Michelle's Maple Tree

Mental Math

2012-03-06T17:05:00.000-08:00

"This system in which a child is constantly moving objects with his hands and actively exercising his senses, also takes into account a child's special aptitude for mathematics. When they leave the material, the children very easily reach the point where they wish to write out the operation. They thus carry out an abstract mental operation and acquire a kind of natural and spontaneous inclination for mental calculations."

(The Discovery of the Child, Maria Montessori)

Material Making Weekend

2012-03-05T11:49:00.002-08:00

Like a crazy woman, I spent my weekend making new blue materials for our language shelf. I am most certain I should have been painting and helping around our house but I had a bee in my bonnet and I really needed to get this work done and on the shelf. I had been waiting for weeks for a bag of tiny four letter phonetic objects and some sentence cards and objects to arrive and on Friday they finally did.

I decided to make my own reading cards for our reading boxes and was able to locate a great Montessori font here. It was free to download and printed up beautifully on blue card stock.

The tricky part was cutting it all out the right size which was largely dictated by my box size and then laminating and cutting again. I LOVE these smart snap boxes available at Staples. I know, they are plastic :( but really they are so durable and pretty. Given how much action these little reading boxes are seeing these days, I really needed something durable. Our small blue paper boxes were just not cutting it anymore.

The children are so drawn to these reading boxes. I think it is because they want or rather need to hold the tiny objects in their little hands. I hear them sometimes playing out a little scene with them and think to myself what great story tellers they are becoming.

You are in for such a treat at parent teacher tonight! Your children are doing such amazing things. They are reading and writing and have evolved so much in the last year.

I am so happy making new things for our shelves. I know I make my husband crazy when I work late into the night or on weekends but he gets it now and understands my need to make things. Please try not to notice the state of my desk tonight! I've got better things to do then clean it up and I have so many projects waiting to go out on the shelves.

In my mind, my desk is a prepared environment :)

Bunny Love

2012-03-03T06:19:00.001-08:00

Good Saturday morning to you all! I am dropping in to announce that our giveaway for March will be a sock monkey kit or rather a sock bunny kit from the fabulous Monkey Show shop. Just in time for Easter is my thinking on this one.

I love the concept of this product. The monkey and bunny kits are made from socks and mittens and everything you need to make the monkey or bunny with comes in the box.

Given how many little sewers we have at the school I know this will be a big hit. hmmmm..... maybe the Easter bunny will drop into our house and leave one.

Oh, and fyi they offer birthday parties at their shop on Queen Street. Check them out some time and don't for get to pop in and leave your comment for a chance to win a bunny kit!

February Winner is.....

2012-03-01T05:47:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to Lauren, our February Winner!! Your books will be in your Art file at the school for pick up. I will be back tomorrow to announce our Giveaway for March.

Mud, Glorious Mud!

2012-02-25T12:11:00.000-08:00

I meant to post this yesterday, but my day was busy and it got away from me and only when I was on my way to Windsor to take our son to a hockey game last night did I remember. Better late than never I think is going to be my new motto!

Yesterday, I got to go to playground and it was so much fun to watch the children. Not only did I get to see the amazing mud play unfold but I got to watch the tender relationships that have evolved between some of the children.

I know your child's gear is a write off at the end of the day these days but know this, they are having the most marvelous time making soup, mud pies and well just plan old fashioned fun.

Happy Weekend!

Wide Eye Wonder

2012-02-22T13:19:00.000-08:00

Enough said Right? How cute is the miss in the pink Tutu dress adjusting things? The space play area is so well used. It really does make me think.....what should we do next?

Rocket and Roll

2012-02-21T13:31:00.000-08:00

Ms. Stephanie came up with this fantastic game that we have on the shelf right now. The children roll the die and match the felt shape to the correct spot on the rocket. We have noticed that this game gets played alot and and it is a great first introduction into game playing. In my house, we've started to make an effort to play board games with our youngest and we played a lot during the Christmas holidays. I must say it brings out the best, worst and the crazies in all of us. I can't remember a time when I laughed more. There are great lessons to learn in turn taking, patience and consideration. Take some time to get into a board game with your child. It is a great way to connect and laugh ALOT!!

Things have gotten Spacey

2012-02-20T11:44:00.000-08:00

Things have gotten spacey around here for sure and I don't just mean me! We have shifted away from love and hearts and moved onto Space. We been planning this for some time and Ms. Melanie and I were at the school very late last night setting things up. It always feels like Christmas when we watch the children enter the classroom and see a new theme set up. For us, it's the anticipation and the children never disappoint. The excitement is contagious and everyone is engrossed and settled into new work again.

We hung this model of the Solar system above our imaginative play area that has many spaceships, moon rocks and astronauts. It is a very fun and starry place to stop and play for a few minutes during the day.

I ordered this book a while ago and we presented it to the children today. It has sounds and beautiful pop up pictures. I said it is a book to look at with a teacher and that it is very fragile (it already has a few rips). It was ordered at Chapters.

Of course we couldn't help ourselves, and we continued the theme at the art table. So much color and so much fun.

A peek at the week...

2012-02-09T05:15:00.000-08:00

Just popping in to wish you Light and Love as we head into this weekend. Yes, I am in weekend mode already! I'm out for a few days enjoying some down time with my sister and nephew. Take some time to really appreciate those moments this weekend with your children.

Different kinds of Families

2012-02-07T15:01:00.000-08:00

Since the holiday break, we have been learning about instrument families in music class. We began with the percussion instruments, which the children will tell you is any instrument which is shaken or tapped to make music. We have also learned about wind instruments (which we sometimes call "blowing" instruments) and we will soon move to the stringed instrument family.

With this unit there is a great deal of focused listening, which sharpens auditory skills to discern subtle differences in the sounds, in this case the timbres and pitches, of what we hear. For example, we have been listening to Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, the percussion variation. The children learned to distinguish between the eight percussion instruments they heard: drums, glockenspiel, triangle, woodblock, tambourine, clacker, whip and cymbal.

Other orchestral pieces we use to learn about instrument families are Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals and Prokofieff's Peter and the Wolf. There are also lots of instrument demonstrations these days, including recorder, trumpet, violin, cello, and lots of percussion. So if your child suddenly develops an intense interest in the piccolo, you'll know why! ~Ms. Susanne

Love is in the Air and our Classroom

2012-02-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

There is all kinds of valentine making going on today. So much glue and glitter really sets my heart a flutter! I LOVE this time of the year. The children are excited almost as much as Christmas. The thought of making and giving a token of ones affection is so much fun.

For our part, we've designed a few different ways in which the children can create and give either to a friend in our extended family at Maple Tree or a loved one at home. We will be setting up our mail box tomorrow to receive our cards and notes to be shared on February 14th. We are choosing to have each child make one valentine and place it in our mailbox and each one will get one valentine in return from the mail box. I love how this works and how special a project this has become. Not to mention how much easier it is over sorting valentines for all our children at the school. Less is definitely more!

February Give Away.....

2012-02-02T06:34:00.000-08:00

These are two fantastic books that inspire outside play and activities. Given that we are dealing with more mud then snow I thought it was a good time to pull these out of my stash. I haven't decided to whether to give these away as one or two gifts. So we shall see at the end of the month!

Announcing our January Winners....

2012-01-31T10:09:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Ms. Shell and Frost Flower, our Winners for our January Giveaway!

Please email me to arrange a pick up on your Artburn kit! I will be back tomorrow to Announce our Give Away for February.

Best Chocolate Cake Ever!

2012-01-30T10:43:00.000-08:00

As promised and a little late to this space is the recipe for the chocolate cake that I served up at our last book club meeting. It really is the best chocolate cake ever! The recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa at Home. I love her cook books and just so you know, there is nothing low cal about this cake. My thought is, life is way to short to eat low cal anything. Besides, most of the time if you read the ingredient list it is full of artificial sugar substitutes and other yucky stuff. So if your going for it, Go Big or go home!

Ingredients

Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Frosting:

6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (recommended: Callebaut)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

Saturday Morning Market Find

2012-01-28T06:34:00.000-08:00

My weekend starts with a trip to the Seaport Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. We are lucky that we can slip out for an hour together and leave our eldest in charge. It feels like we waited forever for that gift! He is amazing with his sister and they have a snuggle in our bed and watch cartoons and place their order with us before we leave. He always wants two apple turnovers from Juliens and she always wants a cupcake! Yup, I let her have that for breakfast because life is too short and I myself have been know to have a cupcake for breakfast from time to time. So, what's good for the goose, is good for the gander as they say.

Today as we got our coffee from Laughing Whale and walked through the venders we stopped at Good Natured. They have everything, from magic wands to, small felting kits and wool necklaces and bracelets. I could buy everything they have and still want more! Today though, there was one item I just had to have.

I could not take my eyes off the inuit person on wood with a fish on line. So completely beautiful and without hesitation I bought it. You know where it is going right? I am beside myself to get to work and add him to our nature inspired scene of the Arctic. I know the children will love this addition. I love how that space inspires such imaginative play. They are so gentle with that space.

If your at the market stop by and check out Good Natured. They have lovely gifts for children and grown ups. Happy Saturday!

Mmmmmm Pulled Pork on a Bun

2012-01-26T12:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we made pulled pork on a bun for lunch and it was such a big hit! We went through two large pork shoulder roasts from Getaway Farm. I made well over 90 buns with pork for lunch and all of it went. That is 30 times three! Yes some children had three or four for lunch. To be fair they were tiny picnic buns because children eat smaller portions and have smaller mouths and hands. I knew if we were to be successful with this new addition it would have to be well put together and not sloppy. I do not really have a recipe for this. All I did was sear the roast with olive oil and garlic and salt and pepper on all sides. Next I placed them in my crock pot at about 10:00 P.M. on the lowest setting and added some Maple bbq sauce and Maple Syrup. I didn't add anything more. Children are funny and when the flavours are to complex the children won't eat it. The meat was so tender and so good. Probably best lunch ever at Maple Tree! I think we will try a roast of beef this way next.

Everywhere Dragons

2012-01-25T06:14:00.000-08:00

We've been talking about and crafting for Chinese New Year. This is the year of the dragon and we made these super cute dragon masks. I found the template at Skip to My Lou and printed them off. We had the children use water colour paints at the art table to decorate them and we added feathers and attached them with pipe cleaners.

Happy New Year Everyone!

The Whales are Calling....

2012-01-24T07:14:00.000-08:00

Can you hear them? The whales, seals and walrus are calling to us. We are super lucky to have a couple of parents who work in the bio science field. They were able to share with us some marine mammal sounds of the arctic. I took the sounds and put them on an ipod and set up a listening centre.

I also, found pictures using google images and did some write ups for the teachers on the back of each photo for reference and should the children have questions about the marine mammals.

Wow, they love it and really I'm not surprised. So much fun to see and listen and imagine what it is like under the water.

The mammals in our book and on our ipod are:
Walrus
Ribbon Seal
Breaded Seal
Beluga Whale
Gray Whale
Bowhead Whale
Humpback whale
Killer Wale

I had my handy husband, load the same picture onto the ipod so the children could easily find the right picture to correspond with the book I made.

As an extension today, we will be doing yoga and being these marine mammals using these very sounds. Thank you Nina and Julien, this is such a great gift!

Full of Beans

2012-01-19T16:42:00.000-08:00

This was todays lunch. I thought I would post a picture and where I got the recipe. The food is always a big hit at the school and today was no exception. We will make it again. The only thing you can't see is that I added corn to the mix after the fact. I made this at my home as I was home for part of the morning with a sick girl. Did you know that it is easier to digest beans if they are served with corn? I think the next time we make this we will turn it into a burrito with grated cheddar and sour cream and salsa! The recipe is super easy and very tasty I picked it up from Unplugged Sunday. The recipe called for pinto beans but I used kidney beans as they were more readily available. I soaked the beans over night and changed the water and boiled them for about 11/2 hours early this morning. Did I also mention that we served this with Milkshakes today? Yup, I lost my head today and we used up some birthday ice cream we had in the freezer. Your children really loved milkshakes and beans!

