Confessions of a Montessori Mom

Baby Throwing Things on the Ground

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:46:00 +0000

What about a baby who is constantly throwing things on the ground? How can the Montessori Method be applied?

Throwing is a newly-learned skill for an infant, and it will pass, but it is an important stage of development! However, to avoid injury, you can replace plastic and wooden toys with soft ones, like soft balls, stuffed animals, and cloth toys (see below bug house).

You may have to put puzzles and books away for a while if they are getting thrown!

And you can play into the throwing and retrieve the object, or ignore it.

The benefit for babies throwing objects, especially from a highchair, stroller, or in mom's arms, is the development of "object permanence": that if something cannot be seen it still exists. The baby will throw an object, and then look to find it, reinforcing this concept. So let the throwing begin!

More ideas for placing soft, safe objects in your environment: pot holders, rolled up socks, tied up scarves, and cloth baby books.

When the tot is 18 to 24 months, and object permanence has been developed, throwing has to be regulated as the tot will throw a toy that can hit another child or pet (or parent)! So at some point you will need to say, "No throwing toys," or "Balls are for throwing...outside." You can also make a throwing bean bag game if your tot insists on throwing (and who may become a future sports star!).

How do/did you deal with this issue? Please leave your comments!

You Know You Have a Montessori Child When

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:11:00 +0000

You know you have a Montessori child when...I posted this question on my Montessori Facebook page, and I received a lot of responses! Here are a few of my favoites:

OK, this one is mine: "My son was taking a REALLY long time in the children's library bathroom...so I peeked in the door...and he was wiping the sink and mirror dry with paper towels!"

Sophie eating snack! Copyrighted: Lianne

"When your two-year-old says excuse me when she needs to interrupt your conversation!"

"Caught my son using his spoon, meant for his cereal, moving milk from his cup to his bowl."

"My daughter, 18 months, went to get a bib before a meal. When all the bibs fell on the floor she began to sing Clean up, clean up while picking them up and putting them back."

"A few months ago I realized I had a Montessori child in the making when after looking at a book she got up and put in back in the box where it had come from, without prompting!"

OK, another one from me: "When my son keeps all this shoes neatly lined up by his bed! And fixes them when our dog knocks them out of order!"

How about you?

"You know you have a Montessori child when..."

Leave your answer in your comment!

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Montessori Open and Close Using Zippers and Snaps

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:35:00 +0000

How to give a Montessori lesson on the Open and Close Using Zippers and Snaps activity for three-year-olds.

Aim: a Practical Life activity for fine motor movement development and using a zipper and snapping.

Materials: Four objects that zip and snap, a tray or basket to hold them, and a mat or small rug. If you have an older child who is 36 months or older, you can use six or seven objects. (The younger the child the fewer objects you want to use!) Objects you can use: a small make-up bag, a coin purse, a key holder, a lipstick holder (the kind that snaps and has a little mirror in it).

This activity works best on the floor.

Sit next to the child, place the tray on the left, and the mat next to the tray or on the right. If you are using a large rug, you can place the tray on the rug. If you are using a small mat (as seen in the picture above) you can place the tray off the mat and to the left of the mat.

Take out one object using both hands, and place it on the mat (at the
far left of the mat). Ideally you should have the objects placed in the middle of the mat, so as to have space to work on the mat at the bottom, which is easier for the child to reach (rather than the top).

Zippers: Hold the object up (so the child can see the zipper) with your left hand and unzip it with your right (or your dominant) hand. Say, "Open."

Now zip it back up and say, "Close." Place it back on the mat.

Take out another object using both hands, and place it on the mat (to the right of the first object--you are going from left to right as you place each object on the mat).

Hold the next object (that zips) with your left hand and unzip it with your right (or your dominant) hand. Say, "Open."

Now zip it back up and say, "Close."

Continue with all the zipper objects.

Snaps: Take out an object that snaps. Place it on the mat. Hold the object down with your left hand and unsnap it with your right or dominant hand. Say, "Open."

To close it: Use your left pointer finger and place it just below the snap… use your right or dominant pointer finger and place it on top of the snap.

Take your right or dominant thumb and pinch, hold the snap so the bottom of the snap and the top of the snap are on top of each other, and push the snap closed with your right or dominant pointer finger WHILE keeping your left pointer finger just below the snap--this serves as a marker for closing the snap as the child can no longer see the bottom of the snap as she is about to snap (it) closed. Practice it yourself several times!

Continue with each snapping object until they are all lined up on the mat. Put everything back on the tray, from right to left, one at a time (a lesson in itself!).

Now say to the child, "Your turn!" If you see your child having trouble, you can say, "May I have a turn?" and then show them again what to do.

I'm linking this post to Montessori Monday, and What's on the Tray Wednesday!

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Which Montessori Sensorial materials do I buy for my two and five-year-old?

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:42:00 +0000

I have just started to prepare for homeschooling my two and five-year-old in the Montessori Method. My daughter did attend a Montessori preschool last year but it is no longer feasible. I have already started to prepare my environment and made all my Practical Life lessons for my two-year-old. I have limited resources so I need to know what Sensorial equipment that can’t be made and which is absolutely necessary to buy. Please help.

If you cannot spend a lot of money on the Montessori Sensorial materials, yet, or your toddler is not quite ready for them (and your five-year-old is outgrowing her sensitive period for them) making Practical Life activities is ideal for your toddler!

Back to sensorial activities: there are affordable stacking blocks you can buy (they actually "nest" into each other but you can turn them over and build a tower with them); or any nesting materials (like nesting cups). To make them easier for your toddler, use only three or four of a large set.

Matching works like fabric or baby socks are great for a two-and-a-half to three-year-olds (a five-year-old can do some sorting activities blindfolded).

You can make your own smelling bottles and sound cylinders with old plastic film containers, empty seasoning bottles, or baby food jars. If you have clothes pins, sort them by color and pin them onto a container.

Here is a list of must-have Montessori Practical Life and Sesnorial materials for at home two-year-olds and when to buy/make:

Practical Life

1. Sponges for cleaning spills. When to buy/make: Your toddler has the fine motor skills to squeeze out a sponge. Test this skill at bath time or during outside water-table play!

2. Dry pouring activity. When to buy/make: Your toddler shows an interest in pouring, especially while eating, like pouring out her cup of milk! Put out a dry pouring activity. Wait and see if your toddler shows any interest! Remember to use large pasta or large objects for pouring, and test it out yourself, first.

Sensorial

1. Stacking Boxes. When to buy/make: Your toddler stacks and or piles objects around the house, like books, blocks, containers, shoes, food containers, cups...If you don't want to afford a Pink Tower from a Montessori supplier, try an alternative stacking activity, like wooden stacking boxes (harder to use because they are hollow, so use three or four to start out with). You can also buy decorated cardboard stacking boxes.

2. Pink Tower: You can use four to start with.

3. Cylinder Block One: differs in two dimensions, height remains the same. Language: thick, thin.

Your five-year-old can do most Sensorial activities using a blind-fold.

Montessori Sensorial materials recommended for four-year-olds: Smelling Bottles, Sound Cylinders, Geometric Cabinet and Cards, Thermic Bottles, Color Box 3, and Baric Tablets.
For more ideas on Montessori and other activities for two-year-olds, I suggest:

1. Awakening Your Toddler's Love of Learning by Jan Katzen-Lucenta
2. Child's Play: Montessori Games and Activities for Your Baby and Toddler by Maja Pitamic
3. First Art : Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos by MaryAnn F. Kohl, Renee F. Ramsey, Dana Bowman, Katheryn Davis

See more of my recommendations for toddlers here!

