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With the holidays rapidly approaching, the kids will be out of school for a few weeks and will likely be full of excitement and energy. Though they’re on a break from school, you can make sure your children continue learning at home.  

Becky Meyerson, Executive Director at St. Christopher’s Montessori School, has suggested several sensory activities and craft ideas from resources found around your house, designed to engage the senses and keep your child’s brain working throughout the holidays at home. 

Catalog/Junk Mail Snowflakes
Paper snowflakes have been around forever, but that doesn’t mean they’re not still a fun winter project for kids. For a colorful, new take on paper snowflakes, use pages from all those catalogs and junk mail circulars you’ve received this year — with the added bonus of tidying up your home! Since no two snowflakes are alike, encourage kids to be creative with their project and see how many original designs they can make. Be sure to protect little fingers by using safety scissors.

Homemade Colored & Scented Sensory Rice
An affordable and easy way to combine the senses of smell, sight and touch into one fun activity is to create Sensory Rice. Simply combine uncooked rice, rubbing alcohol and frosting creation powder (found at the grocery store to color and flavor white frosting) to create bins of rice — each will have a unique color and scent. Use flavors like gingerbread and peppermint to give this project a holiday theme.

Snow Playdough
Playdough is an old favorite for children, but give it a twist by making homemade “snow playdough.”  Kids love the ooey gooey feeling of playdough for its sensory properties. To make snow playdough, just follow this simple homemade playdough recipe (found here), but don’t add the food coloring. Instead, add in silver glitter to the mixture for sparkle. 

Hide & Seek in Packing Peanuts
Holiday shopping is likely to fill your home with boxes of packing peanuts and bubble wrap. Put them to use with a fun sensory play opportunity for your child. Fill a box with packing peanuts, and then hide various toys and objects within the box. Make a list of each item, then have your child search for items using only their hands. Kids must discriminate between the Styrofoam packing peanuts and objects you’ve added to correctly identify each item on the list. 

M&M Wreath
Have children create a holiday-themed wreath made out of M&Ms. Purchase Christmas-colored M&Ms and have children separate them into bowls of red and green. Print off a wreath template (find it here) where kids will place M&Ms on the designated red and green spaces. 

Montessori schools rely on fun, hands-on activities like these during the school year to keep children engaged and learning. If you're interested in learning more about Montessori, call St. Christopher's Montessori School at 214-736-3830. You can visit the school online at www.stchristophersmontessori.com.

St. Christopher’s Montessori School
7900 Lovers Lane
Dallas, TX 75225
Southwest corner of Lovers Lane & Central Expressway

Phone: 214-736-3830

www.stchristophersmontessori.com

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Summer is a challenging time for parents and their young children. Children no longer have the structure of the weekly pre-school day, which can leave them restless and bored.

Fortunately, parents can take some simple steps to keep their children active and engaged during the summer. It's all about finding the right activities.

Becky Meyerson, Executive Director of St. Christopher's Montessori School in the Park Cities, says that children need to be physical every day. Active play will keep both their bodies and minds active, and will prepare them for the start of the school year in the fall.

"The more children are active, the more engaged they will be," Meyerson said. "Engaged and happy children will make the summer more enjoyable for everyone - children and their parents."

Meyerson shares her list of top five summer activities for young children.

  1. Garden: Parents don't need to be experienced gardeners or own a large plot of land to teach their children the basics of growing vegetables, fruit and flowers. Meyerson recommends that parents and children work together to grow tomatoes, squash and carrots in containers or small back yard gardens. Children will enjoy watering and harvesting their produce.

  2. Cooking time: Meals offer a daily opportunity for parents and children to work together. Meyerson recommends that adults teach children how to measure ingredients and mix them together. Children should also help with the cleaning-up process. This may seem like work to adults, but children will enjoy dipping dishes in soapy water and scrubbing them clean. Cooking is also a good way to inspire children to try new foods.

  3. Paint: Children can exercise their imagination by painting in just about any medium, from watercolors to sidewalk paint. Young children will enjoy taking a bucket of water and a paintbrush outside to "paint" their home's sidewalks, driveways and patios.

  4. Play dates with a purpose: Take some short trips with learning lessons added to them such as a local farmer's market, where you can teach children how to identify fresh fruit. The Dallas Zoo’s new Koala Bear is a kid fan favorite. A local park offers a fun place to hold an impromptu scavenger hunt. Instruct your children to find a woman wearing a hat, a man walking a dog or a teen on a skateboard.

  5. Science fun: Parents can teach their children the basics of science while disguising these lessons as fun. Parents and children can make a baking soda volcano, create invisible ink or tour their house with magnets to see which appliances and toys are magnetic. In addition, the Museum of Nature & Science in Fair Park has many fun – and air-conditioned – activities for young children all summer long.