New Work = Busy Bees

2012-01-18T17:57:00.000-08:00

It is busy in our classroom right now. Everyone seems to have a purpose and is quietly going about their business. One of the teachers said to me, "it is so quiet, it must be all that eating going on at the practical life shelf this week". True enough, there is a lot of good food being consumed this week. It is funny to watch everyone get excited about peeling and slicing up a hard boiled egg to eat! One little boy had to bring his mom to the shelf to show her. Monday morning we went through a dozen eggs! I've had to put a limit on it. It gets crazy expensive when your buying the free range organic kind.

mmmmmmm eggs are a good source of protein and fun to peel!

The eggs are nice and fresh. You can tell a fresh egg from an old egg as fresh eggs are really hard to peel as you can see from this picture. Fun, Fun, Fun.

Because there was such impatience waiting to get to the egg work we had to set up apple slicing as well. I have to say it really does encourage good food choices and eating habits but also the follow through with clean up has been well received also. When the children are done with their work, the tray must be washed at the sink counter and set back up for the next child. The care taken to clean and put it all back really is something to see!

An Apple A day makes this little girl very happy and full!

Hands down I think making freshly squeezed orange juice is my favourite piece of work this time of the year. Clementines work really well because of their size and they are much softer to squeeze. We have a small glass reemer and they pour their juice into a glass to drink. One Clementine makes a perfect size glass of juice. We are going through lots of clementines. One of the children remarked how he doesn't need to eat before he comes to school because he can have a second breakfast here. Another child who was upset that he didn't get to the orange juice work today said that he would do apple work tomorrow and saturday when he came to school would be his day to make juice!

Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice Anyone?

This was a super fun game that Ms. Wendy set up for the older children. They are to work in pairs and see who can melt their ice cube first. If you scroll down you will see how we have the directions set up. This is a game we found at My Montessori Journey. I love her blog and sadly she isn't posting to it anymore.

That's all for now. I am really busy with a super big project that I am hoping to share at our next book club. I am laminating like crazy! I seem to always have a project on the go and it never feels like I have enough time. hmmmmmm maybe I need another sick day. ~m

Arctic Adventures

2012-01-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

We are looking at the Arctic this month. We have lots of fun things planned all around this. I can't think of a better time to do this since it is sooooo cold outside right now! We made this iceberg or ice cap if you will and we just keep refilling the container and freezing it again. The quiet in our classroom right now is incredible. Everyone is busy exploring, playing and learning right now. I love how children come and go at this piece of work all morning long and how at the end of the morning it is small and there is water everywhere. Global warming hmmmmmmm.

I really like the Eyewitness Books. I think for our age group they are a great factual book for reference.

A few parents have commented on the nature table. One of my Moms from the last few years made this for us. I wanted to put it out last year but we never got to it. It seemed perfect this year and I was able to add to it with a Toob about Arctic life I found at Michaels craft store.

I have a soft spot for the penguins and the polar bear. I am missing my crafty mom this year!

Time for Travel

2012-01-09T17:07:00.000-08:00

For a while now I've been working on this project and it is finally finished!! I've been home for the last few days sick and shack happy and so needing a project. Last night I went into the school and brought home my paper cutter.

Today I finished making our passports for the map cabinet. They actually went together fairly quickly once I got my system in place. I also had to go out and buy a really long industrial stapler. this was a great purchase as it will allow us to make many more things and do lots of book binding.

Wendy and I found some lovely wrapping paper at the art shop and I cut and laminated the book covers. I really wanted them to be strong and hold up well. I had planned to just have blank paper in the books but I happened upon a great website, Art Projects for kids. Kathy Barbro has some amazing stuff on her website and we have used a few of her ideas and I have bought a few of her files. This is where I purchased my file for the Canadian passports to make our books. You just have to search it out in the search box on her site.

As you can see they turned out great and it is exactly what I was looking for! I also have a stamp for the visa section so when the children work with a particular map or travel to a certain continent we will be able to document it. It is a nice way for us to keep track of who is ready for more. These are going to be so much fun and will really compliment our continent boxes that I am just finishing up! Yay, A Trip! Don't you just love taking trips?

A New Addition to our Menu

2012-01-05T14:47:00.000-08:00

I am very excited to announce that as of today, Getaway Farm will be the new supplier of all our meat. During my time off over the holidays I was able to arrange our monthly meat order with Chris at Getaway Farm and the best part is, he or someone from the shop will deliver it to us!! So happy about this as it is super challenging to eat local and have it available when we need it. I have been finding it hard to shop for both my family and all my extended family at Maple Tree on Saturday mornings at the Seaport Market.
We will be getting ground beef, ground pork and pork roasts. We decided to try a new pulled pork sandwich with the children later this month and Chris has hooked me up with a great shoulder roast for this! Anyway, I've been trying their meat out at home and it is very tasty and the quality is excellent. The customer service is fantastic and super friendly. They have suggested that we may want to visit the farm with the children or have them come in to talk about farming and where our food comes from. Here is a link about who they are http://farmersmarketsnovascotia.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/The-Story-of-Getaway-Farm1.pdf

and here is their website: Get Away Farm Go and check them out and feel good knowing that the children are eating very well. I don't mind saying.....2012 is off to a great start!

Announcing Our January Give Away!!

2012-01-03T10:36:00.001-08:00

Welcome back to School and back to this space! This month's giveaway has been generously donated by Eleanor of Artburn. I first found out about Artburn in November when I was shopping at a Christmas Craft fair. I knew as soon as I saw the tee shirt painting kits that they would make great gifts for arty children. So, I bought a couple and gave them away as gifts and one went to my daughter who LOVED it so much she promptly ask for another one for her birthday! So I sent an email. Turns out Artburn is here in Halifax. It is a local business owned by Eleanor Kure. When she is not traveling to craft fairs to sell her projects you can visit her website and place an order. I was able to connect with Eleanor today and enjoy a cup of tea and learn about her business and purchase more kits for my birthday party stash. In a funny way I think I was meant to meet this lovely lady and learn about her business. Eleanor, went to a Montessori when she was little for a few years and she shared with me some of her memories of that time. It is very cool to know that some things just never change in a Montessori classroom. Artburn is the product of her need to be a creative soul and she has been doing it for eighteen years. The business started out as Funky tee shirts for Adults and then moved into artistic patches for jeans and now painting kits for children. Of the two giveaways, one is a Butterfly tee shirt and the other is a Pillow Case called Magic Pillow. I LOVE the meaning behind the Magic Pillow Case. The Pillow Case says Sweet Dreams, My Magic Pillow. In each corner are re affirming phrases, such as, I am Loved, I am Safe, Tomorrow will be a great day. This is a great gift for a child to make, but also very comforting to have. The paints are 100% non toxic and once washed it is super soft and the colours very vibrant, the plastic bag it comes in is biodegradable. I am a big fan of giving practical and fun gifts and these are brilliant! Did I mention that they sell for $20 a kit! If you get a chance check out her website or drop her an email. Happy 2012 Everyone and Thank you Eleanor!

Giving Traditions

2011-12-19T10:41:00.000-08:00

I love traditions, especially this time of the year. I come from a very large extended family and we were always big on family traditions every year. I have the fondest memories of being a child and going to my grandparents on Christmas Eve after church in rural Nova Scotia. Their kitchen would be full of people with instruments and food. My grandfather would always make rabbit pie and pass the Captain Morgan around the room. I remember the lead up to Christmas Eve, walking in the woods and checking rabbit snares with him and the endless decorating and baking with my grandmother. These were among the best Christmases I have ever known.

My grandparents are not with us anymore and sadly those family traditions have stopped. I use to feel sad about it but now I realize we have developed our own special traditions. Among the many things that I do with my own children during this time of year, is to take all those beautiful food bags that all of our families at Maple Tree have generously decorated and filled to the Parker Street Food Bank. Our family really looks forward to loading it all up and taking it to Parker Street every year. It is a side of life I am grateful my children get to see and experience. We are truly humbled by it every year.

We choose the Parker Street Food Bank as our Giving Project each year because they rely on donations and do not receive food from Feed Nova Scotia. I think what feed Nova Scotia does is great but there is good to do in our own back yard. Every year when we go to Parker Street, it is empty. Every year I wish we could do so much more. This year was by far our biggest delivery ever! We dropped off 50 bags in total!! Thank You So Much for embracing this project.

I also, took the time to explain our project to them and that the food bags themselves were decorated by the children and to be gift bags for all the food going out. All of the bags were so beautiful. The children did such an amazing job!

I know this project makes a difference and leaves an impression because on my way out the door I bumped into a family that left the school last year and they were just arriving with bags of toys. I cannot put into words how moved I was by that.

Anyway, all this to say, traditions do matter and children understand so much more than we give them credit for. So, from my family both at Maple Tree and home we are all wishing you a Very Merry Christmas and Peace for the New Year!

~Michelle

Our December Winner is.....

2011-12-18T05:24:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Sarah!! She is our winner for December. This is the perfect time to enjoy your Pampermint Gift set compliments of Heather Smith Dacey and Arbonne! Thank you Heather and Happy Christmas to both of you!

Music and Elving

2011-12-07T12:55:00.001-08:00

Today, was a great day and (sigh) the last of my big commitments. Ms. Susanne came in yesterday and today to do a lovely music presentation with the children for their parents. I was glad to help put this together as I know it is nice to make the connections and understand where a song or phrase come from. It really was lovely despite my worries about space and being crowded. Thank you so much for embracing our crazy ideas and thank you for helping us with the lunch side of things. Many parents brought sandwiches and fruit and it was most appreciated. Thank you for making that easier for me.

On to Elving, we have been doing so much! I just love how the wool ball ornaments came out. I must say I was a bit worried that they were not going to harden up and turn out. But to my surprise and patience (because it took a week for them to dry out and harden up) they turned out beautifully! We have tired as best we could to label all of them correctly and we did not make them with everyone. We had an afternoon that was very rainy and so I just busted out and got busy crafting! I am sure I make the other teachers crazy when I say oh lets just make something and I make a crazy mess and then leave to pick up my kids at three!! The idea came from the Magic Onions blog http://themagiconions.blogspot.com/. Try as I might I am not able to find the post!! I know it is from the Magic Onions but I just can't locate it. Anyway the blog is lovely and they make a lot of nature inspired stuff. The Sparkly yarn ornaments were made by soaking yarn in glue with glitter and I added a bit of shiny paint because we had some. After the yarn is covered in glue start to wrap it around a small balloon. The longer the piece of yarn the greater and more detailed and strong the ornament will be. Set them aside to dry. You will need to keep turning them over often as they are drying. It took ours a good week to dry out and set up.

We also had the children threading beads and tiny bits of wool to make these beautys. I love how some of the children made a pattern and really thought about how they wanted the layers to look.

Sparkly stars also. This one is a big hit and all the children are successful with this craft.

I do love pinecone weaving. We've pulled this one out again this year and it is one all the children can do. I especially like how all the different colours make each pinecone look unique and beautiful.

Stringing popcorn, cranberries and dried oranges. Our Tree has never looked so beautiful!

And lastly, don't you just love coloured marsh mellows!

We will be taking extra care next week to pack up your child's handmade treasures and send them home to adorn your family tree.

Pumpkins Falling from Space

2011-12-06T03:04:00.001-08:00

Last week I noticed Miss M sitting on her mat with the pink tower, red
rods, and brown stair neatly organized. I could see she was in deep
thought so I did not disturb her. After about 10 minutes, I observed
Miss M's work again and noticed she took out the knobless cylinder
boxes, 3 were on a pattern sheet and the blue ones were lined up
carefully next to the brown stair. I was very intrigued about how
precise everything was on her mat. As I was standing there, a few
other children would come and go to observe, and they knew how
important it was to not disturb her work. Miss M then asked if she
could use the Mystery bag and the Stereognostic bag. Of course we
said yes because we want to encourage the children to be in the moment
as long as they are being respectful with the materials.

Everything
in the bag had a specific spot in Miss M's mind. Next, she took out
the Solar System puzzle and put all the pieces on the mat, except
earth. By this point I started asking her questions on what she was
making.

