"Love Lights"

About three weeks ago, I attended a seminar for my Montessori training with a special guest speaker, who happens to be the Montessori Living Legend this year.  Sonnie McFarland, spoke to us about the importance of teaching peace in the classroom.

As she lectured about the different lessons to give and how to incorporate the idea of peace, love and understanding into the classroom, I was reminded of the first few days I started college, when I decided to be a Child Development major. From about age eight, I wanted to be a teacher.  Not until about high school did I realize my true goal for each child in my classroom.  I had the idealistic idea that every child who graduated from my classroom would value peace, respect and genuinely care for others.  I now know that every child will not leave my classroom with these values, but Sonnie McFarladnd gave me hope again. She gave us the tools, through lessons and activities, to enhance each child's view of their peers and themselves.

A key activity was introducing the "Love Light," and I gave the lesson to my children two weeks ago. The steps are on a website, where you can buy her book Honoring the Light of the Child, visit the lesson here Love Light Activity.

I began the lesson, by tying in the concepts discussed the previous week in reference to MLK Jr. Day, showing the children different people cutouts with 5 different skin colors.  The children brainstormed what the paper dolls had that they also had (head, hands, legs, arms, body etc.) After they all agreed there were similarities, we discussed differences, looking around the room as well.  Naming their hair, eyes, skin, height, weight, age and clothing as differences.  I then brought out this...

a paper cutout on a blue paper. We discussed what happens when someone gives you a compliment, you finish a challenging work, you help a young child with a project, you help clean the classroom, or your grandma or grandpa surprises you at school.  I asked them to close their eyes so I could show them what happened when my paper friend experienced these things and when I asked them to open, this is what they saw...

my friend's heart lit-up (aided by a small flashlight and a hole cut out of the blue paper).  Pretty sweet right?? The children were pretty captivated by the trick, others, of course shouted out "it's a flashlight!" but they understood the concept. We also discussed things that make them unhappy, and I showed them what happens to their love light then (moving the flashlight closer to create a smaller, yet still visible, light.  I then followed the lesson as written out on the website, having them close their eyes again, placing a love light on me, and passing out their own.  We then went around the circle and children gave others compliments and we watched the receivers response.  The children enjoyed seeing each other light up and smile.
*Just to note- we did not use safety pins and felt, instead I made (with the help of my wonderful husband) 34 (for children and teachers) yellow felt circle necklaces with yellow yarn.

The whole process was magical, many kept their necklaces on the rest of the morning, and put them on, without reminder the next day.  The visual symbol that everyone has a love light, and the concept that it is each child's job to make sure their peer's light shines bright, enforces the beautiful idea of kindness, respect and love.  While giving this lesson at circle, I was reminded why I love what I do, and that I can make a difference in the world while guiding these little beautiful souls.

I urge you to try the love light activity, and don't hesitate to ask for help or share your version.
Also, why did you become a teacher? Love for children of course, but deep down, why do we chose so little money for so much effort? Here's to hoping your love light is shinning bright today!

Spreading the Love...

Well February is fast approaching and since winter works have been on the shelves for a month, it was time for a change! Yesterday I went in to school for a few hours and changed up PL and a little of art.  This time in PL, I tried to put out the works in the order that my head teacher would.  This was a good exercise for me, it gave me a chance to look at order differently.

Here was the first shelf, holding all of the transfer activities...

Cabinet One

Shelf One: sand whole hand pouring- pitcher to two cups water pouring- small rocks scooping

Shelf Two: Tong transfer into ice cube tray- water straining- baster transfer one to two
Shelf Three: pom pom transfer with tweezers- spooning transfer/color sorting- eye dropper transfer

Cabinet Two

Shelf One: leaf cleaning- crumbing- flower arranging

Shelf Two: tea setting- penny polishing- table setting

Shelf Three: chair washing- cake set-up (two returning works)

Below is the baby washing work set up on a table permanently. 

Cabinet Three

Shelf One: open and close containers- nuts and bolts- cutting work

Shelf Two: apple lacing- bead stringing- heart embroidering- clothes-pinning on a cup

Shelf Three: clothes-pinning foam hearts on a string- button/zipper vests- shoe lacing

I realize it may be more helpful to start taking pictures of each work independently, and when I get a moment I will.  I am interested in seeing how this new order works out.  I was wondering how far to go with the whole pink-red-purple Valentines Day theme, but i tried to balance it enough to make sure it didn't yell "LOVE!" from across the room. :) I am also interested to see how my boys who think "pink is for girls" react to the works.  

How far would you/do you go for Valentines Day? Are there any special traditions you've come up with or remember from your childhood? Happy early love everyone day!

