January is a very special month in a Montessori classroom. It is the month after a Christmas break from school, visits from relatives, gifts, and generally a lot of excitement in the home and classroom. The first month of the year is a time when the majority of children are ready to get back to the task of building themselves through concentration of works they are interested in. “As soon as children find something that interests them they lose their instability and learn to concentrate.” (Maria Montessori) I love this quote! I want the child to have the ability to concentrate and enjoy learning and it is simply through my knowledge of their interests and abilities that I can help the child in his progress of building himself.
One of my first of the year activities with the children is to simply ask each child individually, what work they would like to learn this year.To encourage a true thoughtful answer, I ask this question during the morning group time and tell them I will ask their answer to that question sometime during the day. Throughout that day I make it my goal to find what work they are each interested in and write it down. This is a quick and easy goal setting process that is done individually with each child.
Through the years I have developed my own “starting of a new year” works. Simple works such as the Months of the Year and Seasons presentation using the seasons mat. The mat consists of a circle drawn on a canvas or you may use a poster board, but I love how a canvas maybe rolled up like a work mat. For each of the seasons I have drawn a tree as it would look in every season and months of the year labels. Looking at the picture you can see I have color coordinated my months of the year labels to the season label. Winter months are in blue, Spring months in green, Summer in yellow and the Fall months are in orange. I have seen mats from many different schools. Some go clockwise and some in a counter-clockwise motion. I chose to go counter clockwise since the earth revolves around the sun in a counter-clockwise motion as viewed from the North Pole. However, I really do not think it matters. With this work, I also have a simple tracing of the months of the year black-line master for my children who enjoy tracing activities or those learning to write.
Another January favorite is our Months of the Year Nomenclature Cards. These are 5 ½ by 5 ½ , three part cards that can be laid out using a control booklet, recited, and then traced. The child may trace their favorite months or all of them and create their own Months of the Year Booklet. I have found that this is a favorite work of many children since they recite the months of the year during their daily calendar activities.
Another calendar activity that I usually use in January is “Create Your Own Calendar” work. This is a simple month template placed on a tray with a laminated master (or control card) prepared by the teacher. (8 ½ by 11) The child who is writing may write the numbers in each square to reproduce their own month of the year. The child is allowed to illustrate their month as well. This work is then left on the shelf and changed as each month passes. We do allow the child to glue the finished month page on a sheet of construction paper the color which matches the Months of the Year and Seasons Mat. The children are always so proud of this work!
Whenever possible I truly enjoy incorporating music in my group times. In January, I love singing from Shelley Murley’s Montessori Minute Melodies album The Months of the Year Song and the Days of the Week. Each song is only one minute! I purchased this collection on I-tunes and it is on my phone to play anytime. Another source for teaching the months of the year is Lakeshore Learning’s Songs for Group Time, Seasons and Months of the Year. It is a music CD and large booklet. Each month and season has its own song sung to a familiar tune.
Some other January works are simple snowman building sequence cards or build a snowman from white felt pieces. (Always a favorite with the children.)
Hope you will enjoy these January favorites:
Months of the Year and Seasons Mat
Months of the Year Nomenclature Cards
Create Your Own Calendar Work
Shelley Murley’s Montessori Minute Months of the Year
Snowman Building Nomenclature Cards
My Montessori four-year old grandson has already set the goal of learning the Thousand Chain this year. He has many times expressed his desire to be shown this work and I believe he is ready. When we get to the number 365, I will allow him to label that number as, “The number of days in a year!” I think that I am as excited as he is to do this work!
Of course, the most important thing to remember is to observe the child and find out what they are truly interested in. Then take advantage of the child’s interest and his sensitive periods by presenting works in this area. My wish for all my readers is a joyful year of learning in your Montessori environments!