Miss M explained how the pumpkins were falling from space
onto earth (the two bottom mats). Once Miss M completed her work, she
wanted to show and explain to everyone in the class her creation,
which she was very proud of. The amount of time and concentration put
into this work was very fascinating, it took her over an hour.
~Ms. Stephanie

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

2011-12-04T18:01:00.001-08:00

This is for the lovely ladies that came out on Saturday for my Workshop on Art at the school! As promised, here is the recipe for the muffins I made that morning. Thanks for coming out and please stay in touch!

Wet Ingredients

1 Cup of oats

1 Cup of yogurt any flavour (I used vanilla)

1/2 Cup canola oil

3/4 Brown sugar

1 Egg

Dry Ingredients

1 Cup flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 Cup blueberries or any other fruit (mix into the dry ingredients or you will have purple batter).

Mix the wet ingredients and add the dry ingredients. Spoon into greased muffin tin and bake at 400 for 20 to 23 minutes. Enjoy!

The Giving Tree

2011-12-01T13:01:00.001-08:00

The tree got put together today. For those of you that are new to our school, we have been building this tree for the last three years.

I call it our giving tree because we will fill the under neath of it with food for Parker Street Food Bank. Tomorrow I am sending home the bamboo bags from Plovers. They will have a note attached explaining our project and each child will get a bag.

During the next two weeks we will be heading to the grocery store to learn about shopping for the bag and making our own grocery list with the children. You might be wondering how a three year old could make a list that they can read and understand. That is simple. We will be using fliers and cutting them up and glueing our ideas to card stock. All the children will be encouraged to do this. Frankly, I really don't have to try to hard when we put out glue and card stock!!
The pull to glue something is always great in our classroom.

Please take time to colour your food bags or paint them with your children. They are to be gift bags for the food we are giving. We will be talking about food, hunger and need. When you have your bag decorated go out to the grocery store and let your child fill it. They will surprise you with what they think is important and please, have fun with this project. Thank You to my Friend the Wool Fairy for the beautiful branches that were freshly cut this morning for our Tree!

Our November Winners are....

2011-11-30T13:10:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to Mara. She is our winner on the Crafty Advent Calendar!

Congratulations to Miss Malve, our winner on the not Handmade Advent Calendar (too much on my plate right now) but this one is just as lovely!

Also, our December giveaway is an Arbonne Pampermint body gift set kindly donated by Heather Smith Dacey. Thank you Heather! I will be announcing our December giveaway on Friday December 16th as we will be closed and away until January 3, 2012.

Retreating to the Country

2011-11-27T14:12:00.001-08:00

This past weekend we went on a staff retreat. I took all the lovely ladies of Maple Tree to a beautiful guest house in Port Williams at Taproot Farms. The House is called Swallows Nest because of all the nesting swallows around the house and property. I really can't even begin to express to you how utterly beautiful it is there and how perfect it was for us.

In this picture you can see a beautiful symbol on the mantle. We were told that the original owner was a Waldorf teacher and that she use to host the children she taught in the house for special times. The place felt magical and it was the right place for six Montessori Teachers to get together and connect not only on a personal level but also to reconnect with some of our materials and work.

Everything was included in our farm stay. We had amazing food brought to use each day that was local and organic. We had a massage therapist come in a give each teacher a 45 minute massage. We hiked, we drank a fair bit of wine, we laughed a lot and we got closer and became even better friends.

We also worked with the materials and practiced with our master teacher. Thank You Ms. Wendy!! We love you for this and we sooooo appreciated you sharing your incredible work binder.

I have included some pictures from Ms. Wendy's binder because you need to see how much work went into making it. Both Ms. Wendy and myself come from teacher training that dictated that we make our materials. Material making was just as important as showing your teacher you knew how to use the materials.

Many new Montessori Teachers do not have to make their material anymore and in Ms. Wendy's case she also had to type up the paperwork to complete her work. Can you imagine? She typed and she confessed to us that it took her forever because she wasn't much of a typist!

It was important to me to have Ms. Wendy share her binder with us. I wanted our teachers to see what was expected back then and see also that although some things have become modernized all the basic fundamentals and foundation is still the same. I think Maria Montessori would be happy to know we still do it her way and nothing has really changed. If anything, I would say we have a deeper more profound respect for what we do.

PS, if you haven't ever gone to Taproot Farms and you think you might enjoy a farm stay or being a part of their CSA check them out at:
www.taprootfarms.ca

The Sound of Silence

2011-11-22T13:33:00.001-08:00

My voice carries, especially when I am enthusiastic aboutsomething. I have had to learn to lower my voice and soften my tones. In fact because I have had to learn itmyself I know that this is a learned skill. The first time I saw the silence game I didn't know if Iliked it or not. I wasn't sure ifit was developmentally appropriate. I'm starting to learn differently. The silence game is when the teacher announces to the class that we aregoing to try to move around the classroom without making any noise. Often a “silence” sign is hung on thewall or a candle is lit. I think it is a good thing for children to know thatthey can control their bodies and voices. I am noticing lately thatwhen I attend workshops or meetings there are often people having side conversations when the instructor ormembers of committees are trying to talk.

Perhaps becauseof the digital age we have become “constant communicators.” We are always in touch. We are alwaysreplying. What we seem to be doingvery little of is listening. And by listening I don't just mean listening toothers I mean being still and listening to those sounds that come out of thesilence. Sometimes at thebeginning or end of circle I will say “Close your eyes and listen, when youhear something put up your hand and I'll ask you what you hear.” Some hear teachers talking in hushedtones, some hear dishes rattling, cars going by, the door opening or even amonster, or a bear.... My pointis, the opportunities that come from stillness are endless. Sometimes we play the silence gamewhere we move around the classroom using quiet bodies and voices. The children can sustain this for up to5 minutes. It doesn't sound like alot but it takes a great deal of control. A favorite game that I often play at the end of circle when we aretransitioning into hand washing and lunch is the Secret Agent Game. I take out a chalk board and tell thechildren that they have to watch for their name and if they miss it they willhave to wait for it to come up again during the game. They become very focused on this game and not only are theypracticing attending they are also recognizing their own name in print.

Another game Iplay is before circle I will call my group one at a time using a whisper. Because they are interested in hearingtheir name they listen very quietly. We sometimes also play the quietest quietest game where the children getready to go to the playground as quietly as they can and the children who werereally really quiet get to choose their partners. This is a powerful incentive for some of the children.

We do not expect utter silence in the classroomall the time . Children at thisage are learning how to communicate and they need to talk and uselanguage. The reason we do silence exercises with thechildren is because it is important for the children to know that they have theability to control the sounds that they make. I also stress (every single day) that we live in a communityand that some of our friends are concentrating and that we should talk in our quiet indoor voices. I also invite them to practice talkingin a small voice. ex. “Show me howyou say “Hi” in a quiet voice. When we go outside however we make it clear to the children that theyare “Allowed to be loud.” ~Ms. Melanie

Advent Give Away!!

2011-11-21T12:40:00.001-08:00

Ok so the giveaway for November is not ONE but TWO advent calendars! Just in time for the start of December. One is a project for you and your child to make together and the other one is handmade by me! The handmade one is a surprise so you will not see it until I post the winners. So get busy and start commenting!!

Turns out some people are having a hard time posting to this post. Keep trying though and send me a note by email and I will add you to the draw. ~m

Snippets from the week

2011-11-17T04:06:00.001-08:00

The week has been busy. We have worked with the addition Strip board and recorded our answers. I said we were mad about math and we are right now!

Lots of reading work and writing in sound books. One little girl in particular saw a horned owl in her back yard and need to document that in her printing book.

This little boy had the most amazing time planning and constructing with the pink tower and red rods. Oh, how we loved this work and watching it unfold was very inspiring not only for us but the other children in the class.

How's your week been?

Mad About Math

2011-11-10T02:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, was a day filled with number work. I had the chance to work with six different children and they all went for math work. This first piece of work shows a child working with the hundred board. She is counting and arranging her numbers 1 through 100. There is a control in this work in that the board she is laying her number tiles on is already numbered so she has to match them and place them. We will be turning the board over to the blank side and the new challenge will ordering the numbers without the control chart. This is a big bit of work in that it takes a long time to complete. It requires lots of patience and concentration.

Also got the chance to present new work myself today. I love this part of the classroom and it is nice when I get to just be and work with the children. I have a friend who had mastered the teen bead hanger and so I gave the presentation to the decimal system. I showed one, ten, hundred and thousand. I also placed the number cards and had her build her own Thousand, hundred and ten using the golden bead material from the bead cabinet and bank box. My friend really enjoyed this work and I can see that in no time at all we will be moving along into the bird's eye view game and the bank game.

There is lots going on with math and many are in sensitive periods for number work and ordering numbers. Exciting times indeed!

I also got to practice number rods with P, and spindle boxes and cut out numbers and counters with AB. It was a lovely morning.

Nurturing my naturalist

2011-11-06T04:13:00.000-08:00

This weekend we spent a lot of time hiking and walking our dog. It was also a great chance to savour and enjoy the woods before the first snow flies and everything changes. There were moments of quiet and time to listen and feel the wind.

My girl lives for these walks and I am so glad for them myself. If I am feeling cranky it is an instant mood lifter. I love how when we are walking all kinds of conversation just comes and questions get asked and answered.

A while a go we bought a small basket for gathering at the farmers market. It is just perfect for fingerless gloves and a casted arm!

Yesterday, we were in search of some pinecones. The day before we had noticed that the ground was covered in them. We will be needing lots of pinecones for our various holiday art projects.

My girl has a special space dedicated to her seasonal treasures. It is called our nature table and she has made a space in her bedroom for it under her window. This space holds all the things she has found that are near and dear to her and it is changing all the time based on what she finds and needs to keep.

Encouraging a love of our natural environment is really important to me and so we will always have this space in our home.

Our October Winner is......

2011-11-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Kelley Lewis, she is our October winner of, Do Unto Otters and Have You Filled a Bucket Today! Please see me to collect your books.

Our Give away for November will be a handmade Advent Calendar by yours truly. What a great way to welcome in December and count down the days to Christmas! As soon as it is complete I will post the picture. I do like the idea of it being a surprise though!

This week......

2011-10-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

This week......

:: we made the most beautiful impressions in natural clay

:: We worked with those beautiful new wool pumpkins, sorting them into groups

:: We read the Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

:: We counted bats

:: We hammered nails into a pumpkin

:: We worked on punching out leaves

::We transferred spooky spiders from bowl to bowl with tweezers

::We were crazy for art

::We worked on reading with the sound baskets

How was your week? Ours was Spectacular!

How do you spell that?

2011-10-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

Some times I really envy Ms. Wendy. I don't know if you have ever noticed that she has the loveliest voice and particularly her tone. It is soft and it commands without much effort on her part. I watched in awe today as she worked with a group of children and the large moveable alphabet. The following are her thoughts on that working morning.

Some of the second year students at Maple Tree are excited about beginning to work with the moveable alphabet. The moveable alphabet is cut out wooden letters housed in two special flat wooden boxes with a compartment for each letter. The wooden letters are the same shape and color as the sandpaper letters.

There are five of each of the consonants in pink and ten of each vowel in blue. The children began with familiarizing themselves with where the letters live in the box. As the teacher asked a child to pick out “a” or name the sound of “t’ the young lady remarked, “I’m learning so many new sounds.” To begin with the children spelled out simple three letter phonetic objects. They were very pleased when the could not only identify the first sound of “dog but also the vowel and last consonant and then easily find the letters in the box. They also chose their won words to spell with great confidence. Bumblebee was a favorite and also pencil and sea. With the less phonetic words of their own choosing the correct spelling comes with time. One first year young man who stopped by to see what we were up to remarked that the “l” looked like a 1. The moveable alphabet helps the children with the exploration and analysis of their known language. They can reproduce words with graphic symbols and express their thoughts.

It is amazing to me just how far the children have come already with their reading this year. Some are deep into the sandpaper letters and some are already past that and working with the alphabet and objects. I was told that the children were invited to take it out and make their own words at first and then they were given objects that were three letter phonetics and encouraged to spell them. I love it when we get into this kind of work. Exciting times!

