Montessori Conference 2015

This year I attended the AMS Annual Conference in Philadelphia. It was my first Montessori conference and it was also my first time visiting Philadelphia. So I was pretty excited! The conference was from March 12-15th.

Montessori Teachers at a bar haha! 

I arrived Thursday evening or should I say Thursday night because it was about 10pm when we arrived at our hotel. We stay where the conference was being held, Philadelphia Marriott.  My co-workers and I went to a bar in downtown Philadelphia.

I do not remember the name of the bar...how sad is that? (Sorry had to look it up, its called McGillin's Olde Ale House) But I remember they serve the yummiest Chili nacho platter ever!


Friday morning, I attended my first workshop. I decided to attend the "Supporting Infant & Toddler Language Learning in English, Spanish and ASL". I loved this workshop! This workshop was about children learning a different language at home and at school and how we in the Montessori environment can help that child continue to learn and be fluent in the languages they learn. What I enjoyed the most was the examples they gave and the 5 Simple Strategies to Facilitate Language Development.

I loved the displays all around the hotel that showcased work from so many different schools.

Philadelphia Montessori Charter School

Montessori Peace Table

I attended a few vendors at the conference and bought some materials for my classroom. I seriously wanted to buy so many things at the conference but I tried to stick with the list I had made before attending the conference.  I bought a practical life frame (shoe clips) and a few object to picture matching activities for counting.

I would have to say my favorite vendor was Mad About Montessori only because I got so many things from them! I think I bought about five key chains to give to family and friends, so many pencils and pens and I also got a bumper sticker for my car that says, "Montessorian". I even bought a small tote bag which I absolutely adore.

I was excited to take a photo with Frank Leto. My students love his music and so do I! They're so catchy and fun for children to sing and dance along to.



Saturday, very early in the morning,  I attended a workshop being presented by my director, Dr. Kathy Roemer and Mary Ellen Kordas. Let me just say, I have been working at my school for four years now and I have never heard my director speak outside of my school setting. It was called "Support for Aspiring Leaders". This was such an amazing workshop! I have always respected my director but I honestly gained a whole new respect for her. Lets just say her workshop was very inspiring.

We had a keynote speaker that day, Jennifer Senior (she is the author of All Joy No Fun). I loved to hear her speak. She was so brutally honest about how parents really feel about their children and what goes on at home sometimes. She left us all with a quote that totally resonated to me "Joy is grief inside out".

Saturday night, my co-workers and I attended the Philadelphia Freedom Party. It was so much fun! They had little video montages where we wore props to take photos. 

It being my first Montessori conference, I totally enjoyed myself! I left this conference feeling inspired. It was such a special feeling being amongst other Montessori professionals who understand and value the philosophy just like I do. I am looking forward to next year's conference which will held in Chicago!

Until next time,

Montessori Mondays (An update)

So sorry!!! I have completely neglected posting things about my classroom and Montessori. Well I guess I should make up for lost time and update you all on what my tiny students are up to. These past couple of weeks, my young toddlers have been flourishing in all aspects of the classroom. They are becoming so independent in Practical Life skills such as drinking out of an open cup, setting the table with a placemat, plate and cup, removing their shoes and flipping their coats over their heads. I must admit I am so proud of what these tiny beings can accomplish at such a young age.

This is our last week of school for the year....yay! And I am already thinking of what materials/activities I want to put on the shelves when we come back in January. So far, my favorite materials/activities have been our object to picture matching. My students LOVE these! And they are really easy to make.

I got these sea animals at Michael's Craft Store. I took a picture of them against a white poster board and I printed then had them laminated. I've made a couple more of object to picture matching cards using other objects like Zoo, Farm, and Safari Animals. 

Another favorite in my classroom is our color bears, which I got at the Lakeshore Learning Store. They are so great and perfect for their little hands. For the time being, we have been having the children match the bears to its corresponding color card (color bear matching) while naming the color they are matching. 

It isn't all about matching. Here are other materials/activities that are also very popular. 

Wooden Depth Peg board

Posting box

I made this using a:

*Gerber Baby Formula can

*Contact paper

*Wooden Flat Apples from Michael's Craft Store

I am definitely looking forward to two weeks off though. Between grad school, finals and work my brain is fried. I will be relaxing and hopefully catching up on my blogging :)

Happy Monday! 

Montessori Mondays: Must Read Montessori Books

When I took my Montessori Training almost three years ago, I was told to read many books on the Montessori Method. The ones that really stood out to me were Montessori From The Start: The Child at Home, From Birth to Age Three and Understanding the Human Being. These two books are amazing and I would recommend them to any parent, teacher, or anyone who wants to know more about Montessori and child development.

