Cultural Area: Parent Education

Guest blog by Jackie Farrand, teacher at the Montessori School of Pullman, and a Montessori parent In Montessori education, the cultural area covers geography, history, zoology, botany, and science. For a preschool classroom this largely looks like learning about themselves. The holidays they and their peers celebrate, their birthday and the difference between when they

Practical Life Activities are the Heart of Montessori Education

Guest Blog by Najnin Aktar. Teacher at the Montessori School of Pullman, and Montessori Teacher in training Dear Families, Practical life activities in Montessori are very purposeful, and help children develop skills in motor control, coordination, independence, concentration, and a sense of order. The activities in our Practical Life Curriculum cover four areas of development:

Annual River Walk

I am a big believer in both traditions and getting kids out in nature, and feeling familiar and comfortable with their environment. So our annual river walk with our elementary kids is something I look forward to every year. We weren’t sure whether it would happen this year, due to Covid 19 (lack of open

Montessori Outdoor Science School 2019 (MOSS) Day Four

The themes are really starting to come together in an organic way, with learning and skills from one day building to the next day. Major themes emerging are: predator and prey relationships, mainly resulting from our daily games. food webs observing animals, birds, bugs and plants in their natural habitats, and using guides to identify

Is St Nicholas real? What about Santa?

  Is. St. Nicholas real? Is Santa Claus real? Who brings the presents and fills the stockings? Is Jesus real? Children ask questions that are difficult to answer. I tend to start story telling, celebrations and debates with phrases such as: This is what some people believe. This is a story from long ago. This

The Absorbent Mind

  If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect. If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them. If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live. These are some of the qualities I hope surround our

The First Five Years

Why is early learning so important? Did you know that 85 – 90% of a child’s brain is developed before the age of five?  It truly is amazing how much children learn in these early years – how to support their head, how to control their muscles, how to roll over, sit up, crawl, walk,

Developmental Milestones

Where can I find information about a child’s normal development between the ages of birth to six? Skills such as taking a first step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye bye” are called developmental milestones.  Children develop at different rates and reach these milestones at different ages.   While children develop according to their

Independence – what does it look like in your child?

This month the teachers and I have been focusing on  the development of independence in our children.  In the upcoming newsletter we will soon publish, we have included examples of what independence looks like in a two year old, all the way up to our big six year olds, and how the Montessori environment supports

Repetition

Parents ask the best questions! “My daughter keeps bringing home the same work.  Is that okay?” This parent has noticed a key concept of Montessori education – the desire in the child for repetition. Do you remember your child learning how to walk?  No matter how many times he or she fell down, your child