This Week at MES

Nicholas had a great week at school. He practiced cutting with scissors by cutting strips of paper and also making snowflakes. He also did some push pin work and even worked with a Light Brite type project. These are great for building the muscles in the hand to improve fine motor control and strength for writing.

Language: The class worked on story sequence. They made a snowman story by placing the story pages in the correct order. Nicholas and I do this type of project at home and he always enjoys it.

Math: Nicholas worked with the Montessori Teens Board. He also practiced counting, sorting, and bead stair.

The class also learned about 5-10 sided shapes.

Wednesday was Mrs. Carrico's birthday so Tuesday night Nicholas and I worked in the kitchen making her a special gift. We made Madeleines for her. Although Nicholas works in the kitchen with me all the time, we had never beat egg whites before so that was an exciting new experience for him. He watched as the gloppy egg whites slowly whipped into white froth and then stiff peaks. What a neat thing to watch! He also helped me grind the almonds, measure and add all of the ingredients into the mixture, then fill the cups of the madeleine baking pans. We made two batches of them so we had enough to keep for ourselves. They were great for breakfast the next morning!

Here are some suggestions for applying Montessori principles in the home as written by author Joan Beck of the Chicago Tribune, 1965:

~ Whenever you can, arrange your home so that the child can manage for himself. Make his table and chair low enough, his toy shelves easily accessible, his clothing equipped with fasteners he can operate, his clothes rods the right height, etc. Then don't do anything for him that he can do for himself. "Any unnecessary aid is a hinderance to learning", said Maria Montessori.

~ Teach your child with real things. Take the time to show him how to handle materials and equipment carefully, and he will be capable of far more than you realize.

~ See that your youngster has as much choice as possible in his activities. He can't live up to his potential unless he has the opportunity for independent work.

~ Don't insist that your child try a new activity if he isn't interested. Don't make him stick at a learning task when he doesn't want to.

~ Make creative use of silence. Encourage your youngster to be still for a moment so he can hear more acutely. This not only stimulates his sense of hearing, but gives him a feeling of self-mastery.

"When a child pleads to "help me do it myself", he means to help him develop his capactities to the fullest, whatever those capacities may be, to become what he was meant to be, a unique, remarkable human being."

Ralph Waldo Emerson said that what each one of us needs most of all is someone to confidently expect us to do what we are capable of doing.