Dia de los Meurtos
At HMS, we regularly talk with children about death as part of the natural life cycle. After all, the children have seen dead bugs, some have had pets die or have even experienced death in…
Spooky new materials are on the shelves
We routinely change out the materials on our shelves. With the turn of the calendar and the change in the weather, this weekend the teachers were busy making new works. The children were eager to try…
Birthdays as History Lessons
Like many Montessori Schools, we go out of our way to celebrate birthdays. We do so in a way that emphasizes the passage of time a child's life. The children discuss how the Earth goes around the…
New Year, New Works
This new school year has brought with it some brands new works on our shelves: flowers and dinosaurs. With the help of our awesome parent community who brought in some cut flowers, we are happy…
Little Texans on the Playground
Visitors to HMS know that our playground is a special place. We love our shade trees, flowering shrubs, the playhouse, playscape, the mud box and the "stage" (photo, right). We eat lunch outdoors and watch…
Friends help friends
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,…
Springtime is here
Springtime has arrived, both on our playground and inside the classroom. Bugs are on the shelves and blue and yellow (ahem, green) paints are on the easels. Art class has been outside several times, "baby"…
Now presenting: BUGS
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…
Love for Valentine’s Day
[caption id="attachment_3213" align="alignright" width="300"] A bulb baster is a fun way to improve fine motor skills![/caption] Valentine's Day is a popular one for children. We started a few weeks ago with various heart-shaped materials on our…
The Differentiated Classroom
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…
Back to Work
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…
Math in the preschool classroom
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,"…