We had so much fun at our annual Planting Day and Open House last month!
We enjoyed bouncing in the bounce house, facepainting, crafting with seed art, grinding coffee and refreshments!
Tending and harvesting the gardens is one of the highlights of the children’s summers and not only cultivates a sense of responsibility and ownership, love for nature, a multisensory learning experience, hands on exploration in the sciences, but also allows them to explore different tastes and textures when they sample the produce that they’ve grown! Check out the beautiful salad and kabobs they made from tomatoes, basil and cucumbers they grew!
“The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the Earth.”
Dr. Maria Montessori
We’re so grateful to our community of parents for all their help in prepping our garden beds and planting them. Parent involvement is an important part of the Montessori environment, as it fosters continuity between school and home, partnership between parents and teachers, and an increased sense of classroom ownership in the children whose parents participate in classroom life by reading stories, involvement in cultural celebrations, attending school community events, bringing food and flower work, helping with classroom laundry, attending parent-education nights and more! Montessori was intentional to call her classrooms Casa dei Bambini – House of Children, or “Children’s House” – because she wanted the children to feel it was their environment, prepared for them and cared for by them. When children have the opportunity to invite their families to their Children’s House, there feel such a sense of joy and ownership!
