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March 2007
Bubbles on a Spring Day
The children enjoyed blowing bubbles this past week during our time outside . . .
Children Working
Painting a map of South America Working with the Pink Tower and Brown Stair together
Here is a parent helping with letter sounds.
The Puzzle Maps
Here are some photos of children making maps during the last couple months. Interest is sparked as the children watch each other complete the maps. This is an example of how the children lead each other through the classroom activities.
"A Montessori classroom offers many opportunities for young children to expand their knowledge during the years when they are motivated by spontaneous interest. The large wooden puzzle maps are among the most popular activities in the classroom. The child can put each puzzle piece into place by means of a little knob on its flat shiny surface. The introductory map of the world has a separate puzzle piece for each continent. After working with the world map the child can do one of six puzzle maps of continents in which each country is represented by a separate puzzle piece. Finally there is a map of the United States with a separate piece for each state.
At first the children use the maps simply as puzzles. Gradually they learn the names of many of the countries as well as information about climate and products. The maps illustrate many geographical facts concretely. The children can see the great size of Russia and the positions of Great Britain, Japan, and Iceland as islands."
Except taken from "A Parent's Guide to the Montessori Classroom" by Aline D. Wolf
These children are working on the U.S. map and starting to recognize the names of our states.
These friends have traced the puzzle pieces and are painting maps of Australia and South America.
The map and globe of the seven continents are colored coded the same way so the children can see what a three dimensional map would look like.
This young man took a couple weeks to trace and each state out on construction paper and then punch along the lines to make the paper perforated. Once he had punched all the states out he glued them down and labeled them. You can see the pride in his smile.
This young lady is writing down facts about our states. She is finding out what the state flowers and capitols are.