Before we get into what's been going on regarding Sukkot, we want to get straight into how the children have transitioned so beautifully into the routine of the day. In a Montessori style classroom, the teachers do not generally set out activities on the table. A child chooses his own, works with it, and places it back where it belongs when he is finished. When an activity is back on a shelf, that's when another child knows it is available. This teaches responsibility, independence and so much more. 

This activity took on new significance after Rosh Hashanah. It joined the math shelf and the children have been using it all week.

The children have been gravitating more and more towards the language shelf. We are careful to present activities for pre-writing skills. At the same time though, it is appropriate for the children to begin recognizing letters through the letters in their names. This activity below has become a favorite for a few of the children.

In other great news, many of the children have shown great interest in cutting! Below you will see how in the beginning of the week, two of the children found paper and scissors on the art shelf and sat for ten minutes just cutting.

Picking up on this interest, we created two cutting activities for the art shelf, and they have been a huge hit!

Below, Noa shows the Morah how she holds her scissors safely.

In the activity below, Vivian matches letters to objects that begin with that letter.

This photo is an example of three children choosing three different activities and setting themselves up to work at the table.

Counting! Counting is definitely a thing in our classroom!

"I did it!!!!"

And back to Sukkot...

Three new Sukkot work activities were introduced this week...

Shadow matching...

Lulav shaking...

And Sukkah building!

Next week, we will be introducing glue and the children will have an opportunity to use the glue to create their own Sukkah out of popsicle sticks and other materials.

Wishing everyone a Shabbat Shalom and an easy Yom Kippur!