tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78558652209504643182024-02-19T10:26:06.887-05:00Our Montessori Storythe adventures of our home-based Montessori (& more) schoolMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01961483891604882980noreply@blogger.comBlogger119125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-72198922896250310722013-04-05T16:55:00.001-04:002013-04-05T16:55:29.349-04:00Metal Inset Easter EggsHi Friends,<br />
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As I mentioned in my <a href="http://montessoristory.blogspot.com/2013/04/real-life-practical-life-making-egg.html">last post</a>, the girls spent hours making Easter eggs using the oval metal inset.<br />
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They cut them out and decorated them (our 5-yo made these):<br />
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They taped them together and filled them with beans:<br />
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They made Jesus-themed eggs; they made stickered eggs (is it just me, or is anyone else bummed out that the Paas Easter egg dye kits don't include even a single cross?); they made eggs inspired by stained glass windows (our 6-yo made these):<br />
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My husband even got into it...<br />
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...and showed the girls how to use one oval metal inset to make a heart:<br />
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They collected them into Easter egg books...<br />
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They made so many eggs, I could never show them all here. I was very thankful that they were so busy and happy and focused in the weeks leading up to Easter. We hope you had a nice Easter, too!<br />
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Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-19343731941541649262013-04-01T17:38:00.001-04:002013-04-01T17:38:53.363-04:00Real Life Practical Life: Making Egg SaladHello Friends!<br />
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How are you? We are still here, still plugging along, still using the Montessori preschool curriculum with our two younger girls (now 5 and 2-3/4), and still looking for opportunities to incorporate Montessori into our day-to-day activities. We have a few Practical Life activities on the shelf, but for the most part, we focus on using our Practical Life skills in our everyday life to serve our family (and isn't that really the goal?). The two older girls (now 8-1/2 and 6-1/2) are learning to bake, do dishes, fold laundry...things that our homeschooling family truly, desperately needs (amen?).<br />
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In the weeks leading up to Easter (our family's favorite holiday), the girls used the oval metal inset to make dozens of Easter eggs (they were awesome -- I'm going to snap a pic of some and post them soon). They also dyed Easter eggs (32 of them, all of which I will be primarily responsible for eating!). Yesterday, after an Easter egg hunt to retrieve all of the dyed eggs, the girls spent a long time peeling and cutting eggs to make egg salad. All of them enjoyed peeling the eggs, but the two little girls spent a long time cutting them.<br />
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Cutting hard-boiled eggs is a wonderful activity for young children, because the eggs can easily be sliced with a butter knife or <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FA00YG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000FA00YG&linkCode=as2&tag=ourmontstor-20%22%3EThe%20Cheese%20Knife%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ourmontstor-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000FA00YG%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E">cheese knife</a>:<br />
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(My wonderful husband originally got me this cheese knife for cutting hard cheeses, but we've found that it's much more effective for cutting things like hard-boiled eggs, bananas, strawberries, and soft cheeses.)<br />
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Cutting an egg in half lengthwise is relatively easy, but if your child struggles after that point because the egg rolls around, show him or her how to place the egg with its cut face down so that the egg will sit still.<br />
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The two little girls spent about an hour chopping eggs, an hour they no doubt would have spent getting into trouble--so not only did the egg salad get made, it kept their little hands from being idle. ;)<br />
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I'm going to be eating egg salad for a looooong time:<br />
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I hope you all are well, and (Lord willing, which He hasn't been for a while :) I hope that this will be the start of many more posts to come!<br />
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<br />Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-10909255802205082992012-03-21T17:53:00.001-04:002021-03-19T12:42:30.515-04:00The Week in Review, 3/12 - 3/16<br />
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Last week we took an early Spring Break in order to get some big, time-sensitive projects done (one of the privileges of homeschooling, no?). While we didn't formally "do" school each day, the big girls did math (we do math almost every day -- even during the summer!), and the little girls got some good Montessori work done. We also threw in a quick science experiment for good measure, and our 5-y.o. -- frustrated by the "mental math" that Singapore Math sometimes requires -- pulled out the bead frame to supplement her math work. </div>
