Montessori Radmoor

Thomson_Erin at Montessori Radmoor

Happy spring! We are so excited for the warmer weather. Spring means: taking nature walks around the school grounds, refilling our bird feeders outside, and taking trips to the greenhouse to see what’s growing. Because of the warmer weather we will be going outside more often. Please continue to send warm coats and appropriate foot wear, as it is still quite cool in the mornings and may be muddy!

 

This is also a great time to introduce your child to the coat flip. Many of our veteran toddlers already do this. It’s the way we teach the toddlers to put their coats on by themselves. Like most new skills, it takes some practice and patience.  The first step is to lay their coat down on the floor with the tag/inside facing up. We then ask the children to stand next to their tag, put their arms way down deep (in the arm holes). We then say, “Tag to toes, over it goes!” This is when we will help to flip the coat over their head. If needed, I am always happy to demonstrate for you.  As with all clothes and learning to dress/undress, we try to break down the act step by step. This is true whether taking things off or putting them on.

 

Depending on their stage of development they may only be able to complete part of the task. For example a young child can often unzip their coat, a parent could then help pull one sleeve down, and then the child could pull the rest of the coat off. Encouraging a child to dress themselves is worth it in the end. It may take longer initially, but the more they do it, the quicker they become. These self-care skills prepare children for lifelong good habits, encourage independence and empower children to build self-confidence and self-worth. What’s better than hearing your child say, “I did it!”

 

Coming soon to the toddler community, we will start planting seeds for our summer garden. The seeds will be planted and cared for by our toddlers. We first start by making the little pots out of newspaper. Once we have a few pots, the children start planting. As wanted, the toddlers may choose an empty pot and fill it with soil. Next, they are offered a choice of seeds to plant. They are then able to plant two or three seeds in each pot. Then the pots are moved to a spot in our sunny window and sprayed each day with a small spray bottle full of water. It’s almost magical to seed the seeds begin to grow!

 

I would like to extend a final note of thanks to all our toddler families who participated in our focus group meetings. We had great attendance and collected some very valuable information.

HAPPY SPRING!

Erin

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