November has brought along wet,dark days and we have had little opportunity for time outdoors. However, the children are well immersed in their work and the mornings fly by. There is great activity at the feeders  with blue tits, great tits,coal tits,chaffinches flying in and out for nuts and seeds..last week brought the first of the goldfinches.The birds, as always,intrigue the children and  bring a sense of tranquility to the classroom as these busy little 3 and 4 year olds discuss and observe the birds  in the garden.The birds have opened a whole new world to them and once again I marvel at the goodness and love the children show for all living creatures. This is mirrored throughout the morning in the respect that they show for each other and for the materials in the classroom.Dreary winter days become filled with sunshine when one is working amongst these little ones and their enthusiasm and love of life touches me to the core.

The month of October was perfect,bright and sunny Autumn days which allowed us to spend time outdoors. The children enjoyed the  Autumn “clean up”, raking and gathering leaves to compost,clearing the veg patch and planting winter beans.We had many lovely walks and gathered leaves from the beech,sycamore,ash and birch ..we will press these and make pictures.They have much fun identifying the leaves and plants we find.We filled the bird feeders and almost immediately the great tits and blue tits arrived in the garden.I opened the door to allow the children to listen to their songs…the “silence game”!A number of years ago, I discovered a series of toy song birds in the botanic garden shop and they are much loved by the children.From listening to each of these birds and allowing them to listen to each bird in isolation,they are able to recognise the songs of the different birds…great tit,blue tit,robin,chaffinch,sparrow,thrush.We take the birds on the walks and use the “toys”to call the birds…   a fun game and at same time developing listening and observing skills.There was great excitement putting up Halloween decorations,scooping out the pumpkin and making masks.We all made a barn brack and  put a ring in it before baking. On Friday,we had our fancy dress party and played the traditional games and then all took a slice of brack home! We have mid-term now and back next week to Winter..lets hope we wont be banished indoors and we can enjoy crisp winter days!!

We are now into middle of October and still enjoying many delightful days. The children are excited and enthused by all around them and we are making the most of the the great outdoors.Spiders webs,snails ,worms and tiny beetles are examined  daily and they can spot the tiniest creature that I, as an adult fail to see.There was great excitement last week when Zav found a beautiful ladybird and just as we were going to place him on a rose bush to eat the greenfly, he opened his wings and flew away.From this simple observation I could tell the children that he belonged to the insect family,  had 2 pairs of wings which were” invisible”(transparent ) as it had come as a surprise to them when he flew off.The following day I introduced them to the life cycle of the ladybird…its wonderful when class material can be related to the real world!Earlier in October we picked the pears , huge crop and collected herbs to dry. We planted irises and tulips,racked up leaves and put the dead flowers in the compost.On Friday, we had a look in the veg beds to see what was left. There was genuine disappointment on finding that the caterpillars had vanished after gorging on the broccoli!We visit the horses, Ruby and Scobi most days..they are so friendly and enjoy the carrots and apples we bring them. This gives me an opportunity to name parts of the horse(a jigsaw and cards in school correspond to this lesson)The children have settled well and new work is being introduced on daily basis.It was Tadhg s birthday yesterday so we had a little party for him and then did  his story as he walked with planet earth around the sun 4 times!Some of the children have started the movable alphabet and really enjoying new challenges.The lessons on Grace and Courtesy are evident throughout the morning now as they work and it always lifts me when I see an older child help a younger one with something difficult .Today Zav saw that Ellie Rose was finding it hard to put on her slippers and he immediately came to her aid!

Autumn has truly arrived with a mixed bag of weather.We take advantage of any dry day and spend time outdoors. I feel it is very important for these little people to mingle and play together in the garden at this stage. A morning inside doing work and getting used to the way a Montessori class operates can be quite tiring in the beginning so fresh air always helps.The children are now working well at the practical life activities and starting to complete a cycle of work.Polishing ,grating egg shells,washing tables and dusters are all very popular and its great to see them settle and start and finish their work.Its also interesting to see them make friends and form their little groups.On Friday we spent most of the morning outside and all enjoyed a game of ball. I can already see potential future footballers in Zav and Aaron who happily kicked ball together for a long time.Its wonderful to observe the children play together now making their rules and all having fun.Earlier in the week we had a picnic down the field  and said “goodbye “to 2 lone swallows.We collected more caterpillars as well as some spiders which we examined with magnifying glass and have put in 2 seperate jars with food(lettuce leaves for caterpillar and dead flies for spider)Lugh,Tadhg and Orlaith are besotted with these tiny invertebrates and are bringing home caterpillars on a daily basis. I love to see the way they care and respect the tiniest creature and gives one have faith in our future generation.

To day, as we were about to take a walk down the field,I glanced into the vegetable garden and a nibbled cabbage leaf caught my eye. I decided that we had better investigate and see what was happening. Sure enough, the cabbages were covered by 1000 s of caterpillars!!Gathering the children around,I introduced them to the caterpillars. Their curiosity and amazement was aroused and so I picked leaves so all could examine them.This will allow me to introduce the life cycle of the butterfly  next week in classroom with materials that I have in the class.Meanwhile, caterpillars went to new homes and I have a busy weekend clearing veg patch!!

It s back to school with a class of eager and active little children.I am delighted to welcome back Lugh  and Zav  as chief helpers and Sheena and Lara as assistant helpers!Our first few days have seen some tears (mums included)but all have now settled and happy to be a part of their new school.We have been blessed with an Indian summer and are taking advantage of the good weather by spending time in the garden.Wednesday was glorious and we picked lavender for our pillows to give sweet dreams and sweet pea as a present for the mums!Apples were gathered from the orchard,tasted and voted delicious!  I showed the children the swallows nests in the stable.As we walked down to the meadow I told them all about these wonderful little birds ,how they flew over from Africa in April,came back to their old nest,had their chicks and dined on insects  all summer long!I pointed out the signs of the changing season,leaves turning brown on sycamore,ash and beech  and  the blackberries ripening. In the next few weeks we will also take a walk to bid goodbye to the swallows as they set of on their return journey to Africa.

The children were so happy to run and play in the field and hopefully we will enjoy many more walks this Autumn.