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Some highlights from the week:</div>
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G - geometric solids, geometric figure cards...</div>
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G - opposites matching:</div>
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G - world map...</div>
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...and labels:</div>
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G - color box (3?), grading seven shades of a color from lightest to darkest:</div>
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E - exploring magnetic and not magnetic (and then she took to threading a nail into the circle end of a safety pin, which kept her busy for a looong time -- who knew? :)</div>
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E - sorting three colors of bears</div>
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E - nuts and bolts activity:</div>
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E - marbles on golf tees:</div>
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E - Matryoshka dolls:</div>
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E - Melissa & Doug grill set (slicing/tonging/skewering (akin to beading/stringing, only easier because the skewers are hard)):</div>
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E - open/close; pushing toothpicks through teeny holes in spice jar lid: </div>
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S - Singapore Math 2B. As I mentioned, Singapore Math puts a great emphasis on "mental math," or doing math in one's head. For example, for 300 - <span style="color: red;">99</span>, they tell her to think of 300 as <span style="color: lime;">200 </span>+ <span style="color: red;">100</span>. Then, they tell her to subtract <span style="color: red;">100 - 99</span>, which equals <span style="color: lime;">1</span>. Next, she adds <span style="color: lime;">200 + 1</span> to get her answer: 300 - 99 = 201.</div>
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It's a good system, but S was having difficulty -- for her, it would have been easier to stack all of the problems and work them out by subtracting and borrowing. I didn't want her to have to do all that borrowing, and even Singapore Math didn't want her to do all that borrowing -- after all, the whole point of the exercise was to make subtracting easier!</div>
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But because she was getting frustrated, I suggested that she grab the bead frame. She had used it before but needed a quick refresher. Once I reminded her how to use it, she set to work and knocked out all of her textbook and workbook exercises in no time flat! </div>
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For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, may I present the large bead frame (it typically comes in large and small -- we have only the large one). The colored beads are on wires that correspond to the decimal system (units are green, tens are blue, hundreds are red, thousands are green, and so on). S will now demonstrate the process she went through to solve the problem 800 - 98:</div>
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First, 800, or 8 hundreds:</div>
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She needs to take away 9 tens, but she doesn't have any tens. She "gives one hundred back to the bank," or slides one hundred bead to the left...</div>
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...and exchanges it for 10 tens... </div>
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...she takes away nine tens and needs to take away 8 units, but she doesn't have any units, so...</div>
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...she "gives her ten back to the bank..."</div>
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...and exchanges it for 10 units (she's working fast now, can you tell!? My camera could barely keep up :)...</div>
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...she takes away 8 units...</div>
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...and she's left with her answer: 702</div>
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After she got the hang of it, the problems were easy...</div>
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...and eventually she was able to do them in her head...and isn't that the whole point? </div>
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(PS - "The bank game" language is a holdover from S's many years playing the bank game with the golden bead materials. For a <i>very </i>basic tutorial on the bank game, click <a href="http://montessoristory.blogspot.com/2008/11/faithfulness-gentleness-and-self.html" target="_blank">here</a>)</div>
