BEAUTY

BEAUTY

Natural Beauty can be found in so many places.  Some are expected and others are very unexpected.

I enjoy discovering BEAUTY in unexpected places.  The picture  above is an example of beauty found in an unexpected place.  A few weeks ago weather conditions were 'just right' to create this beautiful frost accumulation all nearly every outdoor surface.  

I took this picture of a weed with feathery frost clinging to every little detail of the dry plant.  The sun shine that morning made the frost shine for all to see.

I feel so blessed to get to capture this beauty in a photo.  I share this beauty with you this morning.  I hope it brings you a little joy at the end of 2011.

I look forward to discovering more beauty in 2012!

MONTESSORI

The Montessori classroom is a great place to find BEAUTY.  We see it each day in the form of a smile, kind gesture, or their voices raised in song.

Children appreciate beauty with a pure, honest eye.  They see beauty in their own art project.  They get excited about learning a new song.  Children see beauty when they complete a difficult work.  They appreciate the beauty of simple things. 

I feel privileged to be able to witness the excitement on the faces of young children all year long.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Let It Snow

Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snow....

We have a "snow event" forecasted here today.  Three to five inches of snow could fall with rain coming first.  That is a recipe for dangerous roads.  I plan to stay close to home today.  Since it is Saturday, I have the choice to NOT go anywhere.


It is fortunate when we get this kind of weather on the weekend.  There are less people on the road, therefore less accidents.  


What do you do when you need to stay home because of bad weather?  Do you waste time being resentful, or do you 'make the best of it'?


I plan to spend the time at home to get a few things done that are easy to "put off".  I may organize a closet or two.  I will work of the quilt I started a month ago. I will try to enjoy my time at home and be glad I do not have to be out navigating the slippery streets.


MONTESSORI
How can we help children 'make the best' of  any situation?  We get lots of opportunities to help children learn to do this in many situations.  To really help children, we need to NOT rush in and solve problems.  We serve our students more when we help the children 'help themselves'.  


We daily find opportunities to do just this in the classroom:

• A pencil sharpener on the writing shelf is much better than sharpening a child's pencil each time it breaks or gets dull 
• children cleans up spills with a mop or sponge
• students in the Montessori classroom learn to problem solve from a very young age--we empower them as opposed to make them teacher dependent
• it is not unusual to hear this in our classrooms, "This is my work, please go choose your own work", from one child to another.  This is far superior to, "TEACHER, he's touching my puzzle!"  

Remember to watch for opportunities to empower children.  Look beyond the immediate issue to how  we want children to learn to live peacefully together.