Owl Kids Daycare Program

Child-Centered

In their early years, children are very curious and want to explore their environment. That’s why I offer a large variety of natural materials, Montessori materials, toys and games. Most of these things the children can explore with multiple senses. Providing the children with diverse experiences deepens their understanding in ways that they enjoy.
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Furthermore, the large variety of material enables the children to choose, which allows them to follow their natural desire to learn. This gives them self-esteem. I respect that they learn at their own pace. I will not interrupt unless it is absolutely necessary.
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When their natural energy is channeled into purposeful activities, it inspires concentration, perseverance, responsibility, self-esteem, and self-control, giving them inner satisfaction and inner joy! A satisfied child with this kind of inner joy will be very sociable.

Nature-Based

I am a strong advocate for being outdoors. I grew up on a farm and helped my parents a lot, which I think caused an “I-always-want-to-be-outside-effect” for me 😊!

“. . . there is no description, no image in any book capable of replacing the sight of real trees, and the life to be found around them in a real forest” – Maria Montessori, "From Childhood to Adolescence"

Being outdoors brings joy, teaches many life skills, as well as fostering the immune system and overall health.



Showing kids how to experience nature with all their senses has always been really valuable to me. A great quote from Maria Montessori which puts this very well is:

“The training and sharpening of the senses has the obvious advantage of enlarging the field of perception and of offering an ever more solid foundation for intellectual growth. The intellect builds up its store of practical ideas through contact with, and exploration of its environment. Without such concepts the intellect would lack precision and inspiration in its abstract operations.” – Maria Montessori, "The Discovery of the Child"

Have you ever smelled, heard, felt, and watched the forest closely, with all its life, from plants to animals?

Have you ever taken a “forest bath”?

Walking through the forest, smelling the difference in the seasons, smelling moss, pine needles, and broad leaves; hearing the birds, the wind, the trees in the wind, other animals like frogs, and sounds of bugs; feeling the bark of the trees, moss, and the forest ground; watching the birds, the bugs, and looking into the forest from different perspectives; tasting berries that can also be found in the wild, and doing nature-experience-games in the forest.

Some of the other forest activities we will do are

• Learn how to carve (removing bark for walking sticks, claves etc.), saw, hammer, and file.

• Show and tell: show found treasures from forest and tell.

• Learning to just be quiet and enjoy listening to the sounds of nature.

• Telling and listening to stories in the forest.

• Building shelters and other creative things out of sticks in the forest.

All this gives children happiness and joy: it will strengthen them, their mental and physical health, and give them a deep connection with nature! When children experience this deep connection, they will become open to exploring, discovering, and learning more about nature, and they will also want to protect nature!

Of course, sometimes the children can just run and play and enjoy being outdoors. I really like how Maria Montessori put it:

"Let the children be free; encourage them; let them run outside when it is raining; let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water; and when the grass of the meadows is wet with dew, let them run on it and trample it with their bare feet; let them rest peacefully when a tree invites them to sleep beneath its shade; let them shout and laugh when the sun wakes them in the morning." – Maria Montessori ,“The Discovery of the Child”

Staying connected with nature in such a way is so important because it can help a person stay grounded, especially in stressful times; helping children develop such a connection and appreciation early on then, will benefit them their entire life.

Other Ways we will Enjoy Being Outdoors

• “Das Waldhäuschen” (German for The Little Forest House), a playhouse in our yard, can transform into differently-named huts and invites the kids to play games like offering mud-leaf-flower-stone-pretend-meals 😊 in the “Forest Restaurant Hut” or playing scientists in the “Science Hut,” where we will bring all the treasures we found outside and determine, examine, and admire them closely with tweezers and magnifying glasses. The children can enjoy doing arts and crafts in the “Arts Hut,” which offers a different experience than doing it indoors; it will bring inspiration to another level!
• The sand pile we have will provide the children lots of creative opportunities with shovels, construction toys, toy trucks, and tractors, etc. They can also create zoos, farms, towns, rivers and mountains as their imaginations guide them.
• We have a gazebo and will eat outside as often as we can. Sometimes we will enjoy picnics in the forest or eat in the playhouse.

Montessori & Indoor Activity

Although I love to be outdoors, the reality of the weather here in Alberta will draw us indoors at times. Coming from Germany, I quickly realized that Alberta has a very looong, cold winter and that you can’t stay outside very long when the temperature drops so far. Even during the summer, the mosquitoes and/or the heat can make you want to stay indoors at times!

The good news is that we have much to enjoy indoors too:

Maria Montessori created many beautiful Materials by observing what children like, and I couldn’t resist purchasing lots of them for this program. Some examples of these materials include:

• Fine Motor & life skills: The Montessori Dressing Frame. Most Montessori materials will foster fine motor skills. Learning these skills is a crucial part of a child’s development.

