Show Your Appreciation with a Children’s Day

Many of us may be starting our summer vacations and though you may not see your Montessori students every day, the summer is a perfect time to continue to build relationships with them. What a lovely time for your students to get a nice note from you in the mail. It’s an opportunity to show your students you appreciate them, know them, and value their place in your life. These actions can help to build the mutual respect that is essential in the Montessori classroom.

Honoring the value of children worldwide is a concept introduced by the United Nations some fifty years ago. Around the world, many countries honor a National Child’s Day, sometimes also known as Universal Child’s Day. The date can vary, from country to country; some celebrate in May, June, or November.

Canada celebrates National Child’s Day on November 20 each year, which follows the United Nations 1954 recommendation for a Universal Child’s Day “to be observed as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children and of activity promoting the welfare of the world's children. It suggested to governments that the Day be observed on the date which each considers appropriate. The date of 20 November marks the day in which the Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989.”*

In the United States, the celebration of a Children’s Day seems to date back to the 1860s, if not earlier. At this time many churches were dedicating days to children. The day is often celebrated in a number of different ways including speeches, TV programs, parties, and parades. In 2008, US President Bush proclaimed June 1 as National Child’s Day and in May 2009, Children's Day was celebrated in Washington, DC.

Think of this day in your country as a catalyst for cultural activities and lessons focused on the value, rights and welfare of children around the world.

Children’s Day Activities for the Montessori Teacher and Student

Encourage your Montessori students to show their appreciation to another young person. It may be a peer, a family member, or a child from another country that they admire/respect. Invite them to write a letter to this person, stating what they appreciate about her/him, and why. Post copies of the letters in your Montessori classroom.

Observing a National Child’s Day in the school year may serve as a strong history and cultural activity, providing an opportunity to explore the United Nations, UNICEF, and the rights of children.

Invite your Montessori students to an early or mid-summer gathering. Use this as an opportunity to introduce forthcoming new students in your classroom to your current students to encourage community connections. A cook-out, picnic or pool party can help build excitement for the upcoming school year.

Send your students a series of notes throughout the summer. The notes could be a puzzle that reveals something about the new school year. This puzzle can only be solved once all the notes have been received. Encrypt the notes with a mathematical code to help students practice their math skills over the summer.

Establish an online forum where your students (along with their parents) can discuss their summer plans, books read, etc. with you and each other.

Books about Children

• A Day in the Life of Children Around the World: A Collection of Short Stories, by Kathy Kirk
• Wake Up, World!: A Day in the Life of Children Around the World, by Beatrice Hollyer
• A Child's Day: An Alphabet of Play, by Ida Pearle
• Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children's Day/Book Day (Celebremos El dia de los ninos/El dia de los libros), by Pat Mora and Rafael Lopez

Resources

• Canadian Children's Rights Council - National Child Day *
• United Nations - Declaration of the Rights of the Child
• Canadian Children's Rights Council - Rights of the Child
• Unicef

"By supporting the integrity of each student, the relationships between the students within the classroom, and the relationships of the students with the greater community, culture, and environment, cosmic education guides each student to become more of an individual and more a part of the world." from NAMC’s Lower Elementary manual - Five Great Lessons / Cosmic Education & Peace

Montessori Cultural Activity: Democratic Elections in India

Written by NAMC blog contest finalist, Namita Jain.

We are pleased to share this guest submission, the third of three finalists in the NAMC blog contest. We thank Namita for her participation, and hope you enjoy this activity created for the Montessori Preschool/Kindergarten classroom, and adaptable to the Montessori elementary classroom.

Early childhood is the time of the “absorbent mind,” the age when a child literally starts taking impressions from the environment. It is the time to carefully introduce experiences, not with lessons or lectures, but experientially and sensorially, with practical activities.

It is election time in India. By use of a carefully-designed Montessori activity, the democratic election process is introduced in the Montessori curriculum.

