Learning new vocabulary words can be really fun if your child feels like its all a fun game. Here are some ideas:

Action Command cards

Montessori Command Cards are really easy to use and make at home. They can be hand-written or printed. This link has free printable ones. They can be adapted to your child's level of reading, from simple consonant-vowel-consonant wordslike HOP, PAT, TIP to complex phrases.

Write each individual card, in lower-case letters some commands you can use are:

walk, run, sit, stand, jump, hop, skip, talk, tap, sing, come here, sit down, be quiet, stand up, lie down, bring me a book, pick up the pencil, close the door, open the door, etc.

Demonstration Lesson:

1. First introduce the one-word command cards, one at a time. Point to the command and tell the child what it says.

2. Let the child act out what it says.

3. As the child comes to recognize each command it becomes necessary only to hold a particular card up silently, and let him obey.

4. As the one-word commands become easy for the child, gradually introduce the sentence commands in the same way.

You can show your child the card and do the action together. Alternatively, you can put the cards in a pile and take turns reading the cards and performing the actions. There really isn't a wrong way to do it. So simple!

You can also use our Reptile Action cards on our Worksheet package I sent its #7.

Antonyms and Synonyms

Play a game where you name a word and your child says the opposite. Examples: up/down, wet/dry, cold/hot, short/tall, in/out, over/under, happy/sad, clean/dirty Another way to play is to ask a question that confuses a pair and let your child correct you. (“Is fire cold?” “Is water dry?”) Your child may want a turn saying the first word, and you come up with the opposite.

Prepositions 

Prepositions are the words that tell us where something is – on, under, beside, in front of, behind, in, etc. This is a game to help them practice using these words. Pick any two objects in your house (pillow & a toy; spoon and napkin, small object and a cup – anything!) Position the two objects and tell your child, “Look, the bear is in front of the pillow!” then move the object and ask your child, “Now where is the bear?” (If they aren’t sure, try giving them two options – ex: “Is the bear on the pillow or beside the pillow?”) Keep it fun & playful!

With school closed for the next few weeks, I’m adding some of our class favorite movement activities.

Sidewalk Chalk Tape Resist Art

You can make a design with tape on a fence, floor and even a window (this option can be messy:) Then have your child fill in each piece with wet chalk. The best part is removing the tape!

Go on a Bear Hunt

Place a Teddy bear in your child’s bedroom and play the Going on a Bear Hunt Song until you finally get to the bear. You can also build an obstacle course as you follow each step of the song.

Freeze Dance 

One of our favorite Freeze dance songs is this. You can also choose any music your child enjoys dancing to and tell them to freeze when the music stops. Pause the music a few times during the song and say, "freeze!" (This game helps children learn to control their movement and remember rules.)

Red Light, Green Light

“Red light” means stop, and “green light” means to go. You can play this game indoors or while walking down the street too. The goal is to make it fun and not necessarily a competition, there are no winners or losers. Take turns being the Caller.

There are some fun videos we can watch together as well, let me know which ones your child enjoyed the most:

PE with Joe

GoNoodle : Once you make your account (free) search for Believer or This or That some of our favorites.

Animal Yoga

Have fun!

Ms. Val

"Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war". Maria Montessori
 

It’s small but so important. This is our little peace table. Every Montessori classroom in the world has one. Peace Education is a fundamental part of the Montessori curriculum and is given the same importance as Math, Language or any other subject.

The Peace Table is a place where children go gather their thoughts, think about a problem or discuss a conflict with their friends; they often find something on it that brings them calmness, like a Zen garden, a stress ball or a beautiful art piece. They’re free to sit, lie down or even sleep on the special rug that usually lies here if they become relaxed enough (and often do).

The Peace Table isn’t time-out, the teacher can’t send a child there who is misbehaving. It’s a place the child goes to voluntarily, he/she is given lessons on how to meditate, how to make silence, how to understand his/her own feelings and how to share thoughts like sadness, frustration, anger, etc. Complex concepts like empathy, community, justice, and love, are introduced during these lessons, and it's amazing how quickly and clearly young children understand them.

I could write a whole other post about how much I’ve learned about peace from the children, and the list of definitions is endless: once a little boy told me Peace was when he finally found shapes in the clouds; another one said Peace was when her baby brother stopped crying at the mall. Ask a child what peace means to them, get into the conversation early, why does it matter, how can we achieve it?

This September 21st is International Peace Day, but instead of the usual white doves, peace signs, and other crafty activities, I will do my best to make sure that the peace table is used often this school year.

I will try to give the children the lessons of life that are most important: learning to love themselves, and sharing that feeling amongst their peers; like giving a hand when another is in need, like speaking up when they think someone (even the teacher or a parent) is wrong, finding beauty in our differences, in nature, in the mundane. But I will also let myself be inspired by them… we all need it this year.

“The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind” Dr. Maria Montessori

We are almost done setting up our classroom with brand new authentic Montessori materials! One thing that's missing? The Pink Tower.
I had been waiting for weeks for it to arrive, but what a disappointment it was when I opened up the box and found this:

All sides of the cubes were covered in blistered paint! If you're like me you feel my pain, I almost cried 😭

Fortunately, the company I ordered from was amazing and sent me a brand new set right away, with a great surprise:

I love the fact that they sent an extra piece of the smallest cube, I can tell there’s a montessorian in the company somewhere that told them "that little piece WILL get lost, lets cut these teachers some slack".

Maria Montessori always emphasized the importance of a beautiful carefully planned environment for the children, and I can’t wait until the children get to touch, feel and see the wonderful work we have prepared for September.

I've always fought with the idea of bringing technology into the classroom, there are such wonderful tools out there and I don’t see why we shouldn'tgo beyond the ones designed by Dr. Montessori herself. I feel that Rachel Hendron’s article on "The Characteristics of Montessori Materials" should be a guideline when choosing appropriate materials:

•  Isolation of a single property through a single sense
•  Purposeful activities using movement and sensorial exploration 
• Control of Error / Criteria for Perfection
• Limitations 
• Aesthetics

“It is the child’s love of perfection, her effective use of objects, her tendency to work, respond to the materials, judge her efforts and correct her error which develops a strong character and creative development.” R.H.

I’ve chosen to introduce a section of the classroom which includes the child-led game system Osmo that uses physical objects and learning tools in conjunction with technology to promote problem-solving, critical thinking, develop visual spatial abilities, fine motor skills, and executive functioning.

I love Osmo because like many Montessori materials, it promotes self-correction, giving the child instant visual and auditory feedback and I’ve seen how easily it has introduced early literacy, math, and coding concepts to my own child.

I’m not trying to sell the product by all means I just like to share a good experience when I have it with the children I work for. I hope they love it as much I did.