Author: Alejandro Malespin

Montessori Community School will be hosting an Admissions Information Meeting for all adults interested in learning more about any of our programs for 2017-2018 Admissions. Parents are invited to join us for a presentation about Montessori method, curriculum and philosophy and how they are implemented in our program to educate the whole child. Then, visit individual classrooms to learn more about each program and to meet and greet with our administrative and teaching staff.

Montessori Community School serves children aged 18 months through 6th grade and we offer an extended day program, 7:30am – 6:00pm. Confirm your attendance or interest in coming on our Facebook event.

Montessori Community School’s mission is to provide a rich, individualized educational experience, which guides and nurtures the natural unfolding of the whole individual and inspires a lifetime love of learning and peace.

“Whatever do you think they’ll do with all those boxes? Well…” —Min Flyte, Box

You’re thrilled with the gift you’ve chosen for your toddler, and you can’t wait to see her open it up. She takes forever tearing off the paper, and becomes enchanted with the ribbon and wrappings. You help navigate the opening of the box and express your excitement over the surprise inside. She explores the gift for a minute or two, and then returns to the paper, ribbons, and empty box and spends the next half hour discovering all their possibilities.

It Doesn’t Take Much

A young child doesn’t need much to become engaged with the world. Children can spend hours playing with the simplest items. They love empty boxes that might hold their treasures. Ribbons, paper, string, and tape are perfect for creating whatever they might imagine.I recall seeing young neighbors having a grand time with the runoff from a rain shower, along with a stick, a few rocks, and a piece of string. First, they watched the string float down the stream, and then did the same with the stick. Next, a few rocks dammed up the flow and the string floated in the pool until the water flowed over the dam. A leaf came down onto the pool which was picked up by one of the children who pierced it with the stick. It floated like a little boat down the stream until it got stuck against the rocks. I watched these budding engineers for fifteen minutes, but I’m guessing they continued to play for a long while after I left.

Consider a Box

What can you do with a box? Of course it depends on its size and thickness. Many a game or activity await, and here are a few ideas:

Play catch. Toss a beanbag or a paper ball into the box, and continue to move further away. This can be a solitary or group game.

Open up two ends of a long box and roll a ball through the tunnel.

Lift a toddler inside a big corrugated box with a crayon or two in-hand, and watch time fly as she decorates each wall.

Play a game of peek-a-boo when the box is big enough for a child to hide in or small enough to fit over someone’s head.

Several boxes can be put together to make a skyscraper or doll house.

With a little handiwork, a box can become a car, a firetruck, an airplane – and be wearable, too!
Cut out the bottom and top, draw or paint the sides accordingly, and then attach ribbons to go over your child’s shoulders.

Give your child a plain gift box and some crayons or markers – then discover what he creates.

Use a sturdy gift box without its lid to hold an activity for your child, like two small pitchers, one filled with rice, to practice pouring.

An appliance box will give children endless options for play. It might become a secret quiet place, a fort, or a garage for the scooter, wagon, and wheelbarrow.

Classic Toys Come In Boxes

Some toys are as basic as the boxes they come in. A kaleidoscope, a magnifying glass, a small wagon, or a top never go out-of-date. Children love the wooden “work bench” pounding toy. A substantial set of wooden blocks will be used by your children for years to come. When your children are older, they can use the same blocks to engineer more complex structures such as airports and towns.

Create a treasure hunt by placing a ball, yo-yo, or little book in the smallest of several graduated sized boxes. Consider pairing a doll or stuffed animal with a favorite childhood book – for example, a plush bear and Winnie the Pooh. Children like to string beads, stick stickers, play hopscotch, and paint.

A young child can spend hours playing with a simple box. There’s really no need for toys that have all the “bells and whistles,” and batteries. With such toys – and screens – children become passive watchers instead of active creators. A deck of cards is always welcome. When was the last time you played Crazy Eights or Go Fish? You can teach your child to play a simple game of solitaire, too.

What was your favorite toy? A doll house? A jack-in-the-box? An erector set? A baby doll? Lincoln Logs? Tonka trucks? Whatever the gift you choose to give, the box it comes in is often a source of more delight than we could ever imagine.

—by Jane M. Jacobs, M.A., Montessori Educational Consultant at Montessori Services. She is a trained primary Montessori directress and also a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She has taught children aged 2 to 7 years in Montessori schools, Headstart, and also in a preschool for children with developmental challenges. In her counseling practice, she helps individuals, couples, and families.

Article from Small Hands, A Resource for Families.

The Montessori Community School received a big security upgrade today. The CCTV cameras in the parking lots were upgraded as well as the security lights. While the lights are now 4 times brighter than the previous lights, they are LED lights so they are consuming around 1/4 of the power of the previous high pressure sodium lights. Lian and Jemmyn spent the better part of the day up in the sky on a 65ft. boom lift

It can be difficult to know what to do when your child voices complaints about negative experiences with classmates. Parents natural response is to be protective. Thus, many of us jump to the defense of our child, driven to find an expedient end to the problem such as asking classroom teachers to stop it from happening again. While well-meaning, this may not be the most feasible or beneficial way to handle peer problems.

In fact, situations like these represent a unique opportunity for parents to engage their child in problem solving and social skill-building. They learn these skills by (1) observing parent reaction and problem solving styles, and (2) practicing new skills on their own during future problematic encounters. The 3- to 6-year age group is a crucial time for learning social emotional skills that research shows contribute to success later on. Over and above acquisition of early academic skills, children who develop their functional communication, the ability to tolerate delayed gratification and the ability to comply with reasonable requests (i.e., follow directions) show better school performance (and overall life skills) down the road.

The next time your child comes home with a complaint about a negative peer interaction consider the following thoughtful response methods:

• Offer Empathy and a chance to tell their story…“I am sorry that happened today, tell me more about ________________. How did you feel when _________________ happened?” If you feel inclined to react with your own emotions, do your best to take a breath and a break, followed by empathy. Remember that your reaction may encourage or discourage a variety of emotional responses from your child.

• Consider whether you need more information from another perspective… all stories have more than one side. We can better process the event and plan our response when we have more information. After taking time to visit with your child about the event, author an inquiring email to their teachers if you still have questions. Remember to remain factual. Present what your child said (in their own words) and ask not for a solution (yet) but for more information. What have the teachers observed? What has been tried and worked or not worked for these situations? What can you (the parent) be doing to support your child?

• Understand what your child would like to see happen instead… We may intuit that our child is bothered by the interaction because they felt the need to tell us about it. But, we should ask specifically what was it that bothered them and why? For example, what did they want or expect to happen that didn’t? How would they have preferred the interaction to go? What would like they you (the parent) to do to support them? If their response involves a reasonable goal, we can find a different way to help them achieve that goal.

• Teach, model and offer opportunities to practice (through role play) a new way of responding… Help your child generate ideas about other ways to respond should the situation occur again. What can they do differently and what do they think the outcome might be of those new responses? Practice using role play skills. Don’t forget to anticipate both positive and negative outcomes (as these provide opportunities to practice handling disappointment and persistence, but also helps maintain hopefulness that things can get better.)

• Email your child’s teachers again with a plan you and your child have worked out at home…make the classroom teachers aware of the plan so they can be supportive of the newly learned skills your child will be using and can continue to follow up if other skills are needed. AND, don’t forget to check back with your child about how the new plan is working!