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What are Montessori's thoughts on reading great literature and reading widely?

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:39:00 +0000

What are Montessori's thoughts on reading great literature and reading widely? I am reading about elementary and the Montessori Method as well as Charlotte Mason's educational philosophy. I appreciate the practical nature of Montessori and how one step indirectly prepares the child for the next step. Can you give me any help in this area?

As you dive into Montessori elementary, you will learn about time lines (more on that later).

In Montessori preschool you begin with Cosmic Education: Fundamental Needs of Man or People, the Spiritual Needs of People, the Clock of Eras, the Time Line of Life, the story of God Who Had No Hands, and so forth.

You continue in elementary with time lines in which you have the History of Civilization, for example, laid out like a long roll of paper across the room. On the paper you have written and illustrated the beginning of man like cave men, BC, AD, and on up through all the main periods of civilization.

You can do the same with the history of music, famous women in history, and literature.

It is not how we were taught, by reading a text book, chapter by chapter. History is laid out more concretely.

Then, you go down from the roll of paper and add more on a specific period. Picture a roll of paper going across the room, then going down from the roll with index cards, or pictures from magazines, that are a study of a specific period....The possibilities are endless! Depending on your interests, and the interests and age of the children you have.

Children will also start doing research in third grade and can choose a specific period to study by getting books at the library and viewing websites on the Internet, trips to the museum, guest speakers, period plays, bringing or cooking foods from that period, music, art, and so forth!

But in preschool you can read classic children's books, study geography through the puzzle maps, animals of the world, people of the world, eat international food, and listen to different music, (the Cultural Subjects).

You are not just giving concrete experiences, you are giving children exposure and a love for these subjects, which they will study, in depth, later on! Including college: you want them to love learning!

To read a comprehensive article on Montessori and (great) literature, and where literature time lines are mentioned (by Montessorian Daniel Bachhuber) go here. His literature time line materials are mentioned here and for purchase here. Read also his Montessori The Birth of Literature "the cosmic story, a playful genealogy, that introduces the literary forms" here.

If you want to buy the above literature time line work, here is the order of 6-9 Cosmic Education materials (you would introduce Daniel Bachhuber's literature time line work after your presentation of the Time Line of Civilizations):

1. Fundamental Needs Of People
2. Spiritual Needs Of People
3. Science Experiments
4. Physics Experiments
5. Cosmic Tale: God Who Has No Hands
6. Impressionistic Geography Charts
7. Clock Of Eras
8. Time Line Of Life
9. Time Line Of Civilizations

For lots of Cosmic Education links and resources, visit Montessori Mom's "Great Lessons, Cosmic Education..." here.

To read more still, go to Michael Olaf's (elementary 6-12) article on Montessori Social Sciences here.

Is your child an advanced reader? Is he or she ready to start reading some children's literature classics? On the computer or a Kindle? Or maybe you like reading children's classics outloud to your child/ren?

Thanks to the Walking By the Way faith blog, there are "oodles of FREE classic books" listed with links to free downloads to your computer or your Kindle here (where you and your child can read them). Don't have a Kindle? I do! It's a great way to sample books for free: when you own a Kindle, you can sample 10% any book for free! And you can read almost any children's classic for free on your Kindle! Learn more about the Kindle on Amazon.com. Learn more about free books on Kindle including reading library books on your Kindle here on Amazon.com.
***
To learn more on Charlotte Mason and language arts (from the book by Sonya Chaffer), read this free PDF sample here, or visit the website here! For books by Charlotte Mason on Amazon.com go here.

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Montessori & Chinese New Year: Year of the Dragon

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:53:00 +0000

In a Montessori environment, we study cultures and holidays sensorially with real objects, music, costumes, and food. The Chinese Lunar New Year and the year of the water dragon (celebrated from January 23rd to February 7th--when there is a full moon and which ends with a lantern festival) is a great opportunity to create some activities for your children to do and explore, as well as arts and crafts. And how fun would it be to make a dragon!

Photo taken & copyright by http://www.jasonboutsayaphat.com/

So here are some ideas in a nutshell, and links to more projects for Chinese New Year for your Montessori and homeschool environment.

Create a China basket or tray with various objects from China. If you have readers, make labels to match the objects. Objects can include incense, tangerine, red envelope with Gung Hei Fat Choi (which means "Best wishes and Congratulations. Have a prosperous and good year"), Buddha and dragon figurine... When older children take the basket to their table or a rug, ask them to get the Montessori colored world globe or world continent puzzle map and find Asia, or get the Asia continent puzzle map and find China, or look at a regular map or a globe.

Make a Chinese dish, like dumplings, egg roles, lettuce wraps, rice, or noodles. Listen to Chinese music (including this clip on YouTube!).

And of course, arts and crafts! It is the year of the dragon, and if you have butcher paper, make a big dragon using the Metal Insets oval or ellipse shape, or trace a dragon from a book with tracing paper, and advanced artists can free draw a dragon while looking a picture of a dragon.

Have fun reading and writing, or coloring in, Chinese numbers from one to ten with this free PDF from the BBC website.

More free non-Montessori printouts (tons and tons!) from Enchanted Learning here (you need to scroll down each web page to find what you want, way down, but it's worth it!).

Make a simple Chinese paper lantern here (from About.com) or here (from Origami-resources-center.com).

You can also try this PDF download Chinese New Year Unit Study (non Montessori) for $1.99 (39 pages) from Currclick.com described here.

Want to make some Montessori-inspired activity trays? Check out H is for Homeschooling's "Chinese New Year Tot Trays."

Here are a few of my favorite arts and crafts links for Chinese New Year and the year of the dragon:

1. Classified Mom blog: "Kids Craft Hand and Footprint Chinese Dragon."
2. Fairy Dust Teachings blog: "Chinese New Year Ideas for Kindergarten..." and cut felt noodles!
3. The Joy of Home Education blog: "DIY EZ Chinese New Year Crafts."
4. No Time for Flashcards blog: "Paint and Paste Chinese Dragon."
5. Mama Mia's Heart2Heart blog: Make a handprint felt or foam dragon!

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Need guidance and help in organizing your Montessori math lessons?

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:37:00 +0000

Both my girls really need to master their math facts, I am thinking that the Stamp Game and Checkerboard would be very helpful.

I am hoping you can offer some insight and guidance into how I should organize my lessons as this is not my area of expertise. Thank you for help.

Many of the Montessori math lessons dovetail, however, you can do the Golden Beads and or the Snake Games, first, as they are more concrete. The Golden Beads are costly. But you can get something similar and less costly at LearningThings.com here.

The Stamp Game is great too, but if you can do the Golden Beads or the Snake Game first, that is better.

As for multiplication, the Skip Counting is what you want to do, as well as the 100 Chain and the 1000 Chain which you can make with paper strips, and, the Cube Chain of Five lesson.

As for "practice worksheets of some kind to put the concepts to paper and pencil" you can make addition and subtraction sheets, just write down simple problems, ten per page, and make copies of them, so the child can repeat them a few times. My director did this to prepare kids for elementary school. But she did them after presenting the Golden Beads and the Snake Games. However, I would recommend doing the problem sheets after the Addition Charts and Subtraction Charts, as they are important for memorization (otherwise the children just counted using their fingers). There is also the Dot Game for writing and making problems.

For organizing your lesson plans, like a log book or note book, Montessori schools have lists of all the lessons, and before each teacher parent conference, the teacher would mark off what the child mastered, what she was working on (in progress), and left blank what she did not have a lesson on. You can read more about Montessori record keeping here.

