5 Ways Outdoor Time is Important for Kindergarten Development

Getting outside gives children more freedom of movement, provides opportunities for interacting with others, enhances basic developmental skills, and encourages academic learning. In a Montessori private kindergarten that is focused on whole-child development, going outside is so important that it was included in Maria Montessori’s teaching method from the very beginning.

1. Developing Motor Skills

Kindergarten children need fine motor skills for gripping and manipulating small objects such as pencils, blocks, and the like. Gross motor skills are essential for running, climbing, and throwing. Outdoor activities are excellent for developing both sets of motor skills by allowing children to move about freely and engage in play-based games and explorations.

2. For the Love of Nature

Maria Montessori recognized the importance of nature in our lives and designed her Montessori Method around outdoor kindergarten activities that children enjoy. In addition to developing other important skills, getting outside more often helps kids develop a love of nature itself, making them more responsible members of the community.

3. Building Social Skills

Outdoor time is great for multi-player games, cooperative activities, and sharing limited playground resources. In this way, going outside helps children explore social bonds and develop appropriate responses to common social situations.

4. Math is Everywhere

Getting outside more often is good for academic pursuits, including language, science, and more. Math is a perfect example of an academic subject that can be included in many types of outdoor adventures, from cataloging insects and plants to learning averages by keeping a daily weather journal. Math is vital for almost every aspect of everyday life, and learning math through nature helps children retain what they learn and use it in abstract ways.

5. Self-Esteem Leads to Leaders

Nature also helps children develop a healthy sense of self-esteem, and that is one of the most valuable personal achievements. Children who feel good about themselves are more likely to interact well with others, and having the confidence to take the lead creates children who are willing to accept responsibility and think fairly when working with others.

Nature is all around us. Even more to the point, we are merely another part of nature. Research indicates that the more time children spend immersed in nature, the better they can focus on learning and the more they will retain those lessons. At school and at home, children need to have the opportunity to get involved with nature– running and jumping and generally getting their hands dirty- in order to develop into strong thinkers and leaders of tomorrow.

How Do I Teach My Middle School Student Valuable Life Skills?

Practical life skills are those abilities Montessori middle school children use to benefit them in their daily lives. Often ignored by traditional public schools, life skills are invaluable because they turn children into more productive members of the family and classroom. Learning life skills is not limited to the classroom, and parents do well by including their children in their own activities that encourage those skills.

Role Modeling

Learning practical life skills at home begins by observing practical skills in action. As a middle school student’s more important role model, parents emphasize the importance of practical skills by simply being seen using them. From picking up and organizing to cleaning and cooking, children are watching everything their parents do and will imitate those actions if given an opportunity to do so.

Daily Routines

Setting up and sticking to daily routines is an important practical skill in itself. Whether the routine is regular personal hygiene or cleaning the table after dinner, repetitive use prepares children for life outside the school and home where routines will make up a large portion of their lives.

Household Projects

From building a birdhouse to weekly in-depth cleaning, including children in household projects teaches them many skills. Using tools such as a hammer or vacuum provide practical skills, and some tools have other educational benefits built-in, such as learning to read a tape measure, use a measuring cup, or calculate the amount of money needed to buy a favorite toy.

Kitchen Collaboration

Cooking is a skill that more and more people are losing, and with that loss goes the ability to eat according to preferences and tastes. If a child never learns how to create the food sensations they enjoy, their only options will always be the mass-produced fare available from local eateries, or the bland dishes available in supermarket freezer sections. 

Inclusion is Essential

Inclusion leads to extroverted children and exclusion leads to introverted behavior. As parents, we all want to see our children develop into responsible adults. This begins by asking preschool children to help with small tasks around the house, but it is an ongoing method of keeping in touch with your kids, becoming more familiar with their developing personalities, and being more involved in helping them become the best person they can be.

When children learn life skills, they develop critical thinking skills necessary for problem-solving, self-esteem necessary for taking on responsibility, and the use of tools and ideas that will simplify their lives. To that end, it is the responsibility of all parents to include their children in activities that hone these vital skills.

