learning with time spent outside is another great way to promote meaningful, sensorial, and fun at-home learning endeavors.

Without too much effort, you might create your own ‘outdoor classroom’ at home. A blanket spread out on the grass and a book (or audiobook) makes for a lovely afternoon reading experience. Bring along a few furry (stuffed animal) friends for a read-aloud picnic and book club party! Sidewalk chalk on the driveway or front walkway might be a fun way to share uplifting messages to passersby while practicing writing at the same time. Older children might do some journal writing while sitting on the front step.

You might find that many outdoor learning opportunities naturally lend themselves to cross-curricular lessons. Combine science with language by having children dictate or write descriptions of their observations of birds, trees, flowers, or backyard visitors. Invoke an art lesson, as well, by providing your child with a sketchbook and some colored pencils or watercolors to then illustrate some of those same observations.

Certain activities are best suited for outside, such as science experiments, especially if they involve water or potentially messy materials, as cleanup is much easier! Go outside and record the daily temperature, or watch which way shadows are cast at different times throughout the day. Show your child which direction is north and see if he or she can estimate the time by where the shadows fall.

You might generate new interest in math lessons involving counting, addition, subtraction, or other functions by having your child use natural objects such as leaves, rocks, or sticks. Tally how many times a squirrel passes by or how many cars drive past the house. Simply being outside invokes the use of senses, so opportunities for Sensorial lessons abound. Sort items by categories such as rough/smooth or heavy/light, or by color or shape or size. Listen to the surrounding sounds and identify or chart them. How many are made by living things (birds, people) vs. non-living things (cars, doors slamming), and then discuss how would you categorize the sound of the wind?

Also remember to offer time for simple, unstructured free-play outside. With an adult nearby but not involved, children can create entire worlds for themselves using their imaginations and their surroundings. Many ‘old fashioned’ games, as well as outdoor lessons, require very few materials or supplies. By allowing your child to take in the sights, sounds, scents, and textures in nature, you’re sure to see learning unfold naturally.

2020 Goals: A look at how to approach goal setting with your children

How many of you started out 2020 by making a New Year’s Resolution? And be honest… how many of you by now have already discarded all hope of following through on that resolution? After holidays filled with excess (excessive eating, socializing, shopping, and more!), lots of people have grand notions of reigning it all in on New Year’s Day. Losing 25 pounds in a month. Exercising seven days a week. Burning the credit cards (well, maybe not quite that drastic, but you get the picture). We want a fresh start. We aim big. But by aiming too high, we can easily fall flat.

However, that doesn’t have to happen if we make our resolutions a little more realistic and manageable. Lose ten pounds by the start of spring. Add one new exercise routine to your schedule each week for eight weeks. Limit shopping expenditures by a certain amount each month. In order to start fresh, change our behavior, and stick to our goals, we can turn to countless resources to help us along the way—weight loss programs, smoking cessation techniques, fitness centers, and of course, our friends and family. We can read books, search the internet, or ask our friends who’ve reached goals we aspire to for advice, and then set forth on our path towards reaching the goals we’ve set. If we think about it, having a realistic goal feels good. It motivates us to move in a positive direction, gives us focus, and allows us to celebrate our accomplishments.

Children benefit from goal setting, too. Having goals teaches children about planning, perseverance, and positive behavior. It gives them a sense of control and responsibility for their actions and over their learning. Believe it or not, Montessori students, perhaps without knowing it, set and achieve goals almost daily. Many students enter their classrooms knowing exactly what work they want to do that day. Then, they go to the shelf, collect the work, perform the tasks, and voilà! They’ve achieved their goal! Or, a Montessori student might have been inspired by an older student using a certain material in a more advanced way in October, and then spends time observing to learn how it’s done, until one day in the spring, he or she tries it him or herself. Check—another goal met!