Montessori Language Introduction and Outline: for ages 3 to 9

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:00:00 +0000

I am sharing my Montessori training lecture notes on language, an introduction and outline, for ages three to nine.

The most important concept in early language development is that the child has to become aware that language and words are made of sounds. We achieve this with the help of the I Spy Game. The next step is to introduce the symbols that represent these sounds with the help of the Sandpaper Letters.

Dr. Montessori believed that it is important that the child expresses his or her own thought in writing, and only later on learns to read. The symbols written by someone else consequently we concentrate on strengthening the child’s ability to control the pencil by work with the Metal Insets after they have achieved mastery it is easy for them to trace the sandpaper letters. The last step in preparation for writing is the work with the Movable Alphabet. When the child is able to break a word down into its component sound and then picks out the corresponding symbols from the Movable Alphabet box. He learns to construct words. Once his writing ability has improved sufficiently, he will not be bothered to take letters out of a box but he will write the words himself. Approximately six months later the child will proceed to read back his own writing. That is when we introduce the Object Box which Dr. Montessori called "the doorway to reading".

Here the child identifies simple three-letter objects (phonetic, as in c-a-t) then proceeds to decipher the corresponding words written by the teacher. The next step are the Reading Tablets. Here the child can practice individually the process of reading by matching labels to pictures. This work is reinforced by all the materials of the Cultural Subjects which use Classified Cards. Dr. Montessori firmly believed that a child’s language development should always be related to concrete experiences. The materials of the Cultural Subjects are related to experiences which the child has enjoyed repeatedly and have been expanded by artwork. This is stared before the has started to write the names or try to read the names and definition. The Definition Booklets related to the Cultural Subject cards progressively lead the child from mechanical reading to comprehension reading concurrently with the reading experiences we introduce two very important materials: Phonogram Booklets and the Puzzle (funny) Word cards. These two materials help remove obstacles which may frustrate the child’s reading progress from phonetic reading to the reading of words which cannot be sounded out to further enhance and practice.

The child’s reading-ability Grammar Games are introduced, first the concept of the noun followed by the adjective and the article then onto the verb, adverb, conjunction, preposition and personal pronoun. All those experiences involve a lot of activities: writing, reading and the placement of grammar symbols. It is important to relate these experiences back to back with the Classified Card Definition booklets or any other language development exercises other language development exercises such as dictation, spelling, writing pretty, writing a story or an essay, punctuation, poetry and drama should also be included as well as good literature and jr. classics.

Once the grammar concepts have been assimilated by the child the Grammar Boxes can be introduced. This work leads to Sentence Analysis. Sentence Analysis should be related back to any kind of workbooks, readers or jr. magazines that the children are using at school. Introduce their own compositions. Sentence Analysis requires a change of concept and manes for the children to understand. Here we use materials called Sentence Analysis Chart & Arrows.

For example, the verbs becomes a predicate, the noun becomes a subject or object and every other word in the sentence is then diagrammed. Concurrently language and vocabulary enrichment is developed by the use of synonyms and antonyms. Use of dictionaries and encyclopedias. The children are encouraged to do their won research, write down outlines in their own words and then improve their own words by researching other expressions from the ones they have used. The appreciation of language and particularly good language, will be the outcome of the study in an age when many college students have difficulty reading or writing a paper. This endeavor is of the utmost significance.

OUTLINE FOR LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

I Spy Game: Beginning sounds, first object in hand, other person, go out of the circle to the children, go out into the environment and lastly out of the door. Next go to ending sounds and then the middle sounds.

Point of Arrival: Ask the child “Could you please bring the ch-ai-r." I spy makes them aware of sounds. Do this everyday at circle.

Sandpaper Letters: These are introduced only after the child has done the I Spy Game and is aware that language is made up of sounds.
     1. Pick a child “What does you name start with? S… Would you like to see a
     picture of S? This is a picture of S (auditory and visual) and this is how it moves
     (tactile)." Pick two other names. "Can you think of other words that start with S?"
     Ask each child.
     2. Give 3 period lesson.
     3. Write on square paper: hold S.P. sound with left hand, trace with two fingers of
     right hand, say sound. Pick up pencil and write sound on first square. Repeat.
     Do contrasting letters.

Circle: After I Spy, sing names, sing a-b-c song and point to symbols and sing it. Lastly, point to the sound and ask “What is this?” To reinforce I Spy use cultural subject cards, vocabulary words (b – bay…).

Movable Alphabet: need to have practiced writing their letters, know I Spy, sand paper sounds, and
breaking down a word by sounds. Open MA box, sing ABC song. Check each letter (in MA box) to see if they know the sound: “What is this?” Next: “We will try to make the word cat." (Sing ABC song to find letter.)

"Cat, what is the middle sound... a. Ending sound... t. Do more a words if child is interested. This is the concrete experiences of expressing their thoughts. The spiritual aspects of writing is answering your own thoughts, breaking it down into sounds, and expressing it with symbols.

Writing with Squared Paper: Fold to make a book. write letter in squares from left to right. Metal Insets can be introduced for control of pencil in writing. Cultural Subject Cards can be used for tracing labels and pictures.

Dictation:
     1. Use same words as the ones in the movable alphabet lessons (no erasing, cross it out instead).
     2. Use three words with same ending: cat, fat, mat... then jam, bam, Sam...
     3. Next day do a contrasting vowel.

Object Box: Reading:
     1. Use after child has written a lot.
     2. One is expressing his or her own thoughts and feelings by translating his/her own words into sounds
    and writing down symbols, start from yourself.

Cursive:
     1. First, child makes letters with tails (exaggerated lines)
     2. Next, child makes words
     3. Lastly connect letters in the words
     4. Can take work already done and rewrite in cursive
     5. Can use square paper and start with a, b, c, d, e...

Writing Pretty:
     1. Margins
     2. Story with title, beginning, middle and ending
     3. Punctuation
     4. Capitalization
     5. Correct their stories and then child rewrites correctly
     6. Eventually they need to write a story on their own using the above

READING OUTLINE

The child has to take someone else’s symbols, change them into sounds, connect sounds, and make into a word and give meaning to that word.

Object Box:
     1. Concrete experience of reading
     2. Done individually

Reading Tablets:
     1. Always start with a sound first
     2. Done individually
     3. Write words

Phonograms with Movable Alphabet:
     1. Can be done in a group
     2. Write words

Phonogram Booklets:
     1. Spelling work
     2. Write words
     3. Pictures with these sounds and object box

Funny Words:
     1. Write them

Classified Cards with labels and mute of different subjects:
     1. Write them

Cut Up Nursery Rhymes:
     1. Write them

Definition Booklets of Cultural Subjects

Farm Animals:
     1. Label the farm animals, then make their own

Labeling the Environment:
     1. Leads into grammar games which are reading exercises

Concept of Noun with Farm Animals:
     1. “Lisa, give me…”
     “Give you what?”
     “Sheep.”
     “What word told you what I wanted?”
     “Sheep”
     2. “Give me the thing."
     "I can’t! I need a name.”
     3. “You have a name, can’t say, Hey you.”
     4 All things have names. Look at a thing and give me the name.
     5. Names of things are nouns.
     6. Refine to labeling farm and environment, "Remember, those things are nouns.”

Adjective Game
Article Game
Roses Adjective Game – The family of Nouns

Farm Animal Labels of Adjectives, Nouns, and Articles:
     1. Write it down, phrases, and draw symbols on top.

