Feeding Your Preschooler: What’s a Normal Daily Menu?

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“My child isn’t eating,” is a common statement from parents of three-year-olds. At the end of a school day, parents are often surprised that the lunch they so lovingly prepared is barely touched. When teachers are asked, they often say they encouraged the child to eat but the chip simply was not hungry. So, what’s a parent to do?

One thing to consider is the amount of water the child has consumed during the day. Water is readily available in the classroom and on the playground. Children are encouraged especially on hot days to drink a lot of water to prevent dehydration. This high water consumption keeps them hydrated but also decreases their appetite.

Another factor in food intake can be distraction. During the third year of life, preschoolers are very active and mobile. Often at lunchtime, they are socializing with their friends, looking around the room – seemingly focusing on everything except eating.

Their appetite also begins to fluctuate greatly. Sometimes they get stuck on one food. These “only eating chicken nuggets” moments usually don’t last long if you don’t accommodate them. We recommend that you continue to serve a wide variety of nutritious foods.

A healthy child is most important. Speak with your child’s teacher about what foods are successful with other children. Many children like items that are easy to manage: finger foods, enriched drinks, and yogurts, for example. If you are concerned about your child’s eating habits, please contact your pediatrician.

Super Kids Nutrition, a nutrition education and healthy eating website for parents and kids, offers this Sample Daily Menu for the average Three-Year-Old child. This menu provides a good understanding of basic needs – often smaller in size than parents expect, though rich in nutrients – within the framework of your particular family’s preferences and appetites.

101 Things Parents Can Do To Help Children

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Parents often wonder what they can do to reinforce Montessori principles in their home and daily routines. This list, 101 Things Parents Can Do To Help Children, was written by Early Childhood Montessori Guide Barbara Hacker, and is full of practical tips for all facets of life.

101 Things Parents Can Do To Help Children

How Do Students Do After Montessori?

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One of the questions we are most frequently asked when families are touring our school is, “How do the students do once they leave Montessori?” A recent research study by AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) reveals that Montessori students who transition to traditional settings score higher in Mathematics and Science than students with no Montessori background. For students who have attended a Montessori program for three to eleven years, significantly higher scores are noted.

If you have further questions regarding our students’ performance, please reach out to us.

What does that mean?

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Planes of Development. Normalization. Cosmic education.

If you’ve ever heard these terms in your child’s Montessori classroom, you might be curious about their meaning. The American Montessori Society has posted a Terminology glossary on their website that’s extremely helpful in clarifying some of the names and phrases particular to the Montessori environment. Understanding these terms provides a deeper understanding of the classroom culture and work cycle, which in turn equips you to effectively engage your child in conversation about his day.

Parent Education: Practical Life – Part 3 (Conclusion)

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One important aspect of the Practical Life environment is that all the materials used are real life objects. Maria Montessori was a great believer in the “reality” principle – objects and tasks should reflect real life, with instruments adapted to a child’s size and potentiality. The Practical Life activities are naturally interesting exercises for the child since they are activities he/she seen grown-ups do. The sequencing for Practical Life begins with scooping and spooning, rolling and folding, twisting, squeezing, grasping and controlling, stringing and lacing, pounding and pushing, care of the self, care of the environment, grace and courtesy, and ending with food preparation. Materials are sequenced according to the following progressions: using hands to using tools, large to small, left to right, top to bottom, gross motor to fine motor, no transfer to transfer, two handed to one handed to two handed in opposition, size and shape of medium used, dry materials to liquid, simple activities to complex, few materials to many, short activities to long, skills in isolation to skills in combinations.

Children benefit from all aspects of the Practical Life environment. They learn the direct aims of independence, concentration, coordination, and order, as well as the indirect aims of the actual skills being practiced. Practical Life is the foundation of the Montessori classroom and enables the child to become a well-adjusted individual.

