In Harmony with Nature #16

A weekly nature quote, to awaken your sense of awe and appreciation for the beauty of our natural world, inspiring you to share the daily wonders of nature with your child.

"Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar."

- Bradley Millar

This week, introduce your child to the amazing, incredible world of insects. Be on the lookout for all those crawlies who are most likely looking for food. Ants, slugs, snails, slaters, caterpillars, they are everywhere. Take a minute to show your child the respect you have for even the tiniest little creature on earth.

Your experiences will inspire others, share them here. We love to hear from you.
- Anja

photo source: © Tawa Montessori Preschool

In Harmony with Nature #15

A weekly nature quote, to awaken your sense of awe and appreciation for the beauty of our natural world, inspiring you to share the daily wonders of nature with your child.

"Just living is not enough,"said the butterfly. "One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."

- Hans Christian Andersen

This week, planting sunflowers is a great activity to do with your child. They sprout quickly and grow fast. They provide interest for months to come as they grow and mature. The seeds can be left for the birds or your child can harvest them.


Your experiences will inspire others, share them here. We love to hear from you.
- Anja

photo source: © Tawa Montessori Preschool

Simplicity and teaching young children

Last week I attended a masterclass of PresentationZen. You may wonder what presentation design has to do with teaching preschoolers. First of all, as a Principal of two preschools, I present parent evenings and information evenings and I have the odd public speaking engagement. I also occasionally present workshops at conferences about reconnecting young children with nature and naturalising outdoor environments. My next conference workshop is coming up in early August in Wellington. These are two reasons to review my presentation design skills, but there is more...

New Zealand is a small country and of the beaten track. It is not often a "master" in his/her field, will visit downunder. Garr Reynolds, of PresentationZen, is highly regarded in his field. In addition, Garr's blog PresentationZen is the very first blog I ever read, and it inspired me to start writing this blog. So when PresentationZen was visiting downunder, it was too good an opportunity to miss.

During the masterclass we explored several Zen aspects of presentation design; restraint in preparation, simplicity in design and naturalness in delivery. We talked about clarity and how presentations need to be honest and uncomplicated, and how the delivery should be natural. We looked at harmonious and balanced design and the elimination of distraction and noise. These are principles of Zen aesthetic values and they immediately struck a chord with me as an early childhood teacher.

The above Zen aesthetics, often taken from nature, can be applied to teaching, especially when teaching is viewed more then just a mere transfer of knowledge. Learning about presentation design, not only made me review my design skills, at the same time it made me reflect on my teaching skills and interactions with our young children. Being outside in our garden with the children, we can look for beauty and stillness. But we can also strive for more simplicity, as Albert Einstein said, "Make everything as simple as possible but no simpler". A message of wisdom that fits very well with the Montessori philosophy.

In this day and age of consumer overload and instant gratification, children need concrete, purposeful, authentic experiences, restrained from all the clutter that is thrown upon them. Our children's senses are overstimulated with noise, sight, impressions that are artificial, meaningless, and shallow. Young children today are loaded with a lot of clutter. - You need to have this, you need to be doing that, and you need to be going there. - Free play, daydreaming, having fun for fun's sake is no longer valued in today's society.

For a moment think about how many authentic interactions you experience in a day? Get back to the basics of it, to the process, not the product. So many things are covered up with unneeded bells and whistles, including our relationships and interactions with the young children in our care. Too much stimulation, too much "stuff". Take all that away, and ask yourself what is left? That is the core of it, that is what really counts. The PresentationZen masterclass may have had nothing to do with teaching three and four year olds, but for me it explored and confirmed what really matters when working with young children; restraint, simplicity and naturalness. What do you think?
- Anja

In Harmony with Nature #14

A weekly nature quote, to awaken your sense of awe and appreciation for the beauty of our natural world, inspiring you to share the daily wonders of nature with your child.

Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.

- Nathaniel Hawthorne

This week, take some time with your child to go outdoors and soak up the beauty and energy of the surrounding nature. Sit down quietly in a spot and observe the little bugs that may come out of their hiding places. What do you see, hear, or feel?


Your experiences will inspire others, share them here. We love to hear from you.
- Anja

photo source: © Tawa Montessori Preschool

A book is a gift you open again and again

We are in the middle of two weeks of school holidays, and it is Winter downunder. It has been wet and cold, and the days are short. A good time to share a good book with your child. In Mary Quattlebaum’s recent post at the Green Hour Blog, readers share their favourite outdoor children’s books. Head over to Green-Read Hour for some suggestions. Not all books mentioned may be available in New Zealand, but fishpond does have a good collection.

My favourite outdoor children’s book is Cactus Hotel by Brenda Guiberson, illustrated by Margaret Lloyd. As a Montessori preschool we prefer non-fantasy books for our children, fiction and non-fiction. Non-fantasy fiction books are hard to find. Many of the usual young children’s books available are about animals who talk, dress up and act like humans. To find a fiction book for young children not based on fantasy, but real life experiences, is a mission.

