Sam’s Montessori Children’s House FDC

Respectful "No's" are a necessary part of a "yes" environment.

"I cannot let you do that (insert the reason, children are worthy of the respect of "WHY") but you can do this (redirect them to other materials that will still meet the core need of their play)"

Far too many early childhood professionals are told children need a "yes" environment and believe "no" cannot be a part of that.

A respectful "no" and redirection that honors the core need of the child-chosen play is absolutely a necessary part of a YES environment.

A resourceful "no" that quickly finds a "yes" way for that child to meet their need is a must in a "yes" environment.

January brings a new start to the calendar year and with it possibilities for change….big & small. Here at Sam’s house we have friends transitioning into school environments. The connections made over their time spent here will always remain but it gives opportunity to welcome new friends into our mini community which is set up to best suit the developmental needs of 3-5 year olds.
If you are considering following a Montessori path for your 3 year old please get in touch as I have a vacancy (3 days a week) available to start in Term 1, 2025.

Gratitude is an awareness of the good things that happen in your life. Gratitude is both a fleeting emotion and a stable trait—you can be a grateful person or experience a moment. Gratitude involves a warm sense of for somebody or something—it's a sense of goodwill that you can feel in your heart. And gratitude can be cultivated​.

For more than two decades, Robert Emmons Ph.D., author and professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, has been studying the effects of gratitude on physical health, on psychological well-being, and on our relationships with others. Dr. Emmons and his team studied thousands of people, from ages eight to 80, and found that people who practice gratitude consistently report a host of benefits:

💛 Physically
•Stronger immune systems
•Less bothered by aches and pains
•Lower blood pressure
•Exercise more and take better care of their health
•Sleep longer and feel more refreshed upon waking

💛 Psychologically
•Higher levels of positive emotions
•More alert, alive, and awake
•More joy and pleasure
▪︎More optimism and happiness

💛 Socially
•More helpful, generous, and compassionate
•More forgiving
•More outgoing
•Feel less lonely and isolated

So what's really behind the research results—why might gratitude have these transformative effects on people's lives?

The social benefits are especially significant here because, after all, gratitude is a social emotion. Gratitude is a relationship-strengthening emotion because it requires us to see how we've been supported and affirmed by other people.

Indeed, this cuts to the very heart of the definition of gratitude, which has two components. First, it's an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we've received. This doesn't mean that life is perfect; it doesn't ignore complaints, burdens, and hassles. But when we look at life as a whole, gratitude encourages us to identify some amount of goodness in our life.

The second part of gratitude is figuring out where that goodness comes from. We recognize the sources of this goodness as being outside of ourselves. It didn't stem from anything we necessarily did ourselves in which we might take pride. We can appreciate positive traits in ourselves, but true gratitude involves a humble dependence on others: We acknowledge that other people— or even higher powers, if you're of a spiritual mindset— gave us many gifts, big and small, to help us achieve goodness in our lives. 💛

References:
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/.../why_gratitude_is_good
https://chopra.com/.../the-neuroscience-behind-gratitude...
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/.../can_giving_thanks...

✨ Find Neurochild on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/neurochild/

Spontaneous exploration by the children….. “it’s an aeroplane.”

A collaborative experience combining the Pink Tower, Brown Stair, Red Rods, wooden prisms & peg people.

Knowledge gained by the children through their previous experiences;
- observations of things in the sky whilst we’ve been picnicking or working outside
- air transport classified cards used to enrich vocabulary
- conversations about personal travels
- reading a reference book about planes
all have contributed as inspiration for creating their aeroplane.

What wasn’t caught on camera was the failed attempts at balancing the “wings”, peg people and wooden prisms creating opportunities to
- feel frustration and self regulate through it
- practice perseverance & problem solving
- experience sensorially balance & gravity

To be clear, this does not mean a 5-year-old child can do everything an older child or adult can -- their brains are absolutely not ready for that. What it means is that most of the core structure is in place and they're already forming the neural connections that answer some of these basic questions about their relationships to themselves and the world around them. Their future experiences will either reinforce or change what's been instilled as their core beliefs, but reinforcing is much easier for the brain to manage than creating new beliefs. ❤️

Neuroscience tells us that there are elements of self-control, empathy, and creativity that even very young children can learn. The brain is always developing; connections between neurons are always being refined. When we practice these skills, we build connections for them in our kids, regardless of their ages. This simply requires a refocusing of the parental lens, starting with an agreement these skills are important. In 1890, William James observed that “my experience is what I agree to attend to.” This is true for our kids as well: they will attend to the things that we as parents require them to experience and, eventually, to the things that they habitually notice.