Logical Adjective Game
Conjunctions with Roses

Farm:
     1. Label and write signs, the brown cow and the pink pig…

Preposition Vase with Roses
Verb

Adverb:
     1. It added something to what you are doing

Go back to Cultural Subjects Definition Booklets and read them
Grammar Boxes – function of words
Sentence Analysis

END

Want More?!
Montessori Read and Write by Lynne Lawrence
Montessori Language Arts at Home, Part 1 Language arts the Montessori way
Montessori Language Arts at Home, Part 2 By Kathy Von Duyke

Is Your Child Ready for Writing and Reading?

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:14:00 +0000

Reading and writing readiness: A MUST READ! Wow! The best blog post I've seen so far (besides Montessori) about whether (and how) children are developmentally ready for writing and reading (it's a very long read but worth it! you may want to print it out!). Go here.

You can also read or review my previous blog posts about Montessori reading and writing (scroll down) here.

Sunday Surf: My Top Five Montessori Twitter Links for Moms 1/8/12

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:23:00 +0000

My first Sunday Surf with Hobo Mama and Authentic Parenting featuring My Top Five Montessori Twitter Links for Moms for January 8th, 2012:

1. ChildLedChaos: SAHM to 4-yo & 2-yo girls. Love Doctor Who and children's books. Passionate about education, especially Montessori. Chaotic is easy, child-led I'm working on... http://childledchaos.wordpress.com/

2. @NewMommyFiles: Montessorian. Former teacher. Writer. Baker. Reader. Spending my days at home with my toddler and looking forward to adding another to our family in 2012. http://vibrantwanderings.com/

3. @4 Home Montessori: Hi! My name is Shelley. I am a certified AMS Montessori Pre-Primary teacher. I am blessed to be a mommy to Giuseppe (age five) and Giuliana (age four). http://athomemontessori.com/

4. @SomeGirls: wife, mother, friend, daughter, sister, homeschool teacher, Montessorian, thrifter, blogger, adoptive mom, talker... http://somegirlswebsite.com

5. @papaGGband: Kindie Musician, Songwriter of Montessori Children's music & more! Music & education is my passion! See more at http://www.papagg.com/.

I'm joining Authentic Parenting and Hobo Mama for Sunday Surf. Share your best reading of the week, and link up your post at either blog!
For more great reading, visit Hobo Mama or Authentic Parenting for the latest Sunday Surf and linky.
Happy Surfing!

Montessori and Peace in Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:00:00 +0000

January 16th is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a good time to focus on some Montessori peace activities, and quotes and books and songs.

Photo by http://nevit.deviantart.com/

Below are some helpful quotes from my Montessori training manual on Peace Education (you can also read the complete "Montessori's Education for Peace" post here):

"At the preschool stage when children are in an absorbent state of mind, they are exposed to the Continents of the World and the Peoples of the World, thus providing the basis for a global view of life and humanity's part in it....

"At the elementary stage students are in a reasoning, abstracting, and imagining state of mind. The Peoples of the World are studied in depth and from a historical perspective, with the help of timelines (6-9 Elementary History Curriculum), leading to the discovery that all humans have the same fundamental needs (Geography Curriculum) and that the fulfillment of these needs vary according to the potentialities present in each given geographical environment and historical era. By emphasizing the family of humans and the interrelationship of all life, students begin to realize that the individual is not an isolated, fragmentary entity separated from the life around him but rather an integral part of a potentially harmonious whole."

The following are Montessori lesson activities included in the Education for Peace Curriculum:
World Continent Puzzle Map
People of the World
Animals of the World
Fundamental Needs Of People
Spiritual Needs Of People

If you have the book, How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way, there is a wonderful chapter called "Solving Problems at the Peace Table" with lovely pictues (page 126-129): "When children need help to resolve issues themselves, direct them to the peace table..." I highly recommend it for children five and up.

Here are some peace quotes your children can copy and or write and or read:
1. "Averting war is the work of politicians; establishing peace is the work of education."--Maria Montessori
2. "What is Peace? Is it war? No. Is it strife? No. Is it lovely, and gentle, and beautiful, and pleasant, and serene, and joyful? O yes!"--Charles Dickens
3. "There never was a good war or a bad peace."--Benjamin Franklin

Below are some peace and conflict resolution books I recommend:

Education and Peace by Maria Montessori: Buy it used on Amazon. Buy it new at Nienhuis.
Peace books by Naomi Drew: Peaceful Parents, Peaceful Kids; Peaceful Classroom in Action; Learning the Skills of Peacemaking: A K-6 Activity Guide; Hope and Healing: Peaceful Parenting in an Uncertain World.
Montessori: Living the Good Life by Connie Lujan. "The author goes where no one dares to go, explicating Maria’s concepts of the origins of war and peace and how we can make a difference."
The Tao of Montessori: Reflections on Compassionate Teaching by Catherine McTamaney.

More recommended peace and conflict resolution books here!

Some of the Montessori lesson activities I mentioned in this blog post can be found in Montessori online albums:

Other Montessori and non-Montessori blogs with posts on Montessori and Peace Education, and posts on MLK activities:

1. Montessori for Everyone "10 Ways to Promote Peace"
2. Living Montessori Now: "Montessori Education Week Peace Lesson"
3. Teacher Time 123 blog: "Writing Prompts for Martin Luther King Day"

A wonderful personal blog essay: "Peace in the World Starts with Our Children."

Are you a blogger or a webmaster with a Montessori or homeschool blog? Join the Montessori Affiliate Program and earn money! Go here for more info!

Question about Montessori and Correcting the Special Needs Child

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:30:00 +0000

What are your thoughts on correction for the special needs child? For the neuro-typical child?

I think (in Montessori) along the way "correction" has been mixed up with "interrupt." In order to correct a child you have to interrupt him or her. Sometimes it is OK to interrupt a child to correct him, sometimes it is not. It really is subjective! And you don't want to always interrupt a child to correct him or her! But you don't want to allow a child to, for example, continuously hold a pencil incorrectly. Sooner or later you may have to make a correction.

The reason behind not interrupting a child, generally, is you disrupt their learning process, who's not to say the child is thinking, "Hmmm, this pink tower doesn't look right, I wonder if I try it this way, or that way..." We want the child to explore materials and learn by doing, over time (or by watching other children).

What we did in our classroom was to make a note in our daily notebook to "represent" a material to a child, rather than interrupt them in the moment.

Often other children, the older ones typically, would step in to correct another child.

Another method we used in our classroom was group lessons: let's say some of the children were not putting their rugs away properly, we gave a group lesson at circle time.

But with special needs children you need to literally give hands-on help. And I'm saying that as a mom to a child with Down syndrome.

When my son was 5 1/2 he still had trouble holding a pencil correctly. He needed to be corrected every time he held a pencil incorrectly. Every time, for months, and months, and months. Then, he finally got it!

For children with Down syndrome it can take over a thousand or more repetitions to learn things a non DS child would learn in ten or a hundred repetitions. If the child with DS repeated it (incorrectly holding a pencil for example) a thousand times incorrectly, imagine how hard it will be for him to unlearn the incorrect way!

Parents often struggle with this issue of correcting the child, and having to interrupt him in the process. It is best to observe, first, rather than jump right in. But if you have to jump in, say, "May I have a turn?"

Another topic this brings up is helping a child whom you see struggling.

I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to run to my son's rescue when I saw him "struggling" with getting shoes on, or putting a top back on a puzzle box, or eating with a fork... He insisted on doing it himself 99% of the time! And nine times out of ten he did it! He is the type of child who wants to struggle though his problems! Who am I to say he can't!

What are your thoughts? Leave your comments!

What to do with all those Christmas holiday cards?!

