Earthquake Drill

Today we had an earthquake drill with both the Bluebird and Ladybug class children. At Treehouse, we have earthquake drills every month due to Japan's high occurrence of earthquakes. Being cautious and extra prepared will help in the event of a huge quake. 

Today's drill was a spontaneous one in order to create the habit for children to go under the table when an earthquake strikes. It was a successful drill; all children reacted immediately and went under the table. 

Children practicing going under the table.

Children practicing going under the table.

An interesting read...

I came across an article on The New York Times this week which brought up an important point that supports this month's theme: Montessori inside and outside. The article is rather extensive but its main argument is that today's approach to early education should be less didactic, and more shaped towards allowing children to learn through play: "Many educators want to curtail play during school... [it is] often perceived as immature behaviour that doesn't achieve anything' says David Whitebread, a psychologist at Cambridge University who has studied the topic for decades. 'But it's essential to their development. They need to learn to persevere, to control attention, to control emotions. Kids learn these things through playing". 

In Montessori, we aim to approach the children's core - to develop their self control, independence, critical thinking skills and ability to concentrate. In fact, many of the these things can be learnt outside, in the "playing" environment. 

My Birthday Celebration

Thank you to the children and parents of Treehouse for a wonderful birthday celebration. I couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate. 

Homemade banana bread with frosting! Thank you Ms. Kate for the gift. It was very delicious and we loved it.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms at Treehouse Montessori School !

Visit by Ms. Misa

On May 1st, I had the honor of a visit from my mentor and the teacher who has given me the certification to teach - Ms. Misa Sakurai from the Japan Montessori Research Institute.  We had an enjoyable time together and we were able to show her how busy and active we are at school. We sang a Koinobori song with her and she even helped us finish the Koinobori craft we were making. I was very happy to have Ms. Misa in my classroom and hope that her visit will be more frequent.

Spring Outdoor Event - Picnic

Spring is indeed a very beautiful time of the year and one of the best assets we have at school is our playground.  Combining these two together, we decided to have more outdoor events where families can get involved.  I have introduced one more outdoor toy for the Ladybug children and they are being very nice to each other taking turns.

Our main outdoor event was our picnic and the weather turned out perfect for the occasion. After we had our delicious lunch, all the people participated in adding some rocks to the newly renovated area in our playground.  This area has totally changed thanks to the hard work by Patrick and Kazue.  Nevertheless to say, we all know that Juri has helped her parents too. Thank you so much to the three of you.  Words cannot express how thankful we are.  

Revitalizing the Side Garden!

With summer quickly approaching and the weeds coming up faster than ever, we decided it was time to fix up the little patch of ground on the side of the school!

We'll continue to improve the garden and the Treehouse school environment as we go. When you see the children's happy faces it makes it all worth it!

Spring is Here!

The little artists in school created some beautiful art pieces titled "Spring".

The artists are painting the base color.

The artists are painting the base color.

Spring color painting.

Spring color painting.

Check out the tip of her nose!

Check out the tip of her nose!

When Will It Be Spring?

The children are very anxious for the warmer and brighter weather as they can't wait to play with the new toys and the slide.  Thank you to Juri's parents who helped us assemble our new slide. Watching happy children playing in the playground makes me smile too!

The new addition to our collection of vehicles - very popular even to the girls.

The new addition to our collection of vehicles - very popular even to the girls.

Juri is helping her parents put together the slide.

Juri is helping her parents put together the slide.

Smiles Smiles Smiles

The first week at school has gone by quickly and I am so glad to see the children returning to school with full power.  I was deeply impressed to see how much they have "GROWN"! They have not just grown taller in the last two weeks of spring break but they have certainly become smarter and more independent.  I have witnessed the children beginning to use more vocabularies in their speech, finish the puzzles which they couldn't last month, carry the tray on their own,  turn on the tap by themselves, say the days of the week without any help and the list goes on.  We had a great week back at school with children's smiling faces telling everything you need to know.

They were so happy to see each other after two weeks of spring break.

They were so happy to see each other after two weeks of spring break.

The Girls were giggling and smiling the entire day.

The Girls were giggling and smiling the entire day.

Graduation Ceremony and Party 2015

Our biggest event, the Graduation Ceremony and Party took place on Friday the 20th but we had been preparing for this months in advance.  It was our tradition to make the day special and warm for the two graduates who were moving on to first grade.  

The decorations were handmade and some of the parents stayed late on the day before decorating the classroom for the event.  The ceremony was less than an hour and it ended with the graduates receiving their diplomas.  They were showered with lots of gifts and the party followed with delicious pot luck party.  All the children ate so much but still managed to leave some space for the wonderful cake that the school prepared for the two boys.

Congratulations, we will all miss you!

St. Patrick's Day 2015

St. Patrick's Day was a big celebration this year at school.  All the children wore something green - sweaters, t-shirts, ribbons, scarves, leggings, socks.. to name a few.  We made some shamrocks with origami or green papers which ever the children chose and decorated them with glitter and shiny green stickers.  Green grapes and kiwis were served during snack time and books on St. Patrick's Day were read during Circle Time.

Family Fun Day 2015

Our annual Family Fun Day was filled with lots of laughter and fun where parents got involved doing yoga with their children.  The highlight of the day was the line dancing presented by Ms. Kate who is one of our most devoted mothers.  She had the best dancing partner showing us all the right moves.  Thank you Ms. Kate... we had a lot of fun!

Our Trip to the Cupnoodles Museum

On February 25th, the Bluebird Class and two other children from the Ladybug Class went on a school field trip to the Cupnoodles Museum.  We all met up at the Negishi Station to take the train to Sakuragicho - a mere ten minute ride but long enough to enjoy the train ride which they were not used to.  The walk to the museum was the difficult part as it took us more than 20 minutes to get there.  Once we were there, the fun part began immediately.  We went straight to the floor where the children were able to make their own cup noodles.  After designing and coloring their one and only cup noodles in the world, they saw how the noodles and the condiments were placed inside the cup then to see it sealed and wrapped.  This was a unique experience for all of us.  As the Museum does not allow brought-in lunch to be eaten inside their facility, we ate outside at an open space by the water.  We were all very hungry by then. Mommies, thank you very much for making such delicious lunch for the trip.  

Time flies when you have fun and we were running out of time to explore everything that the museum was offereing.  I had to rush the children to go through the rest but somehow managed to watch a short movie on how cupnoodles were invented. We had to say goodbye to the museum in a rush and head to the station to catch the train back. The field trip was a huge success and everyone was happy to bring home the original cupnoodles we had made.

Happy children posing with the giant cup.

Happy children posing with the giant cup.

Welcome to the New Website

As we enter our 15th year at school, I recall what my mentor told me once:

 "Jenny, you've got to keep on moving... don't stop... inspire the little people around you. Follow them and be hopeless and helpless in front of them... they will inspire you more."
Jenny Vyvial - Head of School

Jenny Vyvial - Head of School

I am very pleased to see where we stand now with so many happy faces I see every single day. The children give me energy to keep improving the school with different ideas and exciting things to do.  Keeping them happy and to see them grow at my school is my dream... I love my children. 

In this spirit of freshness and rejuvenation, the school is introducing this new website and a fresh new look to mark a new beginning in its 15th year. The children are growing and so are we.

I'm happy to celebrate this new beginning with you!