Goals can provide inspiration for trying new things or doing things in new ways. And like adults, children do best in their goal setting with some guidance to help them set attainable goals, develop a plan to achieve them, and support and cheer them along the way. Here are just a few ideas for setting goals with your children this year:

1. Explain what goals are. Merriam-Webster defines the word goal as “the end toward which effort is directed”. By this definition, our goals need to answer the questions “What effort do I want to make?” and “Why?” Equally important is considering the answer to the question “By what date (or in what timeframe) do I want to achieve my goal?” Especially for younger children, shorter-term goals may be best in starting to learn the skill of goal setting.

2. Share your own experiences in setting and achieving goals with your child. Having an example to follow is a great tool. Equally important is sharing any obstacles you faced along the way in reaching or falling short of your own goals. Knowing that there may be bumps in the road teaches your child that there will be challenges, but there are ways to work through those challenges with some planning ahead and support from others. Be sure that you share some simple, daily goals you might have. Note, it’s best if your examples show your child a specific goal that includes a timeframe you had for completing it. For example, you might share with your child that your goal for the day is to shovel the snow before the postal worker is due to arrive. A longer-term goal might be to read one chapter of a new book before bedtime every night until the book is finished. Or, maybe you aspire to learn how to make icing flowers for a birthday cake before Grandma’s 80th birthday in March. These examples of small, simple goals are just as important as sharing a larger goal you may have achieved, such as saving money over a period of time to take a special trip or learning a new skill. Both types of goals illustrate how goals are really part of our daily lives and motivate us to get things done!

3. Encourage your child to brainstorm possible goals. During the brainstorming, some of the ideas your child comes up with might be ‘out there’ and outrageous like “I want to fly to the moon!” Allow those to be shared (you never know—your child may aspire to be an astronaut and achieve that goal of flying to the moon in the future!). However, if there are absolutely no realistic goals on the list at the end of the brainstorming session, remind your child about some of your simpler, daily goals and some goals that your child may have already achieved unwittingly (like learning how to ride a two-wheeler or mastering cursive writing). Ask your child, “What is something you’d like to achieve or overcome?” See if they can verbalize some of their aspirations in terms of friendships, strengthening a certain skill, sports participation, or learning something new. And remember, the goal is the child’s goal for him or herself and not your goal for your child (you can have those, too, but for this exercise, we’re teaching children to set and work towards goals for themselves!).

Have your child consider the list and add to it with something reasonable and specific that might be a better option. You might provide some help in determining if the goal is something that your child does have control of, too. For example, a high school student whose goal is to ‘get into Harvard’ can certainly work very hard towards that goal, but ultimately, it’s the college admissions officer who determines whether the student gets in and the fate of the result lies not with the student but with the school. Instead, keep the goal within the framework of what the child can do and control, such as learning to play a song on the ukulele or trying to be less shy and more outgoing at birthday parties.

4. Write down the goal! This could be a fun art project. Write down the goal on poster board and have your child decorate it in any way she or he would like. Then keep the written goal up in a place your child will see it as a reminder of what she or he hopes to achieve. The poster could also be used as a tool for tracking progress (as you’ll see below in number 6)!

5. Make a plan. Some of your children, particularly Kindergartners and Elementary students, may have ‘work plans’ at school. These are used by students and teachers to organize the work children do in school and keep them on track with their progress through different materials and subjects. Similarly, a personal goal can be set up like these school work plans. Knowing what you want to achieve, setting a target date for achieving it, and then filling in the steps needed to work towards the goal are all part of the plan. This all doesn’t have to be written down, but these are important things to discuss with your child. Breaking a goal into smaller steps is helpful. Reaching each step in itself is an accomplishment that helps spur a child on to following through on whatever larger goal she or he has set. 

This is also a good place to have your child consider what the challenges might be in working toward the goal. It might not be easy all the time, but knowing that ahead of time allows your child to prepare for the ‘what ifs’ and the difficult days. Be sure to remind your child that you are there to support him or her along the way. If appropriate, have your child consider who else might serve as a support in working towards the goal—a teacher, grandparent, librarian, or even YouTube tutorial videos? Knowing the resources available can also be part of the plan and pave the way towards success. Some runners training for a marathon use apps on their smartphones that provide training schedules, and they often enlist a running partner to help from becoming sidetracked or discouraged during their months of training leading up to the big day. Help your child think about resources that might help.