Earlier posts in this series:

Parent Education: Practical Life – Part 1 (Introduction and Exercises)

Parent Education: Practical Life – Part 2 (How the Skills Developed in Practical Life Benefit Other Curriculum Areas)

Parent Education: Practical Life – Part 2 (How the Skills Developed in Practical Life Benefit Other Curriculum Areas)

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Today, we continue our series exploring the Practical Life area of the Montessori classroom, focusing in this post on the ways in which Practical Life skills benefit other curriculum areas.

Many of the exercises in the Practical Life area are preparation exercises for Sensorial works. The exercises help to fine tune the development of the child’s senses. Many uses of the five senses occur in the Practical Life area: sound, sight, and touch are used in equipment-based activities, such as bean scooping; smelling and tasting are involved in the preparation of food.

Practical Life not only develops the child’s senses and teaches real life skills, but also sets the basic foundation for other areas to come. For example, understanding size, weight, and equal distribution are skills which are vital when the child is introduced to the Math are of the classroom. Perhaps most significant is the development of the pincer grip, which allows the child to correctly grip a pencil and begin working in the Language area.

Next Wednesday: The Conclusion of Our Exploration of the Practical Life Area

Other posts in this series:

Parent Education: Practical Life – Part 1 (Introduction and Exercises)

Parent Education: Practical Life – Part 3 (Conclusion)

Parent Education: Practical Life – Part 1 (Introduction and Exercises)

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Today, we begin a new series exploring the Practical Life area of the Montessori classroom.

In a Montessori classroom, the Practical Life area is one of the first areas that a child explores. This section of the classroom provides the child with real-life materials that help to develop coordination, concentration, independence, and order.

Through the exercises of Practical Life, the child learns the skills that enable him to become an independent being. From birth, the child is striving for independence and concerned adults, parents and teachers, should help him on his path by showing him the skills he needs to achieve this end. Having been shown a skill, the child then needs freedom to practice and perfect. In a Montessori classroom, preschool children learn basic motor skills in the Practical Life area by teaching themselves and learning from other children rather than by specific adult instruction. As the child becomes absorbed in an interesting activity, he develops concentration. If the activity is appropriate and meets a need, it will be interesting for the child. The longer the child is absorbed by an activity the better for the development of concentration. Through activity, the child learns to control his movements. The idea that the path to intellectual development occurs through the hands is a major theme in the Montessori Method. The exercises of Practical Life provide opportunities for the development of both gross motor and fine motor movements. In addition, the child learns to keep the environment in a clean and ordered way, putting everything away in its right place. He is taught to approach each new task in an ordered way, to carry it out carefully, to complete the activity, and finally, how to clean up and put the materials away. Engaging in this complete process encourages logical thinking.

Next Wednesday: How the Skills Developed in Practical Life Benefit Other Curriculum Areas

Other posts in this series:

Parent Education: Practical Life – Part 2 (How the Skills Developed in Practical Life Benefit Other Curriculum Areas)

Parent Education: Practical Life – Part 3 (Conclusion)

Rethinking Your Space This Summer

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Summer is here! During the break is the perfect time to rethink your space and offer more opportunities for your primary- and pre-primary-aged children to become self-sufficient. The Montessori Foundation has ideas that can be implemented throughout the house, giving children a sense of accomplishment in their care of self and their surroundings.

The Montessori “Solar System”

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Have you ever wondered how Montessori theories translate to the classroom experience? This Montessori “Solar System” graphic, created by Mark Powell and shared by Trevor Eissler on the Montessori Madmen blog, gives a great overview of how Montessori principles work together in the day-to-day classroom.

Montessori Madmen

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Trevor Eissler is a professional pilot, Montessori dad, and the author of Montessori Madness! A Parent to Parent Argument for Montessori Education, as well as several books for children. He is part of a group of (mostly) fathers who call themselves the Montessori Madmen – advocates for Montessori education.

We’re an impatient, ragtag group of dads and advocates from around the world, united by a common zeal to bring the Montessori method to millions more. Our mission is simple: to advocate for Montessori education so that one day it’s not called Montessori school; it’s just called school.
– Montessori Madmen

Trevor and his team have put together a vast library of resources to help equip and inform parents, including articles, research, and videos. Explore the Montessori Madmen site to learn more.