A "Normal Day": Part 2

 As part of observing the last two days, I noticed lots of ideas that were new to me.  When I really think about it, many of these ideas are obvious, but I think they have gotten lost (for me anyway) in all the day to day curricular things I am expected to teach my students.  I made a list in my notebook, so I thought I would share them in a bulleted list and then share any comments I have about each in a sub-bullet. 

• outside the children were able to sit at child sized picnic tables
• the outside classroom is set up so that there are various work stations, all child sized and 4-6 children can work at each station
• I am so conflicted here, as I know what I am seeing in this Montessori school is what is best and right for children, but in my own school district, our buildings and grounds department head is having us take out any furniture or elements that do not meet her vision.  I am wondering how to do some major pushing back on her furniture plan, but also use what I have so that I can set up some work stations in my own classroom next year.
• Each table, inside and out has a plant on it and the children water them every few days and care for them.
• There are several tables also set up inside and outside for children to wash any materials that they use to mix or cook with.  
• Watching the children as they wash the mixing bowls and other utensils is entertaining and also fascinating.  Some of the children were intent on cleaning the items they used and others made some play out of splashing in the water, but ultimately, were able to get their materials cleaned.  After cleaning the materials, the children placed them on the counter in the adult sized kitchen so (because of sanitation) the adults could run all of them through the dishwasher before they were put back out for child use. 
• The children take their work trays and find a place that is comfortable for them and set up their mat and start working
• There is a rack outside where each child has a pair of rain boots for playing in the muddy areas and for wearing when they are outside if the ground is wet.  There is a special rock where they place their inside shoes and no other children bother them.
• The outside space contains a defined patio area, an area with mulch, and a grassy area.  Within the patio area, there are 10 child sized picnic tables, several shelves that are low and set up in an "L" shape (these are the areas where the work trays and washing stations live), along with several other regular four-legged tables.  Children often moved the four-legged tables around the space, relocating them to the sunshine or the shade as needed. 
• There is constant excited, joyful chatter in the entire space 
• The children use previously painted rocks to help hold down their paper while they work outside.  There is a medium sized bucket near the building where the rocks are stored and children can get them as needed to hold down their work. 
• Upon the request of one of the teachers, an assistant brought out a large piece of wood with rounded corners to be used as a surface for children to draw on.  6 children sat around the wood and drew on paper with colored pencils.
• As children are working on baking work, they come and go from inside to outside and fill the measuring cups up with the right amounts of water or other liquids.  
• It is easy to tell, other than by height or maturity level, which children are the older ones and who have been practiced at baking work lessons and who is still practicing.  There are children who can add up different cup quantities to make the measurement they need and there are some children who need each of the measuring cups to be exact.  Some children are ready for recipes with solid and liquid ingredients and some just use solid ingredients (granola).  There are also children who can walk into the adult kitchen space and open the refrigerator and find the liquid ingredients they need
• There were children all throughout the 2 1/2 hours I observed today that engaged in yoga.  They knew where to find a yoga mat and then found the basket with yoga pose cards in it.  They stayed engaged doing yoga for 20-25 minutes.  They were so respectful of the mat and took their shoes off and left them at the end of the yoga mat.  When they were done, they cleaned up and put everything back where it belongs.
• I was so excited by this idea, that I purchased some animal and alphabet yoga cards so my students could choose yoga as alphabet work once school starts.
• Children who bake things are able to take their creations home with them and have their families try them out.  After baking and cleaning up, they pick a brown paper bag from the top of the low shelves and decorate it to take their baking home in.  Each child places their goods to be baked on the counter by the ovens and the adults rotate each item through the ovens in the afternoon.  
• There were several children who played in the digging box and they had their boots on.  After playing there, they gathered two large metal tubs and placed their boots inside them, one tub with the right foot boots and the other tub held the left foot boots.  They scrubbed them off and then dried them and each took a handle of the tubs and used the water to water the plants in the outdoor space. 

During each visit, I am just astounded at how much independence the children have and what they are able to do! I know that developmentally, they are able to engage in each of the work tasks they are doing, however to see it in action, jars me back to reality and has me questioning all sorts of things about my own public school setting.  I have notes every where in the margins of my notebook about ways I can take what I am observing and move that into what I have to do and making it more appropriate for my Kindergarten students.  So many ideas!!

After talking with the lead teacher, she asked if I would be interested in having any of the children teach me a baking lesson, so when I visit again next week, several of them will be teaching me! The teacher is SO very proud of all her students and what they are able to do! She told me that she wishes I could come back during the school year so that I could see more of the "academic" learning that happens then, even though I am seeing lots of that happen even during their summer camp.