"When the child goes out, it is the world itself that offers itself to him." - Maria Montessori
In a Montessori environment, and according to Dr. Montessori herself, exploring the outdoors is a very important extension of the indoor environment.
Every Friday, is scheduled for a visit to the park at Ayelet. We not only play on slides and swings (that is a very important part of our time in the park), but we explore the environment around. We pick flowers and leaves, spot creepy-crawlies, observe, listen to stories, discuss and enjoy.
On one such visit to the park, children collected rocks and stones, back in Ayelet, we learned how to clean these stones. We followed it with discussing about the colours, shapes, size, etc. Once, we spotted a butterfly in our porch (which is such a rare sight now-a-days). We went on to read Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and discussed the life-cycle of a butterfly.
A child picked flowers on one such visit for his dad who was bed-ridden. He came back, prepared a bunch with those flowers, his dad was elated to receive the flowers. This little one narrated how his dad reacted when he got the flowers. Parents also are slowly becoming more open to explore the outdoor with their little ones.
Once a month, after our park visit, we explore places in our community, like, stores, post office, pet stores, etc.
When we went to a pet store last Friday, children were amazed to see the products available for their pet friends. From shampoos to chocolates, beds to clothes and toys. We also saw dogs, cats, guinea pigs, fish, rabbits and more. We also discussed how and why we should take care of animals. We read “All the pets you can get” by Dr. Seuss before the day ended. All the children have been talking about to their parents over the weekend, is how badly they want a pet now.
Experience Montessori education, visit our open house on the 17th of February 2018.
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