• Math Materials: sandpaper numerals, wooden card numbers, the numbered spindle box, wooden number rods, geometric wooden solids, bead bars, Knobbed Cylinder Blocks, the Brown Stairs, and the Pink Tower.

• Language Arts: sandpaper letters and movable wooden letters with a lined mat.

• Music: Montessori Bells, Sound Boxes.

• Art: Montessori Color Tablets.

Montessori materials are designed to be beautiful and appealing to children, which motivates them to use and engage with the materials. Then something happens which Maria Montessori described in her book, The Discovery of the Child:

“At some given moment it happens that the child becomes deeply interested in a piece of work; we see it in the expression on his face, his intense concentration, the devotion to the exercise.”  – Maria Montessori, "The Discovery of the Child"

I admire Maria Montessori because she used the scientific observation and experience she gained while studying children’s behavior, to design unique learning materials and for creating the so-called Montessori Method. Montessori herself said that she did not invent the method, but that she had taken what the children had given her, expressed it, and that this is what is called the Montessori Method.

I use the Montessori Method indoors and outdoors because it makes the children confident and happy!

My two other favorite Montessori quotes that fit here:

“Help me to do it myself”

and

“The instructions of the teacher consist then merely in a hint, a touch—enough to give a start to the child. The rest develops of itself.” – Maria Montessori, "Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook"

Showing children how to do things correctly the first time and then interfering as little as possible after, gives them the capability to do it themselves “Montessori materials have an inbuilt ‘control of error’ which is central to their design. It is easy for the child to see what he/she ought to do and to see his/her mistakes. Her/his natural reaction is always to do it right next time” Clare Healy Walls, "Montessori in a Nutshell",  . Figuring out how to do things themselves sharpens their concentration and perseverance and gives them self-esteem. The result of this is the development of inner discipline.

Early Literacy and Numeracy

Montessori Methods are perfect for your children to experience letters and numbers! For instance, when children feel, smell, see, and hear an apple (by crunching or rolling), those experiences will deepen their understanding of the apple. Later, they can transfer that meaning into related and previously unknown ideas, such as the letter “A”. Further experiences with this abstract concept will help the children both recall it and make sense of it.

Examples using the letter "A"

• Touching the letter “A” made of sandpaper, first with open eyes, then with closed eyes.

• Forming an “A” with clay or dough.

• Drawing it with a finger into sand.

• Feeling the letter “A” as someone else “draws” the letter with the finger on their back.

• Tracing the letter with crayons.

• Writing it on paper.

• Listening to other words starting with an “A”.

• Doing crafts with the letter “A” (ergo seeing it in beautiful, created ways).

All of these plant the letter “A” deeply in your child’s brain.

Another smart quote from Maria Montessori fits here:

“Movement of the hand is essential. Little children revealed that the development of the mind is stimulated by the movement of the hands. The hand is the instrument of the intelligence. The child needs to manipulate objects and to gain experience by touching and handling. - Maria Montessori, The 1946 London Lectures

Books

I love books and have collected more than 400 books over time for children aged 3 to 6, and I am still adding to this collection! Books are fun! Through books, children become intelligent and witty. Books improve communication and vocabulary, and the little ones love to flip through the pages; even if they don’t understand the language, the illustrations attract them.

We will play phonetic games to help the children recognize the letters in words and to develop phonetic awareness which is essential for reading and writing.

German

I will also be teaching some German through songs, movements, pictures, and actions (there are many benefits to being introduced to a different language early). I can’t wait to do so, since I grew up with German children’s songs, finger rhymes, and movement songs. I went with my twin sons to a “Musikgarten” in Germany which is an early introduction to music, poems, and percussion instruments. I still have those books and will use these techniques in my program.

Sign Language

Doing some sign language occasionally will be fun. This allows the children to express themselves on another level. Sometimes it is easier for them to show their feelings instead of talking about them, and when they meet a person who is deaf, they are not perplexed, but can figure out how to communicate with them.

Geography

I have maps, puzzle maps, globes, and realistic plastic ocean animals and other animals from around the world.

We will do arts and crafts, baking, cooking, learning sentences in different languages, and learning about different countries and cultures.

Percussion Instruments:

Children love percussion instruments, and I have many kinds of them! Playing percussion instruments in the context of songs, stories, and musical games will be fun; with this, an awareness of rhythm, phrasing, tempo, and other elements of musicality will be developed. In addition, social skills will develop, like participation in a group and taking turns.

Dancing:

Dancing will be a part of both indoor and outdoor activities.

Classical Music:

I am a great fan of classical music. We will listen to classical music and learn about orchestral instruments. We will have themes like Saint-Saëns' “Carnival of the Animals”, Sergei Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf”, Antonio Vivaldi's “Four Seasons,” other compositions of Vivaldi, and other composers. We will do shadow games and arts within those themes. Listening to classical music also has a positive effect on brain development.

Other Language through Music:

Like I already mentioned, we will also sing some German children’s songs, and do finger rhymes and movement songs, as this is a great way to get to know another language.