Cactus Hotel is a beautiful book about the saguaro cactus and the complex web of life in the Sonohoran Desert in Arizona. This book is a gem. The illustrations are beautiful, the text is simple and lyrical. And the story is real. The book introduces the young child to the natural cycle of life and ecosystems and how much plants and animals depend upon one another for their survival. I am not sure if the book is available in New Zealand as it was gifted to us by Kieran, an American Sistercity exchange student from Arizona who stayed with our family last year. A beautiful gift we will open and open, again and again!

At our preschool, our children are encouraged to read whenever they want, and where ever they want. Books are readily available. The children not only use books for pleasure, but also as a source of knowledge. We teach our three and four years old children how to use an insect guide or bird guide, and they are very good at it.

As teachers we read to our children daily. In Summer we often read outside, our peacepole deck is a great place for this. Even in Winter we may read to them outside, as children don't feel the cold like we, adults, do. Our older children, who are starting to read independently, are encouraged to take a mat outside and read in a calm, quiet spot, to each other, or with each other. Outside is a great place for a good book!

"Happy is he who has laid up in his youth, and held fast in all fortune,a genuine and passionate love of reading." - Rufus Choate

Books are a great gift, reading is unique to humans. You can read anywhere and anytime. The world of books is unlimited. Your child is never too young to share a book, you are never too old to read a book, to your child, with your child, or alongside your child. What books have you been reading with your child lately?
- Anja

In Harmony with Nature #13

A weekly nature quote, to awaken your sense of awe and appreciation for the beauty of our natural world, inspiring you to share the daily wonders of nature with your child.

We could never have loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it.

- George Eliot

This week, for those of you in the northern hemisphere, yes, go and pick them, those dandelions seeds are waiting for your child to be blown!


Your experiences will inspire others, share them here. We love to hear from you.
- Anja

photo source: © Tawa Montessori Preschool

Going Green part 3 - An edible garden

Gardening, cooking, serving and eating, composting— these are truly basic things, but the lessons they could teach are drowned out by the clamor of the media and the insidious temptations of consumerism. Kids today are bombarded with a pop culture which teaches redemption through buying things.
School gardens, on the other hand, turn pop culture upside–down. They teach redemption through a deep appreciation for the real, the authentic, and the lasting—for the things money can’t buy—the very things that matter most of all if we are going to lead sane, healthy, and sustainable lives. Kids who learn environmental and nutritional lessons through school gardening—and school cooking and eating— learn how to lead ethical lives.

—Alice Waters

As a silver award member of Enviroschools we are committed to creating a time and a space to nurture the inner spirit of our children and their natural love and respect for the earth. We introduce the children to the interconnectedness and interdependence of everything on the planet, developing tools for environmental responsibility, ecological understanding and recycling awareness. An edible school garden, where children develop an understanding of how to grow their own food is a great way of reconnecting children with the natural world, giving them an understanding of he process of growing fresh fruit and vegetables in a hands-on manner.

Most children enjoy being outdoors and love digging in the soil, getting dirty, creating things and watching plants grow. At our preschool children can water and weed the garden, plant and pot seedlings and compost, recycle and mulch. An edible garden is a garden that contains flowers, herbs, seeds, berries and plants that you can eat. Any preschool garden should have at least a few edible plants. Children love plants that grow quickly, plants like sunflowers, corn and strawberries and an edible garden provides many opportunities for the children to learn about nutrition and health. Children love to try foods they have grown themselves or foods they have been involved in with harvesting.

Most vegetables, flowers and fruits can be grown successfully in containers, hanging baskets, pots, or barrels. At our preschool we use a variety of open garden beds, raised garden beds, pots, old wine barrels and we even filled up some old car tires. Our edible garden is forever growing. Recently we were given some berry bushes as a farewell present from one of our preschoolers. We had a lovely afternoon preparing the soil, digging holes, planting the bushes and watering our new garden friends. Our edible garden now includes mandarins, lemons, apples, pears, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, olives and many herbs and vegetables.

Our children learn many skills being outdoor at work in our garden. They are learning responsibility when they are caring and tending plants. They learn about science, botany, nutrition and health as they learn about sources of food. Creativity, discovery, reasoning and confidence are other dispositions nurtured in our garden. Giving children experiences in the garden makes learning more real, meaningful, enjoyable, and most important, memorable.
- Anja

- Going Green part 1 - Recycling
- Going Green part 2 - An enviro care code
- Going Green part 3 - An edible garden

Alice Waters, “A World of Possibilities,” in Margo Crabtree ed. The Edible Schoolyard, Berkeley, Learning in the Real World, Center for Ecoliteracy, 1999), p. 15. 71 Author’s Interview with Rochelle Davis, Illinois Healthy School Campaign, July 9, 2004.