Almost every aspect of our daily routines must at some point be learned: putting on shoes, politely answering the phone, pouring our glass of water. And while writing a letter in this day and age might not be a daily activity, it is still a life skill and an engaging activity for children of all ages! Writing a letter can be as fun as receiving one. Try this month to help your child write a letter to a grandparent, friend, or even their teacher at school. Start by preparing all the materials for your child. For their letter, they will need paper, an envelope, writing or coloring materials, the address of the recipient, and a stamp. Have your child write or draw a picture that they want to send. If the child is older and is able you can have them ‘sign’ their name, and even start the letter with “Dear… “ Depending on the age of the child you can have them fold the letter to fit the envelope, either on their own or with your assistance. After sealing the envelope they can stick the stamp in the top corner! You can assist your child to address the letter. Take a walk to the mailbox and send the letter on its way! Hopefully, you’ll get a response. Montessori Tips A practical life activity in the classroom would be neatly found all together on a tray, so when the child begins they do not need to interrupt the work to find missing materials. If you don’t have a tray collect the materials together on the child’s workspace. Encourage the child to do as much as they can on their own. If they don’t know how to fold the paper show them with a different piece and get them to fold their own. It doesn’t have to be a perfect fold to fit in the envelope! Talk to your child about where the letter will go and who will collect and deliver it. The mail delivery service is an integral part of their community! Subscribe to our mailing list! Don’t miss out on House on the Hill Montessori Updates and Tips!

A simple way to make your home more child-friendly and engaging is to display your child’s Montessori artwork at their eye level, rather than just at adult height. When their Montessori artwork is placed where they can easily see and appreciate it, it encourages curiosity, sparks questions, inspires creativity, and invites them to create their masterpieces. How to hang artwork for your child: Figure out your child’s eye level! Have them stand against the wall and measure. Find the appropriate place. Kneel to their level and look around the room for a good spot to hang the art, such as next to their bed, in the living room, or wherever they like to play. Choose some art! Art is everywhere–you can make or buy online prints of famous works, make copies of illustrations from their favourite books, frame old postcards, or make art from pressed flowers found around Singapore. Get your child involved in the process of choosing, too, their choices may surprise you! As they grow, the Montessori artwork should too! We suggest using 3M strips or other easily removable hanging materials so as your child grows, you can change their Montessori artwork in the frames and adjust the height. Montessori Tips: Art is everywhere, and the levels of engagement are endless: you can ask your child about the image, introduce new vocabulary through the artwork, and challenge them to make their own art! But you can also hang it and walk away– the biggest reason we hang art for our children is to beautify their space and to allow them to quietly enjoy it

This month we have a simple craft to keep those little hands busy over the Lunar New Year holiday: making hong baos, or red packets. Maybe your child won’t be filling their hong bao with money to give away this new year, but they will enjoy creating their own decorative envelope to store other treasures. How to: You can help your child to print the template and provide them with scissors, glue or tape, and crayons or markers to decorate. For younger children, you can help guide them to fold along the lines and apply the glue. For older children you may consider letting them try to make their own hong bao without the template after they successfully make it once with the template for an extra creative challenge. Here is an option for the template. Montessori tips: Montessori work relies on clear workspaces. Instead of providing all the materials at once, build the hong bao in stages and clean up in between the cutting, gluing and decorating. Conversation starter ideas: Hong bao are usually red colored for good luck in Chinese culture, do you have a favorite or lucky color? Hong baos are usually given as gifts in the new year, what would you want to give a friend for the new year? And finally, if you don’t speak Mandarin, this is a chance to learn some with your children. Here is a link for learning how to say Happy New Year!