Elections in India

1. Introduction to the activity: prepare the Montessori students in advance by talking to them about the election in India. (Note: any other democratic country, state/province or municipality can be substituted). Although this activity is created for the 3-6 age group, it can be adapted to older Montessori students as well. This is a great opportunity to build vocabulary with older students. We have italicized some words in the text below for this purpose.

What is a Democratic Election?

A democratic election is a decision-making process by which a population (people of a country, for example) chooses an individual (candidate) to hold formal political office to represent them in government. Candidates hope to represent their constituents in government.

It involves a number of step-by-step processes:

• Announcement of election date(s).
• Announcement of results and submission of the list of successfully nominated candidates to the executive head of the state or the center.
• Election campaign leading up to the election date, whereby candidates communicate their objectives to their constituents.
• Election day is the day that the population (constituents) go to the voting polls and cast their votes.
• The publication of voter results and the declaration of the winning candidates marks the end of the election process.
• Paving the way for the formation of the new government.

2. Forming parties: the students form groups (parties) and select individual candidates to represent the party. Each party also selects a leader to represent the party.

3. Ballot Paper & Symbols: After nomination of candidates is complete, a list of competing candidates is prepared, and ballot papers are printed. Ballot papers (see Section 6.) are printed with the names of the candidates and the symbols allotted to each of the parties. In this activity, we will use an apple, and orange, and a banana as the candidates. Other items can be substituted, at the discretion of the teacher.

The parties formed choose their symbols from the following:

.....Apple............................Orange...........................Banana

4. Voter Registration: the students complete a form to register as a voter before voting. This creates an Electoral Roll or Registered Voters List. In this activity, you can create Voter Identity Cards (see section 6) that students may bring to the polls for verification against the Registered Voters List.

5. Campaigns: The students campaign for their parties, putting forward their candidates and objectives/arguments with which they hope to persuade people to vote for their candidates and parties.

The three parties campaign and the students use following information to campaign for their respective parties:

6. How does voting take place: the students vote by a secret ballot. A polling station is set up in the Montessori school. On entering the polling station, the elector shows his/her voter identity card, which is checked against the Electoral Roll. Upon verification, the elector is allocated a ballot paper. The elector votes by marking the ballot paper with a rubber stamp on or near the symbol he chooses (apple, orange or banana), from inside a screened, private compartment in the polling station. The voter then folds the ballot paper and inserts it in a common ballot box which is kept in full view of the Presiding Officer and the polling agents of the candidates.

7. Counting of votes: after the polling has finished, the votes are counted. After the counting of votes is over, the name of the candidate to whom the largest number of votes has been given is announced as the winner.

A child who is living in the Montessori environment needs to develop respect for the environment. He needs to use his five senses to develop abilities to identify, sort, match, name and compare. He has to be able to communicate with the environment and able to develop thinking powers. We at a Montessori school, through our culture curriculum, aim at developing the child’s skills of questioning, experimentation, problem solving, and above all, aim at bringing a positive and caring attitude of the child towards the culture part of our environment. This is done through activities which are experientially designed and relate to the practical life exercises of the Montessori student. This helps the student relate to the activities he/she is already doing and easily absorb new concepts through these activities.

Namita Jain is a trained Montessori Directress. She has been teaching in a Montessori in India for the past five years. She has also completed her Lower Elementary (6-9) diploma program through NAMC.

The NAMC Upper Elementary history manuals provide activities that explore types and levels of government, investigating political processes, and historical perspectives on US and Canadian governments.

Montessori at Home: The Prepared Environment

More and more, I meet and speak with parents who embrace the Montessori method, and wish to implement the Montessori philosophy and methodology in their homes. To do so successfully, it is important to have a well-prepared environment. Here are some helpful guidelines to consider when creating the Montessori environment at home.

Everyone’s home is unique, and every Montessori prepared environment in the home will reflect those nuances. Although the home Montessori environment will have its own “flavor”, all Montessori prepared environments have the following features in common:

• They are attractive, orderly and clean.
• They have a place where children can store and organize personal items, as well as keep complete and in-progress projects.
• There is adequate open space for children to easily move around, and for everyone to sit together during group time.

