A kind, gentle community.
One aspect of Montessori that differentiates it from mainstream schools is the multi-age classroom. At any given time, about 1/3 of the students in our classroom are in their third year at HMS. In fact, a Kindergarten student is in her fourth year with us. Thus, in our classroom, when a child asks a teacher for help it […]
This spring, teachers have left many “buggy” materials on our shelves. More and more every week! We are doing bug puzzles counting bugs drawing bugs writing about bugs making our own bugs. In the process, we are learning the names of the body parts, learning about the life cycle of bugs, finding the similarities and differences between spiders and […]
Valentine’s Day is a popular one for children. We started a few weeks ago with various heart-shaped materials on our shelves (why do we rotate our shelves?) and discussions of what and who we love. This week, students brought in their homemade Valentines to the school, and, like past years, the holiday culminated with our […]
Visitors to HMS marvel at the varied activities going on at the same time. This morning we noticed these two age-appropriate activities happening at the same time. To the untrained eye, these may seem two different activities, but what is going on is simply that children of different ages have different abilities. It is well-known […]
After a break from the classroom for the holidays, this morning the students were eager to get back to their Montessori works. As usual after breaks from school the children arrived to find the usual Montessori materials on the shelves (middle and bottom photos), mixed in with some new items to work with (top photo).
Recently one of our students, just shy of his fifth birthday, pointed to the rack of beaded chains on our wall and asked “What can I do with these?” “You can form them into squares,” the teacher replied, “to help you count them. That’s called multiplication.” “Is that like when you multiply?” he asked. (Likely […]
We’ve seen it again and again–the young child of just 1 or 2 years old who really, REALLY wants to read. They eagerly watch the older children in our classroom. They look at picture books and say they they are reading. All of our little students are so eager to read books, but it takes […]
After a week of teachers’ preparation and anticipation, this morning we welcomed returning students to HMS. Some students went back to their old favorite works, while others explored some of the new options on our shelves. It’s great to be back! Placing stars in the sky
Last week, we said good-bye to some students who we have know for three years and are moving on to Kindergarten. Even more bittersweet, we also said goodbye to our Art Teacher, Dorte, who is retiring to spend more time with her family. Dorte has been at HMS since our earliest days, and has inspired so […]
Parents and teachers often remind children to “wash your hands.” It is not a stretch to imagine the child who wonders “Why do I wash my hands? They look the same before and after!” Last month, one child’s parent, a high school Biology teacher, offered to help our classroom do an experiment that would show the […]
Since the first of the month, our older kids have been working collaboratively to make a wall calendar. Along with circle-time discussions, especially birthday celebrations, calendars are essential to children learning about the basic concepts of present and past, the beginnings of our history curriculum. Calendars also teach us about the days of the week and […]
We all know that toddlers olds are active. They learn about the world through movement. Picking up objects, turning them around in the hand, sliding them along the floor. One facet of Montessori curriculum that enables, say, a two-year-old to succeed is the Practical Life area. Practical Life activities, such as pouring, wiping, setting a table, […]