February – A busy month of learning
A glimpse at our busy month of learning
Every February, our children have so much variety of learning coming their way!
Black History Month
Black History Month is a major component of our February curriculum. It allows us to transform our Montessori classroom to reflect the beauty of the culture we celebrate with all the music, art, and history many African Americans have brought to our world. As teachers, we love to share the dream from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with our children, to reinforce our peace curriculum to develop and embrace compassion, empathy, understanding and tolerance in our children. We share the story from Rosa Parks, and let our children learn about the importance of equality. Activities in our Art area include children developing their own crafts and art masterpieces to reflect their own dreams, and how their dreams will impact other people in the world. Our cultural area will reflect nomenclature jobs that allow our children to learn about famous African American musicians, artists and civil rights activists.
Valentine’s Day and Friendship Week
And then, there is Valentine’s Day and Friendship Week, which truly allows us to spread the love and become witness to how much care and love our children have for each other, and how much they enjoy sharing joy with each other. This is what we live for – to see the beauty of friendship and care and attention for one another, feeling their warmth for each other, hearing their laughter and joy, and seeing their big smiles! As friends, children care for each other, no matter how different or similar they may be, and this is so very precious!
Dental Hygiene
Learning about Dental Hygiene is another topic we cover as part of our February curriculum. Our children love to share their experiences at the dentist, whether it is getting a filling for a cavity, having an X-ray taken, getting their teeth cleaned. These conversations are a great opportunity to also reinforce healthy habits, not just about brushing their teeth and flossing them, but also about healthy eating, so that everyone can keep their body and teeth happy and healthy.
Presidents’ Day
We learn about our presidents, especially around the Presidents’ Day holiday. Learning what our presidents are responsible for, how long they can serve, who the current president is and who some of the past presidents have been, how this holiday came to be, and what we do to celebrate this holiday.
Montessori Education Week/Montessori Education Night
Towards the end of the month, we celebrate Dr. Maria Montessori with Montessori Education Week, and a special event, our Montessori Education Night. During Montessori Education Night, our families join their children in the classroom and witness their children’s pride when they introduce their family to their favorite Montessori materials. During Montessori Education Week, we introduce our children to Dr. Maria Montessori, her life, her philosophy, the distinct areas of the Montessori classroom and another very important aspect of Montessori education – grace and courtesy and peace.
I am ending this blog post with a special Montessori quote.
“Our care of the children should be governed not by the desire to ‘make them learn things’, but by the endeavor always to keep burning within them the light which is called intelligence.”
