During the month of February, we travelled to Asia and the children produced some beautiful projects.

Oh what beautiful weather and how wonderful it is to observe and watch Mother Nature unfold the magic of Spring!After a long and dreary Winter indoors the children and I are thrilled to be outdoors again.I just love this time of year when I can share my love of Nature with the children. Overnight, the blossom has appeared on the fruiting cherry tree,the pear trees,apple tress and damson. The air is alive with insects and each day we walk to the field to see if the swallows have arrived.Hopefully tomorrow we will see them as I saw my first pair this evening swooping low over the garden, perhaps checking their nests in the stables.We planted beans,peas, lettuce,sweet pea,basil ,lavender,sunflowers and courgettes last week. Germination is like magic…..the potential of a little seed. The birds are singing non stop and the children really enjoy their walks listening and trying to identify different bird song. Yesterday I introduced them to the different herbs in my garden…we smelt and  the mint, thyme,fennel,rosemary,lavender,wild garlic,lemon balm! There is so much to discover outdoors…watching the bees pollinate the fruit trees,learning how much we need and depend on insects for our food,watching everything emerge from the soil and grow..it is magic and every day is full of new surprises. I hope that I can show them the swallows tomorrow!

It is hard to believe that we are nearly at Mid Term. Even though we have been confined to the classroom for the past few weeks, we have been enjoying the activity on our bird feeders. At this stage I get so much pleasure from seeing and hearing the joy that the children receive as they observe the little garden birds.To day we looked at a set of matching cards with both hen and cock(female and male) birds of the same species and I explained to them why the cock bird always has the brighter colours.The children thought it hilarious when I asked what would happen if their Dads  dressed up in similar bright colours and showed off to their Mums by singing at the top of his voice just as all the cock birds do when Spring arrives. This led on to telling them how the bird behave in Spring as cock sings his best song and wears his brightest colours to get a” girlfriend”! The children love this story and so from now on we shall be listening to birds singing non stop as they prepare for nesting.   While watching for the first signs of Spring we were delighted to see the little crocuses push their way up through the soil  in the flower bed outside the school door. We have been reading frog stories, studying their life cycle,  and watching out for them as they make their way across the field to their pond for mating. Some of the children have made their own life cycles and are producing beautiful work. Very soon we will wrap up warm and go down the lane to see the little buds open on the trees.  It will be so nice to be outdoors again and experience the work that we have been doing in the classroom come to life in the outdoor environment. By sharing my love of nature with the children  and bringing the work in the classroom to real life situations has given me great insight into how children learn.For me ,nature is the key and will win even the most difficult child.

The children are working well and independence is evident as they explore new materials. Since Christmas we have been exploring the continents.We started with Africa and beautiful animal projects were produced by all.We moved to Asia and having fun discovering the animals that live on this the biggest continent.I also changed the smelling jars to the spices of Asia . The projects are coming in daily and are greeted by all with great excitement!

To day we had our Christmas concert. The children have been rehearsing the Nativity play since early December and  our big day arrived at last.. Mummies and Daddies and some Grannies and Grand dads came to watch the children in their very first stage debut! The children were wonderful and out passed all expectations! They sang like little Angels and brought a tear to many eyes.Each child played their part so well…Nixie and Ronnie made a lovely Mary and Joseph;, Saoirse. Myrtle and Trudy were beautiful Angels,Se,Lorenzo, Lorca ,Senan and Oisin were super shepherds while Tom, Luke and Zach were very regal kings! It was so special and the joy and innocence  of the little ones is magic.We had a very special visitor at the end of the concert…yes, Santa arrived . Merry Christmas and Happy ,Healthy New Year to all.!

November days are short and often dreary but the little garden bird bring unspeakable joy to the classroom.We put up the feeders at the beginning of the month as up until then there was still an abundance of food for the birds in the hedgerows. Almost immediately the great tits arrived . Word spread fast through the bird communities and great tit was followed by blue tits,chaffinches and sparrows. Mr and Mrs Robin were here all along so more feeders had to added to fit the demand.Willy wagtail stays on the path awaiting crumbs from our” break time” whilst blackbird and thrush enjoy the apples we put out. The crows and rooks watch from a distance but we shoo them out of the garden as they are too greedy!The starlings never left their nest in the roof so they can hop out of their cosy home for a little nibble on the feeder whenever they feel like it. The children have once again adopted a bird each and produced the most amazing projects!There is continual activity at the feeders and the wonder and joy coming from the children as they watch is contagious. It never fails to amaze me how the garden birds can bring such pleasure to these little children. Even the dullest, dreariest day is filled with light up when I share the simple,magic moments of watching the antics of the birds with the children.

We are truly blessed this year with a beautiful mellow Autumn! Never before has the garden given such  a bounty of fruit. The damson trees were laden with delicious damsons until the first storm last week and the branches on the pear trees were breaking with the weight of fruit.What a wonderful way to introduce the children to the miracles  of nature. They can taste and enjoy the fruit and marvel at how it is growing on the trees in our garden. They can even  pick raspberries as they pass  on the way into school!. Earlier in the month we went blackberry picking and made blackberry slices!To day, we brought the old tomato plants to the compost heap so that the little worms and bugs can make nice new compost for spring planting.Every little creature has a job to do in order to keep our planet healthy!The children love gardening jobs . Maria Montessori noted over 100 years ago in her Casa dei Bambini how children” work” for the joy of it whilst we adults work to achieve the end result.!!How very true!.We rake up  the leaves on a daily basis and put them in the special leaf compost area. On our walks, we observe the changes happening to the trees as the leaves are falling from the trees and talk about the trees going to sleep for the winter.We wonder if we ll see a little hedgehog under a leaf pile as he gets ready for his long Winter sleep..  We listen to the birds singing their Autumnal songs but I haven t put up the feeders yet as the birds can still find plenty to eat.I introduced the owl matching cards and once again each child has “adopted” an owl . Mum, Dads and the children have been producing the most beautiful projects and we are all learning and having fun.To day we put up the Halloween decorations and made bats.Tomorrow we will make witches and prepare a Halloween brack.