Everything is coming up Sunflowers

What a way to kick start the week.  Yesterday, my family went to the valley to net our grape vines and I noticed the largest Sunflowers I have ever seen in the garden.  I asked if I may help myself to the seed heads and was given the go ahead.  What a score!  It was a moment of brilliance for sure. 

Last night I went into the school and dried the seed heads in the oven for a while at a low temperature.  Mostly I was wanting to make sure there were no creepy crawlies.  After I was certain they were bug free I set one up on a independent working station with a set of small tweezers and a bowl for collection.  I can not tell you how much fun this work is and how soothing it is to pick away at something.  This work is so popular I am kicking myself for not bring back eight seed heads.  I smell another trip to the vineyard this weekend to collect more.  The second seed head went to rest at the nature table until I noticed it was being picked at and so I put it away.  I need to make sure everyone gets to have a turn with this work.  

I simply love this work for so many reasons.  The first is that the children are getting a serious workout with their hand and tweezing which is great for the ones with a weaker pincer grip.  Secondly, we are learning about the life cycle and and the collection of seeds for the next growing cycle.  I will put some of these away to dry out and plant in our garden out front. 

I had the children empty the full seed bowl into the bowl at the art table so that we can continue to make our Sunflowers.  If I had only known I would never have bought sunflower seeds last week for this art project!

Artful Experiences

Today I was cleaning out and sorting through the work in basket and I noticed the beautiful paintings waiting to be wrapped up.  I also noticed how the paintings were a refection of the art table activity this week.  Normally,  we do not see the children painting specific things at the easel until much later in the year.  Mostly,  the children are painting with an idea and blending colors.  It is hard at this age to actually painting an object or paint what is in your mind.  So imagine my surprise when I happened upon these beautiful paintings of rainbows.  I love how very different each of these paintings are and how each child used such care with their brush and painted their version of a rainbow.  Paint is an amazing meduim for which children can be so expressive.  I say, bring on the paint!

The First Day

The day was simply lovely today!  I really hope that you are able to get that feel from these pictures I am posting this evening.  I walked around when I was aloud to and snapped quickly and quietly.  I felt special when I was asked repeatedly, "Can I work with you Ms. Michelle." 

The new children found their work with ease and seemed very content.

The returning children seemed blissed out and so happy to be back in their groove.

Today was an exceptional start to the school year.  All this makes me feel like we did a great job with orientation.  Working with the tears and calming fears and being extra tender.  The tricky ones were not tricky today and seemed to blossom with each transition and new thing.

Even puppy got cast aside because my friend was too busy with water , sponges and a garlic press.  So much work and so little time!

Some just needed to pour water and play in bubbles and reconnect with old friends at the sensory table today.

Some really enjoyed washing up after refreshment.  I love that I never have to wash these dishes anymore!

Binomial cube made it's way out and into some little hands for a long time.

and sorting rubber bands by length was super important to this little friend.  I watched and watched, so amazed by your children.  Great first day!  -m

Ten is Good, Ten is Great!

Today I am happy to share with you a lovely give away. Actually we are going to have a whole year of giveaways!! That's right you heard me correctly. I am very proud to say that Maple Tree is about to enter it's tenth year!

How do you say Thank You?

I have been thinking of this for some time and there are so many parents and children, teachers and well, just amazing people who have either given advice or lent a hand on this amazing journey.

When I started Maple Tree, ten years ago it was with six children in the basement of my house. Those were the days (sigh). Just me and six children working all morning long. I will never forget those days and I am so grateful for that beginning. I have learned a great deal about myself and my teaching style. It is fair the say that children, are the best teachers you can ever have.

So here is the Thank You....there will be ten gifts. One for each month and each year we have been in operation. I will be drawing from the comments section at the bottom of the blog at the end of every month. So if you would like a chance to win you must make a comment. The drawn will be based on all the comments during the month. More comments means more chances to win. When I announce the winner at the end of the month I will also be posting the next giveaway. So be sure to check often!

Our first giveaway is a set of colored pencil pots that you would find on our metal inset shelf. They have been generously provided by one of my suppliers Cabdev Montessori . I have pretty much exclusively bought my classroom materials from Cabdev and I have been very happy with the quality and customer service. Thank you Cabdev for our September giveaway! I have also added from my collection a set of triangular pencils by Maped. As far as I am concerned they are the bees knees for colored pencils and you can purchase them at most art supply shops. Happy September and Happy Back to School!

Done for Now

I have been away from this space for too long! Sorry about that but, I have been busy and falling in to bed each nigh exhausted. The reno is finished for now. The last part that we are waiting on are the cabinet doors for the custom cabinetry we had built. We have never had storage in the five years we have been in this space and so it was super challenging to figure out what I was keeping and what I was purging! I have to say a big heartfelt "thank you" to all the staff as they worked hard in helping to pull it all together but especially Ms. Melanie who would come in night after night to help me. The company was most appreciate and the encouragement that we were almost there. There were many nights when it felt over whelming and I questioned whether or not we were getting there. Needless to say, we are there now and I am so grateful for all the hard work by all to make
this a warm and inviting new classroom.