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 04:36:00 +0000

So the Christmas holidays are over, time to put away the tree, or recycle it (or plant it!), box up the decorations, and wait! What to do with all those lovely cards?

Here are some great ideas (wish I'd thought of them first!) from some crafty moms and bloggers:

1. Squidoo: make a basket, tiny gift box, luminary, handmade journal, bookmarks, and place mats. Complete with directions and materials needed and great photos!

2. My Greenbrae Cottage: a lovely blog about family meals, crafts, and green living on a budget, Celest (mom of three!) shows you how to use up those holiday cards and photos by making collage place mats!

3. The Busy Bee Kids Crafts blog: four great ideas for recycled Christmas card crafts.

4. Mommy Moment: make lacing cards! I love this idea! I'm going to do it! How about you!?

5. Angela's Adventures: make a simple three-ring keepsake book! Great idea!

So this is WONDERFUL, not just for XMAS cards! (Used bows and gift wrap and cards and ribbon...and a XMAS light box! Wow!) From the Cachey Mama's Classroom blog.

Here is what I did with my (old 2010) Christmas holiday cards: I made mini shortbread cookie balls and wrapped them in various containers for gifts, cut up old ribbon, and used those cards to make the gift tags. They turned out beautiful and I had fun doing it AND I saved money!

OK, I should have taken pictures! Doh! Next time!

Read another mom's blog post about making gift tags with old cards!

And JUST FOR FUN, what to do with all those left-over candy canes? Ha! Read this post: "Hammer Time! 5 Treats Using Leftover Candy Canes"

Lastly, if you are not the crafty type, or just very busy, donate your old cards to St. Jude's:

Only the card front can be used...They can't accept Hallmark, Disney or American Greeting cards. And size 5″ x 7″ size or smaller is preferred.

Mail donations to:
St. Jude’s Ranch for Children
Recycled Card Program
100 St. Jude’s Street
Boulder City, NV 89005
What do you do with your old cards? Leave your comments!

Vocabulary Words for the Montessori Practical Life and Sensorial Materials for Language Development

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:46:00 +0000

Increase your child's vocabulary with the following list of vocabulary words for the Montessori Practical Life and Sensorial materials at the pre-reading stage, for ages three and up.

PRACTICAL LIFE

CARE OF PERSON:
Combing hair. Language: comb, messy, wastebasket, scalp

Putting on Coat. Language: coat, floor, collar, armholes, sleeves

Button Frame. Language: button frame, pincher fingers, button, buttonhole, flaps, unfold, fold

Tying Frame. Language: tying frame, strings, bow, tie, untie, loops

PROGRESSION OF POURING EXERCISES:
Language: front, pitcher, handle, pasta, beans, pour, slowly, tray, jug, lentils, rice, or green peas, containers, tapioca, sesame seeds, water, receptacles, one half, different, funnel...

CARE OF ENVIRONMENT INDOORS:
SWEEPING. Language: chalk, dirt (or beans), broom, dustpan, whisk broom,
wastebasket, circle, sweep, hold, toward

FEEDING FISH. Language: fish, bowl, water, fish food, finger, thumb, pinch

CARE OF ENVIRONMENT OUTDOORS:
WEEDING. Language: hands, asparagus fork, box, base, shake, excess,
leverage, weeds

CUTTING FADED FLOWERS. Language: flower, wilted, cutters, new growth, snip, paper bag

GRACE AND COURTESY. Language: chair, bump, first, quietly, seat, back, Kleenex, box, nose, blow, quietly, pinch, soiled, trash can.

SENSORIAL MATERIALS

DISCRIMINATION OF DIMENSIONS
Cylinder Blocks. Language: cylinder blocks, cylinders, blocks, writing fingers...
No. 1. thick, thin
No. 2. thin, tall, thick, short, broad, narrow
No. 3. thin, short, thick, tall, deep, shallow
No. 4. tall, short

Pink Tower. Language: cubes, large, small. Graduation: smaller, larger, smallest, largest

Brown Stair. Language: prism, stair, thin, thick. Graduation: thinner, thicker, thinnest, thickest

The Red Rods. Language: length, short, long. Graduation: shorter, longer, shortest, longest. Remember comparative & superlatives

VISUAL SENSE DEVELOPMENT
Color Box 1. Language: spools, tablets, red, yellow, blue

Color Box 2. Language: spools, tablets, red, yellow, blue, orange, purple, green, black, white, gray, brown, pink

Color Box 3. Language: shades, light, dark, lighter, darker, lightest, darkest

Geometric Cabinet. Language:
1. circles
2. rectangles (square special rectangle) long, short
3. triangles – equilateral triangle – all sides are the same; isosceles triangle – two sides are the same; scalene triangle – no sides are the same.

Angles (come after 5 years).
1. right angle – where the horizontal and vertical meet
2. acute angle – smaller than a right angle
3. obtuse angle – larger than a right angle
4. polygons – polygon – many sided; pentagon – five sided; hexagon – six sided; heptagon – seven sided;
octagon – eight sided; nonagon (enneagon)– nine sided; decagon – ten sided .
5. miscellaneous shapes: quatrefoil, ellipse, oval, trapezoid, rhombus or diamond, curvilinear.
6. Cabinet cards– filled in, broad, thin line

GEOMETRIC SOLIDS. Language: ovoid, sphere, ellipsoid, triangular, prism, cylinder, cone, pyramid, square, rectangular prism

STEREOGNOSTIC SENSE DEVELOPMENT
Exercise No. 1. FROEBEL GIFT BAG. Language: cube, rectangular prism, mat, blindfold

Exercise No. 2. BAG OF BUTTONS. Language: buttons, bag, blindfold, mat

Exercise No. 3. BAG OF BEADS. Language: beads, bag, blindfold, mat

Exercise No. 4. MYSTERY BAG. Language: such as key, eraser, coin, shell, cube, spool, box, mat, bag, blindfold

Exercise No. 5. SORTING TRAY NO. 1 Language: tray, saucers, bean, peas, cloves, bowl, blindfold

Exercise No. 6. SORTING TRAY NO. 2 Language: tray, bowls, rice, lintels, sesame seeds, blindfold

AUDITORY SENSE DEVELOPMENT
Sound Boxes. Language: soft, loud. Graduation: softer, louder, loudest, softest

The Bells. Language: bell, striker

TACTILE SENSE DEVELOPMENT
Tactile Boards 1 and 2. Language: rough, smooth, paper towel, water

Tactile Tablets. Language: smooth, rough, smoother, rougher, blindfold, paper, towel, water

Fabric Boxes. Language:
Box No. 1. same, different, water, paper towels
Box No. 2. cotton, wool, fur, linen, polyester, silk

BARIC SENSE DEVELOPMENT
Baric Tablets. Language: light, medium, heavy, blindfold

THERMIC SENSE DEVELOPMENT
Thermic Tablets. Language: warm, cold, wood, felt, rock, metal

Thermic Bottles. Language: hot, cold, warm, body temperature

OLFACTORY SENSE DEVELOPMENT
Language: perfume odor, medicinal odor, household odor, kitchen odor (herb)
Graduation: weak, strong

GASTRITORY SENSE DEVELOPMENT
Language: saline (salty), sweat, acid (sour), bitter, eyedropper
Graduation: weak, strong

DISCRIMINATION OF DIMENSIONS
Constructive Triangles – Boxes 1 and 2. Language: Same as Geometric Cabinet

STUDY IN DIMENSIONS
Knobless Cylinders. Language: same as Cylinder Blocks

Square of Pythagoras. Language: square, rectangles

Binomial Cube. Language: red, blue, cube, faces, box, lid, rectangular prisms

Trinomial Cube. Language: red, yellow, blue, cube, black, rectangular prism, faces, box, lid, thick, thin, tall, short, big, small.