Montessori schools rely on fun activities like these during the school year to keep children engaged and learning. If you're interested in learning more about Montessori, call St. Christopher's Montessori School at 214-363-9391. You can visit the school online at http://www.stchristophersmontessori.com/.

St. Christopher’s Montessori School
7900 Lovers Lane
Dallas, TX 75225
Southwest corner of Lovers Lane & Central Expressway

Phone: 214-363-9391

www.stchristophersmontessori.com

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St. Christopher’s Montessori School invites Park Cities children to enjoy a summer of discovery and fun as we explore the exciting wonders of the jungle, sea and rainforest. Set within the context of a traditional Montessori environment, our summer camp, Jungle! Under the Sea! And Rainforest!, will cultivate children’s development while opening their hearts and minds to the joy of learning. St. Christopher’s Montessori Summer Camp offers a warm supportive environment for children to thrive as active participants in their own interpersonal, educational and social development. With hands-on experience, exploration and investigation, your child’s eyes will be open to the love of learning.

In keeping with the multi-year approach of the Montessori education, our summer camp allows children to experience a sense of community while developing close relationships with the teachers, creating a strong sense of comfort in the environment and instilling confidence and communication at an early age.

Children will enjoy hands-on “cooking” projects that include making ice cream, pancakes, cookies, stone soup and many other delightful surprises. The children will enjoy special thematic movie presentations including The Jungle Book, The Lion King, Finding Nemo, FernGully and Rio. Download our Summer 2012 Activity Calendars for more details!

Enroll in SCMS Montessori Summer Camp Today!

Enroll today to ensure your child’s participation in this wonderful summer of exploration and discovery of our planets most exotic wonders!

June, July & August 2012 

SCMS Montessori Summer School hours are Monday through Friday 9:00 AM to Noon or 3:30 PM with several affordable daycare options available. Enrollment is available for current SCMS students and non-SCMS students. 

Camp Dates

June 4: First day of summer camp

July 4: Closed in observance of Independence Day

August 28: Last day of summer camp

St. Christopher’s Montessori School
7900 Lovers Lane
Dallas, TX 75225
Southwest corner of Lovers Lane & Central Expressway

Phone: 214-363-9391

www.stchristophersmontessori.com

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Montessori education is characterized by an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural psychological development.

Joyful learning at a young age will allow your child to take that joy and confidence with them to each successive academic level.

In a Montessori environment your child will enjoy their learning experience because they chose the area of study they do for that day. The teacher observes each child’s interests and develops lesson plans to capitalize on their student’s developmental periods. It’s when that process of observation, lesson planning, and implementation occurs, your child progresses faster, joyfully, minus any stress from the learning process.

For the past thirty years I have witnessed Dr. Montessori’s method work time and again for so many different types of children regardless of the child’s learning style. The question to ask is ‘why’ does this method of instruction work so well for so many?  

The key to this amazing success is that this method of education adjusts to the needs of the child, not the needs of the environment. This means that your child’s learning style, temperament, and developmental or sensitive periods, are honored within a Montessori classroom. Your child will be drawn to the various academic areas of the classroom based upon their interests.

Choosing an exceptional preschool for your child is one of the first and most impactful academic decisions you can make on your child’s behalf. Choose well and your child’s academic future gets an amazing leg up.  

St. Christopher's Montessori School
7900 Lovers Lane
Dallas, TX 75225
(southwest corner of Lovers Lane and Central Expressway)

214.363.9391

http://www.stchristophersmontessori.com

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The preschool years set your child’s foundation for learning and development. As a parent you want your child to love learning as they develop the fundamentals to succeed in school.

The preschool age child loves to play, explore and engage in physical activity. At St. Christopher’s Montessori School a child will be able to explore their imagination and creativity as they learn.

According to Dr. Montessori, children experience sensitive periods of learning.  Sensitive periods are times that spontaneously manifest during a child’s early years where learning is most easily accomplished. There are periods where reading, writing, math, and science literally rush to the forefront of your child’s awareness. When that happens your child will want to focus on whichever period is in play at the time. 

This is the very reason you want your child to be in an environment that is designed to assist them as they experience these sensitive periods of learning. Children can go farther academically and stress free when their learning patterns are honored.

After age six learning is a conscious effort, which is why having your child in an exceptional preschool is so critical to their future academic success.

At St. Christopher’s, our certified Montessori teachers honor the natural learning patterns of a child with hands-on experience, exploration and investigation. If you want your child to have a positive experience to early learning, call to schedule a visit to learn more.

  • 2012-2013 Fall enrollment begins Wednesday, February 1, 2012
  • 2012 Summer Camp enrollment begins Wednesday, February 1, 2010

St. Christopher's Montessori School
7900 Lovers Lane
Dallas, TX 75225
(southwest corner of Lovers Lane and Central Expressway)

214.363.9391

http://www.stchristophersmontessori.com