Tag Archives: kindergarten

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!

MCA’s Top 10 List for Starting Back to School


Our MCA classrooms are ready to welcome you to the 2019-2020 school year!

It seems like the summer, once again, is passing by in the blink of an eye. And while some folks are eking out the most of their remaining vacation time, many teachers have already made their way back into their classrooms to start preparing for the upcoming school year. Now is actually the perfect time for parents and children to also begin to do some preliminary planning to help ease into the start of school in September. Below are some helpful hints shared by some of our MCA professional staff of things families can do now to build excitement and alleviate any stress about the upcoming school year.

1. For Parents First: Read through your Parent Packet and complete any necessary forms prior to the first day of school.
By now, our MCA families should have received their Parent Packets filled with information about the school year, the calendar, school policies, the Parent Handbook, and much more. Included in the packet are several forms which should be completed and ready to turn into the school office on or before the first day of school. Especially important are the medical forms, which were mailed earlier in the summer and are due back to school by August 26th. The State of New Jersey has very specific requirements about what schools must have on file before any student may enter the school building. Reading through this information and completing the necessary paperwork ahead of time will help parents be prepared for that first day of school.

2. Adjust activities at home.
One of the wonderful things about summer is the opportunity to have some ‘down time’ which often is missing from September through June as children’s days are filled with their time at school, which is often followed by after school enrichment activities, sports, homework, and very little ‘down time’. If the house rules for summer allow for more screen time—television viewing, computer games, etc. —it’s probably a good idea to trim those hours now. Instead, consider initiating a reading time (perfect for when parents are preparing dinner—children can read aloud while you cook or look at books silently nearby until supper’s ready). Or, engage as a family in a few more activities that require more concentration and focus—a large jigsaw puzzle, card games, or even art projects. Helping children return to tasks that need their full attention will help them when they enter or re-enter the classroom.

3. Start easing into a “school day” morning and evening routine.
A few weeks leading up to the first day of school is a good time to begin adjusting your family’s morning wake up times and evening bedtimes, which may have become a bit lax during the summer months. Knowing how early your family needs to get up to get through all of your necessary morning activities makes starting each school day so much easier. From brushing teeth and getting dressed to having a nutritious breakfast and making the morning commute, some families benefit from doing a ‘test run’ a few times to see if they can accomplish their morning rituals and arrive to school on time.

Equally important is establishing a healthy bedtime which ensures your child has adequate sleep for the busy hours spent at school. It’s not always easy to settle down for bed when the sun still hasn’t set in the summer, but even easing into a bedtime routine of listening to soft music or reading a few books in bed helps with this summer to school year transition.

4. Consider creating a family calendar.
One family activity you might consider is to create a school year family calendar. Many dollar stores sell wonderfully large calendars which you can customize with your own important information. After looking through the school calendar, mark important dates on the family calendar. Invite your child to decorate special event days with their own illustrations, or color-code the days of the calendar according to school days and days off from school. As children see some of the exciting activities that await them each month, their excitement about school may grow and override any nervousness they may be feeling about that first day.

5. Visit with friends.
Some of us have the best intentions to reconnect with friends and family during the summer when we think we have more time to get together only to find that we’ve blinked and haven’t had a chance to do so! If your child hasn’t seen neighborhood friends or former classmates over the past few months, now is a nice time to reconnect. If you know some of the children who will be in your child’s class for the upcoming year, having them come together at a local playground might be enough to spark that joy of returning to school to see old friends and make some new ones, too.

6. Attend “Meet the Teachers Day”.
If you’ve created a family school calendar, then you’ve marked the date for “Meet the Teachers Day” already! At MCA, parents and children together visit their new classroom, receive their lists of necessary school supplies, and meet their teachers face-to-face.
Meet the Teachers Day is followed by a “Phase-In” (see your Parent Packet for details), aimed at helping to alleviate any separation anxiety and providing the children with a smooth transition into their new school environment. Meet the Teachers Day is just one part of the orientation to school where the children acclimate both socially and emotionally to being apart from their parents and begin to take part in all aspects of their classroom community. At home, use your child’s teachers’ and classmates names in conversations, and begin to initiate conversations that are related to school.

7. Take your child shopping for school supplies.
Allow your child to get excited about going back to school by bringing him or her with you when you go shopping for any needed supplies or a special first day of school outfit. Giving your child the freedom to pick out his or her backpack and lunch box will also create a sense of ownership around these items, which will inherently point your child in the direction of being responsible for his or her things. Now is also a good time to remember to label all items with your child’s name.

