Latest Dispatches

City Place

  • A collage of children working with playdough, painting with watercolours, gluing collage materials, and colouring with chalk

    Artistic Expression

    Art is a great way for children to express themselves. It also helps to develop fine motor skills, use of tools, problem solving skills and self-confidence. The Montessori environment provides open-ended art activities to help the children to explore and use their creativity. On the art shelf, watercolour painting, gluing collage materials, playdough, chalk with a chalkboard and various art mediums are accessible and available to the children throughout the day. (Click to read Dr Montessori’s quote and for full photos.)

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  • Infants crawling on and exploring lava tiles

    Lava Tiles

    Lava tiles combine cause and effect with visual stimulation to offer the children a sensorial experience based in science. When the children touch, walk or crawl across the tile, the liquid moves and creates various designs.

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  • A collage of children systematically fillling in a Pythagoras square with coloured tiles

    Pythagoras Square

    The Pythagoras Square introduces children to the foundational concept of geometry and the Pythagorean theorem in an intuitive and interactive way. This beautiful material is designed to help children explore the relationships between numbers, geometric shapes, and the Pythagorean Theorem — a^2+b^2=c^2. (Click for how this happens and the full photos!)

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Coatsworth

  • A collage of children lying on a mat acting out 'Sleeping Bunnies'

    Music and Movement

    The Under 2’s favourite action song right now is “Sleeping Bunnies”. The teachers introduce various animals as well as animal sounds (Sleeping Tigers, Elephants, etc.). The children lay on the floor pretending to sleep and wait for the cue to wake up, hop like a bunny, make an animal sound or stomp their feet, then stop and restart the game with a new sleeping animal. (Click for full photos and more information.)

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  • A collage of children playing bells and ukeleles with Adriana during our family holiday celebration

    Holiday Celebration

    To celebrate the holiday season, East and West Casa families gathered to sing Christmas carols and a Hanukkah song, accompanied by our music teacher Adriana on the piano. Some of the children also performed “Jingle Bells” on the Bells or Ukulele instruments. (Click for full photos!)

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  • A child placing a decoration on a holiday tree that is our 'Giving Tree'

    Our Giving Tree

    Tis the season to give back to our community. As donations are brought in, they are placed under our “Giving Tree” to support Interval House and The Daily Food Bank. This support presents a teaching opportunity to help children understand compassion and empathy, something our world needs more than ever. (Click for the more information and the full photo.)

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Infinity Place

  • A child drawing the solar system

    Solar System

    The solar system is a very popular topic within the classroom. The child is invited to work with the solar system activity where they can learn about planets, asteroids, comets, and other interesting facts about space. In this image, the child arranged the planets in order from their distance from the sun, and followed up with their own drawing of the solar system.

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  • A collage of children performing a song and our holiday tree with donated goods

    Holiday Family Party

    A great time was had at our Holiday Celebration! We sang “Jingle Bells”, “Vive Le Vent”, “The Reindeer Hokey Pokey” & “All I Want for Christmas” while donning festive hats or jingling bells. We enjoyed some refreshments and some time together. Thank you for your generous donations to the charity we supported this season, The Red Door Shelter. (Click for more information and full photos of the celebration!)

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  • A collage of children wearing a chef outfit and working with a velcro birthday cake cutting set, and wearing glasses and wearing and holding a stethoscope

    Dramatic Play

    Dramatic play allows our Under 3 community to express their creativity, develop language skills, and enhance social interactions. Dramatic play nurtures the whole child, laying a strong foundation for lifelong learning and interpersonal development. (Click for more information and full photos!)

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Simcoe Place

  • A collage of children using a crumb set on a table, using a sweeper and dustpan, sweeping the floor, and washing a table

    Care of the Environment

    Through practical life care of the environment activities such as sweeping the floor, washing the table, and cleaning up spills, children learn to take pride in caring for their classroom and completing a job, develop a high level of concentration, respect for their community, a sense of order, and increase independence and improve fine motor skills. (Click for more information.)

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  • A collage of children placing a candle on a replica menorah, looking at a Kwanzaa book, and placing an ornament on a tree

    Festive Celebrations

    Children love to take part in festive celebrations. When placing ornaments on the tree, candles on the Menorah, and learning about Kwanzaa, children absorb their environment and foster an appreciation of various holidays. They are also working on their eye-hand coordination, fine motor development, and concentration. (Click for full photos!)

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  • A collage of a child exploring a drum, maraca, tambourine, and shaker

    Musical Instruments

    Young children learn through the senses as they interact with their environment. In the Under 2 classroom, we offer different types of materials that engage a child’s sense of touch, sight, hearing, taste and smell, among others. Exploring musical sounds enhances creativity, expression, autonomy, and an awareness of cause and effect. (Click for more information!)

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