Under 3

Cutting Snips with Scissors

Cutting with scissors encourages the child to use two hands simultaneously while fostering concentration, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination. Learning to manipulate one’s fingers, hands, wrists, and the scissors in order to cut a thin strip of paper into many smaller pieces can be quite a challenge. Children really enjoy the cause and effect element of this activity. 

Please click “Cutting Snips with Scissors” for the photos.

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Picnic!

A child in our classroom told a story about going on a picnic with his family. This piqued the interest of the other children in the classroom who listened to the story, asked questions, and told their own stories of picnics and eating with their families. Another child asked if we could have a picnic on our playground at school, which other children echoed.

Please click “Picnic!” for more info and pics about our picnic!

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Summer BBQ

We were excited to host our summer family BBQ! This year’s fundraising event is in support of Pancreatic Cancer Canada. We had a food truck come provide the delicious barbecued food. Fire It Up BBQ catering did an amazing job! The bake sale was also a great success. We had the generous support of our families and staff who supplied all the baked goodies. It is amazing what we can accomplish when we come together as a community. A great time was had by everyone!

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Serendipitous Connection!

Two of our Under 3 Moms who grew up together in Atlanta renewed their friendship through their children. They had not seen each other since childhood, and then recognized each other along Gerrard Street. They discovered that through a happy twist of fate, their children were also growing up together at Downtown Montessori. What a small world!

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Sign Language

Sign language, one of the forms of expression in the Under 3 community, helps children still acquiring verbal skills to communicate their needs and wants. We have a set of sign language cards that the children enjoy exploring. On each card is a picture of the object on one side and the sign on the other. The child is able to practice verbalizing and signing each word with this activity.

Please click “Sign Language” for more details and photos.

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We the North!

Celebrating the Toronto Raptors – NBA Champions!! We the North!!

Please click “We the North!” for lots more photos!

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Earth Day!

Earth Day is a great time to learn about our planet and how we can contribute everyday to take care of it! We participated in Earth Day this year by using recycled newspaper to make biodegradable planters, filling those planters with soil, and carefully placing seeds in the soil.

Please click “Earth Day!” for more photos and information.

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Dressing for the Outdoors

Children observe many practical life actions in their everyday lives such as dressing and undressing. With this in mind, one of the best ways of nurturing children’s positive self esteem is to encourage their already strong interest in doing things on their own.

Please click “Dressing for the Outdoors” for more details and photos.

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The Mathematical Mind

Math is a life-long skill. We count objects, place rings of multiple sizes on dowels, sort objects into 2, 3, and 4 compartments, notice pairs of objects, and insert coloured pegs into numbered math boards. As the children differentiate patterns and notice sequences, we start to quantify objects, building the logical mathematical mind that will be further developed in Casa.

Please click “The Mathematical Mind” for more photos and information.

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Baby Shark Performance

The Korean pop song “Baby Shark” has made it to the top 10 chart of the Under 3 room! This catchy, toe-tapping tune is inescapable. The children and teachers sing it at snack time, sleep time and outdoor time: “Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo…” For our little “Baby Shark” fans, it is a delightful action song that gives the biggest smiles you have ever seen!

Please click on “Baby Shark Performance” for the Under 3’s performance of “Baby Shark”.

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