“The child should love everything that he learns, for his mental and emotional growths are linked. Whatever is presented to him must be made beautiful and clear, striking his imagination. Once this love has been kindled, all problems confronting the educationalist will disappear. ”
-Maria Montessori
A Moment of Peace
How is your peace curriculum looking lately? If you are anything like us, finding time to meditate and find daily peace can often be forgotten in the rush of the day!
Now is a great time to establish meditation and peaceful practices in your classroom. The end of the year typically brings on changes in schedules and external stresses that can affect the feeling of your classroom. A simple way to teach children the basics of mediation is through a daily practice during circle time. Invite children to find a comfortable way to sit and ask them to close their eyes. At first, the goal should be just to have everyone in the room be quiet at once, which as we know from the silent game, is no simple task!
Next, encourage your children to be still and enjoy the silence of the moment. Remind them that they have the ability to do this whenever they would like, especially if they are feeling overwhelmed or uneasy. Finding peace in ones body is not easy to do, but with daily practice, having a moment of peace can be a truly powerful thing for a child to be capable of.
Have a few children that need help with the wiggles? This mini maze mat set is a perfect way to keep little hands busy while training the body to feel comfortable while being still and peaceful.
This exercise can expand into other meditative practices if the group is so inclined and can be tied to other social, emotional, and peace work.
Emotional and Social Intelligence
Teaching children emotional and social intelligence is a large part of the job for Montessori teachers. At this stage in development, children are discovering a range of emotions within them without the ability to perfectly regulate towards every situation. It is our job to help them feel comfortable with the range of emotions that may come to them throughout the day.
One way to teach emotional intelligence is through puzzles, games and cards that help children begin to identify how differently the same emotion can look. Puzzles about emotions can show a range of the same emotion while being an easy way for multiple children to work together.
Emotion matching games are a fun addition to the classroom as well. Through this game children have to learn which two emotions are connected through their understanding of each emotion. This can be a great game to use as a guided lesson where the teacher helps the child understand why some pieces may match up while others do not.
Control of Movement
Pairing control of movement is key for success with meditation. Helping little ones learn how to step with grace, find their balance and feel in control of their bodies is an important area of development for this stage.
Here are our top 3 lessons for control of movement at the moment:
- Walking the Line. A classic for a reason. Very little beats the strength children get in their bodies from practicing walking the line.
- Lessons about the body. Including a curriculum about the different parts of the body helps children be more present within themselves and begin to expand their knowledge on their bodily awareness. We love these boy and girl body puzzles.
- Floor Puzzles. Perfect for rainy days when free time is inside to times when a child needs large movements to regulate. Floor puzzles are our go to for giving children a way to move in a focused way. Check out these big puzzles about the Body and the Farm.
Check out this FREE meditation shapes for gems worksheet.