6. Celebrate every success along the way! Now, you don’t need to pull out that credit card here (remember the goal of cutting back on purchases?!), but it is important that you and your child acknowledge the successes your child meets on his or her journey towards reaching the goal that has been set. Positive encouragement in simply acknowledging that you’ve seen your child make an effort to work towards his or her goal might be enough! Or, perhaps have your child go back to the poster board with the goal written on it and add new decorations every time he or she has made some progress. This is very different from someone handing out a ‘gold star’. Instead, your child can take a moment to step back and reflect on what she or he has been working at and recognize the positive movement. It becomes an internal reward system of feeling good about what you’ve been doing. Remember those classroom work plans? The celebration is often being able to cross something off of the ‘to do’ list. That in itself is satisfying and rewarding, and it shows that progress has been made. These small celebrations also provide momentum for continuing on towards that end goal.

And once the goal is achieved, your child might celebrate by thinking up the next bigger goal that lies ahead!

For more information on children and goal setting, see these resources which also were used in compiling some of the information for this article:

Borba, Dr. Michele. “How to Teach Kids Goal-Setting and Perseverance”. US News & World Report. December 2017. https://health.usnews.com/wellness/for-parents/articles/2017-12-26/how-to-teach-kids-goal-setting-and-perseverance.

Cullins, Ashley. “4 Steps for Helping Your Child Set Effective Goals (Plus a Bonus Tip)”. Big Life Journal. December 2019. https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/goal-setting-for-kids.

Evitt, Marie Faust. “7 Tips for Teaching Kids How to Set Goals (And Reach Them!)”. Parents Magazine. https://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/style/how-to-teach-kids-perseverance-goal-setting/.

How to Feed Your Child in a Busy World: Advice from a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and MCA Parent

By Karla Gabre, RDN

Every day we are faced with decisions to help build a strong foundation for our children’s future. We make decisions on education, enrichment opportunities, and what technology they are exposed to. We agonize over the choices we have and lay awake wondering if we’ve made the right ones. And often the hardest decision of all? What and how to feed your child! It’s really the first decision we are met with when that little human comes into this world, and we continue to face it every day! Feeding kids is hard work…. even for a Dietitian! I can remember thinking it was going to be a breeze… I mean I had almost 10 years of clinical nutrition experience under my belt when my twins were born. I was used to calculating formulas to feed patients on respirators and making meal plans for newly diagnosed diabetics. How hard could it be to feed these healthy little people? Wow, was I wrong! For me, it wasn’t just the “what” but the “how” that was important. Getting my kids to eat well most of the time in this busy world, but most importantly instilling a good relationship with food that would carry them into adulthood, became a priority for me.

Here are a few tips that I believe are important to help build that strong foundation necessary for healthy relationships around food.

1. Have your children connect with the food that they eat. This might mean you plant a garden together or have a few planted pots of herbs or small vegetables on the back patio or kitchen windowsill. Or maybe you join a CSA or community garden. At the very least, check out some books about food and food sources from your local library and read through them together with your child. It is essential that kids know where their food comes from and that the foods that nourish them come from the earth.

2. Involve your kids in meal planning. After your children learn where food really comes from, get them involved in your family’s meal planning through grocery shopping, prepping, and cooking. Kids as young as three can chop vegetables, peel carrots, and grate cheese. The Montessori philosophy involves children in food prep and serving as part of the Practical Life area of the classroom. Studies show that involving your children in food prep leads to better eating habits long term.

3. Try your best to eat as a family as many nights as possible. Our busy schedules can rob us of precious time sharing a meal. Eating as a family improves eating habits in addition to creating a sacred time and space that your children will start to depend on. Meal time should be a time to share experiences of the day and a time to reconnect. Eating “family style” can also be a great way to empower children to make choices around food. For children that tend to eat selectively, it will give them more control over their meal, as many times this choice can ease the stress for children and increase variety and acceptance.

