Using the pincer grasp.

Developing the pincer grasp in a Montessori classroom is a milestone in development for children.

The urge to grasp objects between the thumb and the first and second fingers is a fine motor skill begun typically near twelve months old.  It is a natural way of developing a skill in childhood that will be used during an entire lifetime.

Any time you use a fork, a spoon, cut paper, zip a zipper, tie your shoelace, thread a needle, or write a letter you are using a pincer grasp.

The importance of training the hand to comfortably hold a pencil in the pincer grasp can not be understated.  Writing is the gateway to reading from the Montessori perspective.

With a developed pincer grasp, a child can practice writing letters and numbers in a left to right direction and begin training their eyes to scan the page in the same way, as when reading text.

One of the most common signs of an undeveloped pincer grasp is when a child holds the pencil with their entire fist, instead of with their thumb and first two fingers.

This is can be remedied with developing the muscles in the hand and giving the child the feel of using the correct grasp while they are stringing beads, grasping pom poms, and transferring small objects from one bowl to another.  It is also helpful to gently help the child readjust their fingers to the pincer grasp when they have used their fist to hold the pencil instead.

Another component to developing smooth writing skills is to encourage the child to rest the writing hand fully on the writing surface.  Often, a new student is able to grasp the pencil in the right way, but their hand is high up on the pencil instead of having the outside of the hand making contact with the table.

The practical life area of a Montessori classroom is dedicated to developing the fine motor skills and concentration needed to have a pincer grasp.  With its array of jobs, including the easier grasping and transferring of objects from one container to another, to pouring jobs, and eventually the more difficult tweezing jobs; the student’s sense of using their pincer grasp is developed and refined.

THANK YOU

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Jessica Nordling and Grace for beautifully stamping the names of our P1 students on their red tote bags.

Visiting our neighborhood fire station.

We are grateful to the parents who chaperoned our first Kindergarten field trip to our local fire station.  It was a very positive experience for the children and we appreciate your contribution to making the field trip safe, informative and fun.

After the field trip at the fire station, the Kindergarten class enjoyed playing at Amador Park.

Thank you to our copying, cutting and laminating mavens who generously give to our classroom in helping us make fresh, new jobs for our students.

REMINDERS

PTO’s Fall Festival is next Friday night (October 9th) starting at 5pm.  It is the first of our school wide events, and a fun time not to be missed!  You may purchase tickets from PTO members who are set up in our quad.  Also, there are silent auction items to bid on, many of which are displayed in the office.

Picture day is Tuesday, October 13.

No School on Friday, October 16 due to teacher-in service.

“USA Day” will be celebrated Thursday, October 29 and students will be dismissed at 11:15am.

No School on Friday, October 30 as we are celebrating Nevada Day.

A big thank you to Austin and Sydney (and their families) for providing delicious, healthy snacks and beautiful flowers for our classroom.

The revered Chinese philosopher, Confucius, uttered this famous phrase:

“I hear and I forget,

I see and I remember,

I do and I understand.”

This summarizes a key component of the Montessori philosophy which is the power of a child to be immersed in the process of learning as compared to simply generating product (paperwork, saying the right answer).  It is a subtle and profound Montessori perspective.

Working with the “4-chain”

In our culture, there is such a drive for people to say and give the “right answer” that the deeper experience of methodically doing the process is not given the priority it deserves.

 In Montessori education, the process is the focus of our lessons. When a student is given a lesson for the first time, there is a profound order and process that is imparted: how we lay out a lesson mat, carefully select the material, carry the material to the mat, place items from left to right in a specific order, and returning the activity to the proper location in the classroom so it is ready for the next child to do.

Giving a lesson using the 5-chain.

This allows the child to see a clear, quiet path to the successful experience of using the materials to achieve its aim (whether it be a math problem, an activity designed to develop the senses or a writing exercise).

working with the color tablets

On a deeper level, the child has a way of repeating the lesson themselves.

shape matching “step board”

Practicing a lesson independently from the teacher builds intellectual confidence in the child, as they see that their actions lead to the same positive results experienced in the first lesson.

working the “1,000-chain”

Letting ourselves, as teachers and parents, step back and engage the child with the long view of imparting process instead of generating immediate results, takes discipline and awareness of why we are doing what we are doing.

initial bead stair lesson

Eventually the process will take hold in the child and their true independence will be served.

REMINDERS

Spanish bingo

PTO Movie Night at FMS on Friday, 9/25.  This is a great way to meet other parents and enjoy your children socializing with their school friends.

Kindergarten field trip to the local fire station on Monday, 9/28.  We have been studying safety and community building in our classroom this month, so this will be a tangible way of enforcing this topic.

Look for the book fair from Tuesday, September 29th through October 2nd.

pin punching develops fine motor skills and concentration

Parent Teacher Conferences are coming up.  There is a sign-up sheet by the P1 Communication Book.  Conferences will be held on Tuesday, September 29 and Wednesday, September 30 after school.  Thursday, October 1 is a  half day (dismissal at 11:15) with conferences available in the afternoon  and Friday, October 2 (no school for children) with conference times available from 8:00 to 4:00.

A great big thanks to Vivian D. and Lilly, and their families for providing delicious snacks and beautiful flowers for our room.

Welcome to our 2015-2016 school year.  With so many returning students, the P1 work cycles have been quiet and productive.

We are also happy to report that several of our new students are siblings of former Kindergarteners, so many of them had a sense of how to move around the classroom and follow the basic guidelines.

We are emphasizing our grace and courtesy lessons, such as turn taking especially in highly demanded areas in the classroom (like art and snack) and how to handle disappointment when the first choice is not available and a different job has to be chosen.

