Maybe due to our long, wet winter but for some reason, the children were more excited than ever, when we turned the page on the calendar last Thursday and February appeared! Spring had arrived and joy and expectation were obvious in all the little faces!! Suddenly,the silence of nature in winter has lifted and the air is full of birdsong.

Robin isn’t the only singer but has been joined by great tit, chaffinch, blackbird, sparrow and thrush. We listened to our singing birds in school and all enjoyed trying to identify the song using the way I teach it with Montessori 3-period lesson. Every morning, on our pathway to school, we watch the birds feed and listen to the songs…a great way to practice our Silence Game! The children enjoy watching the emergence of our early Spring flowers and eagerly look for buds on the trees. Exciting times ahead as Nature unfolds her treasures and gifts.

Once again the children listen with awe as we tell the stories about the awakenings in our natural world. I think that this weekend, all eyes will be searching for frogspawn as the story of the frog and his life cycle was a favourite this week!

On three nights last week, we had role reversal! The children became the teacher and invited their Mums and Dads into school to teach them how to do “work”! Each family chose a night that suited and parents came in with their little ones. The children were so excited, as going to school at night was a big adventure plus showing their Mums and Dads how to do THEIR WORK was a great thrill.

They were lovely evenings and parents had an opportunity to become familiar with the activities in the school as well as chat together enjoying light refreshments ! Parents had fun looking at their beautiful projects which adorn our walls. Most of all it was wonderful to see the confidence that has emerged in the children as they demonstrated their work. The familiar words echoed through the room” I can do this by myself.”!

The children were so proud and I must say I was so proud of them too!!

The swallows have arrived back from Africa! We watched them fly in and out of the stables and hope they will take up residence again. I am always so excited when I see the first swallows appear and this excitement is contagious as I pass it on to the children!! It gives me such joy to see them fly together, and I am totally in awe of the long journey they have made to come to that long distance to nest in our barns and stables!! We watch them fly up and down doing the “swallow dance”, catching insects on the wing and never needing to land! The air is alive with insects, as the children well know, so plenty of food for swallows. We listened to their chirpy song, on our model/toy swallow and now can hear it for real as the sky is filled with swallow song!!

Now we are waiting for the cuckoo, he should be arriving from Africa shortly. The children love the old nursery rhyme :

The cuckoo comes in April,

She sings her song in May,

In the middle of June,

She changes her tune

And July she flies away.

Next week, there will be parent/child nights! This is a most important night for the children as they come to school at nighttime with their Mums and Dads. The children change roles and teach their parents how to do “work”! They become the ‘teacher’! These little children are so proud of the work they do and it also allows parents to see all the beautiful project work displayed as well as socialize with each other!

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Over the past few years, I have discovered that children learn so much through project work. Even though these children are only 3,4 and 5, it is quite amazing to see how this happens! As I am a Montessori teacher with a science background, I love to share my love of nature and our environment with the children. By “following the child” and creating a sense of awe and wonder with them, the children can go on a path of discovery themselves(with the aid of their wonderful families!)

When the children have settled into school in October we start to examine and talk about the animals that live in OUR COUNTRY,IRELAND! They are familiar with rabbits, foxes, deer, squirrels, otters, etc from their stories! We then look at the pictures and animal models in school and each child will pick an animal from which they will do a project with the help of Parents! Children learn so much from each other and the children who are in their 2nd year, are familiar with sharing their information, so it isn’t long before new children see how it all works! Projects are displayed in the classroom along the beams(each beam has a different project theme). The children love to see their projects displayed! After a child has presented his project we have a question time which is always fun as the “audience” love to ask questions.

We have monthly projects which generally follow a theme of expanding the children’s knowledge and interests to give a bird’s eye view of our world! We visit Eagles Flying and see and learn about Birds of Prey so which leads to our 2nd project “BIRDS OF PREY”!

Bird feeders are up in the garden and the children love watching and getting to know our garden birds. Each child picks a garden bird and for our next project!

After Christmas, I introduce our Continents using school materials(a jigsaw continent map) and our animal baskets( a basket of animals for each continent). During miserable, cold Winter days, visiting and getting to know the animals of Africa, takes us on a lovely journey to a beautiful, exotic continent. At this stage, when the child chooses his animal, I am always amazed at observing how even the youngest child has grown in confidence when presenting his project to the class! Families also enjoy the project research allowing older children to help their younger siblings!

Australia is usually our 2nd continent as the strange animals that live here hold a special fascination for the children! The marsupials, reptiles, amphibians, and strange mammals like the duck-billed platypus and the echidna as well as the Tasmanian devil and the kiwi bird take them into another world. We have lovely stories in the school about these animals so there is plenty of materials to feed their curious minds!

Through project work, the children’s language and scientific knowledge expand and they absorb and learn so much from sharing with each other.

And so we move through the continents and are taken on a great journey. I love the project work as I learn so much too! Our classroom beams are filling up fast as we have now moved to S.America! We are learning about the rainforest and the sad plight that is happening to the animals which these children love so much. I hope that they will become great citizens and by becoming aware of the destruction that we, humans, are causing to the planet, they will make a change!! They are the future and they care!

Spring has arrived in our garden. Every day new life is emerging and the children want to be outside all the time! It’s a great time of the year. We planted tomatoes, peas, beans, lettuce, sunflowers, and sweet peas in March, just before the Easter holidays, and they have all germinated. Today, the children transplanted them into larger pots. It will be wonderful to see them grow.

We walked around the garden today and looked at the blossom on the fruit trees, We stood and watched bees flitting from blossom to blossom transporting pollen and being rewarded with nectar. Soon we will see the blossom turn to fruit. The garden is alive with insects and the children are besotted with them! Daisies and dandelions are everywhere and they love these wildflowers!! We will make daisy chains and they love blowing the dandelion heads! Simple fun but the best days! The little creatures in the garden are their best friends and they have such respect for them.

It’s wonderful to be outdoors and share nature with these eager and enthusiastic children. Great adventures await!