Focused attention is rare and unbelievably important, since what parents pay attention to are the things that families end up valuing the most, whether intentionally or not. If parents focus on empathy, creativity, and self-control in an environment that allows for autonomy in personal decision making, then we will raise creative thinkers who get things done in a way that benefits others, as well as themselves. In a kid, these skills come together in the form of self-regulation and ownership. If life is presented as a problem that you figure out, then you accept the conclusions you come to, and you accept responsibility for not just your thoughts and actions, but also your own learning.

Byproducts of developing these skills are increases in grit, critical thinking, social responsibility, and personal accountability—all those missing ingredients that we’re trying to instill in our kids so they are not weak reeds in a windy world. We’re not here to raise bystanders. Instead, let’s raise a generation of people predisposed towards kindness and proficient at being uniquely human. 🧡

Brought to you by one of Neurochild’s Brain Trust, Dr. Erin Clabough at https://linktr.ee/ErinClabough. Dr Erin Clabough is a scientist, author, and mother of four. She is a professor at the University of Virginia, where she researches basic brain development and teaches neuroscience. Erin is also the author of the book Second Nature: How Parents Can Use Neuroscience to Help Kids Develop Empathy, Creativity, and Self-Control. Learn more about teaching your children empathy by reading Dr. Clabough’s article here: https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/five-ways-to-teach-your-kids-empathy/

✨ You can access Dr. Clabough’s course on fostering compassion along with our other courses here: https://academy.neuroecosystem.com/

Practice makes better…..
Our mini Montessori community gets plenty of opportunity to practice respectful interactions and navigate social situations.
This can be hard work and takes some effort and guidance to communicate frustrations, anger or annoyance and then regulate through these emotions.
Being afforded the time is an important part of this process whilst the children feel these body sensations and when ready, are scaffolded through problem solving.
Sharing a space takes respecting each other’s concentration by actively controlling body movements to limit disturbing others. We acknowledge this can be tricky when you want a friend to do what you want to!
Returning things to the shelf in the way in which you found it so it’s ready to be used by someone else, even if you no longer have a desire for it, takes will.
Conversations about different opinions begin laying the foundations for respectful debates.
These are the things children are also “learning” here at Sam’s house but aren’t captured by a photo!

WORDS ARE MADE UP OF SOUNDS
The composition of words caused some real surprises. Children showed a great interest in the spoken language which they already possessed and sought to analyse it. They were seen walking by themselves and murmuring something or other. One kept saying: “To make zaira, you must have z-a-i-r-a,” and he kept pronouncing the sounds that made it up. He seemed to be making a kind of discovery: The words we pronounce are made up of sounds. This type of activity can be aroused in all children at about the age of four…
The letters corresponding to the various sounds of the alphabet are clearly seen in the box in which they are kept. The vowels are distinguished from the consonants by their different colour, and each letter has its own compartment. The exercise is so fascinating that children begin to compose words long before they know all the letters of the alphabet…
Older children will not perhaps have the same keen interests in analysing words or the same delight in seeing them translated into letters placed in a row.
This can only be explained by the fact that a child of four is still in a formative period of language. He is living in a sensitive period of his own psychic development. All the marvellous phenomena that we witness in this area will only be understood if we admit that such a child is passing through a creative period of intense vital activity and is building up the language he must use as a man. Page 233-235 from the book The Discovery of the Child formerly known as The Montessori Method. https://montessori-pierson.com/vol-2-the-discovery-of-the-child.html ; https://montessori-pierson.com/el-descubrimiento-del-ni-o.html ; https://montessori-pierson.com/de-methode-de-ontdekking-van-het-kind.html

All children come with their own magic. They all have their own strengths and will face their own challenges. They will do this in their own time, when they feel ready.

Of course, eventually we all have to be responsible for asking for what we need and going after that, but there’s no hurry to get there. The skills that will support this need to be built and nurtured to fullness. This can only happen in an environment that supports our children in feeling safe, noticed, free to experiment and free to fail, which will be where some of there greatest learnings will come from.

Some children will need more time than others. Not because they are not capable - they will be so capable - but because they will be sensitive to the risks, they will place high value on connection and rapport, they will be tuned in to the reactions of others, and because, above all else, they will care. They will care about doing what feels right for them, about feeling safe enough to be brave enough, about what important others think, and how the world sees them. They will care about being the best they can be, but sometimes they will need time to discover how to do that.

These are all skills and qualities that will hold them strong one day, and they will be the reasons they will be adored by the people who have a precious place beside them, well-liked and sought after by others, have important things to say, wonderful ways of seeing the world and kind, generous, compassionate ways of relating to its people.

For now it’s important to recognise, accept and celebrate who they are, but let’s not expect them to be different. Because when our children learn and grow in classrooms that support who they are and build their feelings of safety, they will slowly, and in their own time, reveal what they are capable of. And it will be stunning.

Practicing Practical life skills….grating, juicing, spreading, sweeping, washing & drying….building concentration, refining co-ordination of movements, establishing good work habits and working towards physical independence.