Two little apples, hanging in a tree

2011-10-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the year we do lots of music centred around getting to know our new friends and reconnecting with our old friends. I have enjoyed meeting new little ones and welcoming back enthusiastic returning students. With Thanksgiving in mind, this year I have added songs about families and loved ones.
We have also been singing songs with fall themes about acorns, apples and other plants. This week I will be bringing in some dry seed pods that we can use as shakers to sing along with.
Here are the words to a chant you may have been hearing during apple-picking season:

Two little apples, hanging in a tree.
Two little apples, smiling at me
I shook that tree as hard as I could
Down came the apples!
Mmm - they were good!

~Ms. Susanne

Wool Pumpkins

2011-10-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

I am having a love affair with wool right now. Actually, it's been going on for the last few months. I am knitting a poncho for my girl and getting ready to wet felt some acorns. Up until now, I've always been afraid to use it or experiment with. I must say that when I dyed my first pot of raw wool, I was worried it wouldn't work out but it did!

This post is about wool felted pumpkins that I made in August! Yes, August. I must be crazy, right? I know my husband was thinking that: "Pumpkins already?!" he said. I told him I have been wanting these pumpkins forever for my math shelf and that I could not justify buying them as it was too expensive. In the end, I really don't know what it cost me to make these as I was already sitting on the wool. My best guess is about ten dollars for the wool.

I made tiny wool balls from some yarn I had and then rolled them up in the raw wool. I had to lay out a few layers of the raw wool and then roll up the yarn ball in the wool. Next, I stuffed the yarn and wool balls into panty hose and tied each one off. As you can see from the next picture, I made them in different sizes.

When you get the wool into the hose and are ready to dye it, just put it into a pot of coloured water with a bit of vinegar. Boil until the water is clear. When that is done, take the wool balls that are still in the panty hose and throw them into your washing machine. I have a front loader, so I needed to add a towel and a bit of laundry soap. I just ran my machine through a regular washing cycle in hot water.

When it was done, I cut the coloured wool balls carefully out of the panty hose. So, there you have it, perfect orange wool balls ready to be turned into pumpkins.

The last thing I did was use embroidery thread to wrap around my pumpkins to make the lines and give them definition. I used my sewing needle to go into the middle and just wrapped my way around the pumpkin -- in and out, in and out, etc. After the pumpkin shape was finished, I added some tiny green stems. The green wool was in my stash already from a project last Christmas. I ended up making forty five because I wanted enough to count from zero through to nine. Crazy I know, but I sooooooo needed that crafty break from those classroom reno's at the time. I can hardly wait to get them out on our shelf this week.

Please Help Me

2011-10-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

I find certain things about being a Casa teacher challenging. I hate to say it but, mostly, it boils down to dealing with parents. Yes, this is brave (or foolish) of me isn't it! But, if we are to work together, I feel I must be honest with you.

We are all here to help the children that come through our door each day. Part of helping that child is letting them do things for themselves. I know it can be frustrating for your child to come home wet and dirty at the end of their day but it is their day. It is very normal to feel worried at the beginning of the year when accidents are happening and your child hasn't had them in a long time. Yes, paint is being spilled and spaghetti is going everywhere and someone always has a snotty nose.

When we choose to do something for a child or correct the job they just did, we are minimizing that child's effort and making them feel small instead of big and confidant. I heard today from one of the teachers that there was a massive glue spill at the art table and three children worked together to solve the problem all on their own. This is how it happened...

Someone was making a turkey hat and got frustrated with the glue bottle and took the lid off. Glue went everywhere. Another child came onto the scene and said, "Oh, let me put that lid on for you." While this was happening, another child was waiting with a tissue to wipe up the puddle of glue." We heard the children talking and one of them said, "Phew, I'm glad that's cleaned up before Ms. Michelle saw it!"
After I heard this, I reflected on it for the rest of the morning and asked the other teachers if I was too tough. To which they said, "No, someone has to be firm around here and they need and respect that. Plus, they were quick to step up to the plate and fix the situation all on their own and they were proud of themselves for it."

So, I am saying this: Childen are learning how to eat with a fork and knife here. They are learning how to care for themselves (i.e., washing hands, wiping themselves in the bathroom, putting their own gear for playground, blowing their nose, washing their face). They are washing up their own table space after lunch and clearing their dishes. You would be surprised at how much they do. Ask them to do it at home. It is never to early to start good habits.

I am amazed at how much we do for our children, and we are a society that is always in a rush and so we do it for our children instead of waiting for them to do it. My husband mentioned to me the other night how shocked he was by the number of parents still helping their child get into their hockey gear in Peewee. These are children that are eleven and twelve years old. Is it a function of time? Is it less frustrating to dress the children ourselves? Velcro has wrecked my life! It took my son forever to be good at tying his shoes. My daughter will whine to get out of tying her shoes even though she can do it all on her own very well. I've asked her teacher to not do this for her. If we keep doing it for them they will never master it and then become lazy about it. I was always happy when my son was dirty, I knew he had a great day at his preschool.

Try to bear with us as we are teaching these things to your children and, we know that it can only improve from here.

I am leaving you with this poem by Bud Hadfield. It was on the door of my classroom in the early days of my teaching and I just recently happened upon it and I thought I would share it with you. This should be our motto in life.

PLEASE HELP ME

PLEASE COME INTO MY LIFE-
BUT DON'T TRY TO TAKE OVER.
PLEASE HELP ME TO THINK-
BUT DON'T TRY TO THINK FOR ME.
PLEASE HELP ME FIND A BETTER WAY-
BUT DON'T EXPECT ME TO DO IT YOUR WAY.
PLEASE HELP ME-EVEN IF I AM WRONG
HELP ME TO STAND AGAIN-
BUT DON'T CARRY ME.
PLEASE HELP ME TO MOVE FORWARD AGAIN
EVEN IF WE MOVE FORWARD IN DIFFERENT DIRTECTIONS.
AND -LAST OF ALL-
IF YOU CAN NOT HELP ME TO BE
WHAT I WANT TO BE.
THEN PLEASE DON'T HURT ME
BY TRYING TO MAKE ME
WHAT YOU WANT ME TO BE.

Can Peace be taught?

2011-10-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

I try to take my cues from the children when planninglessons. They have a way oftelling me what is important to them. One day last week a child came to class wearing a pink anti bullyingt-shirt. One of the childrennoticed and said: “Hey he'swearing a pink shirt!” It was alovely teachable moment. I toldthem that my son has a shirt just like that. We talked about what bullying isand how it can hurt our bodies and our feelings. During circle time I broughtout one of my favorite books of all time entitled Have you filled a bucket today? By Carol McCloud . Thebook tells us how we all have an invisible bucket that we carry with us and itholds our good feelings. Peoplefill our buckets by saying and doing nice things. The book also describes how we can dip from other peoplesbuckets by doing and saying hurtful things. After I read the book I invited achild to hold a bucket while the other children took turns giving examples of“Bucket filling.” Some examplesthey gave were: saying “Hi.”, asking “Do you want to play?” and smiling. As they gave their examples they put abean bag in the bucket and they eventually filled up their friends bucket.Another great book is “Do Unto Otters” by Laurie Keller. It gives great kidfriendly definitions of words like cooperation, and consideration. It talks about what it looks like to befriendly and when to say “please”, “thank you” and “excuse me.” Laurie Keller writes about this in a fun humorous manner.

I learned aboutthe book “Have you filled a bucket today?” from my son Parker. He was seven years old at the time. One night after Parker had gone tobed he came downstairs and asked if I would come upstairs to talk. I went upstairs and he wrapped his arms around my neck andsaid “I love you.” Then he said “Do you want me to tell you why I saidthat?” I said “OK” over the lump in my throat and he said: “Becausepeople are like buckets and we fill them up by saying good things.” I asked him where he learned aboutfilling buckets and he said his principal read a story about it to them.

Parker has autism and before that moment he had never toldme that he loved me. Oftenchildren with autism need very direct instructions about what to say or do in agiven situation. It had probablynever occurred to him to tell me he loved me even though he felt it. To befair, it never occurred to me totell him that Moms like hearing their kids say “I love you” once in awhile.

Just like we teach our children the alphabet, or numbers oreven how to tie their shoes we have to teach them how to live comfortably andrespectfully within their families and community. Sometimes justour good example is enough and sometimes they need explicit instructions. Haveyou Filled a Bucket Today? gives very explicit instructions. ~Ms. Melanie

This month one Lucky winner will receive a copy of, "Have you filled a bucket today" and "Do unto Otters". Please be sure to leave a comment in the comments section. The winner will be selected by random draw at the end of the month. Good Luck!

And the September Winner is......

2011-10-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the Wool Fairy and her family they are the winners of our September giveaway. Please email me to make arrangements to pick up your set of pencil pots and pencil crayons! The winner is selected by random drawn. Check back on Monday to see our giveaway for October!

This week.....

2011-09-30T04:18:00.000-07:00

This week, we have learned more about apples and used them as a tool for counting.

Worked with friends to collect seeds for our own gardens at home.

Used seeds and legumes to make the most beautiful flowers.

Oh My Apple Pie

2011-09-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

The day started off like any other day with me getting refreshment ready. I opened the fridge and apples fell out! I decided that we need to make another apple something today. Yesterday we made apple/pear sauce that we served in the afternoon for refreshment. So I thought Apple Turn overs or mini pie as I called it today was in order.

As you can see, we started by making the pastry. Making good pastry is a gift and this is one of those times I don't mind saying, "I have the gift". Really how could I not with such great help all around me. The trick I told the children today was to handle the dough very little so as not to over work the gluten and really, really cold ingredients. Butter, Lard (YES LARD because it makes the best most flakey pastry ever), Ice water, flour and a tiny bit of salt. We mixed it all up with our hands quickly and after it had rested in the fridge for an hour we rolled it out and cut it into triangles and half moon shapes.

I showed the children how to use their finger to moisten the edge of the dough with water for sealing the edges.

While the dough rested we had many helpers cutting up tiny apples. I find it interesting how children will come and go and work out who needs the next turn at the round table and in the end everyone got a turn to make the apple filling. Once the filling was ready we used a big spoon to put apples into the middle of the dough. We folded over the dough and used a fork to seal the edges.

Lastly we brushed the pastry with milk and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

Voilà! This took all morning but it was so worth it.

Fresh from the oven! The smell at lunch was amazing....just like home.

Just because.....I wanted you to see what lunch looks like at the school. Today it was Spaghetti with homemade sauce and garden salad, Apple pie and milk. I wish I had video taped the silence as the children ate and ate today. Oh, happy day.

Collecting Seeds

2011-09-26T17:13:00.000-07:00

The start of this week has us looking at more seed collecting. I've created a space in our Sensorial section to feature more seed collection work. Along with this work is a an even greater opportunity to talk not only about harvesting seeds, but all parts of the life cycle of a plant. Along with this new and exciting work I have the children using a collection of cards in a matching game to learn more about the life cycle of a plant. I find this work not only timely for us but important as the garden slowly dies away and we are left with a bit of nature that isn't so flowery and beautiful. It is important to appreciate nature in all it's stages.

Today when I was showing this work to a child, he commented how soft and silvery the seed pods were. I felt this was a moment to express how beautiful I found the remnants of the plant to be. I loved showing this work today and I found the child completely engrossed and quiet taking it all in. With this work we used our finger to split the seed pod open and collect the seeds in our bowl. When we collected enough seeds we put them in a small seed pouch and labeled it with a picture of the lupin seeds.

Here we are collecting coriander seeds. The smell was incredible. Again, we used our fingers to pinch the seeds off and into the small bowl. Next we used the scoop to pour the seeds into the seed pouch and we labeled it with a picture.

So this is what you have coming home this week and I have told the children that they may wish to keep the seeds for the spring and plant them in the garden at home. The coriander seeds may be used to for cooking right away. You may want to crush them a bit first. Enjoy!

