Montessori Christmas Concert

Every year my school peforms something at Christmastime. This year, we are not doing a play. That is because most of the children are younger than the past two years. Many of the toddlers are not even 2 years old yet, and many of the CASA children in my class are my age, 3 and 4. Last year there were children who were 5 and 6, who are better able to memorize lines.

We had a list of songs to sing. We've been practicing since September!

But the gym looked very nice. My teachers took our artwork and displayed it for everyone to see.

Mommy and Sonja are waiting patiently for the children to arrive.

Here we are! Can you see me?

The pictures aren't the best quality. There wasn't a lot of light.

Butze, butze (cleaning)

Maria Montessori would call this Practical Life exercises.

I call it Child Labour. Might as well start 'em early!

Halloween - pick up at school

Here she goes...she knows the way to pick up her brother!
Those are big steps!

Almost there.

Even the teachers are dressed up. And a goodie bag too!

Tired boy...

Halloween - Party at School

Benjamin wanted to be a pirate!

The weapons, his swords, were a bit floppy...we made them out of cardboard boxes.
Tyler is a skunk!

Belle is a fairy...and most of the girls are pincesses...

Ab zur Schule! Back to school!

Montessori end of year picnic

First, the children performed outside...

...singing (sort of) "it's a small world".

We moved into the gym for food because it started raining. Sonja of course got right into the action!

Party girls!
Benjamin and Sebastian watching the magic show and eating their picnic food.

Mmm...cookies, pizza, popsicles...

Andrej sitting with Sonja. The girl with the red hat is Madeleine, Sebastian's sister.

It was fun and another year is done!

Ben's first school trip!

Today was Benjamin's very first school trip. All the way downtown, at the University of Toronto's Hart House, to see a play called Jillian Jigg's and the Pirates.

The big yellow school bus took them away...and, in Benjamin's own words, it was a bumpy ride!

Of course his crazy mommy had to take pictures and blog it....


First, they had to sit and wait to be called.

Then, each child received a pin with the school's name and phone number on it.

Sonja in the meantime, who has been up and awake and happy since 5 am, is contently sitting on the floor playing with my keys.


Here the march toward the school bus.

This is serious business!

Looks like he is one of the last to get on. No wonder it was a bumpy ride, he sat way in the back!


Up those steps!

There goes my baby...

And here is is again!






We have a very tired, but happy boy on our hands today.

The Pink Tower - Montessori

This is the pink tower, a Montessori material.

Benjamin has started going to this tower every day, on his own, to play with it.

First, you take a mat out of the basket and unroll it...

...then you get each individual piece from the shelf and bring it over to your mat.

Sometimes an older child is doing something different, so the pink blocks get abandoned...but not for long! His teacher assures me that the pink tower is like a comfort zone for Benjamin.

What is the Pink Tower?

(source: http://www.montessori-namta.org/NAMTA/geninfo/concepts2.html)

The material known as the pink tower is made up of ten pink cubes of varying sizes. The preschool-aged child constructs a tower with the largest cube on the bottom and the smallest on top. This material isolates the concept of size. The cubes are all the same color and texture; the only difference is their size. Other materials isolate different concepts: color tablets for color, geometry materials for form, and so on.

The materials are self-correcting. When a piece does not fit or is left over, the child easily perceives the error. There is no need for adult "correction." The child is able to solve problems independently, building self-confidence, analytical thinking, and the satisfaction that comes from accomplishment.

As the child's exploration continues, the materials interrelate and build upon each other. For example, various relationships can be explored between the pink tower and the broad stair, which are based on matching precise dimensions. Later, in the elementary years, new aspects of some of the materials unfold. When studying volume, for instance, the child may return to the pink tower and discover that its cubes progress incrementally from one cubic centimeter to one cubic decimeter.

Christmas gift - Weihnachtsgeschenk

According to his teacher, the kids worked very hard at this!


Seine Frau Lehrerin hat gesagt dass sie fest gearbeitet hatten...





He baked these himself! Er hat sie selbst gebacken!