P1 September 30 Blog
Building Independence at Home
One of our goals in the Montessori classroom is to build independence in our students. We want and expect them to practice lessons, take care of the classroom and its materials and move from one task to the next on their own. Building independence takes time, modeling and practice but the end result is a child that can move and function freely within a safe environment.
When students are at home, it may feel like you, as a parent, must entertain them every minute of each day. Not only is this an unrealistic expectation, it is exhausting! However, there are many things you can do at home to help your children build independence as well as be participating members of your family.
Here are some ways you can build independence at home:
Show your child how to dust a particular room in the house.
Show your child how to sort laundry (towels, washcloths, their own clothes) into piles, then fold or roll towels and washcloths appropriately. Show them how to put their own clothes in the appropriate drawer or closet.
Show your child how to empty the dishwasher. Have them put away the dishes within their reach and where to set other dishes for an adult to put away later.
Show your child how to sweep the driveway, sidewalk or patio to clear leaves and dust away. (They do this in the Outdoor Classroom!) They could also sweep the floors in the house.
Ask them to walk the dog (if you have one) around the yard. Teach them to give your pet appropriate food and water.
Create a to do list with some consistent chores (making their bed, brushing their teeth, getting dressed, etc. ) that they should do every day. Add a different chore for each day of the week
Example:
Monday: make your bed, get dressed, brush your teeth, get dressed, sweep the driveway
Tuesday: make your bed, get dressed, brush your teeth, dust the living room
Wednesday: make your bed, get dressed, brush your teeth, empty the dishwasher
Thursday: make your bed, get dressed, brush your teeth, sort and fold laundry
Friday: make your bed, get dressed, brush your teeth, walk the dog
Here is a link to some other ideas for building independence at home.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1F3T5yu2RSadVYrXiii6gizlIkow-rDZE?usp=sharing
October is right around the corner and that means new units of study! We will be learning about Anatomy and bones, the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates, what are mammals, our five senses, the continents of the world and pumpkins.
We will also be holding International Children’s Day in our classroom. P1 will be representing different regions of Africa. While we cannot have parent volunteers in the classroom, we would love to have parents join us virtually to showcase a traditional costume, a photo blog of a trip or talk to students about their culture or experiences from a trip to Africa.
We will also be setting up a Zoom viewing time that you can join and observe the activities going on in P1.
Here are some photos of students working on P1.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1F3T5yu2RSadVYrXiii6gizlIkow-rDZE?usp=sharing