The Absorbent Mind

"...education is not what the teacher gives: education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual. It is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences upon the environment."
                                                                          -Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind


Room 101 has been gaining momentum with our community building, exploring and learning. Our work cycle continues to grow longer. It is a beautiful sight to see your children's focus and concentration. I am the director or guide in the classroom. I give the children presentations to spark and entice their own interests. I am getting to know your children through the works they choose and within our daily conversations.

According to Montessori, children have an absorbent mind, which unconsciously absorbs everything in their surroundings. By exposing the students to the grand scale of everything that surrounds them, the child intentionally chooses what interest them. The child then develops order, focus and concentration to help him/her make sense of information. This focus is called "The Sensitive Period". This is a phase when your child has a vulnerability to learn a specific skill. This is why sometimes children repeat things over and over again. =) In Montessori, that repetition is celebrated! 

This week, I have given several presentations in all the areas of the classroom. When you check out the pictures below, you will see most of our students chose the Sandpaper Letters and Moveable Alphabet. The works ranged from exploring letters through name tracing to building CVC words with the Moveable Alphabet. A Sensitive Period to Language Arts, perhaps? 

Follow your child. Engage them in conversation about the works they do in class. I will make sure to name the works in the pictures so you have an idea of what the different activities are called.

"As soon as children find something that interests them they lose their instability and learn to concentrate."
                                                                       -Maria Montessori

Sophia A. gave the Collage Work her full attention.

Noah and Leslie practiced the decimal places with the Bank Game.

Jena admired her hard work!

 Sandy, our bearded dragon, has captured Winter's attention.

Xitlali  explored shapes using the light table.

Zoe worked hard blending CVC words using the Vowel Tree.

Dylan was concentrated on his illustration.

Kindergarten students and the 9 Layout Presentation.

Some of our 5th graders helped us clean Digger's (guinea pig) hutch.

Zeia gave Digger some loving hugs.

Sasha made connections between the Pink Cubes and the Brown Prisms.

Audrey and Sophia R. worked on the 20 Board.

Maya and Winter explored the coconut tree while reading, "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom."

Natalie worked on letter formation and sounds using the Sandpaper Letters and Sand Tray.

Audrey and Ibrahim matched letters and initial sounds with the Sound Boxes.

Ivan and Garvit shared a book and some laughs.

Noah and Charlie discussed the Parts of an Apple Work.

Julieta scrubbed Apples.

Cameron and Audrey challenged themselves by taking 2 Sound Boxes and mixed them together.

Winter worked on the Bubble Making Work while Frances cleaned up her Sponge Squeezing Work.

Daniel chose to work on the 9 Layout independently.