Grace and Courtesy In The Toddler Environment

It is interesting to see how little by little,these[children] become aware of forming a community which behaves as such…Once they have reached this level, the children no longer act thoughtlessly, but put the group first and try to succeed for its benefit.

-Dr. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, pg. 232 

 

Grace and Courtesy In The Toddler Environment 

When we practice Grace and Courtesy in a toddler environment, we demonstrate these common courtesies through role modeling. We role model with the children when we are eating together ( using "please and thank you"), passing one another ("excuse me"), how to express ourselves using our words, and identifying how we feel in the moment.  

Our friends have been hard at work practicing how to walk in the classroom and hallway, how to walk in a line, how to wait at the door until their friend is finished washing their hands, how to use a quiet voice in the school, and how to wait for a material that is REALLY interesting. Being a toddler is hard work, and our friends are working very hard! 

You may hear a lot of talk around feelings, as we have just started new language work: learning about and identifying the feelings: sad, mad, surprised, and happy. They have been doing an wonderful job expressing themselves, telling us how they feel and why! We are so proud of our friends! 

What's New in Mulberry? 

This week in Mulberry, we introduced scooping and tong work. Both materials are in the Practical Life area of the classroom. Scooping work aids in the development of hand eye coordination, transferring, hand control, and independence. The tong work also aids in the development of hand eye coordination, transferring, and builds hand strength. Our friends were eager to work with these new materials and loved repeating the activity over and over! 

This week we also enjoyed the new climber and slide in the play space! Our friends loved climbing over and over again and sliding down the little slide!

 

Happy Birthday! 

This month we celebrated the birthdays of Anika and Emrys! We had a special circle time and sang happy birthday for our friends on their special day. Happy Happy Birthday! 

We look forward to seeing you Monday at your parent teacher conferences! Have a wonderful weekend! 
Fondly, 

Ms Danielle and Ms Shawnnee