8. And while you’re shopping, consider making a grocery list for lunches!
Sometimes planning for mealtimes is the most stressful part of a busy school or work day. Get a jump start on this and together with your child, create a list of things your child would like to have packed in his or her lunch each day. Creating a one or two week schedule of meals that can rotate may alleviate any of the issues your family may have regarding food. Keep in mind your school’s nut-safe policies, your child’s personal tastes, and what is important for a healthy lunch that will sustain your child for the afternoon.

9. Separate your anxieties about separation from your child’s.
Whether this is your first child heading off to school or your fourth, it is normal for parents to have some hesitation about leaving their children in the care of others. As parents ourselves, we at MCA know the internal struggles of sending our children off to school. We also know that our children will thrive and grow in their school settings, and that our children’s schools are nurturing, safe, and enriching places for our children to be!

In order to assist our children in making a smooth transition, it is important for us, as parents, to put forth a positive attitude and send our children off with a big smile, a brief hug, and assurance that we are looking forward to sharing stories about each of our days when we meet again after school and work. Your positive attitude helps your child sense that you believe he or she will be able to manage the school day just fine, and that positive attitude just might be contagious!

To help you maintain a smile before you say goodbye, take some time to reflect on the successes your child has exhibited in play groups or at other times when you were not right by his or her side. And be confident that should your child need some extra support, the teachers at MCA will help you both through this new transition and with becoming comfortable with a new school routine.

10. Consider starting a new ‘last day of summer vacation’ or ‘first day of school’ family tradition.
Again, using your family calendar, mark something special to do on the day before school starts or for that first day of school. Maybe it’s a special outing to a favorite nature spot, an end of summer ice cream treat, or a family splash in a pool. Or perhaps it’s a first day of school dinner picnic in the park, ride to a favorite bookshop to purchase one new book for bedtime, or an evening walk around the neighborhood in pajamas. Whatever you decide, make it something that will bring about a heightening happy anticipation to the start of school.

We can’t believe that the summer is almost over, but we are anticipating another wonderful school year ahead!! The MCA school calendar is filled with fun activities for everyone, starting with our Welcome Back Coffee. We hope you’ll mark your calendars now for our Parent Workshops and our highly anticipated night with guest speaker Dr. Robert Brooks, author of Raising Resilient Children, which was the featured selection for our MCA Parent Book Club last year. Our teachers are preparing their classrooms, just as your family is preparing for the new school year in your own way. To all of our new and returning MCA families, we look forward to seeing you in September!

Celebrating Montessori Education Week at MCA!

By Alex Chiu

       
A sampling of MCA student projects on display at local libraries for Montessori Education Week

We at The Montessori Children’s Academy celebrate Montessori education each and every day, but for one week out of the year, we join together with schools from around the world to take part in extra special celebrations during a designated Montessori Education Week. This international commemoration of the life and work of Dr. Maria Montessori provides us with additional time to reflect on what makes Montessori education so special and to acknowledge the amazing aspects of this educational philosophy, which we see play out daily in our schools. While Dr. Montessori may have humbly stated that “It is not true that I invented what is called the Montessori Method… I have studied the child; I have taken what the child has given me and expressed it, and that is what is called the Montessori Method”, we must respectfully add that her observations of children and the development of her Montessori materials and philosophy have indeed created a remarkable educational path for children to follow.

For example, we observe how the multi-age classrooms allow children to work and grow together across abilities, levels, and ages, just as family members of varying ages work and grow together at home. We witness the process of discovery, challenge, repetition, determination, and satisfaction as students work on and come to master a spectrum of skills using the unique Montessori materials. We revel in the caring and empathy we see develop within our students as they work together and participate in various charitable endeavors to help those who need help. We take pride in the continuous growth and ongoing successes we see in our students, families, and staff, as we all know that learning never stops, especially when learning is so joyful! As Dr. Montessori herself said, “One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child.” We see the joy in Montessori learning every day in our children’s eyes!

Our Montessori Education Week festivities this year included student presentations of Montessori materials, public library displays of student-created projects, individual classroom lessons on Dr. Montessori’s life and legacy, studies about Italy (Dr. Montessori’s home country and the birthplace of the Montessori Method), and extensions of peace activities, including our annual ‘lighting a candle for peace’ tradition. As our students engage in these experiences, they bolster both their intellectual and interpersonal skills. Students continuously build upon their prior learning, finding new nuances to each subject studied, gaining new strengths, and uncovering new ideas. “Development is a series of rebirths,” said Dr. Montessori, and we delight in watching our students evolve and advance personally and academically as they progress and make discoveries in their Montessori classrooms every day.

Although Montessori Education Week has come to a close, our celebration of Montessori continues on among our vibrant MCA community! We are proud to uphold the incredible traditions of Dr. Maria Montessori and welcome all to come learn more about her enduring philosophy and to see what makes our Montessori schools so special!

