Within a Montesorri classroom for the child’s birthday celebration, everyone gathers in a circle.
The birthday boy or girl sits next to the teacher.
In the middle of the circle is a candle or another light source to represent the sun.
Some teachers may display the months of the year and the four seasons around the candle.
In front of the child is a Number Rod depicting the child’s age in units and the sandpaper
Parents are encouraged to let the child bring a series of photos of himself at birth and at each age thereafter.
After the teacher lights the candle the child gets to walks around the circle and shows the baby photo to his friends.
The teacher talks about what happened when the child was a baby.
After this everyone sings the song
“the earth goes around the sun”,
as the birthday child walks slowly around the candle, carrying a small globe in his hands to symbolize the passage of time during this first year in this world.
Now the child is one year old and they share the one-year-old photo, and talk about what they did as a one-year old.
And so you continue until you’ve reached the child’s age.
This way the child is able to see their growth each year and celebrate their uniqueness.
