Sowing & Growing

Summer Camp is off with a bang at The Montessori Academy.  Children have been learning a bit about gardening and what is involved.  We've been harvesting the Sugar Snap Peas planted by the early childhood classes in late March--they been a great treat to eat right off the vine!  We've also had plenty of time to weed the Vegetable Garden as well as the Peace Garden.

A favorite quote from camp this session is from a five year old boy after I had explained why we have a landscaping liner under the landscaping rocks in the circle drive and the importance of it, "Then we wouldn't have weeds to pull and we couldn't weed".  While my adult brain sees the logic of using landscaping liner, the child views this as his important work.

Today, some of us had the opportunity to make Carrot Muffins.  They smelled delicious as they were baking and everyone gobbled them up before going home.

grating carrots

mixing the ingredients together

adding the dry ingredients

the nutmeg and cinnamon make this smell great!

The children have also had a chance to plant their own beans and we're monitoring the sprouts we get.  Materials needed to sprout beans: 1 ziploc bag, 1 - 2 beans, 1 wet paper towel, and sunlight.  The bags are taped to a window that gets ample morning sun.  We planted beans last Friday and already today could see them sprouting and growing roots--very exciting!

Check back for more updates from Summer Sunshine Camp at TMA!

Summer Reading

 

“Summer reading” is a phrase that calls to mind relaxing with a book on a porch, at the beach, in a tent or at some lovely vacation spot.  We tend to spend more time outdoors and our books go with us.  We want the same to be true for our children and grandchildren, hoping that they’ll have fond memories of reading one of their childhood favorites by flashlight under the stars (or under the covers).  With some of our children, we can’t imagine them without books in their backpacks or on their bedside tables.  With other children, helping them make reading a habit definitely requires more coaxing.  Sometimes discovering just the right series for those children can launch them into a reading habit.  For both the natural readers in your life and for the ones who need some inspiration, here are some series for younger readers to consider for those special summer reading times.

 

Early Chapter Book Series for Younger Readers:

Anna Hibiscus: Anna Hibiscus lives in Africa, "Amazing Africa." A warm-hearted multicultural story. Advanced.

Bed & Biscuit: Grandpa Bender, a veterinarian, boards animals at the Bed & Biscuit. Advanced.

Breyer Stablemates: Young girls who love horses will love these stories and learn facts about horses, too.

Buddy Files: Buddy, a dog, devotes himself to taking care of his boy, Connor, and to solving mysteries.

Cam Jansen: Cam uses her photographic memory to solve mysteries.

Dinosaur Cove: Two boys travel back in time to the days of dinosaurs. Advanced.

Down Girl and Sit: Two busy dogs who think they are named "Down Girl" and "Sit" work hard to train their masters.

Flat Stanley: Flat Stanley has returned.  See both his original adventures and his new "Worldwide Adventures."

Fluffy the Classroom Guinea Pig: Fluffy relates his own hilarious version of day-to-day classroom life. Easy.

Fly Guy: As a pet fly, Fly Guy has adventures with his boy, just like Lassie used to do (sort of). Easy.

Henry and Mudge: Young Henry and his very large dog Mudge have fun together through all the seasons. Easy.

Magic Tree House: Long-time favorites of children who can read longer chapters; a brother and sister travel in time.

Mercy Watson: Mercy Watson is a pet pig who keeps the neighborhood crime-free and eats a lot of buttered toast.

Miami Jackson: Nine-year old Miami Jackson deals with a strict teacher, baseball camp, and other challenges.

Sugar Plum Ballerinas: Nine-year-old Alexandrea takes ballet classes and makes friends in Harlem.

Time Warp Trio: This long-running series is a favorite of boys. Magic, adventure, and history mix easily. Advanced.

Young Cam Jansen: Stories of Cam's earlier years, matched with easier reading levels.

  

Cooking with Montessori

 

Food and its preparation play an intrinsic part in a Montessori education.  In Early Childhood classes the children learn with practical life materials how to pour, measure, cut, and chop.  They learn grace and courtesy by serving and accepting food items.  Sometimes Lower Elementary children continue the use of these skills by preparing their snacks as a group exercise in the school’s kitchen.  As part of their cultural studies, the children taste, as well as make, foods from many foreign cultures.  It is at this time that many children, both girls and boys, show a keen curiosity about food and cooking.  The incorporation of different foods into the curriculum continues through Upper Elementary and Junior High.  Their culinary skills and tastes expand as knowledge of their surrounding world develops.  This past year the Junior High students took part in TMA’s International Festival by creating a diverse sampling of ethnic dishes.

TMA’s Library contains many books on food and its preparation at different learning levels.  Beginning cooks might start with The Children’s Step-By-Step Cookbook.  The Library has children’s cookbooks by Emeril Lagasse and well known food editors from Better Homes and Gardens, Cooking Light, Williams and Sonoma, and Disney.  More experienced cooks might like to try Kid Favorites Made Healthy, The Magic Kitchen Cookbook or The International Cookbook for Kids.  Perhaps your child would like to have a tea party or a sleepover.  The Library can help with copies of Come to Tea, Let’s Have a Tea Party!, The Sleepover Cookbook, and Super-Duper Cupcakes.  There is even a book on how to have a Japanese tea ceremony.  Maybe young cooks would like to check out the After School Snacks Cookbook, Silly Snacks: Family Fun in the Kitchen or the Cheerios Cookbook.

Your young cook’s interest might be sparked by history.  TMA’s Library can take students on a journey across North America with Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking, Colonial Cooking, and Food for the Settler.  Perhaps you have a fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books.  The Library has a copy of The Little House Cookbook based on the frontier foods from her stories.

For the cook who is dreaming of becoming a world traveler, he or she can get a start by creating and tasting ethnic foods.  TMA’s Library can make it possible.  The Library has three excellent series of books that cover many countries and continents of the world.  Sampling books from each of these series (“A Taste of Culture,” “Food and Festivals,” and “Food and Recipes of…”) will get their gastronomical tour started.

Cooking together is a wonderful way to expand Montessori into the home.  Within a prepared environment a child is focused on a purposeful activity.  The child gets to taste and explore the cultural history of each food.  Let’s face it: cooking and eating together is just plain fun.  The Montessori Academy Library is here to help make it happen.

                                                                                                Linda Meyer

                                                                                                Library Assistant