Our school year is off to a great start! We are pleased to welcome new families to all of our programs this year. The teachers and children have enjoyed greeting children who are returning to their classrooms for a second year or transitioning from Bambini to the Toddler House or from the Toddler House to the Children’s House. The children are learning the routines of the classrooms and new friendships are forming. We invite all families to join us for Curriculum Night this evening from 6:30-7:30pm. This is an opportunity to meet with your child’s teachers to learn more about the Montessori curriculum and the units of study for the year in each classroom. We hope that you will regularly visit the Winfield Children’s House blog this year. We will post information and photographs about school events and link to articles from other websites that may be of interest to families. We welcome your feedback!  ...

Each June, Winfield Children’s House transforms the playgrounds for Arts Festival. This year, we welcomed children and their family members to dance, paint, drum, make clay pots and more on the morning of Friday, June 6. The playground was full of art making stations as well as a snack area and face painting table staffed by wonderful parent volunteers. This event could not happen without the good will of area artist, who donate their time to demonstrate art making techniques to the children. This year, our guest artists included potters, dancers, painters and a children’s book author. A special feature of this year’s Arts Festival was the chance to move our bodies creatively on a Story Walk(tm). We set up the Story Walk(tm) of Cathryn Falwell’s book Scoot! on the Toddler Playground. It was fun for the children to read each page of the story on a sturdy poster board and try out the movements of the animals to get to the next page. We were able to borrow this Story Walk from Maine’s 5210 Let’s Go! program, which offers programs to prevent childhood obesity across the state. Here are some favorite photos of the Arts...

  Last week, the Parenting for Peace group at the Friends School of Portland hosted an evening lecture entitled “In the Moment: Mindfulness for Families and Educators.” The event was held at the University of Southern Maine. It featured Kathryn Brynes and Irene McHenry. Brynes is a professor of education at Bowdoin College. McHenry is Director of the Friends Council of Education, in Philadelphia. What role does mindfulness play in raising children? There is a growing body of research suggesting that family members and caregivers who engage in mindful practices feel more satisfaction and less stress. The speakers gave examples of mindfulness in practice and encouragement to parents and educators to explore this area of self-awareness. Many educators and parents are beginning to teach the skills of mindfulness to the next generation. Susan Kaiser Greenland is one such educator. She is the founder of the Inner Kids Foundation and author of The Mindful Child. Here is a link to a TED talk by Susan Kaiser Greenland entitled ‘Teaching the ABCs of Attention, Balance and Compassion.”  Hope you enjoy this reference and have a safe and happy holiday...

  It’s that time of the year where children are becoming more active and energized. With that comes testing the boundaries of appropriate behavior. Parents ask us a lot of questions about how to approach setting limits with toddlers and preschoolers. A popular phrase in the Montessori world is “follow the child.” This may give the impression that “anything goes,” which is far from the reality. In the classroom, we are regularly setting limits and following through to help children understand and respect limits around safety, gentleness and kindness. Last year, we posted a link to Elevating Child Care, a blog about caring for young children with respect. The blog is written by Janet Lansbury, a parenting educator in California. A frequent topic on the blog is setting limits. Ms. Lansbury has a new podcast where you can here more about the topic of setting limits and hear some examples of using this approach this with young children. Here is the link to the podcast: http://www.janetlansbury.com/2014/04/setting-limits-with-respect-what-it-sounds-like-podcast/ Happy listening and Happy Mother’s...

  A tradition at Winfield Children’s House is to hold a May Pole Dance and celebration on May Day. This year, we held our May Pole Dance on Friday, May 2. A local dance instructor brings a beautiful May Pole and a sound system for playing traditional English and Irish music. She teaches the dance to each primary classroom. The children from the Bambini and Toddler programs come to play musical instruments and watch the preschoolers and Kindergarteners perform the dance to wind the ribbons around the pole. This is a wonderful way to celebrate the season and build community at our...