After a very cold and windy January and February, March has arrived like a lamb! The children delight in the new joys of nature awakening and are awed by the new miracles of life that greet them daily. This morning we listened to thrush, great tit and little sparrow whilst robin sang right beside us.

Daffodils and crocuses are peeping through the cold soil, and buds are opening on the trees. We are eagerly awaiting the return of the swallow. Today, we had a lovely walk down the field, and the children loved running freely. Simple things are fun.

We are exploring the continents, and Africa was our first continent. As always, the children have chosen a favourite animal to do a project on. They are becoming so confident in delivering their projects to the class, and it’s a joy to watch these little children share their knowledge with their peers!

Next week we move to Australia!

It has been a long time since we have had a cold and frosty January! But last week, we experienced Winter as it should be!! Our garden birds crowded to the bird feeders and the children quickly got to see and observe them as they fed. They watched in awe as 2 blackbirds rummaged through old leaves for bugs and robins, chaffinches and tits took turns queuing on the feeders.

The bird-matching cards now became a favorite and so we decided to kick start the new term with a garden bird project. Each child picked a bird and I look forward to these new projects!

Last term we did projects on our Irish animals followed by Birds of Prey. Through the project work, the children grow in confidence and independence as they stand up and deliver their project to their classmates!! It is amazing to see a small child of 3,4 or 5 engage and proudly talk about their animal to their peers!!I look forward to hearing all about our garden bird shortly.

Today was a much warmer day so we went for a nature walk. We looked at the different trees, still sleeping, but learned to identify them by their buds..We have Ash, Beech, and Sycamore so the children enjoyed this activity and again this called to their observation skills. We talked about the hedgerow and all the little animals that have homes there even the little field mouse. Kitty told us that her mummy doesn’t like mice so that prompted me to teach the poem “I Think Mice are rather Nice”!

It’s hard to believe but a month has passed since this new school year began! The children have settled in very well enjoying these early days in the outdoor environment. It’s wonderful to have River, Kitty, Maeve, Afrin, Florence, and Sage back as our chief helpers in the morning class, and Bobby and Ella in the afternoon class! The older children take their responsibilities very seriously by helping the younger new children in all sorts of ways!!!

Early days in the Montessori environment are based mainly on our little exercises of Grace and Courtesy, and learning simple indoor and outdoor environment rules. The children quickly understand that everything in the room has a place and must be returned to its place; in this way, the order is established in the room!! Miss Mary or Miss Rebecca must demonstrate an exercise before a child uses it thus showing a child the correct use of an exercise. The children very quickly begin to understand the way our room works. On Thursday, the parents will come into an evening of Montessori education for Mums and Dads!~

The days are lovely and we are enjoying collecting blackberries, watching the leaves fall, and finding caterpillars eating the cabbages!! There is so much to learn outdoors and sharing nature with the children right now is a great joy! Everything is exciting, EVERY DAY IS THE START OF A NEW ADVENTURE and life is wonderful when you are 2,3,4 and 5!!!!

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.