2024 Newsletter Term 01 | Issue 02

To the toddler the everyday tasks, that we as adults often see as mundane, are exciting and joyful challenges. Tasks that we often complete without thinking provide the child opportunities for developing their fine motor control and coordination, independence, concentration, and a sense of responsibility. Maria Montessori called these activities ‘practical life’. In the Elouera classroom we have a wide variety of practical life work that the children can choose to complete each day. Bread baking, dish washing, plant watering, flower arranging, cloth folding, fruit washing, and food preparation activities are just some of the exciting, purposeful activities that are a part of the ‘real world’ and are empowering for our toddlers to master.

— Corinne, Anniebelle, Nina, Sarah.

This week, we embarked on a journey to understand the incredible functions of our skin. Through interactive activities and discussions, the children learned how these essential parts of our bodies work together to help us move, feel, and interact with the world around us.

Through fun and engaging experiments, such as clapping hands, rubbing different textures, and feeling the temperature of water, the children discovered just how incredible our sense of touch truly is. We identified warm, cool, and cold sensations and explored the various textures of materials—all while closing our eyes and relying solely on our sense of touch! We had a blast exploring the unique patterns of our fingerprints through painting and printing our fingerprints on clay impressions. Each fingerprint telling its own story, showcasing the beauty of our individuality! We also had the pleasure of making and savouring some delicious chamomile tea. From the fragrance of the tea leaves to the warmth of the cup in our hands, it was a delightful sensory journey for us all.

— Kathleen, Teresa, Katherine and Yuko.

Sensorial materials in a Montessori environment are designed to engage multiple senses, allowing children to explore concepts through hands-on experience. By manipulating these materials, children develop their problem-solving skills in several ways, for example as children engage in trial-and-error activities with sensorial materials they experiment different approaches to achieve desired outcomes. Through this process, they learn to assess situations, make decisions, and adapt their strategies accordingly—a crucial aspect of problem-solving.

Through the hands-on exploration of sensorial materials in a Montessori environment the children build a strong foundation for developing problem-solving skills by fostering sensory awareness, critical thinking, experimentation, and independence.

—Harshitha, Catalina, Jo, Rachel, Claire & Angela.

Montessori 3 part cards are used to enrich a child’s language skills, grow their vocabulary, develop their classification, reading and writing skills and their knowledge of the world around them. They are an essential tool in the outdoor classroom as they can be used in so many ways. They consist of a picture card eg a type of shark, a label or word card and a control card. Children can work with them alone or in groups taking turns to choose a card and then match the picture and the label.

To reinforce the learning and just for fun we also use the cards in memory games, this week children chose to extend themselves and make their own sea creatures cards as a game to take home. Others take inspiration in making booklets or posters of their own drawings and to practise their writing.

There are endless opportunities to learn in this way from types of insects to famous landmarks, or deep sea creatures to types of vegetables!

– Dawn

Warmest regards,

—Toby, and Chris and Amy Louise & Ella.

Over the past two weeks, the children in the Yani classroom have had the opportunity to embark on a journey through the depths of natural history. Their exploration kicked off with a presentation on the Montessori’s second great story: The Coming of Life. Through vivid storytelling and the use of the Timeline of Life and research materials, the students were transported back in time to witness the inspiring evolution of Earth and its diverse array of living organisms over millions of years. They explored the interconnectedness between species and gained a profound understanding of the balance that sustains life on our planet.

Despite the persistent wet weather, the students found joy and excitement indoors during their sports lesson, where they delved into the fascinating history of the Olympic Games. They learned about this global sporting event’s ancient origins and evolution over time. The lesson ended with a lively dance session, where everyone joined in. Additionally,

Antony had the opportunity to present his research project: The Amazing Art of Trees. Filled with intriguing facts about the world’s largest tree and its evolution, Antony’s passion for trees ignited the appreciation of his peers.

In regards to mathematics, students continued using the Montessori materials to gain a deeper understanding of different topics, such as finding the lowest common multiple of a number using the bead chains, or calculating the square of a binomial.

—Laura, Thomas, Ella & Amy Louise.

North Head Campus

This Term our focus will be on drumming, from understanding the parts of the drum kit, learning drum notation and working with auxiliary percussion as well. Over the last few weeks both classes have been learning to play Latin Claves and working together to create a unified sound. Students have learnt the names of each of the parts of a drum kit, and have been fine tuning how to read and play a rock beat.

Preschool Campus

We’ve loved getting back into music making at North Balgowlah. For all our groups we’re looking at dynamics and creating simple rhythm patterns using fruits. It’s been lots of fun! If families want to get involved at home, there’s an easy activity everyone can do:

 – find 2 or 3 different fruits that you have at home (eg Pear / Mango)
– place them in an order (eg Pear / Mango / Pear)
– clap along as you name each fruit (Pear / Man-Go / Pear)
 – take turns at changing the order and repeating the clapping game

— The Evergreen Music Team.