“An education capable of saving humanity is no small undertaking; it involves the spiritual development of man, the enhancement of his value as an individual, and the preparation of young people to understand the times in which they live.” ~Maria Montessori

 

Making Sense of It All – The Montessori Sensorial Area


By Alex Chiu

This month, The Montessori Children’s Academy will host the third in its series of Parent Education Workshops on January 9th from 7-8PM at the Short Hills campus. The topic for this upcoming workshop is the Sensorial area of the Montessori classroom, a hallmark of Montessori education. The Sensorial materials were designed by Dr. Montessori as a way for children to be able to explore and then make sense of their environment. Because she believed that sensorial exploration began at birth and that children had a developmental period where they were exceptionally receptive to what they took in through their senses, she created the Sensorial materials.

Dr. Montessori said, “The senses, being explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge. Our apparatus for educating the senses offers the child a key to guide his explorations of the world” (The Absorbent Mind). Each material in the Sensorial area isolates a different sense, and Dr. Montessori categorized her Sensorial materials into eight groupings based on which sense was being used: Visual, Tactile, Baric, Thermic, Auditory, Olfactory, Gustatory, and Stereognostic. The Montessori Sensorial materials help children organize, compare, order, and classify things based on how they look, feel, sound, smell, taste, etc. While this may at the surface appear very simple, a child’s discovery of these various qualities helps to build the foundation for learning in other areas.

For example, when children use the Pink Tower, a centerpiece of the Sensorial area, they can discriminate the size of each pink cube from the smallest to the largest. However, if we take a closer look at the depth of the learning behind this simple work, we can recognize that children are gaining so much more. First, as with most Montessori materials, there is only one Pink Tower, so children must either wait for a turn to use it or learn to use it cooperatively with another classmate. Next, the child must go through a multi-step process to prepare to do the work. A work rug must be unrolled. Then, taking one cube at a time, the child must navigate the classroom from where the Pink Tower is stored to his or her work rug. This takes several trips back and forth, as there are 10 cubes!

Once using the material, the child may arrange the cubes in a variety of formations. Horizontally on the rug, the child can see how the cubes compare in size. Vertically, the child can build the tower. Children can be quite creative as they use these materials, sometimes creating beautiful displays in an endless array of patterns and designs. This promotes not only discovery of the size discrimination, but it also provides an outlet for creativity and artistic expression.
As with all Montessori materials, the work is self-correcting, and the child, through the control of error built into the work, will see whether or not he or she has placed the cubes in correct size order. If a larger cube is place on top of a smaller cube, the tower would not look visually accurate, and in some cases, would topple over because it’s not structurally sound. There’s no need for a teacher to intervene in this work, as the child can see for him or herself whether or not the work was completed correctly.

On an even deeper level, the Pink Tower is an introduction to mathematics. Each tower is made with 10 pink wooden cubes that increase in size from 1cm cubed to 10cm cubed and represents the base 10 number system. From the youngest age of 3, children are exposed to the concrete material that later helps them understand more advanced mathematical concepts. As an early introduction to mathematics that can grow with the child as he or she is ready, it leads the child to move on to the cubing of numbers and cubed roots with the Montessori Golden Bead Material in the Math area in a natural and progressive manner.

Each colorful and beautiful Sensorial material, from the Pink Tower to the Red Rods, the Knobless Cylinders to the Color Tablets, the Trinomial Cube to the Geometric Solids, the Sound Cylinders to the Rough and Smooth Boards, has a plan and a purpose behind its creation. While initially the children may simply be intrigued by the materials because they are attractive and colorful, they eventually are drawn into deeper learning as they investigate the many aspects of each work. Their senses are refined and awakened, and they come to make sense of their world in a much greater way. Again, as Dr. Montessori so cleverly understood, the children’s work with the Sensorial materials indeed “open(s) the way to knowledge”.

December Decision-Making

by Alex Chiu

Although it may feel as though the school year just started (a mere three months ago!), it is already time to consider educational options for the 2019-2020 school year! MCA will be hosting a series of Open Houses for current families to share information about both the Kindergarten and Elementary Programs we offer. Our Open House dates are as follows:

Kindergarten Open Houses:
Short Hills Campus – Tuesday, December 4th from 3:15 – 4:15PM
Morristown Campus – Wednesday, December 5th from 3:15 – 4:15PM
Chatham Campus – Thursday, December 6th from 3:15 – 4:15PM

Elementary Open House:
Short Hills Campus – Thursday, December 13th from 5:30 – 6:30PM

The Kindergarten Year: Completing the Three-Year Cycle
Parents of preschoolers may wonder why their child should continue in Montessori for the Kindergarten year. The Kindergarten year is the third and culminating year in the Montessori three-year cycle. It is what many children aspire to, and once they reach this level, they are proud of their roles as “upperclassmen”.