Our Sensorial Shelves

On our teacher work day before coming back from break, I offered to re-organize and refresh our Sensorial Area.  Earlier in the winter break I had already done Practical Life, see the post here,  Practical Life Shelves, so I had time to try out Sensorial.  Here's the first shelf:

Cabinet One: (left to right, top to bottom)

The shelf to the left holds the Pink Cubes with pink felt and a special pink box for the smallest cube

Top Shelf: Marbles for the Brown Prisms, a crown for walking the line and head phones for distracted children. 

Shelf One: The Knobbed Cylinders with colored stickers corresponding to the boxes (not sure how I feel about this) 

Shelf Two:  Brown Prisms and Colored Knobbless Cylinders in RYGB order (stop light with a police car following)

Shelf Three: Red Rods with cards for different colored cylinder designs

Cabinet Two: 

Top Shelf: color plastic to experiment seeing the world in another color, small circles of colors with names on back, mixing cylinders with colored oil and water, books on colors.

Shelf one: Primary color tablets, Secondary Color Tablets, papers to color in Color Tablets- Grading Color Tablets- Shade Matching with pegs 

Shelf two: Sound Cylinders- Texture Board- Texture Tablets- Fabric Matching- Thermic Tablets- Baric Tablets 

Shelf three: Color and Shape Matching work

Cabinet Three: 

Top Shelf: Geometric Solids with bases and blindfold 

Shelf one: Constructive Triangles (triangle and hexagon)- Monomial Cube- Binomial Cube- Trinomial Cube

Shelf two: Snowflake Making Work (see below)- Geometric Cabinet and cards

Shelf three: Triangles, Squares and Circle in different sizes/colors- Form matching board (big hit with my 3 year old boys)

The small shelf on the right holds a snowman puzzle, peg board with rubber bands and graph board to match shape and color 

The Sensorial Area did not get much use in the October- December part of the year, but with this new sprucing up children are seeming to be interested again.  The Snowflake work is something I found on one of my favorite Montessori sites on this post... Snowflake Idea. It's great for turn taking and pre-reading practice. 

We are currently working out the kinks in the Smelling Cylinders, but the children are very interested in that work as well.  The Sensorial Area is so vital to Montessori's philosophy and it was fun to stretch my thinking in that area.  

Have you found a wonderful Sensorial work kids love? Ideas about my sequencing? Please share your thoughts!

Following the child and practicing saintliness

Happy New Year to everyone! With all that has happened to me personally in 2010, I am hoping for a peaceful, uneventful and happy 2011 for us all.

Now on to what makes me happiest... Though my school is still on winter break until next week (which partly explains my lack of posts), I began a second job yesterday and am now a nanny for a 6 and 4 year old.  On my second full (8 hour) day with them, I realized (as I have many times in my life) that no matter what I have planned for the day, what the child is interested in dictates what we will do.  I was first formally introduced to this concept in college in my Child Development classes, having to create a full curriculum around an imaginary interaction between children.  Spinning a lesson plan off a child visiting the zoo and exciting the class with stories, or bringing in a beautiful leaf that was outside their doorstep to share with the children, will create a deeper love and willingness to learn if the teacher/caregiver/parent takes notice.  It does take more effort on the adult's end to develop a plan quickly, but the results may carry the class for months.  Today, the 6 year old developed holding a stuffed animal into caring for a baby doll, having a baby shower, ending with creating an animal sound book to read to her doll.  None of this was inspired by my ideas, only supported and guided to further her exploration.  She not only practiced care of others, but problem solving, writing, and brainstorming.  All of this also inspired her younger brother to feed the baby, create a book as well and read it to his teddy bear.

This evening I read a few pages of Catherine McTamaney's The Tao of Montessori, a book I have read before, and will revisit many times again, and the concepts of being a scientist in the classroom seemed relevant.  As a teacher and guide, we are nothing if we don't watch the children.  Observation, documenting and knowing the child as a whole and as an individual is the base to being able to instill any knowledge.  I observed the two children for almost an hour, noting her language, situational rules and ideas, and taking away with me a better understanding of how their brain processing works.  In the same chapter McTamaney pushes the concept of being a saint in the class.  When thinking of this word, SAINT, I think of doing for others physically, feeding others when I am hungry, clothing them when I am cold, but being a saint in the classroom is different.  Yes, we ensure children are cared for- warm jackets, full tummies- but to be a saint, McTamaney states, is "when we are still, when we do not seek to change or to affect or to modify or to improve any other human around us but when, in our stillness, we accept." This is a new concept to saintliness, and something to challenge myself to do.  I look back on today, and while we were crafting I found myself rushing around, making deals to clean up half their mess if they clean the other. This was not a saintly action.  I was depriving the children of completing a project from start to finish.  While it may have been easier/faster/more efficient to do it myself, I took away an experience that was their own.

As much as I miss the classroom, I am looking at these four full nannying days as a time to refresh my Montessori core values, remembering to be a guide not a provider, and using stillness to allow the children to unfold.  Do you pride yourself on being the new concept of a saint? Have key observing tips to share? Please share! Here's to making the year full and beautiful.