Montessori Bells:

I will also be using Montessori bells, which can allow the children to develop their ability to discriminate different pitches (notes).

When children copy the real world, they learn to understand and make sense of it. Role play improves creativity, social awareness, language, and it’s fun for them!

Examples of Role Play

• I have a great collection of Duplo Lego themes, like the airport, police, fire fighters, auto shop, dinosaurs, zoo, construction work, knights, and trains with bridges and tracks.  While playing, they can become a zookeeper, a pilot, a nurse, a construction worker etc.

• I have two realistic-looking baby dolls, clothes for them, other needs for babies, and a toy kitchen area so children can play parents and managing a household.

• They can also play school with the chalkboard and other school materials I have.

• With realistic farming equipment toys and animals plus a little barn, the children can become a farming family.

• With my doctor’s play kit, the children can turn into a nurse, a physician and a patient.

• With addition of other materials, the children’s imaginations can allow them to pretend being whoever and whatever they want.

I have a magnetic chalkboard, which animates the children to draw and write.

Doing art and crafts with scissors, glue, paint, brushes, paper, pearls, and shells is a great way for children to express their creativity and ideas.

Nature Crafts

Even when inside, we will use natural materials for doing nature arts, like twigs, leaves, stones, flowers (pressing them to make pictures), seed, sand, bark and so on, which they collected themselves outdoors. Working with their own treasures motivates them to want to create something specially artistic, which fosters their creativity. When they use this material, it enables them to be observant and to use all their senses.

Taking natural materials into the house and putting them into any shallow container makes for great sensory bins. The fillers could be sand, water, snow and ice, or rice to scoop, pour, measure, and feel. Also, pebbles and other treasures found outside, or water from the rain bin can be used to fill the sensory boxes.

The children enjoy running their hands through the materials, feeling the different textures, seeing it, and hearing the materials coming against each other. They can also smell the moss and leaves etc.

Pouring, stirring, digging, and running the hands through the natural material will strengthen their hand muscles and improve their fine motor skills. Using large tweezers, spoons, and funnels to move and look at the natural fillers fosters the grasping skills they will need for writing later on.

We will also use natural materials from the forest like moss, leaves, dirt, and water in a bowl, to put into forest dirt and build a miniature forest. Many senses will be used by this creative activity, and the children can explore nature indoors.

Children like to do things like grown-ups. They will prepare meals, like cutting fruits or vegetables for a salad, setting the table with real dishes, cleaning and organizing their environment, and taking care of themselves (putting on clothes / the Maria Montessori Dressing Frame), as adults do.

This will be a pleasure to them as they feel useful and trustworthy, which builds responsibility, self - esteem and independence.

I have a specific organization so that the kids know where things belong and where they can get the things they want to use, which gives them security and independence.

“The consciousness of knowing how to make oneself useful, how to help mankind in many ways, fills the soul with noble confidence…” – Maria Montessori, "From Childhood to Adolescence"

Physical Development

How physically active we adults can be, depends very much on the skills and movement confidence developed during our childhood. This, learning basic movement and sport skills as a child, is called Physical Literacy.

If we help children to develop these skills, like balancing, coordination, jumping, and so on, they will be more confident in their movements. This causes them to love moving and that they will be more active for life.

“As kids develop these skills and feel more confident using them, they are more likely to participate and be active. With physical activity providing so many physical (stronger muscles and bones), mental (improves mood and reduces anxiety) and social (promotes teamwork and helps build relationships) benefits, that is exactly what we want!” From “Six ways to help your child develop physical literacy (and why it matters) | WDG Public Health”

Another Great article about physical literacy is: Physical Literacy – Active For Life

I want the children to become physically literate and will give them opportunities to do so according to their age.

What we will do Outdoors:

• Walking through the forest is good for becoming better at balancing!

• Our acreage provides many possibilities for running, jumping, going under and over things, balancing, tag games, playing ball games, and other movements.

What we will do Indoors:

We will do things like hopping on one foot, dancing, balancing on one leg, jumping like a frog, catching and throwing a ball, rolling over on the ground, galloping, turning around, kicking a ball, jumping over hurdles, pushing things for arm strength, balancing between pool noodles, etc.

Christian Foundation

Last but not least, this program will be based on Christian values.

I am a Christian. I thank God that He gave me the passion to work with children. I like to read or tell Bible stories, to demonstrate the Bible stories through pictures and figures, and to role play Bible stories with the children. Connecting these stories with daily life makes them more relevant, understandable, and comprehensible to the children. Doing arts related to Bible stories and singing Bible songs anchors the stories into the children’s heart with joy.

It is so amazing how happy children are if they can pray for friends, family and people and animals around the world, something I experienced a lot of times as a teacher. Children want to help others and praying for them gives them the opportunity to do so. Values like love, kindness, patience, joy, gentleness, integrity, and an understanding of what it means to be there for each other are values that we can live as Christians.