Mentoring and Math

2011-09-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

Over the last few days, I have had the privilege of watching the most beautiful mentoring unfold in the classroom. I am watching as the young children are taking out their new work and are practicing it and then I watch as they show it to the older children. What has been cool is that the older children are watching and listening and then offer to show it back to the child. That is exactly what was happening with the sandpaper letters. When we teach the children their numbers, we do it by touch and sound. One of the first things we do is ask them to wash their hands to sensitize their fingers for the touch experience. We then introduce the numbers, one at a time, in groups of three and show the child how to trace the letter. The act of tracing the letter is about helping them make that mental experience with the number. So, while we are tracing the number, we are also saying, "this is five." This is what I saw unfolding at this table on this particular morning. In the above picture, the child in pink is the older student and the child in purple is the new child. That is one of the most beautiful things about a Montessori classroom. It's the mentoring and how those relationships carry through that make it all worth it.

I have also included a bit of work here as I am sure your children are coming home with beautiful handmade bracelets everyday. It is actually their math work and this is how we have it set up. The yellow cards are called "recipe cards" and have the order in which the children are to choose their ingredients to make their bracelet. I have it set up so that three children at a time may make one. They gather their items in the small wooden bowl. Along with their recipe card, they take their bowl and "ingredients" and proceed to a table to make their bracelet. So much fun to set this up for the children -- and even more fun to watch them count and make!

Light and Action

2011-09-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

It is amazing to me what Ms. Melanie comes into work with! Sunday evening while I was prepping sunflower seed heads she was putting a basket of tiny coloured shot glasses together. I thought at first we might be mixing some drinks, but than I realized it was for the light table (kidding about the drinks). I love how the light reflects through the coloured glasses and so do the children. There has been much exploration going on at the light table and I am glad for it. We have this beautiful table and I often seem at a loss for how to use it or what to put on it. I am open to suggestions for sure. We do have some cool x-rays that we will be getting out soon but for now it is all about colour and building. Have any ideas about using the light table? I would love to hear them!

Everything is coming up Sunflowers

2011-09-19T14:18:00.001-07:00

What a way to kick start the week. Yesterday, my family went to the valley to net our grape vines and I noticed the largest Sunflowers I have ever seen in the garden. I asked if I may help myself to the seed heads and was given the go ahead. What a score! It was a moment of brilliance for sure.

Last night I went into the school and dried the seed heads in the oven for a while at a low temperature. Mostly I was wanting to make sure there were no creepy crawlies. After I was certain they were bug free I set one up on a independent working station with a set of small tweezers and a bowl for collection. I can not tell you how much fun this work is and how soothing it is to pick away at something. This work is so popular I am kicking myself for not bring back eight seed heads. I smell another trip to the vineyard this weekend to collect more. The second seed head went to rest at the nature table until I noticed it was being picked at and so I put it away. I need to make sure everyone gets to have a turn with this work.

I simply love this work for so many reasons. The first is that the children are getting a serious workout with their hand and tweezing which is great for the ones with a weaker pincer grip. Secondly, we are learning about the life cycle and and the collection of seeds for the next growing cycle. I will put some of these away to dry out and plant in our garden out front.

I had the children empty the full seed bowl into the bowl at the art table so that we can continue to make our Sunflowers. If I had only known I would never have bought sunflower seeds last week for this art project!

Artful Experiences

2011-09-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

Today I was cleaning out and sorting through the work in basket and I noticed the beautiful paintings waiting to be wrapped up. I also noticed how the paintings were a refection of the art table activity this week. Normally, we do not see the children painting specific things at the easel until much later in the year. Mostly, the children are painting with an idea and blending colors. It is hard at this age to actually painting an object or paint what is in your mind. So imagine my surprise when I happened upon these beautiful paintings of rainbows. I love how very different each of these paintings are and how each child used such care with their brush and painted their version of a rainbow. Paint is an amazing meduim for which children can be so expressive. I say, bring on the paint!

The First Day

2011-09-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

The day was simply lovely today! I really hope that you are able to get that feel from these pictures I am posting this evening. I walked around when I was aloud to and snapped quickly and quietly. I felt special when I was asked repeatedly, "Can I work with you Ms. Michelle."

The new children found their work with ease and seemed very content.

The returning children seemed blissed out and so happy to be back in their groove.

Today was an exceptional start to the school year. All this makes me feel like we did a great job with orientation. Working with the tears and calming fears and being extra tender. The tricky ones were not tricky today and seemed to blossom with each transition and new thing.

Even puppy got cast aside because my friend was too busy with water , sponges and a garlic press. So much work and so little time!

Some just needed to pour water and play in bubbles and reconnect with old friends at the sensory table today.

Some really enjoyed washing up after refreshment. I love that I never have to wash these dishes anymore!

Binomial cube made it's way out and into some little hands for a long time.

and sorting rubber bands by length was super important to this little friend. I watched and watched, so amazed by your children. Great first day! -m

Ten is Good, Ten is Great!

2011-08-26T10:57:00.001-07:00

Today I am happy to share with you a lovely give away. Actually we are going to have a whole year of giveaways!! That's right you heard me correctly. I am very proud to say that Maple Tree is about to enter it's tenth year!

How do you say Thank You?

I have been thinking of this for some time and there are so many parents and children, teachers and well, just amazing people who have either given advice or lent a hand on this amazing journey.

When I started Maple Tree, ten years ago it was with six children in the basement of my house. Those were the days (sigh). Just me and six children working all morning long. I will never forget those days and I am so grateful for that beginning. I have learned a great deal about myself and my teaching style. It is fair the say that children, are the best teachers you can ever have.

So here is the Thank You....there will be ten gifts. One for each month and each year we have been in operation. I will be drawing from the comments section at the bottom of the blog at the end of every month. So if you would like a chance to win you must make a comment. The drawn will be based on all the comments during the month. More comments means more chances to win. When I announce the winner at the end of the month I will also be posting the next giveaway. So be sure to check often!

Our first giveaway is a set of colored pencil pots that you would find on our metal inset shelf. They have been generously provided by one of my suppliers Cabdev Montessori . I have pretty much exclusively bought my classroom materials from Cabdev and I have been very happy with the quality and customer service. Thank you Cabdev for our September giveaway! I have also added from my collection a set of triangular pencils by Maped. As far as I am concerned they are the bees knees for colored pencils and you can purchase them at most art supply shops. Happy September and Happy Back to School!

Done for Now

2011-08-25T05:35:00.000-07:00

I have been away from this space for too long! Sorry about that but, I have been busy and falling in to bed each nigh exhausted. The reno is finished for now. The last part that we are waiting on are the cabinet doors for the custom cabinetry we had built. We have never had storage in the five years we have been in this space and so it was super challenging to figure out what I was keeping and what I was purging! I have to say a big heartfelt "thank you" to all the staff as they worked hard in helping to pull it all together but especially Ms. Melanie who would come in night after night to help me. The company was most appreciate and the encouragement that we were almost there. There were many nights when it felt over whelming and I questioned whether or not we were getting there. Needless to say, we are there now and I am so grateful for all the hard work by all to make
this a warm and inviting new classroom.

I felt the warmth yesterday as I was quietly working at the new table and children came and went from that space. It really is a lovely space to work in. I especially love that my desk space is right there and no matter what I am working on I am available if someone little needs me.

We have been having circle in that space the last few days as pick up has been a bit noisy and we felt disruptive to that last bit of time we have with the children in the morning. It is going to make for a much nicer music space for Ms. Susanne. I can't wait for her to see it.

I am starting to wind down now for a bit. I am tired and the last few weeks haven't been much fun for my children and so we are gearing up for a trip to the island and some much needed vacation and family time.

I am planning another post for tomorrow to announce something big so be sure to check back. You won't want to miss it for sure!

Working, Working,Working

2011-08-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

To say I am tired is an under statement! This reno turned out to be a bigger project than expected. Isn't that always the way? I've taken advantage of our summer closure and that handy husband of mine to make a few more things work better for us.

We are entering out fifth year in our space on Cork and Oxford Street and I can't tell you how much better it feels to have these adjustments made to our space.

Today all the teachers came in to lend a hand. Some were painting and others were organizing and cleaning like mad. I am meeting new parents at the school on Sunday morning and I am full out to get it all done.

We will not be using the new classroom space until September 6th as we are waiting for cabinet doors for our custom shelving and the mahogany harvest table isn't quite ready for the new classroom. Somethings you just can't rush and we do not need that space until September 6th!

I think you will all love it, we sure do and YES I did bust out and paint an accent wall! Your not imagining it. Our new wall is painted Savannah Grass. Just decided that two days ago after I already had it painted. Oh well, what are you gonna do. We are, after all, making it lovely for your children, our new children, and lovely it is!

-m

Getting Ready

2011-08-09T07:12:00.001-07:00

We are all getting ready in our house for my return to work. The excitement is starting to build and the count down is on. Getting ready to open the school is more than painting and cleaning for me. These past few weeks have been very full with the renovation but also filling last minute enrollment as there have been adjustments. I am filling every moment with preparation. I've been cutting endless amounts of flannel for Polishing work. We can launder it but after a few washes it really has to go in the compost. It is really hard to wash out all that bees wax polish.

So cutting, cutting, cutting I am flannel, burlap and embroidery fabric. My daughter who has been in the mix with all this work has naturally offered her help to cut things up for me!

Yikes, what to do? I didn't want to hurt her feelings so I said I had a special project that I needed her to do.

I pulled out a sock monkey kit from The Monkey Show store. I always have something in my stash and I LOVE these. You can check them out on their website at http://wp.themonkeyshow.ca . They are located on Dresden street in downtown Halifax. I can't say enough good things about them. It is great value for the money. When I bought my kit a year ago I paid $20.00 for it. The lady who owns the store also makes clothing for the monkeys by using scraps of fabric from the tailor shop at Duggers. How great is that?

I was hoping this project would give me some time to get my work done and it did for a while. I did have to supervise the sewing and help a few times but over all she did most of it. It is a great gift for an avid sewer say five years and older.

I would have posted the final product but I can't seem to pry "Kinka" from her hands. That monkey has been everywhere with us this last week and was the best twenty bucks I've spent in a long time.

The Process of Normalization

2011-08-05T06:10:00.000-07:00

Dear New Parents,

Your journey into Montessori is about to begin and so we will be working to help you understand what that means to you and your child. Today, I was reading this latest article from Montessori Print Shop and I thought it was a great idea to share it with you. It will help you to understand why it is so important to have our classroom environment set up and organized the way we do but also give you some insight in how a child becomes normalized in their environment. Please check out the link to this great article,http://www.montessoriprintshop.com/Normalization_in_Montessori.html

Happy Reading!

-m

En-closure

2011-08-01T16:15:00.000-07:00

Another productive day again today.

The drywall went up and the pencil cupboard went into the wall.

I must say, that I am loving the new wall and how very different the space is feeling. I am wishing we had done this Reno five years ago!

Tomorrow the plan is tape and mud and side lights. Doors are getting sanded and painted by yours truly. We also found a mahogany table top at Renovators Resource that will be built into our new large classroom table for six. Note to self, must purchase a belt sander tomorrow. I also treated myself to a very sturdy and tall red ladder to be kept at the school. Such a pain hauling one in from home to change light bulbs and clean.

Oh, and while Shawn worked on the wall today I was purging and organizing our curriculum by the month into large storage bins. All this to say that today was a very productive day. Still so much to do. Am I going to make it?!

Wall construction part 2

2011-07-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ok so I feel like the luckiest girl on the planet tonight. The wall is framed and the door bell has been moved and the wall is insulated! Yippey! Tomorrow drywall, side lights and I think doors although they may get installed after painting. If all goes well I should be painting by Wednesday or Thursday. My husband is a machine and worked hard all day to get us to this point. Thank you Shawn!

It was a bit of a family affair at the end with our girl sweeping up the saw dust. Thank you montessori sweeping squares! My girl would sweep for hours.

I've posted a picture of a jam cupboard that we bought to repurpose into a pencil cupboard and it is being built into the wall inside the new classroom. The addition of chalk board paint on the door will be great for keeping notes or a list.

