First class of 2010-2011

Before I forget, I set up the classroom for the school Open House, above are the pictures. BTW, I am doing this every class. I set the materials in the middle of the circle (oval :)) so the children can see what we will be doing that class.

Tips

I decided that this school year I was going to keep it simple. I tend to try to do a lot and really try to pack the 30 minute lesson, this year I will be trying to focus more on practice the vocabulary and use it on sentences. I'm even thinking about having the children watch a movie and then ask them questions about what they understood. I'll keep you posted on this one....



Tips:

1. Small groups is the key: right now I have 4 children per class, we usually get more children as the year goes by, so I will be keeping the groups to no more than 6 children.


2. Be consistent on your beginning and ending routines: make sure you start all the classes the same way and finish them the same. I always start with a song and end with the calendar; choose any routine that you feel comfortable with and stick to it!


3. Discipline: tell the children what you'll be doing when they don't behave appropriately and follow through! I give one warning, if they don't stop then they'll sit out of the circle until they're ready to come back, usually this works since they don't like to be left out :)


4. Don't force the children to participate: children learn differently, some like to shout every answer even if it's wrong, some just like to participate when they're totally confident on the answer, some just like to listen and choose not to participate. Let them choose, they are all learning no matter how much they participate.


5. Have fun!

First week of school!

Last week was our first week of school, I like to begin with the basics, so we started with colors to see where my new kids were and what did my "old" kids remembered.
Just showed them the flashcards, and reviewed the ones they did remembered. After that, we played with colored bean bags, I just put them around the classroom and had them retrieved them as I called out the color. So simple and yet they loved it!
For Wednesday we started reviewing shapes. I was surprised on how many they could remember! After going through the flashcards we all took a walk outside in the playground and find shapes. They really liked to walk around and point out every single shape, even the children that last year were not participating were pointing at shapes and calling them in Spanish :) It was awesome!!!

Back to school

School starts in two weeks. I've been busy working on materials for the October Montessori Conference. Also I've been busy with the kids and travelling.
Here's, as promised a sample of the materials I will have available for purchase at the conference. I hope you like them, I do!

Fingerplays:

3 part cards:

Any feedback?