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We waited for a sunny day and did experiment #116 from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471310115/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=ourmontstor02-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0471310115">the Janice vanCleave book</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ourmontstor02-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0471310115" style="border-bottom-style: none !important; border-color: initial !important; border-image: initial !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-width: initial !important; border: none; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; margin: 0px;" width="1" />. We put ice cubes in two zip-loc baggies and closed the tops. We covered one bag with a black piece of paper and the other with a white piece of paper. The girls hypothesized which set of ice cubes would melt faster -- those under the black paper or those under the white. This is what the ice cubes looked like when we started: </div>
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We covered the bags with the paper and checked the ice cubes every five minutes to see which set melted faster:</div>
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This isn't the final photo, but you can tell that the ice cubes under the black paper melted faster than the ice cubes under the white paper. We talked about how the sun gives off energy in the form of light; black absorbs light energy better than white, so the temperature under the black paper was higher and the ice cubes melted faster. </div>
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<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-53854441418208900702012-02-26T12:22:00.000-05:002012-02-26T12:22:07.119-05:00Brown Stair/Marble ExtensionFor those of you who don't frequently check out the other blog (<a href="http://omsdaily.blogspot.com/">OMS Daily</a>), we did a cool brown stair/marble extension I remembered reading about at <a href="http://mommyme-thewonderyears.blogspot.com/">The Wonder Years</a> long ago: <a href="http://mommyme-thewonderyears.blogspot.com/2008/12/sensorial-extensions.html">rolling a marble down the stair</a> as a control of error.<br />
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When we tried it, we were delighted to discover a <a href="http://omsdaily.blogspot.com/2012/02/friday-february-24-2012.html">musical surprise</a>. :)<br />
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Thanks for the great idea, Amy!Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-70035620393433326292012-02-07T23:03:00.001-05:002021-03-19T19:24:02.390-04:00Valentine's Day Heart StampingAnother simple, cheap, easy craft idea my husband saw on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/68539225548920701/">pinterest</a> courtesy of <a href="http://rustsunshine.blogspot.com/2012/01/heart-stamps.html">Rust & Sunshine</a> -- thanks for the great idea!<br />
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We tried this craft because even our toddler could do it. Simply fold and tape a toilet paper roll into a heart shape, and stamp away.<br />
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All of the girls enjoyed this activity -- even our 7-year-old. Now that the stamps have dried (we used some pink acrylic paint we had on hand), the girls plan to go back and add layers of hearts in different colors, write special messages, and them send them to family members for Valentine's Day.Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-71571990542453061552012-02-05T22:17:00.001-05:002021-03-19T19:21:49.048-04:00Shaving Cream Bath PaintsThis is another great idea my husband found on pinterest: colored shaving cream bath paints. I loved this activity because it was fun, cheap, and easy, it used ingredients we had on hand, and it was virtually mess-free -- much thanks to <a href="http://havingfunathomeblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/shaving-cream-bathtub-paint.html" target="_blank">Having Fun at Home</a> for the great idea!<br />
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First, the girls sprayed shaving cream into muffin cups (and really, haven't you had fun right there?). Then they dropped in a few dots of food coloring and swirled:<br />
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Don't these look delicious? ;)</div>
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When they were done, they had a lovely rainbow assortment of bath paints. We happened to have a set of neon food colors in addition to the usual ones--and we experimented by mixing other colors--so we made a variety of shades.<br />
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The girls used regular paint brushes and sponge brushes to paint our bathtub walls, etc. They had a blast! And although I don't have any pictures of the paints actually being used (way too many naked tushes :), I think this "after" picture gives a nice feel for how much fun the girls had:<br />
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<br />Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-71740740203646554622012-02-04T10:42:00.000-05:002012-02-04T11:58:46.188-05:00Great Montessori Curriculum WebsiteI was away from blogging for a while, so I apologize if I'm telling everyone something they already know...<br />
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The other day I came across <a href="http://www.justmontessori.com/">justmontessori.com</a>, which is written by a 3-6 Montessori teacher in Albuquerque, NM. She has made her <a href="http://www.justmontessori.com/montessori-curriculum/" target="_blank"><b>entire </b>curriculum</a> available -- day-by-day, week-by-week!<br />