I didn't mention before but I will now, all the doors, cupboard and side lights we purchased at Renovators Resource www.renovators-resource.com

I feel like we hit the jackpot on finding doors right off the bat. It is a great place to find old doors and mouldings and I love that we are repurposing them. I could never afford such lovely doors brand new thats for sure.

We are still a long way off to putting the classroom together as there are two walls of custom cabinetry that have to be built yet. I am sure we will be right down to the wire on it. I am sooooo happy we have insulated and sound proofed as much as we could. I already notice a difference in the space. Off to bed now. Will be back when there is more to share. -m

The Reno Begins!

2011-07-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

Your probably thinking that I am crazy and his won't be done in time and I won't be ready for orientation. Your in for a big surprise because to know me is to know I've been under bigger and tighter deadlines than this!

We just got our building permit (you can't get anything fast when you are dealing with the city) and when all this is finished, we must have it inspected in order to get my rezoning approved. All this for six more spaces! Is it worth it? You bet because I've hired another amazing teacher and the addition of more spaces is to give her a salary. This brings the total of teachers at Maple Tree to six plus our lovely music teacher. I am all about the quality and am not willing to compromise anything on our classroom space. So it will be stunning.

The first picture is of our new doors and side lights. The doors will open out and be in the middle of our new wall. The addition of the side lights is so that we can have more natural light in the new classroom. I would have added a window but I am trying to sound proof this room so that our music teacher will have her very own space to do a smaller music circle. Also, the mail slot is just an added bonus as far as I am concerned. We will be having our carpenter (enter husband Shawn) build us a collection box on the other side so that the children can mail letters to their friends. I am super excited about this! The colour of the doors and sidelights will be benjamin moore ancient ivory. The walls will be touched up with our current colour which is waters edge. I
love how soft the blue is on our walls and I think it makes for a much calmer learning environment.

You can see how we have carefully mapped out the plan with tape. that took us forever as there was so much storage to consider carefully. I had no idea just how much "stuff" we actually had until I had to move it all!

It is probably not a bad idea to purge some of it.

So guess what we are doing on this long weekend? I will post the progress as it is unfolding. I am in for a crazy busy couple of weeks but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Let them eat cake

2011-07-19T08:41:00.001-07:00

We had some friends in for dinner last night who we haven't seen in about four years and I decided I should share my recipe for Upside down pineapple cake with them and you. The funny thing is I only ever seem to make it this time of year and never for us just company!

Needless to say, it was nice to have a break from the renovations and packing going on at the school. I have come to the conclusion that summer is really not a time off for me. The pace is a bit slower and there is flexibility in my schedule but really it is my March break that feels like vacation and time off.

Over the next few weeks I will post some of the projects I am working on and possibly some photos of the newly renovated space (depends on how down to wire it comes to)!

Upside Down Pineapple Cake

2 Tbs of butter

2 Tbs packed brown sugar

pinch of cinnamon

pineapple slices (as many as you can fit in your frying pan)

I must say I am generous with these ingredients and rarely ever measure anything and it always works out for me. I think I get that gift from my grandmother :)

After the pineapple has nicely caramelized then place them in a pan. I used a bundt pan but any pan works. Spring form leaks so don't use that unless you want a fire in your oven.

Cake Batter

1/2 C butter softened

1 C sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

11/2 c all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 C sour cream or plain yogurt(I used plain yogurt as that is what I had on hand)

Mix wet ingredients first and alternate the flour with the sour cream until mixed.

Spoon into prepared pan with pineapple and bake for 45 minutes at 350. When cake is done let rest on a cooling rack for 5 minutes (set your timer) and invert onto a cake plate to continue to cool. If you forget to do this you will never get the cake out.

-Cake is from Canadian Living

Rum Sauce

Oh yes....we had rum sauce and I will say to you that it is so Divine I don't know why anyone would make it with out!

In to a pot:

1 C sugar

1/4 c Rum, bourbon or other whiskey

2 Tbs water

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 tsp salt

Cook all this until the sugar is dissolved and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and whisk into this one egg that has been beaten. Trust me, you will not make scrambled egg in your sauce but you must whisk constantly and then return your pot to the heat to cook for 1 minute or until thick. Serve warm on your cake and I might add a dollop of whipping cream!

-The rum sauce is from the Joy of Cooking

Montessori Madness

2011-07-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

This is a new selection for our lending Library available this September! I bought it a few months ago and am only now finding the time to read it. Please feel free to borrow it and if you can't check out the YouTube link below.

I can't think of a better argument for Montessori or how better to describe what Montessori is or does for a child!

Garlic Scape Pesto

2011-06-29T06:56:00.001-07:00

GARLIC SCAPE AND ALMOND PESTO

Makes about 1 cup

10 garlic scapes, finely chopped(I double this amount as I had lots to use up)

1/3 to 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (to taste and texture)

1/3 cup slivered almonds ( I toasted mine)

About 1/2 cup olive oil

Sea salt

Note* I was very generous with all these ingredients.

ok so here I am blogging again even though I said I would be taking a break! I am making pesto today as I am sort of a lady of leisure!

These beautiful garlic scapes came in our taproot box www.taprootfarms.ca this week and I am trying out this recipe. I am thinking I will make lots f=more and freeze it for the fall menu at Maple Tree. This batch of course will be for our family as my next batch can not have nuts in it.

Garlic scape pesto is very tasty on pasta, pizza and with any combination of tomatoes, potatoes or any other vegetables you want to give a flavour boost to. I am planning to freeze mine in ice cube trays covered with plastic wrap. Once they are frozen solid I will transfer to a ziploc bag and use a cube or two when I need it. I generally use about 4 or 5 cubes on pasta for our family for dinner. I might a 1 or 2 cubes into a soup. Just experiment with it. You will love it!

Maple Tree 2010-2011

2011-06-25T06:49:00.000-07:00

Great friends, great food, great party! Thank you for a fantastic year! Now that I am officially on my summer break, I will be taking a break from blogging as well. I may, from time to time, post on some of the projects that I am working on for the classroom this fall. But for now I am letting go of everything! Happy Summer to all! -m

In the news....

2011-06-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

So sorry I have been slow to post the link to the interview I did with Christopher Shulgan. We are in wrap up mode with the school and planning the street party. There is always so much to do and say this time of year as families are getting ready to leave and new families are joining the large family at Maple Tree.

Just before father's day I got a call from Christopher Shulgan who writes a parenting column for the Globe and Mail asking if I would mind doing an interview about the role of Dads or how I see that role in my position as a director and preschool teacher. I was happy to do the interview as I felt it would be a great way to share what I see and how I see the changing role of the dad. It was an interesting chat we had and in the end I wasn't entirely sure where he was going to go with the article he was writing. I will say this though.....after we were done talking I realized just how much I depend on my husband at home and with our children and how I could never be as productive and successful at my work if it were not for all his hard work on our home front. He really does do a lot and I know I never say thank you enough. Thank you Shawn, your amazing and I really appreciate all that you do for me, Maple Tree and our children.

-m

http://t.co/PtfbWEu

The year in review, musically speaking...........

2011-06-19T11:11:00.001-07:00

Wow. During music class this year, this group of children has consistently met and exceeded my expectations of them. They have been introduced to and come to understand many different musical concepts. An underlying thread in all types of music is the idea of contrast. We have explored high and low pitches, fast and slow music, sound and silence, loud and soft. A more subtle concept is the distinction between loud singing and shouting. When we work with our speaking - whispering - shouting - singing voices, the children love to be given license to shout, but they also know how to sing at the appropriate times instead.
Beyond basic contrasts in music, we have learned to echo rhythms and melodic fragments, as well as reading simple rhythmic notation, and interpreting melodic hand symbols. The children have also been introduced to the beginnings of ensemble playing, following a conductor and listening to play their instruments at the correct time in the song.
If you ask your child, however, I doubt you will get such a long list of what they have learned at music this year. I expect that you will have heard them singing new songs at home, and I hope that they will tell you that they love music! I have certainly loved teaching them.
Susannë

Sharing the gifts

2011-06-15T12:28:00.000-07:00

I often say this is the best time of the year. It is the time when the children starting connecting everything and putting it all together. I am starting to write in the project books that some of our second year children keep. It is a personal note from me to them and it is a bit of a refection of our time together.

Last night I brought the project books home with me to write the notes. I was astounded by all the work, words and colour on the pages. To me this is like Christmas. It is when the gifts start coming in our classroom.

Among the many things our children are doing at present, they have completed their map projects (17 in total--thank you Ms. Stephanie it was a huge amount of time on your part). The children are freely writing and illustrating their own stories. We are making jam. We are starting our time line work and looking at dinosaurs.

We are also getting ready to say goodbye.

Please enjoy these stories and savour them. They are a most beautiful gift.

This Week....

2011-06-13T10:02:00.001-07:00

This week we are making pancakes for lunch.

Finishing up Map projects.

Painting lady bugs at the art table.

Digging for dinosaurs.

Enjoying the new specimens at the nature table.

What are you enjoying this week?

Revamping the Cosy Corner

2011-06-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

Today I was running an errand and I came across the loveliest child size arm chair. I could not resist it and so I bought it and brought it back to the school and immediately revamped the cosy corner. I didn't say anything as I wanted to see how long it would take for the children and teachers to notice.

The children were the first to notice and one child just came right over and sat down and crossed her legs and picked up a book to read quietly. One of the other children said, "Wow, Ms. Michelle, now it really is the cosy corner"! I must admit when I heard this I felt bad. I hadn't realized that it needed to feel or be more cosy. I am committed to keeping it that way from now on. I just need to figure out how we will put a protective seat in it for all those wet pants that will want to sit in it in the fall.

mmmmmmmm jam

2011-06-06T16:16:00.001-07:00

SPOILER ALERT!!!! FATHER'S DAY PROJECT. STOP READING IF YOU WISH TO BE SURPRISED.

It is probably not so much of a secret that we are making Strawberry jam for father's day. My girl came right home today and announced to her Dad that she was making that for him for his special day.

Her dad told her everyday was special. Then she went and got out the face paint and promptly painted a series of clouds and a sun on her forehead and a fairy on one cheek and a bird on the other. When I said is that really a good idea right this minute, my girl said, "Mom, how will I know how to do it when I get bigger and I am in musicals if I don't learn now". I had to turn away, giggling the entire time. So funny she is and it lifted me up today on this rainy afternoon.

So back to jam. We made jam today from lovely spray free valley strawberries. We will be making more jam tomorrow and I am hoping we will be able to set up work on the shelf somehow, making your own toast with jam. That work I can guarantee will be so popular!

Making jam with the children was a bit more work on my end. Just a tiny bit. They crushed the berries and measure the lemon juice and sugar and did all the stirring. I just did the cooking part which only takes one minute and then I poured the jam into hot sterile jars.

I must say that our orange juice making work that we put out early in the year really helps. The children were able to squeeze juice out by hand with our glass reemer with ease and they took such pride in knowing they could do it.

Tomorrow I wil post about our beautiful handmade leaf rubbing cards to accompany this beautiful gift.

Alice in Wonderland

2011-05-31T10:53:00.000-07:00

Today, we veered off our path and out of our usual routine. We were invited very last minute to see the production of Alice in Wonderland at my son's school which happens to be a few blocks and a short walk from Maple Tree.

We were excited to go and I was unsure about whether or not is was a good idea. Wow, was it ever a good idea! The children were super excited and it made for a very fun adventure. I was also thinking how nice this was for some of our older children who will be leaving us this fall to go to their new "Big" school to see this special production.

I must say we were delighted with the response from the children. The musical was an hour long and the children sat glued to the show the entire time. Not only was the production well put together musically speaking but visually the set was beautiful and you felt like you were in the forest with Alice.

There were questions asked by a few in very soft whispers and delight with the singing and dancing.

I was thinking about how these older children we were watching were brave putting on this show and being out there and what awesome mentors they are for our younger children especially the ones who feel shy and have a harder time putting themselves out there.

At the end of the show when it was time to go the children got to meet all girls who played the various parts of Alice (to watch this was sweet as they were in such awe). Thank You Ecole St. Catherine's School for a wonderful morning!