4. Plan ahead. To get a meal on the table each night takes a little work and some pre- planning. So, whether it’s pulling chicken from the freezer in the morning so that it’s ready to put on the grill or in the oven later or prepping the crock pot the night before, initiating a plan is essential. Busy families may also decide to allocate time to prep or even cook a few large meals ahead of time so that there are meals ready to go in the fridge throughout the week. This food can be packed up for lunches or reheated for a quick meal on a night that meal prep is not possible. A menu pre-planned for the week is also a great way to take the thinking out of the stressful dinnertime hours. Families should work together to create this menu so that everyone’s favorites are incorporated.

5. Be a role model. Having a child makes you take stock in your own behaviors and habits. If your goal is for your child to be a healthy eater (as in eating a variety of foods and trying new foods), make sure you are doing the same! If you have struggled with your relationship with food or body image, this might be a time to take a deeper look into this and work to resolve any issues.

6. Teach mindfulness around food. Breath work and meditation in the Montessori classroom are ways to teach mindfulness and stillness to our children in this fast-paced world. We are a culture of “eating on the run” and this is quickly catching up to us. In the Montessori classroom, children eat together as a community, words of gratitude are said, and children independently choose from their lunch boxes. Talking amongst friends at their lunch table is encouraged. At home, try to make these practices part of your daily routine. In addition, encourage children to “listen to their bodies” for cues of hunger and fullness. It’s important for children to know these feelings in order to develop healthy regulation of food. Many times, when mealtime is rushed or food is eaten “on the go”, it is hard for children to develop these skills and feelings of stress are associated with eating. Meals and snack times should be intentional and joyful experiences for children in order to build a healthy relationship with food.

7. Keep it simple! Strive to make meals and snacks that are balanced and from as many whole foods as possible. Try to “eat the rainbow” to ensure you are providing your children with a variety of essential vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Overall, keep it simple and attainable for YOUR family.

For additional reading on this topic, consider checking out the following resources:

Fearless Feeding – How to Raise Healthy Eaters from High Chair to High School by Jill Castle and Maryann Jacobsen

Ellyn Satter Institute – www.ellynsatterinstitute.org

Falling in Love with Interactive Books

By Shahrooz Aziminia with Alex Chiu

As we cozy ourselves into the autumn season, it’s an especially wonderful time of year to
cuddle up with your child and read a few good books! It’s never too early to begin reading
to your children, and if you haven’t established a family reading routine, it’s certainly not too late! Consider adding a before bedtime, early morning, or Sunday afternoon reading ritual to promote and instill a love of books and reading within your children. Today we’re sharing with you reviews of a few favorite interactive book collections from Mrs. Aziminia’s PM class, as well as a special extension project you might be inspired to do at home!

Happy fall, and happy falling into a love of reading!

The first time we read Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson was as a group. Together we observed the life cycle of an apple tree unfold through beautiful illustrations as we followed the directions on each page. The actions for interacting with the book are simple: tap the tree and a leaf will appear on the next page, or shake the tree and the blossoms fall off the tree on the next page. Children find interactive books both funny and magical. Taking turns completing each action gives the story a theatrical feel as each child acts out his or her part in the story.

In our class, Tap the Magic Tree has become a favorite book that brightens moods, brings children of different ages together, and acts as a springboard for an apple tree lesson! If you would like to view the book in action, there are YouTube videos available on line. Follow link to view the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otnip3-zDus.

At home, you might be interested in checking out Christie Matheson’s book Touch the Brightest Star, a sweet interactive story that’s perfect for bedtime. As for our class, we are looking forward to reading our next Christie Matheson book- Plant the Tiny Seed!



Another dynamic author whose books our class has enjoyed is Herve Tullet. His most famous books are Press Here and Mix it Up! His artsy, interactive books engage the children’s imagination in a humorous way. His books are fun to read aloud and can engage a wide age range of children. They can be read by children of all reading levels, including non-readers. There are no wrong ways to read these books and no limit as to how silly you can get when you do. If you need some ideas on different ways to deliver the interactions, just watch the author on YouTube. He is a master at igniting imaginations and creating a space where everyone can feel welcomed. Follow this link to see Herve Tullet’s presentation at the Library of Congress’ Young Readers Center: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNi-3pvLrGM.

