Where Learning Meets Balance

I’ve officially decided spring is my favorite season - personally & for teaching littles.

I always try to get creative with teaching and find a variety of (concrete) ways to teach different concepts. Children learn through repetition, but also learn differently from one another. Also, it’s essential to keep it fun, in order for the learning to be effective! In Pursuit of Balance, we strive to create a learning environment that nurtures the whole child - balancing cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. Spring offers the perfect opportunity for this holistic approach.

In the Pursuit of Balance program, we emphasize real-life experiences and honor all living things on our earth. Here are some examples of how to adapt spring themes into a variety of ways and connect to nature…

Butterfly Life Cycle: We start concrete with physical objects representing each stage of the life cycle. We talk about each stage (name and briefly what it is) and then the children practice putting the objects in the sequence (from left to right). We also have a beautiful puzzle that allows the children to sequence the four stages. After this independent practice, and reading many different library books about the life cycle, the child can then (depending on age) show their knowledge on paper and/or create their own book! 

One of my favorite parts of teaching this concept is to get real baby caterpillars - I can’t recommend this enough! The children are able to see first hand, in real life, each stage of the life cycle. We observe the caterpillars grow, create their chrysalis, stay in their chrysalis until they’re ready, come out as butterflies, dry their wings, and then release them into nature. 

Flowers: Oh so much to learn! From the parts of a flower to the life cycle to different types - we love learning through library books, sequencing puzzles, and most importantly getting out in nature. The children learn about the parts of a flower through a sorting activity - sorting stems, petals, and leaves from real flowers. Then we can bring flowers into any of our learning such as art activities, counting, fine motor work (my favorite is them putting flower stems into an upside down colander). And of course, the option to plant flower seeds and observe the life cycle stages in real life! 

Lastly, I love any sort of nature walk or scavenger hunt in spring. There’s so many benefits to being in nature, but also so great for the children to see real life examples of what they learn about in books or other lessons!  

Each activity not only teaches important concepts but also aligns with our Pursuit of Balance program, fostering a well-rounded development for every child. These are just many of the fun learning opportunities I look forward to bringing into Balanced Beginnings Montessori.

With love & light, Rachael Walston