Here are just some of the benefits of the Montessori Kindergarten year:

1. Full Day Kindergarten. Students participate in their multi-age classroom activities in the morning session. Here they act as mentors and role models while at the same time honing their academic and social skills. The afternoon portion of the Kindergarten day is a time for the Kindergarten peers to come together in a separate environment from the 3-6 classroom. Here they not only continue to expand on their exploration of Montessori materials across the curriculum, but also are introduced to some of the traditional educational materials they might encounter should they move on to a non-Montessori elementary school. This transitional work complements their Montessori curriculum and is still performed at the rate that each child is ready.
2. Kindergarten Specials Classes. In addition to weekly Spanish and Music classes offered to all 3-6 classes, Kindergarten students also participate in Technology, Health, and Physical Education classes. In Technology, students use laptops, iPads, digital cameras, etc. to explore and grow their techno-literacy skills. In their Health and Physical Education classes, students are introduced to healthy habits to carry with them throughout their lives. They learn basic fundamental skills in a variety of sports, with a focus on activity as a fun way of staying fit and living well.
3. Kindergarten Community Connections. MCA Kindergartners are afforded an abundance of enrichment experiences outside of their classrooms. These include special Kindergarten field trips, community service outreach activities, pen pal correspondence with Elementary students and students from around the globe, being special guest readers to younger students, and much more. Students take on greater roles as organizers and leaders of many events throughout the Kindergarten year.
4. Kindergarten Special Events and Graduation. The Kindergarten year includes a variety of special activities geared specifically for our Kindergartners and culminates with a very special graduation celebration honoring the growth the children have made over the course of their three (or more) years in Montessori.

MCA’s Kindergarten Program is an excellent alternative to public or other non-public Kindergarten options. Our full-day Kindergarten provides our students with immeasurable social and emotional benefits in addition to academic rigor. MCA may accept students from other preschool programs to join its Kindergarten classes after a “Kindergarten Interview”, if enrollment space allows. For more information about the benefits of the Kindergarten year, you might enjoy watching this video by the American Montessori Society, Montessori Kindergarten: Empowering & Essential at https://vimeo.com/109029560.

Expanding into MCA’s Elementary and Middle School
MCA’s Elementary Program serves children through the 8th grade and promotes academic excellence, critical thinking, cooperation, and civic responsibility in its students. Our dynamic program focuses on the whole child and is guided by a team of passionate and experienced teachers who attend to the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive needs of each student. Our Elementary teaching team makes learning meaningful and motivates students in their study of the core subject areas of Language, Math, Science, Social Studies, Geography, and Culture. We also nurture our students’ growth in the areas of Technology, Health, Spanish, Physical Education, Music, Theater, Visual Arts, and Peace Education. In addition, MCA Elementary includes lessons and programs that are unique to our school.

Some of the hallmarks of MCA’s Montessori Elementary experience include:

1. Independent learning and individual pacing without ‘grade level’ restrictions. Montessori education understands and respects that every child learns at a different pace. Students move through their academic studies with materials that complement their ability and facilitate their growth. They may work independently or in small groups depending on the task at hand, and students learn collaboration with others and take ownership of their learning.
2. Progressive learning in traditional Montessori curriculum areas with cross-curricular and real world application. Our Montessori Elementary environment includes all traditional Montessori curriculum areas complete with physical manipulatives and learning materials. As lessons progress, relationships are drawn among the curriculum areas, and understanding moves from the concrete to the more complex and abstract. Work is scaled up in terms of difficulty. Collaboration between teachers and peers becomes necessary and “intangible” skills like critical thinking are employed to solve problems and complete projects which often are related to real life applications.
3. Peace Education and “Service Learning” projects. Another intangible, but critically important, part of the Montessori curriculum is its incorporation of Peace Education. Students become involved in their communities in very meaningful ways. From participating in reading clubs with senior citizens to planning and organizing fundraisers to support local charities, our Elementary students share their time and talents in the service of others. Our students not only become positively contributing members of their local communities, but they also become more globally conscious citizens as they learn about the needs of those in faraway communities, as well. Opportunities such as these gift children with a sense of civic responsibility, tolerance, and empathy, traits that are not easily obtainable in a standard academic classroom.

MCA’s Elementary Program promotes the growth and development of our future leaders through a wealth of meaningful academic, social, and community experiences. As Dr. Montessori said, “The Absorbent Mind is indeed a marvelous gift to humanity”, and giving your child the opportunity to complete the three-year Early Childhood Cycle with a Montessori Kindergarten year or to continue in Montessori through the elementary years, is a gift that will be carried with them throughout their educational journey.

If you would like more information about MCA’s Kindergarten or Elementary Programs, please speak with your Campus Director, or join us at one of our Open Houses this month!