The first few weeks of school can be such a whirlwind! New students are joining our community; old friends return. There is a lot of adjusting that needs to be done before the classroom can run smoothly. As a result we spend much of the first weeks (and even months!) reviewing procedures, expectations and rules. Returning students need reminders about how we are expected to behave at school and what procedures we follow. Our newest, youngest children have so many new procedures & rules to learn! Consequently, repetition is key to making sure these behaviors and expectations become second nature.
In the Montessori classroom, you will often hear people talk about "Grace & Courtesy" lessons. These lessons refer to the way we teach children these behaviors/procedures as well as other common expectations for good manners & behavior. Often as adults, we forget that we before we can expect children to know how to act properly, we must teach them. These grace & courtesy lessons include how to greet someone, how to push in a chair, rolling a rug, walking around other students' work, how to interrupt, etc. We introduce these lessons and practice them often through role playing as well as when the opportunity arises within the school day. I would encourage you to incorporate this practice at home as well. One of the most important lessons we practice is how to wait/interrupt appropriately. In the classroom, we encourage students to either place their hand on the teacher's shoulder and wait quietly or simply stand and wait quietly next to the teacher. We often discuss how calling across the classroom or interrupting a teacher who is engaged in a conversation/lesson with another student is disruptive to other student's learning. You can put this into practice at home, too, by expecting your child to wait QUIETLY when you are talking with someone else or on the phone.
Each day begins with our morning meeting. After the pledge/announcements, we explore our calendar. During this time students learn to spell the names of the months, count the number of days, explore the pattern on the calendar and learn concepts such as yesterday, today & tomorrow. We graph the day's weather which allows us to discuss the graph results--which has more/less, etc. After the calendar, we complete our Morning Message. The morning message has a variety of purposes--students are able to learn the conventions of writing such as capital letters at the beginning of a sentence and punctuation. Students practice writing by helping to fill in missing sight words or letters. Part of the morning message always highlights a specific skill/standard. Sometimes it's a math/language skill such as word problems or identifying rhyming words. Other times it focuses on a theme or science/social studies topic. Often our morning meeting is also accompanied by a story, song or new Montessori lesson.
Below are some examples of our Morning Messages from the last week or so:
In the Montessori classroom, you will often hear people talk about "Grace & Courtesy" lessons. These lessons refer to the way we teach children these behaviors/procedures as well as other common expectations for good manners & behavior. Often as adults, we forget that we before we can expect children to know how to act properly, we must teach them. These grace & courtesy lessons include how to greet someone, how to push in a chair, rolling a rug, walking around other students' work, how to interrupt, etc. We introduce these lessons and practice them often through role playing as well as when the opportunity arises within the school day. I would encourage you to incorporate this practice at home as well. One of the most important lessons we practice is how to wait/interrupt appropriately. In the classroom, we encourage students to either place their hand on the teacher's shoulder and wait quietly or simply stand and wait quietly next to the teacher. We often discuss how calling across the classroom or interrupting a teacher who is engaged in a conversation/lesson with another student is disruptive to other student's learning. You can put this into practice at home, too, by expecting your child to wait QUIETLY when you are talking with someone else or on the phone.
Each day begins with our morning meeting. After the pledge/announcements, we explore our calendar. During this time students learn to spell the names of the months, count the number of days, explore the pattern on the calendar and learn concepts such as yesterday, today & tomorrow. We graph the day's weather which allows us to discuss the graph results--which has more/less, etc. After the calendar, we complete our Morning Message. The morning message has a variety of purposes--students are able to learn the conventions of writing such as capital letters at the beginning of a sentence and punctuation. Students practice writing by helping to fill in missing sight words or letters. Part of the morning message always highlights a specific skill/standard. Sometimes it's a math/language skill such as word problems or identifying rhyming words. Other times it focuses on a theme or science/social studies topic. Often our morning meeting is also accompanied by a story, song or new Montessori lesson.
Below are some examples of our Morning Messages from the last week or so:
I will leave today's post with some photos of the work we've been doing this
week. I am always excited and encouraged by the eagerness the students
bring to school at the beginning of the year. They are so excited about
these new learning opportunities! I will post again soon--this week, we
will be learning about the Five Senses!
week. I am always excited and encouraged by the eagerness the students
bring to school at the beginning of the year. They are so excited about
these new learning opportunities! I will post again soon--this week, we
will be learning about the Five Senses!