Everywhere Butterfly's

2011-05-30T12:20:00.000-07:00

Everywhere you look we are seeing butterfly's. Our chrysalis have finally opened and we have beautiful painted lady butterfly's. It was so much fun to see the excitement on the faces of our children this morning as they came in and discovered we now have butterfly's.

The children have watched so closely all day. Coming to the nature shelf in pairs and on their own and having lovely conversations about birth, life and the complete life cycle.

I think we may be releasing our butterfly's tomorrow. I am afraid to keep them to long for fear they will die. I also,
think it will be an incredible experience to open the jars up and let them go. I am hoping to take them to playground and perhaps we can sing a song to send them on their way.

We also, enjoyed the the story, Marigold's Wings and painted our own butterfly and flowers with water colour crayons, brush and water.

New Life at Maple Tree

2011-05-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

Today while I was organizing the classroom at MTM, I noticed some red
stuff in the butterfly jars. My first reaction was 'why is there red
dye in the jars?' I bent down to have a closer look, and that is when
I realized there was a butterfly on the bottom, but It was laying on
its side and not moving. I looked around in the jar and saw two more
butterflies, and one more in the other jar. All of them were very
still. I called Ms. Michelle to tell her the good news! She
explained that the next step was to put a screen on the top of the
jars and give them food (cotton balls soaked in sugar water). As soon
as I opened the jars, the butterflies started fluttering around, even
the one laying on its side. The fresh air brought them back to life!
A few of them looked like they were stuck on their backs, but
eventually turned themselves over. It seemed like they were learning
how to use their wings, just like toddlers learning how to use their
legs. Once the butterflies got adjusted, all but one attached to a
branch and stayed there until I left for home. I can not wait to see
the reactions of the children Monday morning! They have anticipated
this moment for a few weeks now!

Maps, Maps, Maps!

2011-05-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

These days I am in wind down mode at the school. Yes we still have a month left but there are still so many things to get done and for me to tick off my list.

One of the latest projects is our Map of the World. This is a project I tend to do with all of my children in their last year at the school. I find it to be a lovely way to cap off two years of learning. The map project is challenging and a child is only ready to tackle it when then have mastered many of the other material in the classroom. I love this time of year, working with the big kids. It is not just the working but the lovely and funny conversations we are having while we are working. They are working so hard on these maps and loving every minute of it. These children have watched and waited as others before them have worked on this very project and now it is their turn. In fact it will be turn taking for seventeen children in all if each of them chooses to make their own map! I just bought all the bristol board tonight. See Ms. Wendy, even though you are away, I am all over it!! Stay tuned for the finished project coming your way very soon.

The next phase.....

2011-05-24T17:19:00.000-07:00

We have chrysalis! I came in this morning and discovered that we needed to move our caterpillars who are now in the chrysalis stage into the next new home. This meant some careful construction and good eye sight. I started off by taping the chrysalis to the top of the lid on my glass container but it wasn't so secure. It also looked awful. So I went out to the garden with a couple of friends and we clipped some branches and bent them into the jars. With the most careful hands ever I tied thread onto the chrysalis and tied them to the branches hanging upside down just as they are supposed to be. In less than two weeks we will have painted lady butterfly's!

This whole process has been very interesting and I've learned so much about it. To actually have the life cycle models on our shelf for the children to use and explore is great but to see it unfold for real is extraordinary. I know we are all enjoying the nature table so much!

Cooking for Twenty four

2011-05-19T12:09:00.001-07:00

Most days I am at the school early to get a jump start on the lunch menu. Today was no exception. As I was chopping vegetables with a couple of the children in the kitchen I heard a mom say how good it smelled already!

The truth is I love cooking and cooking for your children is something I take very seriously. I work hard at making sure the presentation is appealing and I am BIG on flavor and ingredients. If you spoke with the staff they might tell you I am a bit off the rails! I can not tolerate the pasta over cooked and it is a big no no to mess up a special lunch for someone with special food needs. I like to think that I am not a control freak. I tell everyone I am just giving it my best and I would expect no less from anyone else.

Many parents have been asking for recipes for the various things we cook at the school. I hear you loud and clear and just want to say I am working on a cook book because I have nothing better todo with my time!

With this in mind I would like to add art work by and photos of your children who are so much a part of the daily cooking at the school. So today, as I was in my groove getting lunch ready I thought I would show you what that looks like. I will be sure to include the recipe for my Southwest Soup and Pumpkin Muffins in the cookbook!

The Sweeping Square

2011-05-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

Last night I taught a class on Montessori Practical Life exercises and ideas. One of the ideas I shared was the sweeping square.

The sweeping square is just brilliance if you ask me. I came across this idea and implemented it in our classroom.

Have you ever noticed children want to help you sweep but they don't know how or where to sweep to?

The tapped square is the point at which all the dirt is collected. We generally have a few tapped on the floor in our classroom in different places so there is always one handy.

We also, have this set up as work on our shelf so that the children can practice their sweeping. In our presentation tray we have a small dish of kidney beans for pouring on the floor and a small child size dustpan and hand broom.

First, the child takes the tray from the shelf and sets it on a table. Next, the child pours the dish of beans onto the floor. As you can see and well imagine they go everywhere and this

is very exciting.

The child then goes to collect the broom from it's hanging place on the wall and proceeds to sweep the beans into the square on the floor. When the beans are all into the square the child then takes the small handheld broom and dust pan to sweep the beans into. The beans are then poured back into the presentation dish and ready for the next child's turn.

As I was coming into the classroom this morning with some of the materials I borrowed for last night I decided to put the sweeping work out again for our children. I didn't think much of it at the time . However, it was the most popular piece of work that the children did over and over again today.

Sometimes it really is the simplest things that make a child so happy and helpful!

I encourage you to take some time and start your day at home with a tapped sweeping square on your kitchen floor. I can guaranty you will never want for a swept floor again and if your worried about the the sticky residue of the tape, use painters tape as it can stay in place for two weeks and won't leave a sticky residue. When I figure out how to get the floor washed with ease I will be sure to let you know!

Soup's On!

2011-05-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

Dandelion Soup, Dandelion Soup

If I don't get some

I think I'm gonna Droop.

I had this “Dennis Lee Moment” today as I was watching a group of children throwing dandelions into a giant mud puddle at the park. The excitement generated by this activity was amazing. What makes a mud puddle so captivating? I found the process fascinating. At first all the dandelions floating in the puddle looked quite pretty. Festive even. Then they got the sticks. They stirred for several minutes when “F” excitedly exclaimed: “I have a new ingredient! Dandelion stumps!” So after the dandelion stumps had been added and stirred “L” said “It looks like chocolate pudding! Mmmm tastes good!” In response to my startled look in “L's” direction “C” assured me that: “He didn't ACTUALLY eat it!”

The dandelion soup made me think of the importance of this kind of sensory play. Seven children were around the same puddle smiling and talking with each other. They were engaged in cooperative play. They were working toward a common goal (Dandelion Soup) and they appeared to be valuing each others contributions.

I was also thinking of the art process. When the activity started it was quite beautiful with yellow dandelions floating in the puddle. An adult would have left it at that. Children seem to have the ability to think beyond that. A pretty product sometimes doesn't mean as much to children this age as a fun process. And believe me stirring up a pot of dandelion soup with dandelion stumps for added flavor is a fun process!

Road Trip/ Day Off

2011-05-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

I try to take Fridays off. My daughter is going to school this September and I am trying to make the most of our time together. There are some days when I feel sad for her. My girl has had to go to preschool everyday for three years and she also had to share her mama with everyone else. While I would not have had it any other way, there were days when I wondered if I was doing the right thing. I am a parent that has to work full time. I really get that push /pull parents feel.

When Maple Tree first started it was just a part day program in the basement of my house with six children. I always said I wouldn't work full time until the children were at big school and didn't need me at home anymore. But, life happens and work becomes important and opportunities present themselves.

I treasure my Fridays off with my girl. Sometimes we are just home cleaning, doing the laundry or baking. But we are together just the two of us and we manage to to have some special time together.

Today we went to the Valley, Port Williams to be specific. We are part of a CSA (Community Shared Agriculture). We get a food box weekly from Taproot Farm www.taprootfarms.ca . A great deal of it gets used at Maple Tree and we use some of it at home. I am very grateful for and humbled by this box of food we get each week.

This past week the members got an email from Taproot asking if we had some spare time help was needed at the farm to weed the garlic patch. So away we went today to work at the farm. Let me say this, it wasn't enough time. I am not sure how they do it. I felt overwhelmed at the thought of leaving all the weeding that still needed to be done. I worked for an hour and a half. I honestly don't know how they do it and it makes me appreciate how very hard farmers work and how fragile daily life really is.

My girl and her little friend that joined us for the day were supposed to weed, but the pull of the trampoline was just too great! So I weeded and they jump, swayed in the hammock, lunched in the play structure. They stopped only to skip around and eat apples! We did, after some time find the most beautiful skeletons/seed pods left from tamotillos the summer before. With the sun shinning down (yes it was sunny) on them they were the most beautiful silver color. The girls collected them for an art activity and I kept weeding. I let the girls set the pace for today. They let me know when they were done at which point we had a tour of the farm. We got to see the pigs, chickens and sheep.

We also got to walk through Swallows Nest which use to be a Waldorf School. It felt secret and special and I am so in love with the house. I can see in my mind how this woman who no longer lives here use to teach her children and how magical the gardens are. The trees felt like they were whispering to us to come and play. I just might have to plan a staff retreat/workshop for the lovely ladies of Maple Tree this summer.

Our day ended with a stop at Fox Hill Cheese house for Ice Cream. It is the BEST I have ever tasted!

What an amazing day. Thanks for the email about the weeds this week Patricia! Happy Weekend Everyone.

This Week....

2011-05-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

This week we are watching with keen eyes our Butterfly Larvae. They have grown so much since last week and trust me, while they might look small to you, they have doubled in size. We are learning about the life cycle of a butterfly and what will happen to our Painted Lady Butterfly's after they turn into a butterfly. We will be able to release them outside when the time comes. So, we will observe a life cycle with this project and then say goodbye! For those of you interested we got these from www.sciencekit.com.

With all this interest in life cycles, we have set up water color painting of the life cycle of a flower at the art table. I am sure you have already noticed the beautiful paintings in the entry way. We are actually using real water color paper and paints! I also discovered water color pencils recently and I LOVE them! They are super easy to use and the children have enjoyed using them and seeing what happens when you add water with a brush. The ones we have used are by Faber Castell and you can get them at your local art supply shop.

We also took some time this week to enjoy the smell of Magnolia blooming in our classroom. How is your week shaping up? Are you as tired of this rain as we are?

The Sound and Study of Birds

2011-05-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

We've been looking at and listening to native birds. I had some work set up on the shelf that was intended for our older children. It has been a huge amount of work and I am glad to see it go. It is not that I did not enjoy it, it is just that it took three weeks to do this work.

In Montessori you can not rush, or have your own agenda when it comes to work and the children. So while I was hoping to have completed this work sooner it is now just finished or being finished up by some of the children.

I had a mom sit on our bench at the door today and say, "Did she do this today"! I explained that although this was indeed a lot of work, it was completed over the last three weeks. The parent seemed so surprised which in turn surprised me a little.

Earlier today I mention to the other teachers how I have been noticing all the lovely little gifts that are unfolding in our classroom by way of developmental growth. Not only are the children surprising us with their abilities with language and math work but emotionally and physically they are growing and have evolved so much since September.

I say this time of year is like Christmas for me. I see all of the hard work and effort not only from the teachers but the children paying off . I see it when I child can finally handle scissors and cut their work out with ease. I see it when someone who had trouble expressing them self and could only scream in frustration, use their soft and lovely voice now. I see it in the courtesy they give their peers when sharing simple tasks such as setting the tables for lunch or helping get gear on for play ground.

So, while this work coming home seems incredibly big, remember this, it is big and your child is simply amazing.

A Composition on Decomposition

2011-05-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

On Friday several young scientists from Mapletree Montessori School helped me set up an experiment about composting. Miss Michelle purchased a See-Through Compost Container for our school. It is divided into three sections and is designed to show the process of decomposition and the rate of decomposition of different materials.

