Steady as a clock, busy as a bee, and cheerful as a
cricket. Martha Washington
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Teachers, students and parents all hope for a positive and
productive start when it is time to head back to school; and there is no
question that getting off on the right foot can help the flow of the whole
year. Whether it is through classroom and community preparations, early
academic reviews, or fun and easy projects to build enthusiasm, the activities
of first few weeks are very important.
We hope that the following ideas from the “three R’s” to
practical life exercises will give you some inspiration.
Classroom environment sets the tone.
Keep things cool and calm with Georgette from Cantemos’ Classroom
Relaxation Exercise. http://www.amonco.org/creative01/montessori_fall1.pdf
Practice social skills, build community, and appreciate
individual differences with Dale from North American Montessori Center’s Getting
to Know Each Other and The
Friendship Tree exercises. http://www.amonco.org/creative3/montessori_fall3.pdf
You will find other interesting and inspiring ideas in this
article, Creating a Warm and Inclusive Classroom Environment: Planning for
All Children to Feel Welcome by Jessica L.
Bucholz of University of West Georgia and Julie L. Sheffler of Florida Atlantic
University. http://www.cehs.wright.edu/~prenick/Spring_Summer09_Edition/htm/bucholz.htm
For another interesting perspective on classroom environment
read this piece by Julie McLaughlin, describing her goals and lessons in
classroom management in her first year as a student teacher. http://sitemaker.umich.edu/mclaughlin_portfolio/creating_a_positive_classroom_environment
Tune up on basic academics.
For spelling and vocabulary drills, check out
Stillsonworks.com’s Middle School Word Puzzles http://www.amonco.org/creative/montessori_fall4.pdf
and http://www.amonco.org/creative6/montessori_fall6.pdf
Dr. Borenson and Associates offer Fall Fun with Hands-On
Equations. http://www.amonco.org/creative3/montessori_fall3.pdf
and http://www.amonco.org/creative6/montessori_fall6.pdf
For a more in-depth math activity, look over Dianne Knesek’s
Fraction Circle Labels &
You can put a whole range of subjects into play with the Apples
and Oranges Unit study. http://www.amonco.org/montessoriapplesandoranges.html
You will find lots of good introductory exercises and projects perfect for the
first weeks of school
Reintroduce the arts and sciences.
Get the creative juices flowing with a fun craft activity to
go along with the story The Mitten by
Jan Brett, from Elaine at Kimbo. http://www.amonco.org/creative5/montessori_fall5.pdf
Begin your explorations of hue, tone, shade, color mixing
and more with Rae from The Creative Process’ color wheel lesson. http://www.amonco.org/creative01/montessori_fall1.pdf
Explore color and shape with an easy seasonal art project
that uses simple materials and minimal “traditional” artistic talent. Start
your students off with Sara L. Ambarian’s Autumn Colors Tissue Paper Art
Project. http://www.amonco.org/creative5/montessori_fall5.pdf
The finished pieces make great classroom decorations, too.
Switching to science, get your students ready for discovery
by warming up with scientific equipment and concepts.
Don and Diana from Nature’s Workshop Plus! share microscope
pointers in Delighting in Little Things—Children and Microscopes. http://www.amonco.org/creative/montessori_fall4.pdf
The Human Cardiovascular System Unit Study includes anatomy, vocabulary, diagrams, function,
nutrition, exercise and more. http://www.amonco.org/creative08/montessori_fall8.pdf
Start with some easy kitchen projects.
The late Kathy O’Reilly’s Applesauce Parfait from Cooking with Children Can Be Easy is a great starter recipe to introduce young
students to the basics of food preparation. http://www.amonco.org/creative/montessori_fall2.pdf
For more introductory exercises, check out the easy Filipino
dessert recipes from Cherry Mae Miro. http://www.amonco.org/creative08/montessori_fall8.pdf
Millie from Insta-Learn shares a super-simple alternative to
boxed macaroni and cheese, which might be a good way to get kids thinking about
the benefits of “scratch” cooking. It only takes two ingredients and some
water. You can’t get simpler than that. http://www.amonco.org/creative08/montessori_fall8.pdf
For students old enough for baking and ready to tackle a
recipe with a few more steps, try Music for Little Folks’ Hot Fudge Pudding
Cake. http://www.amonco.org/creative/montessori_fall4.pdf
This interesting article from Disney’s Family Fun gives a
good overview of the levels of skill and competence the average child goes
through as they’re getting comfortable and learning to be safe in the kitchen.
(Use the menu above the article to access each section.) http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/teaching-kids-to-cook-714658
Limiting the number of ingredients in the recipes you make
is one way of keeping things simple in the kitchen for novice cooks. Here
are a variety of recipes with five ingredients or less. http://www.food.com/recipes/5-ingredients-or-less/quickandeasy
Have a short-attention-span cook in your class or family?
Look through these 15-minute recipes. (Click the “view recipes” tab to see the
whole collection.) http://allrecipes.com/recipes/everyday-cooking/quick-and-easy/15-minute-meals/Main.aspx
Another way to simplify an introduction to cooking is by
removing the “cooking” part, and focusing on no-cook recipes. A lot of the
recipes linked below are quite “grown-up”, and there IS knife work involved in
many of them. However, they use fresh foods, are often very bright and
attractive, and they illustrate the wide variety of types of food you can make
without using a stove or oven. http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2010/07/68-cheap-healthy-no-cook-recipes.html
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Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the
chance to work hard at work worth doing. Theodore Roosevelt