• Children can independently access their Montessori materials from low shelves. They can also help maintain the order on these shelves. It is also important to have appropriately-sized tables and chairs so the children can sit and move with ease.
• There should be a few interesting, real-life pictures at child’s-eye level, a few beautiful objects that could break easily, living plants, and pets (even small, non-poisonous reptiles and fish are fine).

Remember that the Montessori prepared environment stresses order, beauty and simplicity. A calm and peaceful setting is valued. There is a minimum of items and clutter. Everything has a place and it is clear how to restore the environment to order. Items in the environment should have a deliberate purpose, help to foster independence in the children, and be visually appealing to the children.

When setting up a Montessori prepared environment at home, a parent should try to become as familiar as possible with every detail of the room. Remember to display materials that are complete and in working order. They should also stimulate the children’s interest, accommodate their physical, cognitive, and social needs and appeal to all five senses. Ideally, the Montessori materials should allow children to self-correct. It is best if the walls are in neutral colors so that the materials can be the focus of the room.

The room should be organized by the five primary subject areas (practical life, sensorial, culture/science, math, language arts) and the secondary areas (art, circle or ellipse for circle time, library). The main area of the room should have a general use table, low shelves to define the areas mentioned above, and an area to store children’s projects. The library area should have comfortable chairs. The bathroom should have steps or a stool and towels hung at the children’s height. In the art area it is important to have a work table, an easel, a shelf for supplies, a flat area for paintings to dry and hooks for aprons. The music area needs a shelf for instruments and the practical life area needs a rack for drying cloths and dishes.

The more effort a parent puts into the Montessori prepared environment at home, the more successful the experience will be for both child and parent. With the prepared environment, the child is better able to learn to her/his fullest potential, feel more successful in the preschool experience, and to develop confidence and independence.

NAMC’s Classroom Guides offer comprehensive information on the prepared Montessori environment, as well as curriculum implementation, classroom start-up, normalization, assessment, observation and classroom management.

Montessori Zoology Activity for the Early Childhood Classroom

Written by NAMC blog contest finalist, Rachael Partain.

We are pleased to share this guest submission, the second of three finalists in the NAMC blog contest. We thank Rachael for her participation, and hope you enjoy this activity created for the Montessori Preschool/Kindergarten classroom.

As a pre-service Montessori teacher, I have practiced in a variety of non-Montessori schools, most recently with a local Head Start Program. It is often a challenge to incorporate the Montessori method while still meeting my lesson planning requirements, and the appropriate state standards.

The activity below combines a Montessori lesson plan that I designed with the components required by public education institutes. It touches on a variety of cross-curricular standards. I hope you enjoy this lesson and I hope that it gives you ideas for meeting your state or national standards while allowing you to apply your knowledge of the Montessori method.

Content Area: Science

Age: 3-6 years

Materials

• Mat
• Sendak, M. (1963). Where the Wild Things Are. United States: Harper Collins Publishers. NOTE: Teacher will have previously read this book to the students.
• Natural, real elements from wild animals, such as:
• Animal horn or antler
• Small sample of animal hair or fur
• Feathers
• Turtle shell
• Snake skin
• Shark teeth
• Bear claw or large bird talon (not too sharp)

• Photographs of the corresponding wild animals
• Magnifying glasses (4)
• Cloth bag (large enough to hold all objects)
• Teacher-prepared control set containing copies of the photographs along with images (can be photographs as well) of each corresponding animal object, so that the students may check their work independently.

