A city that makes you feel at ease

By Alicia Yip

I am Alicia Yip, a Montessori teacher who works with children in their early years. I am a Malaysian and this is my third year working in China. I previously lived and taught in Chongqing, about two hours from Chengdu by bullet train.

Living and working abroad can be challenging when dealing with a new culture. It is truly an adventure despite the fact that I am able to communicate in Mandarin. Each region is different and has unique features that appeal to foreigners.

My first impression about Xiamen upon arrival at the airport was positive. I was very impressed with the cleanliness of the airport (and even the restrooms). To my surprise, the city was cleaner than Chongqing. People are nice and friendly and they speak in a gentle voice.

One thing I discovered is that some of the older folks here speak Minnanhua, which is widely spoken in my hometown of Penang, Malaysia. Some of the slang is different but I am able to understand the message. I feel so at ease where this dialect is spoken.

I’ve explored some tourist spots such as Zhongshan Street, SM Mall, the Ring Road, the Xiamen Museum, Nanputuo Temple and the Cultural Creativity Leisure Village. I have yet to explore many of the beautiful places here. I hope that when time permits I am able to visit more of the cultural and historical sites that reveal the richness of the city and the many aspects that attract so many foreigners to live and work in this vibrant city. 

(the article will be featured in Xiamen Daily)

Writing can be fun!

Writing can be fun. For some children, it can be very challenging at the beginning when they begin learning to write. The traditional way of learning to write is by holding the child's hand with a writing instrument and learn the formation of symbols. 

In the Montessori classroom, Sandpaper letters are used to help children learn the formation through touch and feel. In the later, worksheets and papers will be provided for children to practice the formation. Personally from experience, the transition from sandpaper letters to providing worksheets and papers for writing may not be a good motivator for children. In fact, it may destroy the interest of a child in writing. As children at this tender age love to play, we could actually help them scaffold their learning through play.

I created writing trays on my shelf for children. They tray can be multi-colored or plain wooden tray. Each activity uses different medium such as sand, salt, tiny beans and etc to further create their interest. In addition, children have the choice of forming the alphabets using their fingers, straws, twigs and etc. This fabulous activity does not only create interest in writing but serve as a great motivator to get kids who needs the extra support to learn how to write. To redraw or rewrite, all they need is to shake the tray and start all over again!    

Understanding our place in the world

Geography is always an interesting subject if it is taught in a fun an interactive way. It is also an important part of the curriculum in the Montessori classroom. This is where children learn about the world around them.  

The Continent of Africa

Africa, Africa, Let’s all go to Africa….

Africa is the first continent that we studied. Here, we talked about the climate, the land form, the resources and the people of the continent. African continent box will be a treasure in the classroom, but since I do not have any collection of the objects, I used the Continent folder which I produced to aid in children’s learning. This folder is full of simple and interesting facts for kids to gain further knowledge of the continent.

African Continent Folder

The People Africa

Most people of African have dark skin. I’ve included pictures of kids and paper dolls in the folder and on the shelf to show children the differences and similarities.  

   

Animals of African - “The Big 5”

Home to many animals, this is another exciting unit to help kids learn more about the various safari animals – zebra, giraffe, lion, elephant and many more. Some animal models, guessing animal game was included as part of the shelf activity. We also studied the parts of an elephant.

Art and Crafts

This is the kids’ favorites. We did Adinkra panting using plastic fork! Adinkra fabric painting comes from Ghana. It is a printed or stamped traditional cloth made by he Ashanti people in the village of Ntonso. Regardless of age group, each came up with very unique piece. The key here is to allow children to explore painting through different mediums. We also did Khamsa craft, painting tea cups, threading necklace, braiding and many more. Learning are integrated through hands-on work and kids just cannot resist the fun!

Food of Africa

In the cookery activity, kids have fun making watermelon juice and eating yam. Although China does have Yam, the African Yam is bigger and longer in size. Kids also had the opportunity to feel the texture of a raw yam in this activity. 

Famous Landmarks

The study is not complete without getting-to-know the famous places in Africa. Mt. Kilimanjaro, Victoria falls, Pyramid, Sahara Desert are some of the famous places that were introduced in this unit. Flag pins were created for children to identify the location of these places on the puzzle map. You will see children spending endless time, working in groups to locate the place in the puzzle map. Motor skills were further refined through study of various flags in the different country of Africa. 

This ends our two weeks study of Africa.... Coming next, North and South America.

MontessoriSeeds: The Montessori Environment and Optimism

A great piece of write up worth reading and reflect....

MontessoriSeeds: The Montessori Environment and Optimism