Hill Point Montessori

An Authentic Montessori Education

Admission: (818) 635-4009

Engaging summer activities for your preschooler

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Summer is here, and so are the many opportunities to enjoy the outside with your preschooler. This season also offers a multitude of fun and creative ways to extend learning into the outdoors by utilizing basic Montessori pre-school lessons. Two of the learning areas, in particular, practical life skills and sensorial learning, are easy to translate into engaging summer activities that both you and your preschooler can enjoy.

Practical life skills

The purpose of this Montessori learning area is to gain confidence and mastery in completing simple tasks that improve the environment they are in while working on small motor skills, creativity, problem-solving, and focus. A natural extension of this in the outdoors is creating and tending a garden. Whether you have access to a spacious yard, a community plot, or a sunny window sill, gardening is an activity that can last all summer long. Your preschooler can help you choose which plants to grow, sort seeds by size, draw a map of your plant locations, and get their hands dirty making the perfect soil mixture. Your preschooler can also be in charge of the watering schedule, either helping you to water or filling their own watering can and tending to the plants on their own. Once you have a thriving garden bearing the fruits of your labor, you can introduce another activity: preparing tasty summertime recipes. Preschoolers can arrange the toppings of a garden veggie pizza, or pick, wash, and destem berries to be served with shortcake. It can be an engaging problem-solving activity to think of the vegetables, fruits, and herbs that are ripe in your garden and then think of the favorite foods they can make with them, or you can create a whole new recipe together.

Sensorial skills

In Montessori schools, it is paramount to learn through all five senses, and there is no better place to do this than in the outdoors. Water activities are a great way to cool down and experiment with the unique sensorial qualities of water. Water tables, kiddie pools, or even a couple of buckets are natural tools for unstructured sensorial play: dunking and floating objects, practicing pouring water from one container to the another, and generally splashing around. Another simple activity you can do with your preschooler is a sensorial scavenger hunt. Your scavenger hunt list can include items such as “something that is green,” “something that is fuzzy,” “something that smells pretty,” “something that tastes sweet,” and so on. The scavenger hunt is endlessly adaptable to whatever outdoor environment you have access to, and you and your preschooler can take turns creating the scavenger hunt list. Additionally, these activities can also grow with your preschooler and become more challenging by incorporating Montessori elementary school’s five great lessons, such as elements of the timeline of life or the story of the universe.

How to decide which Montessori school is right for you

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There are thousands of Montessori schools across the globe and the Montessori method has only gained in popularity over the years since it was first practiced in the early 1900s. With so many children and their parents benefiting from a Montessori education, you may be considering if a Montessori preschool or elementary school is right for your family. It is a valuable consideration, and one that doesn’t need to be complicated or overwhelming. There a few simple steps you can take to find a Montessori school that fits your expectations and needs.

Learn about the Montessori method

One of the first and most important steps in your search is to familiarize yourself with the various aspects of the Montessori method. This method of education is guided by a specific philosophy that has multiple unique but intuitive tenets and there is a great deal of literature on the subject including Dr. Maria Montessori’s own publications. The Montessori method includes some key features such as the prepared environment of the classroom, the overarching structure of the school day, special learning tools like the Montessori bells and the pink tower, and the role of the Montessori teacher, which does differ from that of teachers in more traditional classrooms.

Observe a classroom

Now that you know what it means for a school to claim the designation “Montessori,” you can ask the schools in which you could potentially enroll your child if you may have an opportunity to observe a classroom. Feel free so spend more than a cursory five minutes while on a tour, instead really sit back and watch. This is a chance to see if the classroom is prepared according to the Montessori method, if the teacher demonstrates knowledge of the underlying Montessori philosophy through their classroom guidance, and how the students interact with each other, the classroom environment, and their teacher.

Honor what you know works for your family

The last step, and the one that can offer the most beneficial insights in your decision making, is to recognize and honor what works for your family and to check the Montessori elementary schools against that criteria. You are the expert in your child’s educational needs and will know best if the school offers the right degree of structure, if the teachers have a compatible teaching style, or if their approach to the Montessori curriculum will spark a love of learning in your child. It is important to also respect your family’s logistical requirements, such as commuting and transportation needs, compatibility of the school schedule with family schedules, and tuition costs and available scholarship options. In the end, go with your instinct, as it is the most honest, authentic guide.

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6601 Valley Circle Blvd. West Hills, CA 91307
(818) 635-4009

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