3 Excellent Activities to Build Self-Esteem in Your Preschool Student

Preschool kids need a healthy sense of self-esteem in order for their performance to match their potential. Children with low self-esteem tend to be more introverted, resist new situations, or even portray unwanted classroom behavior. To help your child develop appropriately, these 3 activities– and praise for tasks done well– will make a lot of difference in how your son interacts with the world at large.

1. Chores and Routines

When Montessori preschool children have a role to play in the home or classroom they become more interested in participating. Fulfilling regular routines such as cleaning up after dinner gives children an appropriate sense of self-worth. Similarly, performing chores around the house, whether they are impromptu or not, helps children develop a sense of their own capabilities, as well as gain new practical life skills in the process.

2. Artwork And Acceptance

Encouraging children to draw, build with blocks, or create other forms of artwork is an opportunity for children to build self-esteem. Each time they receive praise for a new creation, it bolsters their confidence and makes them more willing to continue the process. To enhance the success of this method, set aside one or more places in the home for your child to display their artwork and make it a practice to acknowledge every effort, even if the artwork looks as if it was done by a child. Because it was, and only being encouraged to try again will improve their abilities and focus.

3. The Magic of Grace and Courtesy

Grace and courtesy are cornerstones of the Montessori Method. Maria Montessori believed that children are entitled to the same respect and good graces that are due to adults, and social etiquette became an intrinsic part of the Montessori experience. This results in a more peaceful, focused classroom experience as well as promoting self-esteem. When children learn that being nice to others makes them feel good about themselves as well, they become more interested in how they react to others and how their actions are perceived. Social skills are important for a host of other reasons, but developing self-esteem is one of the most valuable outcomes.

These activities all have one major trait in common: they allow children to express themselves and take an active role in their immediate community. The feeling of inclusion is a powerful emotion, and including children’s feelings gives them a sense of value to others. The end result is a child that feels comfortable about the way other people perceive them, and that makes them more comfortable with trying new things, taking on new challenges, or simply interacting responsibly in social situations.

How Does Nature Help Montessori Elementary Children Learn Valuable Math Concepts?

Maria Montessori recognized the value of nature in education. From early childhood through Montessori elementary, nature is used as part of the daily curriculum. Not only does this help children learn to care for our planet, but nature is also an excellent way to learn academic subjects such as math.

Math Is Everywhere

Montessori elementary students quickly learn that math permeates the world around us. Math is a critical part of the equation from counting coins to rocket science. Nature is no different, and the magic of math can be seen in almost any outdoor activity, which makes the outdoors an excellent classroom to learn in.

Counting on Creatures

Simple math concepts such as sorting and counting apply to taking inventory of insects in the playground, exploring the different kinds of birds, and finding out about trees that are native to your area. The very idea behind play-based learning is that children absorb information and learn new skills in the process of activities they enjoy, and kids love to get immersed in outdoor adventures.

Multiplication and Division

The way that leaves grow on a tree follows a clear path of multiplication and division, and comparing the leaves of different trees encourages critical thinking. Outdoor treasure hunts can be used as part of a math-related assignment, a vocabulary lesson, or scientific exploration, all through an exciting game-like activity.

Discovering Variables

Nature is a grab-bag of opportunity when it comes to math. Children can explore simple algebraic math by studying how flowers grow or experiment with averages by keeping a daily weather journal and tracking weekly statistics. Water will follow the path of least resistance, and math is a tool that will predict that path and determine the direction a stream will take. 

Time, Seasons, and Years

Learning to tell time is a practical experience that revolves around math. In nature, time plays a role in determining when plants begin to grow or birds build nests for their young. Year after year, the seasons change and bring snowfall, new life, summer showers, and winter snows. This seemingly eternal pattern repeats over and over again, and humans mark each passing by the tick of a clock or the date on a calendar.

Nature is a valuable teaching tool in many different ways. Children build stronger vocabularies, gain a better understanding of why things happen, develop fine and gross motor skills, and much more. As a multiple-purpose teaching aid, nothing else can compare to what nature delivers.