Presentation

• Have all materials for the lesson ready in the cloth bag.
• Invite a small group (no more than four, ideally two) of children to gather around a mat.
• Announce to the children that today they will learn about some characteristics of different wild animals.
• From your bag, remove the book, Where the Wild Things Are.
• Show the children pictures of “Wild Things” from the book. Ask the children, “What are some of the characteristics of these creatures that make them appear wild?”
• The children will likely answer that they have teeth, claws, fur, or some other common characteristic.
• Remove one wild animal object from your bag to correspond with the first characteristic the children mention. After removing the object, ask the children what the object is and from what kind of real animal they think that it came.
• Continue until at least three objects have been removed from your bag. If necessary, ask questions to guide the children to appropriate answers.
• Next, show the children the animal photograph that corresponds to each object. Allow the children to feel and explore each object closely. They may use the magnifying glasses to take a closer look at each object.
• Take out the rest of the natural objects and the rest of the photographs of real wild animals from the bag.
• Put the book, Where the Wild Things Are, back into the bag.
• Place the photos of the real wild animals face up on the mat randomly.
• Explain to the children that they will now learn how to use the new classroom material.
• Challenge the children to match each of the objects to the photo they correspond with.
• Once the children have matched all of the photos, show the students the control set of photos and images of the animal objects. Compare the material with the control set to check that the matching is correct.
• Tell the students that they now know how to use the material for this activity, and that they are free to choose it during their work time.

Rachael Partain recently completed the Lower Elementary program through NAMC and hopes to soon enroll in the Preschool/Kindergarten program. She is simultaneously earning her B.S. in Early Childhood Education from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, from where she will graduate in December of 2009. She lives with her fiancé, Jason, and their dog/princess, Belle. Rachael is an avid reader, and when she is not “in the schools”, she spends most of free time buried in a book, with Jason, or playing with Belle.

US Memorial Day in the Montessori Classroom: May 25, 2009

Many Montessori schools conclude the academic year before Memorial Day, which is officially held annually on the last Monday of May. Despite this, Montessori teachers can expose Montessori students to the history and observances of Memorial Day before they break for the summer. By doing so, the students can better appreciate the significance and impact of wars throughout American history.

The true beginnings of Memorial Day are difficult to trace. Many small towns were doing their own unique observation before officially declared by General John Logan on May 5, 1868. The day was first observed on May 30, 1868 by the laying of flowers on the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery. In 1873, New York officially recognized Memorial Day and by 1890, all of the northern states had followed suit. The southern states honored their dead on separate days until after WWI. At that time the holiday changed from a day to honor those who died in the Civil War to a day to honor all Americans who died in any war. Now Memorial Day is celebrated on the last Monday in May. In 1915, Moina Michael began the tradition of wearing red poppies to honor those who died. The VFW still continues this effort. In 1971, Congress passed a bill establishing the last Monday in May as a federal holiday, therefore creating a three-day weekend.

Today, Memorial Day is observed by visiting cemeteries and placing flags on graves, visiting memorials, flying the United States flag, flying a POW/MIA flag, participating in the National Moment of Remembrance (at 3:00 p.m.), and providing aid for family members left behind by soldiers.

Activities for the Montessori Classroom

• Language: Study Memorial Day poems and speeches (http://www.usmemorialday.org/) and have students create their own.
• History: Discuss the various wars that the United States has been involved in and how the causes and effects varied from war to war. Create a timeline. Discuss alternatives to war and how times of war and times of peace differ in United States history.
• Art: Discuss the significance of the red, white and blue in the American flag. Students can explore what new colors and shades they can create from these colors. Finally, students can complete a piece of art (abstract, pop art, etc.) entirely out of red, white and blue.
• Science: Explore the cycle of life and how nature can benefit from death.
• Community Involvement & Service: Invite a veteran from the community to come to your Montessori classroom to share their experiences. Plan and complete a service project as a class at a center for veterans.