Montessori Mystery Bag Lesson

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:36:00 +0000

The direct aim of the Mystery Bag Lesson is to develop stereognostic sense, and the indirect aim is to line up objects from left to right...which is a pre-reading skill. It is ideal for two to three-year-olds.

The materials you will need are a cloth bag containing about four or five everyday contrasting objects, such as a key, eraser, coin, shell, cube, spool, box, etc., or use contrasting objects your child shows an interest in, and a small mat (optional).

Presentation:

1. Open bag, choose one object, and ask the child, "What is this?"

2. Tell him the correct name, and then ask again, "What is this? Do you want to feel it?"

3. Continue through all of the objects, placing them on mat. "All right, let's put them all back. Let's see if I can tell what they are by feeling inside the bag without looking." Return objects to bag.

4. Continue to bring out one object at a time and identify it until all objects are removed from bag.

5. Ask child, "Would you like to have at turn?"

Extension: classify the objects--use all animals as objects, all transportation, or all feeding objects (cup, spoon, plate, fork).

Other myster bag containers:
You can use other containers for your myster bags (the above pic is a child-size backpack give as a birthday gift): gift bags, wine bags, fanny packs, purses, and decorative boxes.

Metal boxes are nice for "opening and closing," or for small areas that won't fit a backpack.

Important:

1. All objects are to be taken out and identified by child (they learn and say the name of object).

2. Items are to be changed from time to time, especially during the holidays or a change in seasons (Easter, Summer, Halloween, Christmas or Hannuka).

You can also use objects from nature: moss, flower bulb, sea shell, geod, large green leaf.

Note: this exercise involves both muscular and language memory.

Pin It

Create a Winter-Themed Montessori Treasure Basket

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:04:00 +0000

Create a special Montessori treasure basket for the holidays! Use objects from your holiday storage boxes, you know the ones in which you store old holiday wrapping paper, bows, ribbons, nick nacks, photos, cards, gifts you want to re-gift, and goodness knows what else!

I went through three of my large holiday storage boxes. I took objects out that I thought my son would enjoy looking at and interacting with. I then placed them in a wicker box. (Mind you, he is seven years old.)

Included in the basket: an old truffle box stuffed with photos of past holidays (mom ate all the yummy truffles), a miniature Nativity, a music box, and one of my childhood Christmas books

Also included in the basket: fuzzy antlers, a snowman puzzle book, and an old calendar with family photos.

If you don't celebrate Christmas, you can do a Winter-themed or non-Christmas holiday basket.

If you create a Montessori basket for an infant or tot, you have to use large objects that are baby safe and that they won't choke on, objects like Christmas stockings, Santa hats, old holiday cards and family photos, big bows, large pieces of ribbon, Christmas socks you know you'll never wear, small stuffed animals, and so forth.

So go sort through those over-stuffed holiday storage boxes! And have fun!

My Favorite Quotes from Literature: Great for Montessori Writing and Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:37:00 +0000

Winter and Christmas quotes from literature, great for Montessori writing or reading exercises including beginning poetry. Print them out, cut them up, and place them in a basket. Children can write them (for children who are able to write sentences on the line). Or have your child read them (for advanced readers six and up). Children who love to draw can write one quote on story paper and draw a picture.

For elementary children who are using the Montessori history time line, place the authors and their quotes on the time line of modern man.

Vocabulary words: discuss the meaning of some of the words in the quotes, words like "smutched", to build your child's vocabulary. You can also make a vocabulary cards.

The winter quotes:

Have you seen but a bright lily grow,
Before rude hands have touched it?
Have you marked but the fall o' the snow
Before the soil hath smutched it? . . . O so white! O so soft! O so sweet is she!
[Celebration of Charis, IV, 'Her Triumph']
--Ben Jonson (1573-1637)

The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will poor Robin do?
Poor thing.

He'll sit in a barn,
And keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing,
Poor thing.
[A nursery rhyme]

In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.
--William Blake (1757-1827)

Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth
Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!
Be through my lips to unawakened earth

The trumpet of a prophecy! O, wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
[Ozymandias]
--P. B. Shelley (1792-1822)

The Christmas quotes:

At Christmas play and make good cheer,
For Christmas comes but once a year.
--Thomas Tusser (1524?-1580)

To perceive Christmas through its wrapping becomes more difficult with every year.
--E. B. White (1899-1985)

Heap on more wood!--the wind is chill;
But let it whistle as it will,
We'll keep our Christmas merry still.
--Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through
the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.
[A Visit from St. Nicholas]
--Professor Clement C. Moore (1779-1863)

I got these quotes from one of my quote books--see below. (I love quote books!) I searched the index for subjects of interest (in this post I searched quotes under winter, snow, and Christmas). You can get a book of quotes from the library or use a website for finding your quotes. And there is always Amazon.com!

The above quotes are from The New Penguin Dictionary of Quotations by J. M. and M. J. Cohen (it only costs .01 used on Amazon!).

Other quote books I own and recommend:
Quotes on Children and Childhood: Mankind's Wisdom from Zeus to Seuss by Patty Crowe (I love this little quote book! It makes a great baby shower or Mother's Day gift!)
The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Third Edition.
A Dictionary of Quotations from Shakespeare.

If you enjoy proverbs, I own and recommend The Prentice-Hall Encyclopedia of World Proverbs by Wolfgang Mieder. Organized by subject and in alphabetical order, then shows the country under the proverb!

Quote books I REALLY wish I had:
Quotes on Parents and Parenting by Patty Crowe
Quotes for Kids: Today's Interpretations of Timeless Quotes Designed to Nurture the Young Spirit (OK, I REALLY, REALLY wish I had this one!)

Cursive Writing Practice: Inspiring Quotes: Reproducible Activity Pages With Motivational and Character-Building Quotes That Make Handwriting Practice Meaningful (I DEFINITELY want this one when my son is ready for cursive!)

Do you have a favorite quote, or quote book, to share? Leave your comments!

My son balks at writing any word for me!

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:23:00 +0000

My son used to bring home written work and had been starting on grammar and writing sentences. He balks at writing any word for me. He is left handed so I researched this and it may be that his hand hurts when he writes. So I am starting at the beginning and referring to the articles in the peterson-handwriting website mentioned in a thread on the playschool6 forum:
http://www.peterson-handwriting.com/Early%20Childhood/Lefthandedchild.html
http://www.peterson-handwriting.com/Publications/PDF_versions/TLHW2007.pdf.

I would love to know any tidbits of help you may have also for what Montessori language materials to start with.

There are three routes you can try. One is a program that is popular with homeschoolers who have older children that have issues with writing, called Handwriting Without Tears. The program uses capital
letters to start... I have heard great things about it. http://www.hwtears.com/

The second option is traditional Montessori and that is to start cursive. You would need cursive sandpaper letters (lower and upper case), a green chalkboard that is squared on one side and lined on the other, as well as Montessori paper that is 1) squared, and 2) lined (you can download the paper from Montessori Materials). The chalkboards are not too expensive and most Montessori suppliers carry them.

The third option is to continue with lower case print, but use the above chalkboards and paper for writing practice. There is also a website that sells black line masters:
http://www.laughingstarmontessori.com/handwritting.html

If you use them, have the sandpaper sounds/letters to go with them for tracing with your fingers, or something similar. You trace the letter first with two fingers--pointer and middle finger (left hand for your son
and you use your left hand, too!) then take a regular size crayon or thin marker or colored pencil and write/trace over the row of "a", etc.