The aim of a Montessori classroom is to have it organized and logically sequenced so that the first job, found on the top left place on a shelf gives the foundational lesson on the subject, and the jobs become more advanced and detailed as the student moves to the right and then down a shelf.

With our new students, it is important to carefully deliver the lessons (especially the first time) so that the student can repeat the process successfully and master the skill intended with practice.

Our curriculum is guided by a monthly cultural theme.  The first month we are focusing on “land, air and water.”

Ms. Nancy delivered a group lesson where the students learned that they were standing on land (the carpet) and the rock they were holding actually was originally part of a mountain.  Air was felt by blowing on their finger. When Ms. Nancy blew air through the flute, the sound was made because it traveled through air.  

Finally, we listened to water being poured into a pitcher and a student pointed out that there were three areas in our classroom that brought water to our room.

We encourage you to continue the conversation at home about these cultural topics as it enhances your child’s understanding of the ideas presented and it engages their communication skills.  We were amazed by some of the questions and comments our students expressed during the lesson.

              REMINDERS

• No School on Monday 9/7 as we are celebrating Labor Day.

• Thank you to those families who have signed up to bring in snack, there are still opportunities for other families to sign up.

• Become active in our PTO and find out how by attending the first meeting on Thursday 9/17 at 8:30-9:30am at FMS.

A great big thank you to Gabrielle and Elliott, and their families for providing delicious snacks and beautiful flowers for our classroom.

As we have traveled from continent to continent during this school year, the month of April finds us exploring the verdant continent of South America.

“About a third of the world’s bird species live in South America.  South America boasts the world’s driest desert, tallest waterfall (Angel Falls is almost 20 times higher than Niagara Falls), longest mountain range (The Andes Mountains), largest rainforest (The Amazon rain forest), and biggest river by volume of flow (the Amazon).”*

*South America,by Libby Koponen

Every month, we explore plants and animals from the continent we are studying, and this month, we are mesmerized by the variety and color of South American animals. In addition to weaving the features of South America into our lessons, we are also studying birds, care of the Earth, and parts of the flower.

One experiment we are running is to see how decomposition works and how we can be more conscious of using materials that don’t decompose and how they ultimately impact the health of the Earth.  We have a white, plastic spoon laid next to one half of a bell pepper.

So far, the students have observed that the plastic spoon stays the same, but the bell pepper is getting wrinkled and smaller.  We encourage the children to draw their observations on paper provided for them, and to take note how the plastic spoon doesn’t decompose, while the pepper is changing day to day.

Birds are also part of our overall classification lesson.  In the beginning of the year, we start with “living and nonliving” then we moved to “plants and animals.”

Once we know that we are dealing with animals (not plants),  then we looked at the difference between “vertebrates (has a backbone) and invertebrates (no backbone).”

Animals that are vertebrates can be further classified into mammals, reptiles, fish, amphibians, and birds.  Next month we will complete this study by learning about insects.

This month the students learned that all birds have feathers, but not all birds fly.  Find out from your children the answer to this true riddle.

Thank you to all the parents who traveled with us to Springs Preserve and helped deliver a wonderful field trip for all of our students.

REMINDERS

Family “KICK-NIC” event is sponsored by the PTO and being held today, Friday, April 17th, at Amador Vista Park starting at 3:30pm.  Concessions available for donations.  Bring your picnic blankets and chairs, and enjoy some fun outdoor games with your entire family.

Mother’s Day Tea on Friday May 8th at 10:30-11:15am, see you all there! Thank you to Clare and Cortland (and their families) for providing delicious snacks and beautiful flowers for our classroom.

We are so grateful for the opportunity to teach your children and watch them grow and develop.  Each child in our care is precious to us. Thank you for showering us with gifts, food and flowers; we are moved by your generosity and appreciate your thoughtfulness. Ms. Melissa, Ms. Diana, Ms. Nancy          

Independence is one of the four cornerstones of the Primary Montessori school experience.  First, order is introduced to the students to help guide the development of concentration, and then the manipulation of the work fosters overall coordination.

But the true aim of the process is to facilitate each child’s sense of their own independence.

In the classroom, we take deliberate steps to foster independence in the children. For example, when they approach us with their coat in hand and ask us to help put it on;  instead of acquiescing to their request, we ask the child to look at the sleeves of the coat and make sure that each one is pulled out.

Then, as the jacket is ready to put on, we may place it over their shoulders or use a hood to place it on the body.  At that point, the child senses they can put both of their arms through the sleeves quite easily.

It usually takes longer to learn how to use a zipper, but even with the young students, we will start the zipper and then let them pull it up.

 As parents and teachers, we want the very best experiences for our children. Sometimes, we feel that by attending to their every need, we are caring for our children at a very high level.

In fact, by allowing a child to be responsible for some of their daily routines, provides the space for the child to build their independence from a very safe place.

The more our children learn how to care for themselves, the more confidence they enjoy and their sense of independence grows.

Dr. Montessori had a keen eye for the pivotal role true independence played in the development of a positive self image.  

 Early on in her work she observed that “it is not just a case of deciding to “set him free,” or of wanting him to be free;his independence is a physiological state, a change wrought by the process of growth.”

Step by step, as a child follows patterns laid out by their teachers and their parents, they begin to refine their sense of accomplishment and experience a clearer picture of themselves functioning in the world.

the volcano lesson

REMINDERS

Have a safe and restful Spring Break.  We look forward to seeing all of you back at school, on Tuesday, 4/7.

Ms. Val and her “lady bug convention”

the hatching of the praying mantis’

Class field trip to the Springs Preserve on Tuesday, 4/14.

Mother and son “Kick-Nic” event on Friday, 4/17.

Many thanks to Gabriella and Kendall and their families for providing wonderful snacks and beautiful flowers for our classroom.