A Montessori Musing Place

We spent last weekend building a new playground for our youngest children.  It was a TON of hard work but so satisfying and worth the effort.  Today we took the Licensing Officer through it and she loved the playground.  All that hard work paid off!

Anyway, here are some pictures of the two days it took to build a Living Playground.




The rocks arrived.






Our amazing volunteers arrived.



The sod cutter arrived.




The dump truck arrived.  This was the highlight of the day for the children....and for many of us adults. ( Turns out that one of the men who delivered the soil was a student at our school about 20 years ago!)


 Two loads of soil arrived (brought by the dump truck) and the children quickly set to climbing all over it.  Really, who needs toys?  Just give children a huge pile of dirt, some shovels, and  purposeful work to do!  Now THAT is practical life.




 The food tent arrived.  This was brought by a parent.  She also brought a gallon of coffee and muffins for all of us!



 The raised beds arrived.









The Sensorial garden bed was dug out and filled with some of that lovely dirt.






 A flower bed was dug out and filled with more of that lovely dirt.




Diana and the children stomped out a path in the Sensorial Garden once all the dirt was in.  The Sensorial Garden will be filled with plants that the children can smell, feel, look at, listen to (seed pods, birds, etc) and taste.  The idea of this garden was started by our incredible Office Administrator and blossomed with input from parents and teachers.




Another little flower bed was dug out and filled with plants.

Oh, I've been away for such a long time and for that I do apologize.  However, I have a very good reason.  The big school is moving.  Not only are we moving, but we are changing our name.  The Nanaimo school is now known as Discover Montessori School and it is moving into new digs!

We have outgrown the lovely old building that has been our home for so long and have been searching for something larger for  a few years.  It hasn't been easy, nor has it been quick.  In fact we have been in negotiations for over a year but finally, we have a new home. 

And, just to make matters more exciting,......we have three weeks to get everything done and move-in-ready for the children on November 1st. 

So while I continue to work on Part 2 of the Bells post, I will regale you with pictures and stories of our latest endevour.  Many of you may have read about the Oceanside school's move.  With 20/20 hindsight, I now view the incredible work the parents and teachers did there as a heaven-sent precursor to the move we are about to tackle!

So to begin...........some pictures of how it looks now.

All boarded up........


and waiting for a coat of paint.



This is the soon-to-be Primary playground........patiently waiting for a fence, a vegetable garden, a small orchard, some flower beds, and seating. 



The Elementary playground and soccer field.



And if you turn the other way, you can just see the baseball diamond.



These photos don't really show that we are moving into one wing of an old public school and haven't managed to get any pictures inside the school because the painters are still there.  As soon as I do, I will post them here.

Stay tuned!