I felt the warmth yesterday as I was quietly working at the new table and children came and went from that space. It really is a lovely space to work in. I especially love that my desk space is right there and no matter what I am working on I am available if someone little needs me.

We have been having circle in that space the last few days as pick up has been a bit noisy and we felt disruptive to that last bit of time we have with the children in the morning. It is going to make for a much nicer music space for Ms. Susanne. I can't wait for her to see it.

I am starting to wind down now for a bit. I am tired and the last few weeks haven't been much fun for my children and so we are gearing up for a trip to the island and some much needed vacation and family time.

I am planning another post for tomorrow to announce something big so be sure to check back. You won't want to miss it for sure!

Working, Working,Working

To say I am tired is an under statement! This reno turned out to be a bigger project than expected. Isn't that always the way? I've taken advantage of our summer closure and that handy husband of mine to make a few more things work better for us.

We are entering out fifth year in our space on Cork and Oxford Street and I can't tell you how much better it feels to have these adjustments made to our space.

Today all the teachers came in to lend a hand. Some were painting and others were organizing and cleaning like mad. I am meeting new parents at the school on Sunday morning and I am full out to get it all done.

We will not be using the new classroom space until September 6th as we are waiting for cabinet doors for our custom shelving and the mahogany harvest table isn't quite ready for the new classroom. Somethings you just can't rush and we do not need that space until September 6th!

I think you will all love it, we sure do and YES I did bust out and paint an accent wall! Your not imagining it. Our new wall is painted Savannah Grass. Just decided that two days ago after I already had it painted. Oh well, what are you gonna do. We are, after all, making it lovely for your children, our new children, and lovely it is!

-m

Getting Ready

We are all getting ready in our house for my return to work. The excitement is starting to build and the count down is on. Getting ready to open the school is more than painting and cleaning for me. These past few weeks have been very full with the renovation but also filling last minute enrollment as there have been adjustments. I am filling every moment with preparation. I've been cutting endless amounts of flannel for Polishing work. We can launder it but after a few washes it really has to go in the compost. It is really hard to wash out all that bees wax polish.

So cutting, cutting, cutting I am flannel, burlap and embroidery fabric. My daughter who has been in the mix with all this work has naturally offered her help to cut things up for me!

Yikes, what to do? I didn't want to hurt her feelings so I said I had a special project that I needed her to do.

I pulled out a sock monkey kit from The Monkey Show store. I always have something in my stash and I LOVE these. You can check them out on their website at http://wp.themonkeyshow.ca . They are located on Dresden street in downtown Halifax. I can't say enough good things about them. It is great value for the money. When I bought my kit a year ago I paid $20.00 for it. The lady who owns the store also makes clothing for the monkeys by using scraps of fabric from the tailor shop at Duggers. How great is that?

I was hoping this project would give me some time to get my work done and it did for a while. I did have to supervise the sewing and help a few times but over all she did most of it. It is a great gift for an avid sewer say five years and older.

I would have posted the final product but I can't seem to pry "Kinka" from her hands. That monkey has been everywhere with us this last week and was the best twenty bucks I've spent in a long time.

The Process of Normalization

Dear New Parents,

Your journey into Montessori is about to begin and so we will be working to help you understand what that means to you and your child. Today, I was reading this latest article from Montessori Print Shop and I thought it was a great idea to share it with you. It will help you to understand why it is so important to have our classroom environment set up and organized the way we do but also give you some insight in how a child becomes normalized in their environment. Please check out the link to this great article,http://www.montessoriprintshop.com/Normalization_in_Montessori.html

Happy Reading!

-m

En-closure

Another productive day again today.

The drywall went up and the pencil cupboard went into the wall.

I must say, that I am loving the new wall and how very different the space is feeling. I am wishing we had done this Reno five years ago!

Tomorrow the plan is tape and mud and side lights. Doors are getting sanded and painted by yours truly. We also found a mahogany table top at Renovators Resource that will be built into our new large classroom table for six. Note to self, must purchase a belt sander tomorrow. I also treated myself to a very sturdy and tall red ladder to be kept at the school. Such a pain hauling one in from home to change light bulbs and clean.

Oh, and while Shawn worked on the wall today I was purging and organizing our curriculum by the month into large storage bins. All this to say that today was a very productive day. Still so much to do. Am I going to make it?!

Wall construction part 2

Ok so I feel like the luckiest girl on the planet tonight. The wall is framed and the door bell has been moved and the wall is insulated! Yippey! Tomorrow drywall, side lights and I think doors although they may get installed after painting. If all goes well I should be painting by Wednesday or Thursday. My husband is a machine and worked hard all day to get us to this point. Thank you Shawn!

