It is very quickly going to be time to get back to school and begin the new year. I like to take a calendar and tear off each month. During a lesson on the new year, I place all the months out on the floor and discus with the children how each block on the calendar represents one day (See picture below). We talk about how many days there are in the year and go over the names of the months.
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Rainbows
Spring is a great time to talk about rainbows with the children. There is more rain during this time of the year and chances of seeing a rainbow are pretty good if you live in an area with rainy spring days. Most children enjoy rainbow anything, so you can include a variety of activities for them as you learn about rainbows together.
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Nutrition
Usually during the beginning months of the school year, I like to talk with the children about good food choices. We have lessons on our bodies, exercise, and the importance of eating healthy. This sets the tone for the school year about snacks and lunches. However, talking about the basic food groups can be included anytime of the year.
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Color Mixing
The youngest children often come to school knowing the names of many colors or very few. Montessori color boxes are used to introduce colors to the children. A variety of activities and songs are also a fun way to help children learn colors. Hap Palmer and Frank Leto both have great songs about colors, which can be easily be found online.
Pumpkin Time
In the northern hemisphere it is time for pumpkins to be harvested. Many families and schools will visit pumpkin farms to pick pumpkins and perhaps enjoy a hay ride around the farm. The areas of Botany, Practical Life, Math, Science, and Language often have a variety of pumpkin themed exercises.
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Apple Fun
September is a great time to have fun with apples. Previous post highlighted some activities and lesson ideas to use with apples. Some may be repeated and others may be new on this post. I especially enjoy bringing a variety of apples into the classroom for the children to taste. During this month I like to include lessons on the five senses, and highlight the lesson on taste, a day before our apple tasting activity.
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Preparing for Seed Lesson
It isn’t too early to start preparing for an upcoming lesson on seeds. I usually introduce a Botany lesson on seeds about the third week of school, depending on how the first few weeks have been going. Prior to a discussion on seeds, a simple lesson on the parts of a plant are given. Then the various parts of a plant are talked about separately over the following three or four weeks.
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Summer Activities
Summer activities for the classroom or the home often involve an ocean theme. There is so much one can choose from and share with children. A variety of lessons on things related to an ocean theme can be found in Weeks 34-Day 3 through Weeks 36-Day 5 of the curriculum pages. These include lessons on things such as coral reefs, shells, tide pools, crustaceans, and sponges.
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Dental Health
February is National Children’s Dental month which makes it a great time to have lessons on caring for our teeth. Many schools have a visitor from a dental office come to talk with the children, but this year of course is very different.
Body Outlines
During this time of the month we are usually about finished with lesson on body organs. As we read about say the brain, or the lungs children continue to add these parts to their body outlines. Lessons on the body begin with ourselves starting out as small infants and compare it to how much we have grown since. The children bring in a picture of themselves as a baby for discussion and are involved in making self-portrait pictures of how they look today. Body parts we see on the outside are highlighted followed by lessons on the five senses. This month began with lessons on the things we cannot see on the inside of our bodies including bones, muscles, and other organs.
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