But I'd start with the chalkboard (squares) and numbers (you need sandpaper numbers) and do one number per line, three numbers at a time (per sitting/per day).

Think about the above options, including the Handwriting Without Tears, and let me know which option you might want to go with so I can further help you (depending on what option you choose).

There is a great program (workbook and readers) called Primary Phonics. You can order them from Amazon.com or Learning Things (go here for more info). They are phonics based. This is a good system to use (it goes up to sixth grade level) for homeschoolers because it is guided, and it takes some of the pressure off of you as to what to do from week to week, and it becomes the workbook that tells your child what to do (and not you!). Check it out at Amazon or LT and let me know what you think. The workbooks are also inexpensive.

As to what Montessori materials to use for language, I'd suggest the green sandpaper sounds (blends), then write them on the green chalkboard in squares, as well as make words with the Movable Alphabet.

You can do two per week. And let's say you are working on the "ch" and the "oy", incorporate those sounds into your every day activities (chair, toys, chin, soy milk...) for a holistic approach.

For writing practive printables (non-Montessori) try YoungMinds at DonnaYoung.org here.

Is your child ready for writing? For reading? Check out the best blog post I've read so far about whether (and how) children are developmentally ready for writing and reading (it's a very long read but worth it! you may want to print it out!). Go here.

Creating a Montessori Garden Classroom

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:07:00 +0000

To set up a Montessori outdoor garden environment, first you need to include some rubber mats, and milk crates to place them in (rolled up). Crates can now be found at places like Stacks and Stacks, the Closet Store, and Target. As for the rubber mats, use car mats--the kind that are used to put on the floor by the front car seat to keep the carpet protected. I think they make them in clear plastic, now.

For outdoor furniture use child-size wooden picnic tables or wood benches and a long table (wood furniture is more expensive but it lasts longer and can withstand the wind). You can also get picnic tables in plastic include used ones. I don't recommend small, child-size plastic chairs as then blow over too easily and collect water on the seats.

Use plastic storage boxes for your materials and activities, instead of trays, and keep the lids on when not in use!

Consider having an elevated area, like a deck, for children who want to sit on the ground and work.

Consider having an outdoor cabinet or shed for putting activities in for the children to access. And a chalkboard.

Prepare for all types of weather
Make a shady area for hot weather, have a sun umbrella, some sun hats, and sun screen.

For rain and wet weather have rain boots, raincoat, rain pants available
and towels for wiping.

Allow for jumping in puddles, or show children how to walk around them--recommended.

Prepare for mishaps
First aid kit for falls and scraped knees

Ice packs for bumps

Ointment for bee stings

A bell for calling all the children together when there is an injury

Access to water
Child goes indoors for water

Water is accessible outdoors from a hose, a bucket, a jug, or an ice chest

Talk about the importance of conserving water

Establish ground rules
Child needs to walk when doing garden/outdoor activities.

They can run at playtime.

Consider having a separate area for balls, bikes, and running games.

Compost
A compost is a great addition to your outdoor classroom. However, it will attract rats and skunks: you have to dig several feet below the ground for the mesh/wire siding so rodents can't dig under it; and you have to keep the lid/top securely attached to the compost. If you use a store bought compost, make sure the lid is secured so rodents can't get into it. Children can dig and turn the compost, water it, and of course place leftovers in it, but no meat or dairy. Cover up the leftovers in the compost with soil. Child will need garden gloves and boots.

Plants and trees
Children will naturally want to pick flowers and leaves. However, make it a rule that children need to learn the name of the plant/flower/tree, first!

Teach also the plants/herbs that are edible, non-edible, and poisonous. To do this, write the name of the plant/tree and hang it or place it on a stick in the ground. If the plant is edible (like a cherry tree or mint) the name should be written in black. If not edible, write the name in red. You can use round plastic lids from food containers and write the name on the inside; or glue on cut-out letters. Attach to the plant with string.

Caring for the outdoor classroom
Garden activities to include outside: watering plants, weeding, gathering leaves, and raking.

Other outdoor activities could include washing windows and sweeping. You will need child-size garden gloves, a place to keep them when not in use, and have them easily accessible for the child (we hung ours on hooks in a shed). The left and right hand gloves can be marked with permanent marker (r for right in red, l for left in green).

Also, a large bucket (or better yet a tub) needs to be available for weeds and leaves to be placed in.

Child-size garden tools can be hung on hooks or placed on a low shelf. Only have one child do garden work at a time, for a while. Mishaps can happen and you need to watch the child carefully! The other child can watch or do another activity.

Weeding begins with lessons on what a weed looks like, the name, and most importantly, what is not a weed. Go around the yard, for example, hunting for weeds. A weed can also be pulled previously and examined by the children.

Give a lesson on weeding: go get the mat, unroll it, and place it near some weeds. Then, get the garden tool you use for weeding and place it on the mat, next the gloves (many lessons might be needed to help the child learn how to put gloves on!). Put the gloves on, pick up the tool, and dig around the weed, put it down, pull the weed, carry it to the tub, return, and do another weed.

When done, everything needs to be put away, mat last. Then the hands can be washed. At our school we have them wash the tool, but it is more an extension than a necessity to clean the tools.

Now the child has a turn.

Do the same for gathering dead leaves around plants but use a basket or bucket just for that activity only. When basket is full, throw the leaves in the tub.

Same for raking but show child how to hold rake down, never up, or it gets put away. Rake dead leaves in a pile, place in yet a different basket or bucket just for raking, and so forth. When rake is not in use during the activity, it gets placed down flat and points down, for safety.

Other outdoor activities
Observe critters with binoculars, insect houses, and magnifying glass: birds, worms, butterflies, ants, spiders, ladybugs.

Grow a vegetable garden.

Cook and bake in the sandbox with sand toy works: use dishpans with pots/pans/mixing bowls and wooden spoons in each of them. The child puts the work away when they are finished.

Play stove
Have a play stove available with two small pots and a small metal spooning. Put some large pasta or beans inside the pots for scooping. This makes the stove a practical life spooning work.

The younger children love this work! They can pretend to make soup, boil eggs, etc., as long as they do the work correctly: they don't throw the pasta or beans, they don't bang the lids or pots together, or mix them with another work because who would notice such a breech? the other children!

Art
Art activities are a great addition to your outdoor environment.

Consider having wet sponges available for wiping messes.

A mural can be created by placing large paper on a fence, a wall, a long table, or around a tree trunk.

Other outdoor art projects: leaf rubbings, flower arranging, nature collage, rock painting, sidewalk chalk and scrubbing it clean.

Here are a few resources...

Recommended books:

Ready, Set, Go Green: Eco-Friendly Activities for School and Home K-1 (also books for older age groups).

Let It Rot: The Gardener's Guide to Composting.

Help the Environment Book Set/Series by Charlotte Guillain, ages 4 to 6 (at MontessoriServices.com)

Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning: Using the Outdoors as an Instructional Tool, K-8

Sharing Nature with Children, 20th Anniversary Edition

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder

For older kids (8 and up): The Nature Connection: An Outdoor Workbook for Kids, Families, and Classrooms

Montessori (and other) blogs:

The Montessori Schoolyard

School Gardens...blog: CBC News article on the benefits of learning outdoors

Discovery Days and Montessori Moments blog: Wet, Water, Work

The Work Plan blog: Scrubbing Table

Google images:

Montessori gardening

Montessori planting seeds

Montessori outdoor classroom

YouTube:

"Edible Garden" part one

Community Montessori Garden Classroom

Sevierville Primary's Outdoor Classroom (non-Montessori) "No child left inside" ; )

Outdoor activities for kids (non-Montessori news clip)

Toddlers and Hitting

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:49:00 +0000

Does your toddler hit? How do you handle it?