Memorial Day Books Suggestions for the Montessori Classroom

• Memorial Day (Rookie Read-About Holidays), by Jacqueline S. Cotton
• Memorial Day (Our Country's Holidays), by Sheri Dean
• Memorial Day Surprise, by Theresa Golding and Alexandra Artigas
• Memorial Day (Holidays, Festivals, & Celebrations), by Trudi Strain Trueit and Ronnie Rooney
• Memorial Day (True Books Series), by Christin Ditchfield
• Memorial Day (First Step Nonfiction), by Robin Nelson
• Let's Get Ready for Memorial Day, by Lloyd G. Douglas

Related Books

• The Wall, by Eve Bunting and Ronald Himler
• Veterans Day (Rookie Read-About Holidays), by Jacqueline S. Cotton
• What Freedom Means to Me: A Flag Day Story, by Heather French Henry

Resources

• Memorial Day
• Images for Memorial Day
• White House Commission on Remembrance

Detailed information and history activities are also available in the NAMC 9-12 US History Manual.

Other NAMC Memorial Day blogs:

• Memorial Day - Peace Education in the Montessori Classroom
• Montessori Curriculum Ideas for Memorial Day

Buddha Day / Wesak in the Montessori Classroom

Every year I share with my Montessori students the book, A Faith Like Mine, by Laura Buller. They truly enjoy the book and it leads to many wonderful discussions. The students like to compare the different religions and often select a religion or holiday to research. After completing their research, they share what they learned with their classmates.

Wesak is the most important day in the Buddhist calendar and is celebrated in May. Also known as Vesak or Buddha Day, Wesak celebrates the birthday, enlightenment and death of Buddha. It is held the day of the first full moon in May (around May 20 this year). On this day, Buddhists celebrate Buddha’s teachings and remember his insights about death, karma, rebirth, and suffering. Wesak is a celebration of joy and color. Buddhists clean and decorate their homes and begin to celebrate before dawn. Water is poured over Buddha statues and offerings are made to Buddhist monks and temples. Temples offer vegetarian food, lectures and candlelit processions.

Buddhists of various countries have different ways of celebrating. For instance, dancing dragons are incorporated into Chinese celebrations, and lanterns made from wood and paper are used in Indonesia. In some countries, caged birds are released and in other countries origami cranes are floated down rivers. These customs symbolize releasing one’s troubles and wishing wellness and happiness for all beings.

Activities for Incorporating Wesak in the Montessori Classroom

• Provide a simple story of the life of Buddha that teaches some of the basic tenets of Buddhism, and explore the parts of the world where Buddhism has a rich history.
• Making lanterns integrates art, geometry and cultural parts of the Montessori curriculum: www.buddhamind.info/leftside/actives/craft.htm. Folding origami cranes would also be appropriate.
• Students can create a global calendar that includes important dates from a variety of cultures. For example, Japanese Buddhists acknowledge the birth of Buddha on April 8th, Buddha’s enlightenment on December 8th and his death on February 15th. Other Buddhists use the lunar calendar to determine their observances.
• Older Montessori students might enjoy a comparative look at the lives of Buddha and Jesus Christ, or explore the life and teachings of today’s Dalai Lama.
• Buddhists give gifts during Wesak. They often give to the needy and will organize events such as blood drives. In this spirit, students could organize a food and clothing drive or perform a service in the community.

• Invite a Buddhist from the community to visit your Montessori classroom to share stories, photographs and artifacts. Alternatively, organize a class visit to a local Buddhist temple to explore and experience more about Buddhism.
• Listen to a CD of Buddhist chanting and explore the meaning and significance behind it.
• Explore symbols or art of Buddhism, such as prayer wheels, the wheel of life, or healing mandala.

