Over the weekend, I reflected on our first week of Pre-K. Overall, I think we had a very productive week. Of course, there were a few kinks that had to be worked out...but we managed well! On Monday, we practiced walking in a straight line and becoming independent in the bathroom. I am really encouraging independence this year. We also spent a lot of time on procedures and transitions. We try to keep the same routine in our classroom each day, but of course with Pre-K we must always be flexible. I never want our room to be so structured that we miss out on "learning as we go". My goal is to to have an organized, structured classroom that also encourages curiosity and individuality. So, as I reflected over the week, I realized that nearly all of the students are really struggling with fine motor skills. A simple task, such as holding a crayon or pencil, can be quite challenging for these little hands. So...for the next few weeks, we are going to focus on sharpening our fine motor skills. I am a product of a Montesorri classroom, so I want to incorporate many of the same things that I grew up learning. One of my favorite activities (that I now realize was used to develop fine motor skills) was punching letters that were written on paper with toothpicks. I also loved using tweezers to pick up cotton balls and placing them in a cup. I was learning through my "play" and I didn't even know it!!
So...if anyone has any spare tweezers, cotton balls or toothpicks at home....I sure would love to use them in our room!
This week we will be reading "Five Little Pumpkins" poem. I hope to take a video of the children and post it on Thursday. They are absolutely adorable doing the motions. We are also working on a craft to go along with this poem. It is going to be super cute. I plan to hang them in our hall outside the classroom. Ask your child if he/she can recite the poem to you at home. They almost have it memorized!
On Wednesday, the children are welcome to bring a Halloween treat for their friends. We will have 7 friends on Wednesday. I am planning to bring in some pumpkin muffins. I wonder if they will like my healthy version of Halloween food?? : ) We will be reading lots of books about pumpkins too.
Until next time...
I love the idea of the Montessori classroom! I've noticed you seem to have students of different ages in Luc's class. This kind of peer to peer education is super neat and facilitates faster learning, I bet. The Montessori model of education seems to be the underdog so I'm excited that you're willing to use it! Plus Luc knows the word Montessori from one of his eBooks on the iPad. My favorite line from the book is "My classroom is small, but I'm ready for the world. I like Montessori." :-)
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