    

So far our class has loved Say Zoop! and I am Blop! In the book Say Zoop!, the reader repeats silly sounds as each dot appears on the page. In I am Blop!, Tullet uses a quatrefoil shape named Blop to tell a story that seems so simple that the children were inspired to create their own. In class, the students set about illustrating their books using Do-A-Dot markers (that mimic Tullet’s signature dot paintings), our quatrefoil and circle Metal Inset shapes, as well as the quatrefoil stamp. This textless book was quick to put together, and the children “read” them to the class afterwards. The simplicity of this project made the creation fun, and the humorous delivery of these authors was nothing short of exhilarating!

 
 

The children are already looking forward to creating new stories soon!

My personal favorite Herve Tullet book is The Trail Game. This fantastic book has the child trace a winding path with his or her finger that leads either to the top of the page or to the bottom. The hand-eye tracking involved is a phenomenal pre-reading exercise and a mesmerizing endeavor. These books appeal to and are appropriate for many age levels, which is very Montessori-like! All of the 2 ½- through 5-year-olds in class were enthralled with these selections.

Tullet has been quoted as saying “A children’s book is a book that is going to be read by an adult and a child. My idea is that the book is in the middle where everyone can play, talk, touch, and so on….” We hope that your family enjoys discovering new favorite books of your own where you can ‘play, talk, and touch’ together to bring the books alive and make reading time together memorable. When you do, please share these special finds with your children’s teachers—we are always looking for treasured titles to add to our list!

Enriching the Day with After School Activities

 

Childhood is a time of discovery. Young children are naturally curious, and they find wonder and joy in many things we, as adults, have come to take for granted. Children often are more open to trying new things, as everything is novel and there are no expectations of perfection. Parents can seize this opportunity to introduce their children to a variety of activities as a way of finding a new hobby, learning new skills, and for the simple enjoyment of recreation.
MCA is fortunate to partner with LEAF Approach to Enrichments, which offers many different after school activities for our MCA students to explore. Program offerings range in topics from sports to STEM, animal worlds to art, karate to yoga, and so much more. There really is something for everyone. Broadening your child’s experiences to things he or she might not normally do at home has some lasting benefits, too.

1. Enrichments might spark a new interest.
While your child might engage in familiar activities at home and on the weekends, trying a new after school activity could open the door to a new passion. As LEAF’s sessions are short, usually seven or eight meetings over the course of two months, children have the opportunity to try out something new without making a huge commitment. However, upon engaging in a new program, your child may find that one thing that really sparks his or her enthusiasm. Then, as a family, you can decide whether to pursue this interest even further.

2. They could lead to new friendships.
The after school activities offered at MCA bring together students from different classrooms depending on who has enrolled. Your child then has the opportunity to enjoy activities with children who might not be in their regular school day program, allowing them to branch out and form new personal connections through their enrichment classes.

3. Enrichments teach new skills.
Our young children are learning every day. They are developing their daily Practical Life skills of self-care, care of the environment, time management, etc. They are also expanding their academic learning and practicing social skills. Enrichments provide yet another avenue to expose children to new things that round out their skill sets. Whether it’s learning the rules of a game, the techniques of cooking, breathing exercises, or how circuits work, children in enrichment classes have the opportunity to widen their net of experiences. Exposure to new ideas and situations in and of itself is a learning opportunity, and when presented in a fun, stress-free environment, the new learning is all that much easier to absorb.

4. Enrichments are fun!
In our busy worlds, many of us forget the importance of doing something just for the sake of enjoyment. Taking time to have fun allows us to break away from the many stressors that can overwhelm us in our daily schedules. It’s important for our mental wellness to attend to our personal well-being, and teaching our children this lesson from an early age may help them to lead more balanced lives going forward. Knowing that work and play are equally valuable is something we could all benefit from remembering (and practicing!).

Registration for LEAF Approach to Enrichments for our MCA students will begin on September 19th and run through October 3rd. All registration is done online through the LEAF website, www.leafenrichment.com. Classes begin the week of October 14th and will run for a total of seven weeks. Note: Class offerings may differ across MCA campuses.