Books About Wesak, Buddhism and World Religions

• Buddha Day, by Jill Foran
• Wesak, by Anita Ganeri
• A Faith Like Mine, by Laura Buller
• A Life Like Mine, by DK Publishing
• My Buddhist Year, by Cath Senker
• The Usborne Book of World Religions, by Susan Meredith, Cheryl Evans, N. J. Hewetson, and Jeremy Gower
• The Story of Religion, by Betsy Maestro, Giulio Maestro, and Erika Weihs
• Buddhism, by Mel Thompson
• How I Celebrate, by Pam Robson
• Prince Siddhartha: The Story of Buddha, by Jonathan Landaw
• Children Just Like Me: Celebrations! by Anabel Kindersley and Barnabas Kindersley
• The Buddha: Young Seeker, by Paul Mantell

Resources

• BBC - Schools - Buddhism
• Dalai Lama

Play and Work in Montessori Education

Written by NAMC blog contest finalist, Dr. David Elkind, PhD

We are pleased to share this guest submission, the first of three finalists in the NAMC blog contest. We thank Dr. Elkind for his participation, and hope you enjoy this thoughtful article on early childhood education.

“Play is the Child’s Work” is perhaps Maria Montessori’s best-known aphorism. Unfortunately, this phrase is often misinterpreted to suggest that work and play are identical and that children should be working, not playing. But that is really not what Dr. Montessori had in mind. Montessori wrote, for example, that children might well use their imagination to think about a distant country like America, rather than a fairy tale land. In so doing she recognized that imagination or play was not the same as work. Montessori also appreciated that learning is most effective when play and work are united in a single activity. To appreciate this insight, we need to be clear about the difference between play and work.

In the broadest sense, play is always a transformation of reality in the service of the self. Young infants, for example, transform every object they can grasp into an object to be sucked. Older children transform a stick and a piece of cloth into a doll or a piece of wood into a boat that floats on a puddle. When playing a board game like checkers, chess or monopoly, the pieces of each game are transformed and given an importance they would never attain outside of the game. It is important to distinguish transformations of reality from creativity. Creativity always involves a transformation of reality, but not all transformations of reality are creative. In board games and sports, for example, the players adopt pre-established, conventional transformations. Creativity always involves original transformations.

In contrast to play, work is always a transformation of the self in the service of reality. When a child learns to use a spoon to feed himself or herself, this is an adaptation to the demands of society. Learning to wash and dress oneself are other examples of work. Social skills such as listening to, and following instructions, are other ways in which the child transforms the self in the service of adapting to society. Acquiring the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic are social adaptations. In the same way, moral behaviors such as telling the truth and not taking things which don’t belong to you are other examples of work, of transforming ourselves to meet the demands of the larger society.

Although we tend to think of work and play as in opposition to one another, they are most effective when they are brought together. Therein lies the genius of the Montessori materials. Form boards*, for example, bring together both play and work. The child must mentally transform the form board, and the pieces to be placed within it, into a problem to be solved, the play component. Positioning the pieces into their proper places is the adaptation to reality, the work component. By bringing together learning tasks which unite work and play Montessori was able to mobilize the child’s personal motivation for the purpose of social learning. As Montessori’s curriculum materials make clear, a less misleading aphorism might be, “Play is the motivation for the child’s work.”

* Form Boards are shape matching activies.

David Elkind PhD is the chief scientific advisor for Just Ask Baby, an online video membership service, which gives parents a unique baby’s eye view on how to effectively nurture their infant’s full developmental potential. For more information visit http://www.justaskbaby.com/

• David Elkind Bio
• Location: East Sandwich, Massachusetts

The Thought-Filled Montessori Classroom

It is true that we cannot make a genius. We can only give to teach child the chance to fulfill his potential possibilities. (Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, 1995)

Now, more than ever, citizens of the 21st century need to be not only skilled at what they do, but they need to be informed and capable of great thought. Like the great thinkers of the Enlightenment, they need to creatively embrace the quest for truth. They must be capable of great love and compassion for the cosmic interdependence of life on Earth. Gone are the days of rote learning and memorization. Instead, children must be given real life scenarios in which to apply their learning in new situations.

As Montessori teachers, we know the importance of real, applied learning. We know the value of teaching children to think for themselves, not relying on adults for all the answers. We have seen the art of collaboration at work in our multi-age classrooms. We know firsthand that the child who thinks for him/herself is not afraid to take risks and try new things to solve complex problems. Art Costa (Professor Emeritus, California State University, Sacramento) calls this a “Thought Filled Curriculum”.

