I know there are still a lot of you reading this blog, even though I haven't posted any new Montessori articles for a few years. Thanks so much for still dropping by. That's why I'm continuing to keep the site up and going.
I recently started a new blog adventure and I'd like to invite you to pop over and take a look. It's a blog for doll lovers, doll collectors, and doll artists. It's called Never Too Old For Dolls. I'd love to hear from you over there!!
...............that I have recently decided to incorporate a lot of Montessori materials and ideas into our homeschool curriculum. I've written a post about it here on my homeschool blog, Walnut Hill Homeschool. If you are interested in how I'm using Montessori ideas with elementary aged children in a homeschool setting, you should consider folllowing or subscribing to my homeschool blog. I'd love to have you pop over!!
I'm just popping by to let you all know that my new shop, Walnut Hill Handmade, is featured today on a blog called Fabulous Friday Freebies. I'm giving away either a customized pillow or a custom doll. Head over to register for a chance to win. Winner will be announced next Wednesday. Here's your chance!!!
CLICK HERE to go to the post.
It's exciting to see how much traffic this site still receives even though I'm not posting anything Montessori anymore! Thanks so much for stopping by. I'm popping in to link to my sewing website where I've just posted some photos of some custom pillows I've made recently. I'd love it if you'd stop over to check it out!! Click here.......
I don't pop in over here very often, but just wanted to let anyone who's over here know that I've opened a little Etsy shop to sell some handmade items. If you are interested, here's the link. There is also a little Etsy Shop widget in the top left sidebar. I'd love for you to stop by! Also, I've set up a blog featuring my handmade work. CLICK HERE to visit.
Here is a link to my new homeschool blog. That's where you'll most often find me from now on. Hop on over and check it out at Walnut Hill Homeschool. See you there!!
I just wanted you to know that I am so humbled and grateful for your very, very kind words and support after my last post. Many of you wondered if I will keep the website "open". At this time I have no plans to take it down. I think I've already paid my Typepad subscription through next spring, so for now everything that's here will stay right here. As I said in the last post, within the next few weeks I'm hoping to "launch" my new homeschool blog. I'll look forward to seeing many of you over there. Thanks again for your love!
OK.............I realize I have been absent from these here parts for a while. I guess the best way to explain what turned out to be a much longer than expected absence is that I didn't know how to write this post, so I avoided it for a bit, then time just passed, we got busy with family stuff, and here we are about three months later. So.
Wow! I didn't think this would be so hard. What I'm here to tell you tonight is that I am starting a new "leg" of my journey, one that won't directly involve Montessori education. In February of this year, I informed my school that I would not be returning to the classroom in the fall. After years of wanting to and months of agonizing over can we?, my husband and I have decided that I finally get to stay home with my sons and be their homeschool teacher. A very few of you who know me in real life know that this has long been a dream of mine. Many of you loyal readers are homeschooling mamas yourselves, so you know what it's like to have your heart tugging at you to stay home. This fall I will have been a mama for ten years.........a full decade. It doesn't seem possible. Throughout those years, I have yearned to be able to stay home with my sons. While I have dearly loved teaching other children (and hopefully that love and joy have been genuinely reflected here), it is time for me to move on. I am tremendously excited about what the new school year has in store for me. And I've been researching and planning like crazy to get things up and going here at home. To bring in some income, I'll be teaching a few private piano lessons and have recently completed coursework to become a licensed Kindermusik instructor. I'm excited for these new adventures as well. The best part for our family is that now when I have to go to "work", it will be right here in our home, in the studio I've created in our basement.
Words cannot adequately express that absolute gratitude I have towards all of you virtual friends out in cyberspace who have visited me in this little spot over the past three years. I have been so blessed to be able to document what has truly been the highlight of my twenty-year teaching career. I am thankful to the families and children I have had the privilege of serving over the years. I have been blessed to teach with five wonderful teaching assistants as well who have made it a joy to come to work each day. Because of all these changes, I won't be posting over here much at all. However, I hope you'll stop over to visit me once in a while at my studio blog. You can find it at: http://walnuthillstudio.blogspot.com I will also be writing a blog about our homeschooling journey. I felt it would be too confusing to write about that over here, so I have yet another blog set up for that part of our lives. Once I am ready to really start posting and paying attention to that blog, I'll write a quick post over here with the URL so you can stop by.
Again, thanks so much for reading my thoughts these past three years. I am humbled by your kindness in visiting me here. Best wishes to each of you on your own Montessori journeys!!
I am so thankful that I teach in a faith-based preschool. That means I can talk to the children each day about God. It also means that I can teach them about the REAL reason we celebrate Easter. My favorite book for teaching this story to young children is The Story of Easter by Patricia Pingry. Patricia Pingry writes a whole series of simple board books about the holidays. I own nearly every title. This book teaches the basic tenets of the Easter story without mentioning the more gruesome aspects which would not be appropriate for young children. We have listened to this story several times within the past few weeks.
On Monday and Tuesday this week some moms came into the classroom to help with a baking activity for Easter. Before the children left the classroom four at a time to bake, I read the book aloud again.
The baking project we did was Resurrection Rolls. I had made these a few years ago with my own sons. They are super easy to make, super yummy to eat, and symbolize the important part of the Easter story.
To make resurrection rolls you need: crescent rolls, large marshmallows, melted butter, cinnamon and sugar.
We found that these work best if you use only half a marshmallow.
To make these, dip the marshmallow in melted butter, then roll it in the cinnamon and sugar. Place the marshmallow on a crescent roll and fold in the edges to completely enclose the marshmallow. It's important to try to seal the seams really well, but know that they will probably still burst open in the baking process.......it will still work out fine though even if they open up.
To emphasize the symbolism, tell your child that the marshmallow represents the body of Jesus once it was removed from the cross. The crescent roll represents the tomb where Jesus' body was placed.
Following are a few photos of some students preparing their rolls for baking........
When we do these baking projects, we bake on parchment paper and write each child's name next to their baked item as shown below. That way each child gets their very own without any confusion.
The best part is after the rolls are baked. During baking the marshmallows melt, but the space they occupied is still there. This represents the "resurrected" body of Jesus. When Jesus' friends went to the tomb on the first Easter morning, they received the good news that his body was not there because he was risen! Good news indeed! Although some of the children could easily figure out that the marshmallow had melted, others were surprised that the marshmallow had disappeared. I'm sure the parents of my students heard some interesting explanations of this project. Hopefully this post will clarify what we did! Have a blessed Easter!