Pre-Primary: Getting Dressed to Go Outside…
With the arrival of snow and winter, comes outdoor, winter gear. The cubbies are bursting with heavy coats, snow pants, boots, hats and mittens. The children are having another lesson on organizing, sequencing and independence while the teachers are getting a workout before and after each recess. Twenty-four children getting themselves dressed with the end goal of getting outside to play truly is an amazing sight as it epitomizes how capable and autonomous they all can be!
The children come down in a line and are reminded to use the bathroom if they need to. They remove their indoor shoes and put them in their cubbies, then put on their snow pants (or a one piece snow suit if they have one). They follow their snow pants with their boots, then their coat, then their hat. The last thing we teach them to put on is their mittens or gloves. As the process occurs, children come to teachers for help with righting inside out sleeves, placing their coat/snowsuit on the floor in the correct orientation, zipping up their coats and getting their boots on the right feet. Those are the many details, however, in early December the children are doing most of the process with simple reminders and a great deal of determined independence.
“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.” Maria Montessori
