Peterborough Montessori

Check out our Valentines festivities this week! I hope you all have a wonderful long weekend. See you Tuesday! #valentines #love #loveislove #montessori #homebasedbusiness

Happy Thursday! I was looking through some old photos from the fall, it’s amazing to see the progress these kiddos have made so far! The activities in the photos are: ... The Dot Game Drawing Flags Quiet Reading in the Library The Jigsaw Puzzle Map (USA) Exploration with The Red Rods Flower Arranging Drawing with Pastels The Trinomial Cube Phonogram Writing ‘th’ Exploration with Geometric Solids #montessori #hombasedbusiness #earlychildhood #independence #concentration

My three year old explores the painted globe and asks me: Stephanie, what is this? My five year old takes over. ... This is North America but down here is Central America. This is the true beauty of the Montessori philosophy. Younger children asking questions and older students stepping in to guide and mentor them. These moments really make my heart melt! #montessori #homebasedbusiness #school #earlychildhood #helpmetohelpmyself

A sneak peace into our week so far. It’s almost Fri-yay! #homebasedbusiness #montessori #independence #earlychildhood #letthembelittle #peace

Our week at a glance! October has been filled with lots of beautiful work. #montessori #montessoriworkcycle #school #concentration #homebasedbusiness #letthechildrenbe

Happy first day of October! The children helped to set up some pumpkins in our outdoor entryway. #october #pumpkins #fall #outdoorlearning #earlychildhood #school

Practical Life seemed to be the area of choice on this gloomy Tuesday! I love observing how concentrated the children become when working with activities that give them true purpose and joy. #concentration #montessori #letthechildbe #followthechild #school #earlychildhood

This is the iconic Montessori Pink Tower. It is one of the initial activities from the sensorial area in a Casa environment. Typically, it is presented to a child at 2.5-3 years of age. When presented, the tower is built from largest to smallest. When the presentation is complete and it’s the child’s turn to build the tower it doesn’t always look like this and that is okay. Maria Montessori believed that children have 4 sensitive periods which help them to navigate through t...heir development: 1. Movement 2. Language 3. Refinement of Sensorial Perception 4. Order These periods are present throughout their development between 0-6 but are primarily active between 2.5-6 years. We can’t see when these periods are active for each child but when they are, they act like search lights from within and push the child towards what they need for development. Since the children have a sensitive period for order they need things to be organized, precise and consistent in their environments and daily life. Because of this, all of the materials in a Montessori Casa environment are colour coded, carefully organized, complete, beautiful and attractive to the child. The Pink Tower is always built and ready on the shelf for the children to use. When the children use the Pink Tower for the first time it generally doesn’t look like this. When presented, the child should be challenged with building the tower; if they know how to build it immediately then it has been presented too late. The child will work with the Pink Tower building it out of order or perhaps horizontally instead of vertically. But eventually they will come to build the tower vertically, from biggest to smallest to satisfy their sense of order. Swipe to see the different variations! #montessori #mariamontessori #sensorial #school #learn #pinktower

I’m a day late, but we celebrated the first day of fall with a nature walk! We spotted an apple tree, leaves changing colour and collected some pinecones and oak tree leaves. The children even came across a GIANT hill they could roll down. Happy fall! ... #outdoorlearning #fall #montessori #naturewalk #school

Happy International Peace Day!

Another great week at Peterborough Montessori! It’s so wonderful getting to know these little ones, I can’t wait to see where this year takes them! #montessori #school #earlychildhood #homebasedbusiness #outdoorplay #lovelearning

One of my favourite aspects of the Montessori philosophy is how each child is treated as an individual. I am able to embrace each child’s unique qualities, interests and character and support them on their journey in the best way possible for them. As I get to know my students more and more each day I am able to better understand how each of them use the Montessori materials in their own way. Every material has a distinct purpose but how the children work with the material a...nd what they take away from it is unique to each of them. Since I became a Montessori teacher in 2017, I have taught four different groups of children and I am now on my fifth. I have given the same lessons on each activity with all of my students and every time it’s a new experience. It’s really special to see how each child works with the material and the different experiences that they take away from their work. #montessori #earlychildhood #school #guidethechild #individual

And just like that the first week of school is complete! It was so lovely getting to know all of the children this week and I can’t wait to see all of their shining faces next week! I hope everyone else had an amazing first week back just as I did! #montessori ... #earlychildhood #outdoorplay #school #homebasedbusinesses See more

We’re off to a great start at Peterborough Montessori! Can’t wait to meet the rest of our friends this week. #backtoschool #montessori #outdoorplay #school #homebasedbusiness #earlychildhood

Sending well wishes to all the students, teachers and parents headed back to school this week. Here’s hoping for a smooth transition as we navigate through the new normal! #montessori #school #2020 #casadeibambini #earlychildhood

Children will only be as independent as you expect them to be! In Montessori there is a large focus on independence and helping children learn to do things themselves. Will they tie their shoes, cut paper or write just as you do? No! And that is totally okay. As adults we have to move out of their way and allow them to do things by themselves, in their own way and in their own time. But this also means you have to let go of the reigns and give them opportunities and have expe...ctations of them being independent. As we enter the new school year there’s a much larger emphasis on independence, not just in Montessori but in daycares, kindergarten classrooms and even elementary programs. The global pandemic has changed many aspects of our lives. It’s increasingly more important that children are able to do things for themselves as they head back to the classroom in order to limit the spread of germs. #montessori #helpmetodoitmyself #earlychildhood #covid19 #homebasedbusiness #school

The cute new teacher look this year! I have to admit, it was a tough decision for me whether or not to wear a face mask in the classroom but when I found these ones I was sold! Language development is a crucial part of early childhood and children largely rely on being able to see your lips and mouth move to pronounce words properly and also to understand your emotions and tone when you’re speaking. Covering my mouth with a cloth or paper face mask would mean that the chil...dren wouldn’t be able to see my mouth move when conversing with them. However, given the current state of our world it’s extremely important for older children and adults to wear a face mask to protect one another from the COVID-19 virus. These masks allow me to protect myself and the children in my care while also allowing them to see my face, so it’s a win win! Can’t wait to kick off the 2020-2021 school year, the countdown is on! #facemask #covid19 #montessori #earlychildhood #homebasedbusiness