5 Themes of a Thought-Filled Curriculum

• Learning to Think – This is a form of metacognition*, or “thinking about thinking”. Knowing the processes involved in critical thinking helps develop strategies that can be used throughout life.
• Thinking to Learn – Content of curriculum is learned for the sheer joy of learning, not as a means to an end. It is then shared constructively with others to build shared knowledge.

• Thinking together – A wider perspective is shared when learning is shared with others. Emphasis is placed on the good of the society rather than the good of the individual.
• Thinking About Our Own Thinking – Self-reflection is part of metacognition. Keeping an internal mental dialog about one’s own thoughts helps with difficult decision making at crucial times.
• Thinking Big – As teachers, we should reflect on our own lessons. Are we teaching tiny microcosms of a curriculum or are we guiding our students to tie it all together, striving towards the bigger picture?

Montessori teachers strive to bring meaningful experiences into the classroom through experiential and integrated learning. We gently guide our students along their journey to be responsible citizens of the world. The path that they must follow is one that is thought-filled and engaging.

(References: Costa, Art. Five Thoughts About a Thought-Filled Curriculum. American Montessori Society. 2006.)

* A definition for metacognition can be found at http://www.learner.org/workshops/readingk2/front/keyterms2.html

NAMC curriculum manuals are designed around the cosmic approach to experiential and integrated learning in education.

Mother’s Day in the Montessori Classroom

I have found that my Montessori students, no matter what age, are always eager to show their mothers how much they are loved. Recognizing Mother’s Day in your Montessori classroom is the perfect opportunity to incorporate history, art and character development. It’s also an opportunity to build relationships with parents by inviting mothers to a special event in the classroom.

Mother’s Day, a day to celebrate and honor mothers, is observed on the second Sunday in May in North America. Many other countries also celebrate Mother’s Day at other times of the year. Ancient Greeks honored Rhea, the mother of many gods, at a spring festival. Starting in the 1600s, Christians in the United Kingdom honored Mary, the mother of Jesus, on the fourth Sunday of Lent. This day, called Mothering Sunday, was also a time to attend Mass at one’s regional “Mother Church.”

Families celebrate Mother’s Day by allowing their mother to relax while the rest of the family makes dinner and takes care of other household tasks. Mothers are often surprised with breakfast in bed and handmade cards and gifts from their children. Grandmothers are also honored by their children and grandchildren on Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day Activities for the Montessori Classroom

• Showcase your students’ work. Invite all of your students’ mothers to a tea in their honor. As a Practical Life activity, students can create the invitations and prepare the tea and appropriate treats. Students could give their mothers a special art project and recite poems they have written. Want something a little different? Your students could have a spring festival in the style of the Ancient Greeks.
• The classic paper tissue flower can be an exercise in following directions, fine motor skills, colors and parts of the flower. These flowers can be used as decoration at the Mother’s Day Tea and/or made as gifts. Simple instructions can be found at Kaboose . Older students can explore origami flowers.
• Students can create a timeline of Mother’s Day and the different ways it has been celebrated throughout history. Students could also include information about who “started” Mother’s Day. More than one person seems to be credited with the honor.
• Older students can research the relationship between Mother’s Day, Mother’s groups, anti-war observations and community service.

Mother’s Day Books

• A Chair for My Mother, by Vera B. Williams
• Mother's Mother's Day, by Lorna Balian
• A Ride on Mother's Back: A Day of Baby Carrying Around the World, by Emery Bernhard and Durga Bernhard
• Mother's Day, by Ann Heinrichs and R. W. Alley
• Mother Poems, by Hope Anita Smith

Sources

• NAMC's Lower Elementary (6-9) Cultural Geography album
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother)

View our previous Mother's Day blogs:

• Celebrating Mother's Day in the Montessori Classroom
• Montessori Curriculum Ideas for Mother's Day