2/3/14 — Flip Flop Over the Top

As a general Montessori principle, we teachers in the toddler room encourage the children to accomplish their tasks independently.  For example, most of them can clear their own mealtime dishes from the table, retrieve a clean diaper from their cubby, and put away their sheet and blanket after nap time.  Several of them can also put their jacket on without much help from the teachers.  We call it “Flip Flop Over the Top!”  It is a fun technique to teach them and you can see an immediate sense of pride on their face when their little hands pop through their sleeves.  See Amelia demonstrate below.  The younger toddlers of the bunch will need some assistance but it does not take long for them to catch on and do it without any help.  I encourage you to work on this at home and let us know what you think!  The most important step to remember is to place the jacket on the floor and have them walk around so that their feet are closest to the hood.

We had a short week last week because of the weather.  I hope you all had a chance to play in the snow with your little ones.  Our friends, Poppy, Amelia, and Oliver, spent time in Children’s House 1, preparing for their full transition to Ms. Soma’s class which will happen on Monday.  We will miss them so much in the toddler room and we are proud of how much they have learned.

As you know from an earlier email, we will be learning about fruit this week!  We are so excited to have the toddlers cut and taste bananas, apples, pears, and strawberries.  We will let you know on the daily sheets what activity we do each day so you can talk to your little ones about it after school.