It was a bit of a family affair at the end with our girl sweeping up the saw dust. Thank you montessori sweeping squares! My girl would sweep for hours.

I've posted a picture of a jam cupboard that we bought to repurpose into a pencil cupboard and it is being built into the wall inside the new classroom. The addition of chalk board paint on the door will be great for keeping notes or a list.

I didn't mention before but I will now, all the doors, cupboard and side lights we purchased at Renovators Resource www.renovators-resource.com

I feel like we hit the jackpot on finding doors right off the bat. It is a great place to find old doors and mouldings and I love that we are repurposing them. I could never afford such lovely doors brand new thats for sure.

We are still a long way off to putting the classroom together as there are two walls of custom cabinetry that have to be built yet. I am sure we will be right down to the wire on it. I am sooooo happy we have insulated and sound proofed as much as we could. I already notice a difference in the space. Off to bed now. Will be back when there is more to share. -m

The Reno Begins!

Your probably thinking that I am crazy and his won't be done in time and I won't be ready for orientation. Your in for a big surprise because to know me is to know I've been under bigger and tighter deadlines than this!

We just got our building permit (you can't get anything fast when you are dealing with the city) and when all this is finished, we must have it inspected in order to get my rezoning approved. All this for six more spaces! Is it worth it? You bet because I've hired another amazing teacher and the addition of more spaces is to give her a salary. This brings the total of teachers at Maple Tree to six plus our lovely music teacher. I am all about the quality and am not willing to compromise anything on our classroom space. So it will be stunning.

The first picture is of our new doors and side lights. The doors will open out and be in the middle of our new wall. The addition of the side lights is so that we can have more natural light in the new classroom. I would have added a window but I am trying to sound proof this room so that our music teacher will have her very own space to do a smaller music circle. Also, the mail slot is just an added bonus as far as I am concerned. We will be having our carpenter (enter husband Shawn) build us a collection box on the other side so that the children can mail letters to their friends. I am super excited about this! The colour of the doors and sidelights will be benjamin moore ancient ivory. The walls will be touched up with our current colour which is waters edge. I
love how soft the blue is on our walls and I think it makes for a much calmer learning environment.

You can see how we have carefully mapped out the plan with tape. that took us forever as there was so much storage to consider carefully. I had no idea just how much "stuff" we actually had until I had to move it all!

It is probably not a bad idea to purge some of it.

So guess what we are doing on this long weekend? I will post the progress as it is unfolding. I am in for a crazy busy couple of weeks but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Let them eat cake

We had some friends in for dinner last night who we haven't seen in about four years and I decided I should share my recipe for Upside down pineapple cake with them and you. The funny thing is I only ever seem to make it this time of year and never for us just company!

Needless to say, it was nice to have a break from the renovations and packing going on at the school. I have come to the conclusion that summer is really not a time off for me. The pace is a bit slower and there is flexibility in my schedule but really it is my March break that feels like vacation and time off.

Over the next few weeks I will post some of the projects I am working on and possibly some photos of the newly renovated space (depends on how down to wire it comes to)!

Upside Down Pineapple Cake

2 Tbs of butter

2 Tbs packed brown sugar

pinch of cinnamon

pineapple slices (as many as you can fit in your frying pan)

I must say I am generous with these ingredients and rarely ever measure anything and it always works out for me. I think I get that gift from my grandmother :)

After the pineapple has nicely caramelized then place them in a pan. I used a bundt pan but any pan works. Spring form leaks so don't use that unless you want a fire in your oven.

Cake Batter

1/2 C butter softened

1 C sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

11/2 c all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 C sour cream or plain yogurt(I used plain yogurt as that is what I had on hand)

Mix wet ingredients first and alternate the flour with the sour cream until mixed.

Spoon into prepared pan with pineapple and bake for 45 minutes at 350. When cake is done let rest on a cooling rack for 5 minutes (set your timer) and invert onto a cake plate to continue to cool. If you forget to do this you will never get the cake out.

-Cake is from Canadian Living

Rum Sauce

Oh yes....we had rum sauce and I will say to you that it is so Divine I don't know why anyone would make it with out!

In to a pot:

1 C sugar

1/4 c Rum, bourbon or other whiskey

2 Tbs water

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 tsp salt

Cook all this until the sugar is dissolved and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and whisk into this one egg that has been beaten. Trust me, you will not make scrambled egg in your sauce but you must whisk constantly and then return your pot to the heat to cook for 1 minute or until thick. Serve warm on your cake and I might add a dollop of whipping cream!

-The rum sauce is from the Joy of Cooking

Montessori Madness

This is a new selection for our lending Library available this September! I bought it a few months ago and am only now finding the time to read it. Please feel free to borrow it and if you can't check out the YouTube link below.

I can't think of a better argument for Montessori or how better to describe what Montessori is or does for a child!