We put apple peelings in one section, paper towel in another and a Styrofoam cup in the third Section. We filled each section with soil and watered each section. After we finished setting up the experiment I went around the table and asked each child which material they thought would decompose first, second and third. Here is their hypothesis:

Student	Apple Peeling	Paper Towel	Styrofoam Cup
P.B	1^st	2^nd	3^rd
F.K	2^nd	1^st	3^rd
A.R	1^st	2^nd	3^rd
E.M.	1^st	2^nd	3^rd
C.D	2^nd	1^st	3^rd
A.A.	1^st	3^rd	2^nd
S.G.	3^rd	1^st	2^nd

When I posed the question “ Why do you think the apple peeling will decompose first?” AA's answer was “Because the apple gets rotten.”

When I asked “Why do you think the paper towel will decompose first SG said: “Because it is easy to rip when it gets wet.”

I think that this is a wonderful experiment because it lets the children observe first hand the environmental impact of what we throw away.

We will be carefully observing and recording our findings. Please come back to the blog for our updates.

Submitted by: Ms. Melanie

Photographer or Scientist?

2011-05-08T14:15:00.000-07:00

On Friday Morning I heard an excited voice say “Miss Stephanie, come
over here!” I looked over and saw C standing at the Nature Table
looking at all the different organisms. As soon as I walked over, he
points to the jar with the crabs and said “This one has red eyes.
This one is trying to get out.” We both observed the crabs for a
couple minutes and I took a picture of the crab “trying to get out”.
Once C saw me take a picture he asked “Do you want me to take a
picture of that?”, pointing to the tadpoles. How could I say no, so I
handed him my camera. He looked at the viewfinder for a couple
seconds, framing his picture, and then pushed the button. It was as if
he was a professional photographer. “Do you want me to take another
one?” he asked. Once the picture was taken C pointed at the
viewfinder showing the picture and said “That's a picture of the fish
eggs there.” C looked intently at the picture and then looked at the
Nature Table and asked “Do you want me to take a picture of them all
at the same time?” After I replied “yes” C immediately framed his
picture in the viewfinder and pressed the button, with an enormous
grin on his face! (The picture is all the stuffed birds on the second
shelf - I guess he did not want to forget them!) Then in an excited
tone said “I want to show you all the pictures!”, so we sat down
together and looked at all his photographs together!
The Nature Table is always very popular with the children, especially
this past week because we have frog eggs, tadpoles, crabs, and
butterfly larvae! There might be some future biologists at MTM!!

Submitted by: Ms. Stephanie

An unexpected visitor today!

2011-05-06T12:38:00.000-07:00

Today we had some visitors from Seaside Farm come into the school with their new baby chicks. One of the children that attends the school introduced us to his new little friend "Coopey". "Coopey" is an Americauna - blue/green layer know as the Easter egg Chicken. We also met another chick who doesn't have a name yet. This chick is black and known as the Cuckoo Maran- a French breed that lays very dark brown eggs known as the Chocolate layer.

The chicks were a lot of fun to see and touch. I am sorry my pictures are not that clear. There was a lot of excitement and moving going on during that time hence the blurry photos. It was too much fun not to show you though and it also meant we brought out our copy of, "Freckle and the Chicks" to read at the end of our morning. Happy Weekend!

Rhubarb Cake

2011-05-04T05:28:00.001-07:00

This time of the year always takes me back to my childhood. Yesterday, in the taproot box we got rhubarb. I was immediately taken back to rural Nova Scotia in my grandparents kitchen waiting for my Nan to take the warming pot of stewed rhubarb off the stove. Stewed Rhubarb was often an after school treat with toast. Sometimes my mom made it for us for breakfast. So yummy. I have not made stewed rhubarb for my children because I am not sure texturally it would go over so well with the fussy eaters at our house. I do however, make the most divine rhubarb cake.

This morning very early I got up to make a second one for the children at Maple Tree. Last night I made one for our family and I thought it would be a real treat for my Maple Tree family to have it for dessert today. Here's hoping they love it as much!

Rhubarb Cake

1 1/2 Cups sugar

2/3 Cup vegetable oil

1 Egg

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 Cup Plain yogurt (buttermilk works also)

21/2 Cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. Baking soda

1 tsp. Salt

11/2 Cups Rhubarb

Mix wet ingredients together and in a separate bowl mix dry ingredients together. Add the chopped rhubarb to the dry ingredients and then mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Stir until just blended together. Pour into a cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for approx 45 minutes to 1 hour. Bake until golden and a cake tester comes out clean.

Happy Baking!

The Painting of a Master Piece

2011-05-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

I need to start this post off by saying SPOILER ALERT!!!! MOTHER'S DAY PROJECT! Please stop reading if you wish to be surprised.

I am loving the Usborne Art Treasury right now and am in a very big way doing art with your children at the school lately. Earlier in the year we looked a Van Gogh's fourteen Sunflowers and recently we looked at and painted our own Starry Night.

Today, we did more painting. This time on canvases for Mother's Day. I talked with the children about the process and how you can make layers when you are painting. We also talked about blending and how to soften your picture with brush smooshing.

It is easy to get caught up with details when you are a child and you are drawing a picture. I encouraged the children to use a pencil on their canvas first and then to paint over the pencil as the pencil is merely a guide for the paint brush. We looked more closely at our art book and then we got into the business of paint and mixing colors. So much fun today. I helped soften edges and I helped to put flowers and sheep into pictures.

I even had the children squint their eyes to look at the painting so that they could see that even though the sheep did not have a painted face we knew it was a sheep. We talked about how things look far away and up close. We talked about the ocean, storm clouds, hills, forests, flowers and sheep.

I will post some of the paintings when they are finished, after Mother's Day because I want you to be surprised and I know you are reading this because you could not possibly wait to find out what we were doing. I will say this, they are the most beautiful paintings I have ever had the privilege of viewing. It felt like I was at a private art gallery today. That gives me another idea! We should pretend we are at an art gallery later this week so that we may all enjoy this art.

Artist In House

2011-04-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

This week has been dismal with all the rain and there have been a few days when we had to stay in.

In anticipation of the bad weather, I had a few tricks in my bag to pull out to make for a very crafty/arty afternoon.

Some time ago, I found an artist on line who does pdf versions of famous paintings. You must purchase the file and it is very reasonable. It all gets printed on regular sized printer paper and you put it all together like a puzzle to make one large piece. The rest is up to you and the aspiring artist in your house!

For these two master pieces we used regular easel paint (tempra) and acrylic paint. The younger children, ages three to four worked on the first piece and the older children mostly five year olds worked on the second painting. I think any medium would be great. It could be done in wool, fabric and plasticine.

I can't tell you how peaceful our classroom was on that rainy afternoon. Not only was there joyful painting going on but conversation about this artist and why he painted the sky this way and what a neat way to make the stars. I asked the children if they thought this was why it was called Starry Night?

For me, this was another great way to connect with the children and encourage their creative side. Look more closely at the art coming into your home and see if you can detect any artistic influences.

Accidents Happen

2011-04-27T13:16:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning one of the children arrived at school and promptly came over to show me a treasure that she found on her front lawn. It was the most beautiful and perfect robins egg. I had to look so closely at it because it almost didn't look real. Perhaps, I just looked at way to much Easter candy on the weekend!

So, my little friend and I looked at this tiny egg and talked about how we should show it. In the end, it was decided that it would go on the nature table for all to enjoy.

Later in the morning, I heard two other children arguing at the nature table and I went over to see what was happening. Upon my arrival at the nature table I discovered that the tiny egg was broken and one of the children was crying as she felt horrible about what happened. Apparently, they were trying to make a more comfortable nest for the tiny egg and it slipped and fell on the floor.

I said accidents happen but that really they should go and tell their other friend who brought the egg as I was sure she would feel sad about it.

At first, I myself was very sad and disappointed about the broken egg. But as I watched the children go, apologies exchanged and worked out I realized this was a great experience for everyone involved. Things happen and I think we all learned the importance of letting go that day.

This Week....

2011-04-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

This week we enjoyed a puppet show about Easter.

There were Eggstra Special gifts for the children.

We took home a beautiful art project that we made last week about growing carrots.

We watched our garden grow.

We painted and looked at the world a little bit differently this week.

Happy Easter and Happy Weekend!

Counting on Reading

2011-04-20T10:05:00.001-07:00

I was fasinated by this work today. I watched as this particular child was counting his spindles into the spindle boxes but then stopped part way through to make some letters with the spindles. I never approached the child to ask about it I just observed and moved on with my morning. I thought you would enjoy this moment.

Eggs, Eggs, Eggs!

2011-04-18T11:43:00.001-07:00

It is very eggy at Maple Tree this week. We are painting pinecones at the art table and we are looking at different kinds of eggs and where they come from.

I have a friend that has hens that lay the most beautiful blue green eggs and she has sent in two dozen. We are also the owners of a goose egg! Did you know that it is very heavy. I am holding it in my hand so that you can see how big it is. I think we will blow it out and add it to our egg collection on the nature table.

I have a special surprise for my Maple Tree children this year and I haven't told them about it yet.

A couple of Saturdays ago I met a very nice man at the Seaport Farmers Market. Let's call him Egg man. So I am buying some fish cakes from Egg man and we are chatting about things and he tells me he use to raise Rhea Birds and they lay eggs similar to Ostrich eggs. I say to egg man that I have an Ostrich egg and an Emu egg, but I would love a Rhea egg to add to my growing collection. Egg man tells me he has hundreds of them and that if I want to buy some he will give me a super special deal because he has a daughter that teaches and it is fun to give the children something special. So Egg man cuts me the deal of the century and I now have a very special gift for each of my Maple Tree children. Call me crazy, but this gift I am giving is designed to inspire the children to start a collection or create a nature space in their home where they can learn about and display their special treasures. The nature table space at Maple Tree
is about sharing and learning. It is a great place to see, touch and learn.

Learning about Blue Jays

2011-04-17T16:05:00.000-07:00

As part of our bird study at Maple Tree, during circle time recently we passed round a set of photos of a Blue Jay Mommy in and around her nest of a growing family of chicks. The nest had been discovered late last spring in an evergreen tree right beside the front entrance of the building where a friend of a Maple Tree staff member worked. As the children looked at the photos they expressed delight at how small and fluffy the chicks were when they first hatched. "They are so soft," a little girl noted. When asked how the chicks got their foods, several children knew that the Mommy fed them. A couple of the boys were surprised at how the chicks were opening their mouths so wide as they waited for Mommy to return with food. Another boy remarked that the chicks looked very squished in the nest as they stared to grow. One of the older girls noticed how much like the Mommy the growing chicks looked with the marks on their wings. The photos of the Blue Jays have now been threaded on a string and attached above the nature table in the classroom. They continue to be a source of interest for the children. One hears comments like "Look at the little birds, they are so cute".

This Week....

2011-04-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

This has been a busy week for me and I started my week at home with a sick girl. I took the opportunity while things were quiet to prep some new materials in our practical life area of the classroom. I also got a ton of laminating done that was long over due. It is true that you get more done when the house is quiet.

This week we read the Carrot Seed and we planted our own carrots at the art table! I just love the art project Ms. Melanie put together and I love how very different each and every one is. Planting is so much fun!

Among my latest bits of new work is this basket with paint chips in it. I have laminated the paint chip cards so they will hold up better and then I cut each colour out and glued it on to a clothes pin. The idea is that you can match the colours by attaching the clothes pin to the control paint card.

Stamping your own letters and then printing them with a pencil. Who doesn't love stamping. This was a particularly popular piece of work this week.

Visually this tray is just so bright and beautiful and screams Spring! The larger wooden bowl in the middle holds colourful flower buttons for sorting into the correct coloured wooden bowl. The tiny wooden bowls came from Esty. I will try and find the link to add to this post. I could not resist buying them when I saw them.

Cleaning finger nails! Enough said on this one I think. Again very popular. Anything with water and pouring and bubbles is just way to much fun.