Time outs: I don't think time outs are very effective for toddlers in a school or daycare setting. (We did not use them at out school.) Instead the toddler needs help to use her words and express her feelings.

But what about at home? At home time outs can be a way of dealing with extreme behavior, like hitting (we've used them with our son and they are affective) but there are other things you can try.

When your child hits, direct her to an activity that she can hit, like a special pillow, some playdough, or a toy hammer activity and say, "We can hit the pillow or the playdough..." Also tell her "Hitting hurts, it makes me feel sad."

You can also try to help her express her feelings when she hits, "Are you feeling mad because mommy is talking to daddy?"

Another common tactic for hitting is to say to the child "Please use your words", but you can take that a step further by giving your toddler words to use, like "Please say my turn."

And The sooner you deal with hitting behavior, the better, as the hitting will persist, and three and four year olds hit harder, scream louder, and run faster! So tackle it now!

You can also read some children's behavior books: Hands are Not for Hitting and Tails are Not for Pulling and Teeth are Not for Biting. (We read them quite a few times to our son!)

The terrible twos are not a myth! I thought I would escape them with my son! Ha!

Will my four-year-old son's behavior be considered acceptable in a Montessori preschool?

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0000

How can I know if my four-year-old son's behavior is considered acceptable in a private Montessori school setting? (Being intrusive, poking, or not obeying, wanting to continue playing when it's time to line up. He's within normal limits of behavior but is on the active side.)

Some boys can take longer to master social skills. However it will not be acceptable in a private school setting, Montessori or otherwise, after age five. (It is not uncommon for some boys to repeat Kindergarten because of their lagging social--and academic--skills.)

The most important thing is for you to be consistent at home with the rules of the school-to-be, follow the boundaries and guidelines of the classroom he will be in. He may test them out at home (to see what he can get away with) because there may be inconsistencies. So ask his new teacher what the general rules are, so you can follow them at home, as well as at the park, at a friend's house, etc., and if he is not following those rules outside of the home, leave. Plain and simple.

I did this with my son who has special needs. But he got it after only a few times of leaving the park or a playdate!

Consider reading the following post on Montessori and discipline from The Wonder Years Blog.

Montessori Volcano Activities

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:53:00 +0000

Kids love volcanoes! And they can be a part of any Montessori home or school environment.

First, start with the concrete, sensorial experience and do a volcano experiment! You can make your own volcano with brown plasticine (set out in sun to soften), and use baking soda and vinegar for the eruption and red food coloring. You also need a deep tray to set it on (or cake pan) and a sponge or cloth for spills. To see a DIY volcano experiment go here. Or you can buy a pre-made one here. on Kid Advance. And there are many volcano kits here on Amazon.com.

You can also have parts of a volcano (nomenclature) cards, see this inexpensive set here at Montessori for Everyone; or make your own.

Third, have books about volcanoes in your book corner, check them out at the library or buy your own. Here is a list from Montessori Services.

Science: do some science experiments, too, including the Solid, Liquid, Gas experiment.

Lastly, draw volcanoes using the Metal Insets or stencils (the triangle or trapezoid shapes are best). You can also make volcano paintings!

And have fun!

To see lots of Montessori volcano images, go here to Google images!

What are your thoughts on volcanoes? Leave your comments!

Our six-year-old is not interested in reading!

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 02:15:00 +0000

Our six-year-old is not interested in reading. We have seen him do some reading, but he really doesn't want us to know that he can--it just doesn't seem to be that important to him right now.

We are all readers in our family and he loves to have us read to him, he understands how crucial it is to read and he tells us that he'll will eventually be a reader.

We don't ever want to make him feel bad about this, we know that when the time is right it will all come together for him.

He doesn't do that much "writing" either, he dictates his own beautiful poetry to go along with his art work, as well as stories but really doesn't like to actually write that much at this time.

Reading: there is a sensitive period for reading at age five, and again (or for the first time) at age eight. Some children want to read at age five, others at age eight. It is a matter of interest, not intelligence!

If a child shows little or no interest in reading at age five to six, then expect it at age eight! (And this is the Waldorf theory, so they do not do any reading until age eight...)

What sometimes happens is reading gets "pushed" onto a child before they are ready and or interested, and he can get turned off completely to it!

So we don't need to push the reading, it will come! Keep the reading going (to him) and let him "free write" or "free spell" without correcting him (allow him to keep a journal, for example). Lots of art is good for pre-writing letters and numbers, too.

What we want is for your child to love books, and writing, and follow his own "inner promptings." So be patient!

Is your child ready for writing? For reading? Check out the best blog post I've read so far about whether (and how) children are developmentally ready for writing and reading (it's a very long read but worth it! you may want to print it out!). Go here.

I Need a Montessori Book for Dummies!

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:54:00 +0000

I have a lot of questions! How would I set up the Montessori environment; what materials are absolutely necessary; how would I space all the information out; how would I go about explaning free choice; how many lessons do I do in a month; I guess I need a Montessori Book for Dummies!

I highly recommend joining some Montessori Yahoo groups for additional support. Here is a list of the ones I am a member of:

1. playschool6: "Here is a place for home schoolers, using Montessori Method in their home education, to share and learn. All home schooling topics/methods are welcome."
2. MontessoriMaterials-Share: "This group is for those who make Montessori Materials for their home or school and would like to share files back and forth."
3. montessori_online: "This is a discussion group for parents and educators who are interested in Montessori education, sponsored by the Montessori Foundation."
4. montessoribyhand
5. montessorimakers: "A place to help you make Montessori materials."
6. Montessori Materials Share 2
7. Montessori Swap "This is a buy / sell / swap.. LIST--This is NOT a discussion group."
It can be very overwhelming at the elementary stage of Montessori! Especially if you have not done Montessori preschool homeschooling. Sometimes you just have to jump in and learn as you go, which is the case for new Montessori trained teachers.

I like the idea of a Montessori for Dummies! I wish I could write it! But at some point, one has to put the books and reading away, shut off the computer, and get started. It is scary! You are not alone! Again, join the Montessori Yahoo groups if you think you need a Montessori support group! Many homeschoolers join them, too!

My toddler is getting bored with his toys and Montessori activities...and is he ready to put them away?

noreply@blogger.com (Confessions of a Montessori Mom Lisa Nolan) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 02:30:00 +0000

Just wondering when I should start incorporating the idea of picking up after each activity? My son is 26 months old.

Also, my son is SO bored with what we have in our house. He has some magnatile "blocks" that he likes, but besides that, he doesn't do much. What are some things I can do with him throughout the day that will help prevent boredom, while at the same time, allow him to learn?

This is not uncommon for this age group (toddlers) because they develop much faster and as a result can get bored with activities, that is why in Montessori toddler classrooms the teacher rotates activities each week or every two weeks.

Putting activities away starts at age 21 months, so yes, now you can "help" him put an activity away before he gets out another activity.

Here are some activity ideas for toddlers:
1. pouring beans
2. a basket of items he can try to open and close
3. scrubbing (a pumpkin, a doll, or a truck, etc.)
4. a small tea set with water
5. cylinder block one
6. land and water forms--pouring and only two at a time
7. spindle boxes (just use the 0-4 box)
8. chalk and chalkboard
9. water pouring

Looking for Montessori books...for toddlers? Check out my recommendations here!

Leave your comments!