A day in the life of a Montessori Student

“I didn’t want to say goodbye to Dad but once I walked up the steps to the school, I was excited to see my friends.  My teacher greeted me and I put my shoes on the shoes rack and put my coat and lunch box into my cubby all by myself.  I gave my Dad two hugs goodbye and then I asked my teacher for a carrot to feed to the class bunny.  I used the cutting board and chopper to chop that carrot into so many small pieces for the bunny.  I felt proud of myself for making so many small pieces.  I put the pieces into his bowl and giggled as he ate them, crunch munch crunch!  He is such a cute bunny.  I went over to the dish washing station and washed my cutting board and chopper.  I love washing dishes with all the sudsy bubbles.

Next I decided to do a painting.  I put on the apron but I couldn’t get my sleeves rolled up, so I asked a friend to help me.  I made very big brush strokes and covered the paper with red paint, top to bottom.  Next I dipped in the yellow and brushed it quickly over the red.  And guess what- it made a new color!  Do you know that red and yellow makes orange?  I was so excited, I ran to tell my teacher and my classmates gathered around to see!  When I was done, I asked my teacher to write my name and then I got out the scissors and cut that painting off the roll all by myself.  I hung it to dry with clothespins on the drying rack.  It was really heavy from all that wet paint, but that’s okay, I’m strong. 

Now I felt hungry and decided to wash my hands for snack.  I went over to the snack table and saw my friend Sean.  Sean was eating snack too and I decided to join him.  I took a plate and used the tongs to put two celery stalks and one bagel on my plate.  I love cream cheese and spread a big knife full all over my bagel.  Cream cheese got all over my mouth when I tried to take a bite!  I had to go get a wet wipe and wipe my face in the mirror.  The snack was so yummy.  Sean and I pointed at the map of Antarctica that was hanging over the snack table and we giggled about how penguins look so silly when they walk.  But do you know they are birds who can’t fly- they swim instead.  That is what my teacher told us at circle time. 

I walked back into the classroom and saw my friend Stacey placing bones on the human body silhouette so I decided to watch.  I think the skull is my favorite bone.  It keeps your brain safe.  I felt done watching Stacey so I took out a work to do by myself.  I got out a puzzle of a horse and built all of the pieces onto the table.  Then I built all of the pieces back into the puzzle frame.  Then I did it all a second time.  I put it away because I wanted to try the frog puzzle and so I built that puzzle three times in a row.  I think those puzzles are too easy for me now.  I walked over to the math shelf and saw strings of colorful beads built into a triangle.  They were very attractive and I wanted to touch them.  I asked my teacher if I could have a lesson and she said yes!  So we took the beads to the table and played a game with them.  The teacher asked me to find which one had three beads and match it to the number three.  Then I had to find which one had four beads and match it to the number four.  I was really good at it but it was also tricky.  I got the 8 and the 9 bead bars confused because that is a big number to count, but the teacher helped me to count slow so I was able to match them.  When I was all done putting that away, I noticed there was a new work in the classroom!  It was a work where you paint with glue and then sprinkle colorful sand on top of it.  Sean was using it, so I watched him.  I was able to learn how to do it all by myself by watching Sean, so I didn't need to ask the teacher for a lesson.  When Sean put it back on the shelf, I took it out and brought it to the table.  There was yellow sand and blue sand.  I first spread glue all over the paper, and then I sprinkled the sand, first blue and then yellow.  The blue sand got mixed into the yellow sand, and I realized that made a new color too!  But sand and glue was also stuck to my hands, so I had to go to the bathroom and wash them.  When I can back, the teacher handed me the broom and dustpan because I had gotten sand all over the table and floor.  But that’s okay because we just sweep it up!  All done! 

Now I felt like looking at a book.  I went over to the reading corner.  We were learning about animals of Antarctica that week, so I chose a book about whales and sat in the reading chair.  It is comfy and quiet in the reading chair.  There were pictures of orca whales and humpback whales in the book.  They had very big mouths and the orcas looked kind of like sharks.  I traced my fingers over their teeth.  I looked up from my book and saw the teacher showing Sean how to write letters on paper.  I really wanted to work with Sean again, so I went to the shelf and got out a pencil and paper too!  I practiced my handwriting at the table next to Sean and wanted to race to see who could finish their lines of letters first.  Sean finished before me, and we put our papers in our finished folders to go home.  I asked Sean if he wanted to build a tower with me, so we got out a rug and started building tall towers with blocks.  My tower was taller than Sean!  Suddenly, I heard the bell ring.  That meant it was time to clean up for circle!  So I went to my shelf and I straightened all the materials on it.  I made sure everything was neat and tidy.  The teacher checked to make sure I had finished my job and invited me to go sit in circle.  It is music circle today which means we get to sing and dance to a lot of great songs.  I like the songs that are slow but then get fast and then get slow again. Those are fun to dance to.  I danced and sang with my peers and laughed at the silly rhymes when we sang, Down by the Bay.  We thanked our music teacher and now it was time to wash hands for lunch!  I sat next to my friend Dorthy at lunch and we talked about our pets.  Dorthy just got a new dog.  After lunch, I put all of my lunch containers away all by myself and used the bathroom.  The teacher said I could get ready for play time!  I put my jacket on and tried to zip it but it was too hard.  So I asked Dorthy for help because she is older.  She zipped my jacket for me, and then I got my shoes on all by myself.  I wanted to be first in line, but Stacey was already there, so I had to stand behind her.  I felt disappointed, but that’s okay, the teacher told me that maybe I can be line leader next time.  The teacher says, “If you’re ready, say spaghetti”, and I shout, “spaghetti”!  She opens the door and as we run outside, I race to get to the bicycles because I love speeding down the hill. 

When I am done with the bicycle, I give it to a friend for a turn because he is waiting.  I see a bunch of kids playing red rover and I go over to play, too.  I love school and don't want to go home, even though I love my parents and don’t want to leave home in the mornings.  At any moment, I am in just the place I need to be. “