August 26, 2026

We have had a fabulous start to the year in the Puppy Dog room. All of the returning classmates helped to make the new students feel welcome by inviting someone new to eat snack with or give a presentation on a shelf work.

The largest part of your child’s morning will be open shelf time, a chance to explore the room and freely choose works that call to your child’s curiosity. We call this portion of the morning “work time.” From our viewing window you will see children making purposeful decisions and choosing a place to work. You might see a child ask for a presentation on a new work. Often you will see an older child offer to help a new student return a work to the shelf or help clean an accidental spill. At times you will see children not engaged in a shelf work, but simply watching others at work. Dr. Montessori called this “a child at observation” and she considered observing to be a very active rather than passive state. The child who observes the room is consciously and unconsciously taking in the rhythm of the room, experiencing a work cycle, and planning which works to try in the future. At this time of the year many new students prefer to stay close to one of the teachers in the room. The first bridge they build is to a teacher and as time passes, they will grow more comfortable in the room. It is out of this comfortable familiarity that a child will establish a true sense of ownership to the room; and from this ownership blooms our first seeds of a connected community.

“Education is a natural process carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences in the environment.” Education in a New World, Maria Montessori

Hope to see you all at the family Picnic this Saturday at Burwash Park!

Ms. Krupp