1. Teach Me to Do It Myself: Montessori Activities for You and Your Child  by Maja Pitamic - It gives you simple and easy Montessori styled activities that parents can do at home with their child. 
2. Montessori From The Start: The Child at Home, From Birth to Age Three by Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen - As I mentioned earlier this book is highly recommended by many Montessorians. The mother-daughter authors do a great job in explaining many of the Montessori practices that we use at our school. I think this book is ideal for parents who would want to foster the Montessori method in their home. 
3. Understanding The Human Being: The Importance of the First Years of Life. by Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro MD. - I recommend this book to any first time parent, expecting parent or parents of infants. This book is amazing! It helps you to really understand more about your child's development and growth. I love how easy it is to read and it is not filled with jargon that we would not understand. Definitely a must read! 

These are just some of my favorite Montessori books. Which are your favorite? 

Wednesday Favorites: Montessori

I thought I would share some of my favorite materials for a Montessori Infant to Toddler classroom. Since I teach infants and toddlers, I find that these materials really aid my tiny students in their development and growth. Last year, my students used many of these over and over in the classroom so not only do they help in their development but they also enjoy using them. What is so great about some of these, is that you can use and make them at home. 

1. Plan Toys Geometric Sorting Board (aids in helping children recognize colors, sorting, shapes and even helps in counting abilities. 

2. Plan Toys Walk N Roll I have seen in the past what a big hit this material is. Children love the sound it makes as they walk with it. Great sensorial work for older infants as well as young toddlers.

3. ALEX Toys: Early Learning String A Farm Another big hit with my students this past year. You may want to show them first how to use this but once they see how it works, they will love it. I was so surprised that even my youngest of students were able to use this. This material is great for their fine motor skills and manual dexterity. The animals are a point of interest for the child (sheep, dog, cat, cow, pig, etc). 

4. Single Shape Puzzles Even the youngest of students will be able to use these shape puzzle pieces. They are great for language (introducing shapes) and eye-hand coordination. 

5. Object to Picture Matching This is probably one of my favorite materials to make. Yes you can actually make this yourself! Object to picture matching is great for even the youngest of students (just make sure none of the objects you use are choking hazards). It really helps in their cognitive development. 

6. Wooden Texture Cylinders A great sensory activity for older infants and toddlers. The touch and match cylinders helps in the development of tactile discrimination (smooth, rough, soft, etc).

7. Guidecraft Screw Block Great manipulative that aids in eye-hand coordination, fine motor, and color matching skills. Great for young - older toddlers. 

8. Coin Posting Box Another one of my favorites! Infants and Toddlers a like love using this material. Very simple to make using a tin can, contact paper and craft store buttons. 

9. Object Permanence Box  You've probably seen this in many Montessori classrooms. It helps develop hand-eye coordination and indirectly allows the child to experience object permanence (when a child understands that an object continues to exist even when they cannot be seen). 

10. Homemade Shakers I absolutely love this! I have made this for my students and also for my niece. I must say it is such a hit for infants and older infants! The bottles I used were from Michael's craft store, and I filled them up with rice, marbles, sand, cotton balls, or rocks. You can add water to one of them and also put glitter inside of it. Children love to shake them and watch the glitter! You can also use old baby jars. 

I'd like to mention that books are a huge part of a Montessori environment. I did not mention any on my list because I just wanted to concentrate on some of my favorite materials. I definitely recommend books by Roger Priddy and DK Publishing, which contain realistic pictures, ideal for an infant and toddler classroom. I hope you enjoyed reading my list. Let me know if you tried any with your students or your children. :) 

Montessori Mondays: Matching Activity

I wanted to share with you a favorite activity (work) of my students and mine this past year. It is a matching activity, where you match objects to pictures. It is so simple to make as well. The supplies you will need are as follows:

laminator
white paper or white card stock
wood animal cutouts (I got these from my local Michael's Craft store). 
glue stick

First make a color copy of the animal cutouts. I used my canon printer and the copies came out pretty good. I just outlined some of the black ink that was not showing too much. Next you cut the color animal pictures in the shape of a card. (They should all be the same size). Once you are done, you can paste the picture to a card stock paper and then you laminate it. 

The end result is this:

          

You can put the work on a shelf and invite the child to take the activity to a table or put it on a mat on the floor. The child will then try to match the animal to its card. 

          

An extension to this activity would be to trace the outline to four of the animals. Place two animals in each row and trace an outline around them. Laminate it and when the child uses the activity, they will match the animal to its outline. 

           

Both of these activities help the child develop concentration, visual discrimination and order. You can use other animals of your choice. I used this activity with children between the ages of 18 months - 2 years old.