Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Trust The Process

Hello families!

Last week, we had a very successful Open House. It was fun to see new and old faces come in to our environment to explore works with their children. It makes all of our efforts and hard work in Room 101 so fulfilling! As expected, I had many parents ask about how their children are doing. Some shared about their children's interests and abilities. It is so amazing what our children are able to soak in and learn! I want to thank everyone for being truly committed to your children's education and growth at school. I admire your advocacy for your children. I am here to support and hone every child's abilities and potentials in Room 101. Please know that I strive to follow your goals for your children by using my knowledge in Early Childhood and the Montessori philosophy.

It might be a coincidence that I stumbled upon this blog post. Last week as I filled your children's folders with their works to take home, I kept thinking about your (parents') reaction to the tiny pieces of paper or the painted paper they treasure. I thought to myself that maybe I need to explain what they were and why the products your children take home doesn't look "crafty." I hope you would spend time reading this beautiful post that talks about Montessori and the children's process oriented work.

I urge you to trust the process. In early childhood Montessori, every thing is presented and learned in isolation. The culmination happens within the child through purposeful work. It happens intrinsically when we follow the child. 

I think one of the beauty of being a Montessori teacher is that I am not a teacher. I am a guide, a directress that prepares a safe environment wherein children will be successful. In return, children are able to take risks, explore their wonderings and learn about their interests. I am sharing two videos of 2 Kindergarteners in our class. First, I want you to meet Sofia. Sofia is new to our school. She was not in our class for the first 2 years of the EC cycle. I am sharing this video of her building her sentence using the Moveable Alphabet. She used inventive spelling and wrote her words phonetically as how she hears it. She also self-corrected when she realized that she didn't read all of her words to match what she was saying. Sofia is not only working on language acquisition, but also on her writing process. This work isn't only about sentence structure as it directly shows us. To me, it shows that Sofia connected to the picture she choose, planned what to say and wrote down her thoughts. So many wonderful things being mastered in this one work! 

Secondly, here is Julieta. Julieta started in 101 when she was 3-years old. She made plenty friends in our multi-age class. She has been exposed to the Montessori Golden Beads since she first started coming to Suder. She has learned to observe and shadow older children do complex works in our classroom. Although, I have given her classical presentations on the material, her true teachers of this material is not me. It was her peers! Maya, Winter, Sophia, Roy and the rest of our last year's Kinder group patiently took Julieta under their wings. Now, watch Julieta compose numbers to the 1000's in the first quarter of this school year! My favorite part of this video is how she literally looks at the golden beads to make sense of the number in front of her. 

"It is the child who makes the man, and no man exists who was not made by the child he once was."  -Maria Montessori




Julieta and Isabella practiced sight words using fluency binders.

Sofia and the Snap Dressing Frame.

Toby and Falcon created their art.

Julieta and Isabella made a seasons book.

Oona made a sound book.


Avery reviewed the parts of a leaf using the Leaf Puzzle.

Lea completed the Parts of the Tree puzzle.

Madison and a tonging work.

Caleb served himself snack during work time.

Alexander worked on scooping objects.

Haylie and a tonging work.

RJ observed Sandy while Andy scooped wooden beads.

Ariana and the Sandpaper Numbers.


Sharon matched the Color Tablets.

Estela washed her own glass plate after having snack.

Oliver matched objects and pictures.

Estela gave Hudson a presentation on the Nuts and Bolts work.

(Grace and Courtesy) Chloe: "Thank you for showing me your beautiful picture, Sharon!"

Alexander made art using the Gluing work.

Oona practiced sewing.

More sewing from Olivia

Hudson honed his fine motor skills using the Tweezing work.

The girls worked on the Memory game (numbers and quantification)

Andy: "Blade!"

Kindergarteners reading like the characters during Reader's Workshop.

Isabella caught yawning at Kindergarten time (mimicking the pigeon in her story book) =) 

Working on our goals. The Power of Yet!


Our goals displayed for Open House.


Welcome families!!!

Welcome families!!!

Welcome families!!!

Welcome families!!!

Welcome families!!!

Welcome families!!!

Welcome families!!!

Welcome families!!!

Welcome families!!!

Our day in 101.

Ethan and the Cards and Counters (odd and even)

Nijel and Stefan composed numbers to the 1000's in the hallway.

We made it!

Haylie and Lea worked on phonemic awareness.

Kindergarteners finished a reading unit! We are story book readers!

Kindergarteners finished a reading unit! We are story book readers!

We had a mini parade to celebrate!

Julieta and the Golden Beads.

Sofia recorded her sentence in her journal.

Hudson and the Lacing work.

One of our Sunset meeting reflection question.