Marigolds help repel mosquitos
Many thanks to our awesome 'garden moms' - Cathy, Michelle and Erika, who came out on an unusually cold and drizzly morning to weed our garden and get it ready for summer.
Just a few weeds!
We put the weeds in our compost bin to help make soil for the garden.
E is carrying sweet potato vines
Everyone took a turn to plant
Some interesting items were found
This seed was just about to sprout
A little friend
This little nest was in one of our planters out front - we now have 6 baby birds!
A look at the finished bed. Stay tuned to see what we harvest!
Recently, the Primary class decided to take a little walk in the woods to see what we could find. Hand in hand we made our way to the trail.
Before we had even made it to the woods, we discovered a fellow traveler...a caterpillar! And of course we stopped to take a look.
We decided to have a seat on the benches just inside the woods. It's so important to learn to be still and to take a few moments in our busy, noisy lives to be able to just listen.
We spent about ten seconds just listening to the sounds in the woods. We heard a construction site (while it wasn't a typical "woods" sound, the children still wanted to identify it), a woodpecker and some other birds (including a group of crows). Before getting up to explore, some children rested with their eyes closed and others gazed at the passing clouds in the sky.
Some of the children quickly discovered some worms wriggling around just below the pine straw.
And hand in hand we made our way back out of the woods.
“The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the Earth.”--Dr. Maria Montessori
happy, joyful
This question was posed by at our last parent education night by our guest speaker, Joen Bettmann (
Director of Training at the International Montessori Training Institute). The answers given by our parents were so thoughtful and inspiring we wanted to share them here. As parents, we hope our children will become adults that are...
that have a good work ethic
diligent
perceptive
seeking out challenge
collaborators
creative
generous and thoughtful
self-reliant
positive, engaging
resourceful, risk-takers, persevering
ambitious, motivated
responsible, respectful
adventurous and independent
life-long learners
that have a sense of humor and can be flexible
confident, considerate,
reliable and self-respecting
inquisitive
persevering
that reaches goals
Christian
self-sufficient
good citizen
humble and caring
dreamer
leading with integrity
self-motivating
passionate
honest and loving
"...perhaps the best brain and life enhancing tools in the future may just be the very things our children had in their childhoods - childhood environments rich in love and attention of parents and teachers who care less about the accumulation of information and statistically measured achievement and who care more about the accumulation and expressions of wisdom, ingenuity, empathy, joy, grace and gratitude." - excerpt from Dr.Doug Lyon's address to Montessori school parents, Nov. 2005
It's been so wonderful to have such beautiful spring weather! In honor of the beautiful weather, we have had a couple of picnic lunches and of course lots of time working in the garden. There's so much to do!
Picnic lunch day one
Some of our toddler friends enjoyed playing in the house.
The wheelbarrow is a well-loved favorite.
The most exciting discovery was finding a ladybug among the newly blossomed flowers in the garden.
Sharing the discovery...
Everyone wants to make sure to take a look!
Cleaning the birdbath
Watering the daffodils.
Scrubbing the pathway
Picnic day two!
“The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the Earth.” -- Dr. Maria Montessori
The children have been pondering the mystery of the Kingdom of God through the Kingdom Parables. Recently, they revisited the Parable of the Mustard Seed (which is definitely a favorite). The children quickly remembered how small the mustard seed is and how large it became as a tree. This past week received a presentation on the Parable of the Leaven.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened. --Matthew 13:33
One pan has just flour and water and the other has flour, yeast and water.
While we were waiting for the yeast to rise, the children went back to work both in the classroom and in small groups to the atrium.
Receiving the presentation on the Adoration of the Magi.
Working with the Good Shepherd materials.
Working with the Tracing Packets.
Working with the Last Supper materials.
After reading again from the scripture booklet, the children were SO excited to see what had happened!
The one with the yeast has changed!
I wonder how the Kingdom of God could be like the yeast in the flour. The yeast cannot be taken out of the flour. And yet, the yeast has transformed the flour and water.
We offered the children a few moments of silence and a few of the children asked to share a prayer. "The length of the prayer time is determined by the children and often consists in long periods of silence, which are, themselves, authentic prayer. "* They were so thoughtful. Some prayers were audible, some a whisper and some were silent. "All who work with children, as catechists or as parents, have experienced the joy and the peace of children of all ages after a time of prayer."*
*From "Listening to God with Children" by Gianna Gobbi, one of the co-founders of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.
