Coatsworth

Lunar New Year Celebration

The Under 3 class celebrated the Year of the Rabbit by painting with chopsticks, dressing in traditional clothing from East Asia, and having both Casa classes parade through our class. We read books about the Lunar New Year and practiced saying “Kung Hei Fat Choy!” (Please click for more information and the full photos.)

View

Object Permanence

This box with drawer and ball activity allows the children to practice their eye-hand coordination skills and refine their movement. The children fulfill their need for repetition and develop an understanding of object permanence. (Please click for the full photos and more information.)

View

Making Bannock

In Casa East, we read the book, ‘Awasis and the World-Famous Bannock’ by Dallas Hunt and Amanda Strong. We were curious about what Bannock is and how it tastes, so we combined the ingredients, shaped our dough into round biscuits, and Ben baked it. Finally, we got to taste Bannock for ourselves. Yum! (Please click for more photos and information.)

View

Skip Counting with Bead Chains

The Bead Chains are found in the Bead Cabinet; two different chains for each number, 1-10. The first chain breaks down the number squared, and the second chain breaks down the number cubed. Accompanying each chain is a square or a cube, respectively. When a child uses the Bead Chains for skip counting, they lay the chain on a mat and use corresponding numbered arrow tags to count out the chain, in multiples of its particular number. (Please click for more information).

View

Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The Under 3 children learned about how “every child matters” and listened to stories about Indigenous culture and the significance of Orange Shirt Day. They helped to create a community bulletin board by making hand prints and colouring on orange t-shirt cut-outs. The children and staff throughout the centre wore orange shirts in solidarity on the commemorative day.

View

The Importance of Music

Music is a form of communication and children learn music the same way they learn language, by listening and imitating from a young age. Providing music throughout the day promotes language development, fine motor skills, imagination, and a sense of rhythm, and can provide a fun method of physical fitness as well. (Please click for more information.)

View

Division Board

A child in a Montessori class learns mathematical facts by actually performing the operations with concrete materials, such as this division board. Green skittles, which represent the divisor, and the beads, which represent the quantity, are used for simple division. (Please click for more information and the full photos.)

View

Space!

In this week’s summer program, we are covering the fascinating topic of Space! We’ve had great discussions about the planets within our solar system, the sun, moon phases, and astronauts, in addition to crafts, activities, songs and games. The two drawings are of Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut!

View

Walking on a Balance Path

The children love to build the balance path in various configurations for everyone to share. We have large and small stepping stones that help improve our balance and coordination. We challenge ourselves with the narrow pieces, almost like walking on a balance beam.

Please click ‘view’ for the full photos.

View

Outdoor Play

The outdoor space is a rich sensory area as it offers a wide variety of textures, temperatures, smells and sights, while allowing the children to form a relationship with nature to enjoy and care for it.

Please click ‘view’ for more info and the full photos!

View