10/15 Blog
One of the founding principles of the Montessori classroom is to develop global awareness in our students. What does this mean? At the Primary level, global awareness involves teaching students about different nations and cultures. Our aim is to develop in our students an understanding that while there are many different people in the world, we all have the same feelings and we even share similar experiences such as playing, learning, and spending time with friends and family.
Developing this idea in our classroom begins with the study of the world and its continents. Our first lesson begins with our globe and learning which parts represent the water (blue areas) and which parts represent the land or continents (colored areas). Each continent is represented by a different color and we sing a song to help learn the names of each one.
This work is revisited each month as we learn about different parts of the world, the people, animals, literature, artists and unique features (mountains, rainforests, buildings and structures, etc.) of each continent and the countries within it. The students are fascinated by the fact that other children live, play and go to school in different parts of the world, just like they do. Our aim in building this awareness is to develop an understanding that we are global citizens and are connected to each other through shared experiences such as learning, playing, eating, and traveling.
“From a young age, each child should begin to understand that they are individuals who are a part of the human species, a member of society, and on a much larger scale, a citizen of the world. By nurturing this awareness of the world, the child will begin to develop a universal understanding and appreciation of all life on earth.” Maria Montessori
This month, we also learned the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates. Students practiced different sorting jobs to help learn what kind of animals have bones inside their bodies and what animals do not. Vertebrate lessons also helped us understand some of the characteristics of mammals. In addition to having bones, mammals also have fur or hair covering their bodies, breathe with lungs, are warm – blooded and give birth to live babies.
Anatomy lessons were fun as we practiced putting a skeleton floor puzzle together and matched parts of the body with the appropriate label. Bones give our bodies shape and protect our soft internal organs. We have also been enjoying lessons on the parts of the pumpkin and practicing some Halloween songs in English and in Spanish.
Here are some photos of ongoing work in the classroom this month:
One of our favorite poems in Spanish this month has been about pumpkins.
Cinco Calabazas
Cinco calabazas sentadas en su casa
Una calabaza se siente muy cansada
Cuatro calabazas sentadas en su casa
Una calabaza se siente asustada
Tres calabazas sentadas en su casa
Una calabaza se siente enojada
Dos calabazas sentadas en su casa
Una calabaza se siente sorprendida
Cinco calabazas sentadas en su casa
Cuando sale el sol se sienten muy feliz.
Here is another poem we have been learning about skeletons.
Skeleton Parade
The skeletons are out tonight
They march about the street
With bony bodies, bony heads
And bony hands and feet
Bony, bony, bony bones
With nothing in between
Up and down and all around
They march on Halloween.