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In her own words, her resources are freely available for use by Montessori school teachers, people teaching in Montessori co-ops, homeschooling Montessori families (like ours :)--in short, anyone with the desire to learn about or better implement Maria Montessori's methods. She also has a blog, a great overview of the different facets of Montessori education, and free downloads. The site is completely free, but she gladly accepts donations. If you haven't been there yet, definitely check it out!Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-33454783540591983412012-02-01T16:07:00.001-05:002021-03-19T19:27:54.408-04:00Homemade Bird FeedersMy husband is loving <a href="http://pinterest.com/" target="_blank">pinterest</a>. The other day, he saw <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/181129216233097199/" target="_blank">this simple idea</a> for making bird feeders out of toilet paper rolls, and he and the girls made them last night (thanks to <a href="http://moffattgirls.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Moffatt Girls</a> for the fun idea).<br />
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First, they spread peanut butter on the empty toilet paper rolls...<br />
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...and rolled them in bird seed: </div>
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(Our seed of choice is safflower, which we use to attract cardinals, titmice, black-capped chickadees, nuthatches, and even the occasional woodpecker. Also, squirrels aren't very fond of safflower, so they leave our feeders alone unless they're starving).<br />
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We put the finished rolls in the refrigerator over night...<br />
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...and this morning, my husband laced them down the braches of an overwintering Rose of Sharon that abuts our deck:<br />
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The verdict? </div>
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Yum!<br />
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Long ago, I put together a <a href="http://montessoristory.blogspot.com/2009/02/birdwatching-activity.html" target="_blank">birdwatching activity</a> that the girls can use to track the birds that come to our feeders. I'll have to put it out again, since the girls got to make these feeders themselves. I've already seen black-capped chickadees (shown in the photos above) and titmice (and a squirrel (and our dog :), too -- the peanut butter is a little too tantalizing for them to resist. :)<br />
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Happy birdwatching!Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-61141161053052047612012-01-30T22:53:00.002-05:002021-03-19T19:29:25.182-04:00Bible Dolls & PinterestLast week, <a href="http://pinterest.com/whatdidwedoall/" target="_blank">My Boys' Teacher</a> <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/124200902193261434/" target="_blank">pinned</a> this <a href="http://alljoinin.blogspot.com/2011/01/bible-dolls.html" target="_blank">Bible doll craft</a> from <a href="http://alljoinin.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">alljoinin</a> on <a href="http://pinterest.com/" target="_blank">pinterest</a>. We thought the dolls were so cute, we made a few of our own:<br />
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They're still a work in progress (some still need headdresses, and we may or may not put faces on them), but from left to right, we have Ruth (our 5-y.o.'s creation), Naomi (our 7-y.o.'s creation), John the Baptist/Elisha/Elijah (my husband's creation), and David the shepherd boy (mine). We had so much fun sewing these little dolls! We even have Goliath and a few others in the hopper. </div>
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I've been away from the computer for a while now, so pinterest was completely new to me when My Boys' Teacher mentioned in a comment that she had <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/124200902193318581/" target="_blank">pinned</a> a picture from one of my posts. I looked into it and was intrigued -- it's a great way to see and share Montessori and other homeschool ideas (not to mention recipes and lots of other great ideas).</div>
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Are you on pinterest? If so, please feel free to share your pinterest page in the comments below or via email--I'm always looking for new ideas and concepts to incorporate in our classroom. For those who are interested, my pinterest page is <a href="http://pinterest.com/montessoristory/" target="_blank">here</a>. </div>
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PS -- If you're not on pinterest yet and would like an invite, feel free to email me. :)</div>Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-12408173267646250212012-01-25T22:13:00.002-05:002021-03-19T19:35:39.119-04:00Highlighters and Handwriting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://omsdaily.blogspot.com/2012/01/monday-january-23-2012.html" target="_blank">Yesterday at OMS Daily</a>, I briefly mentioned the use of highlighters in our schoolwork. They play a very important role in our homeschool, so I wanted to show everyone a few examples of when and how we use them.</div>
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These are our word drawers:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>
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Drawers 1-38 contain Laura from <a href="http://mymontessorijourney.typepad.com/" target="_blank">My Montessori Journey</a>'s word drawers (which she so kindly made available <a href="http://mymontessorijourney.typepad.com/my_montessori_journey/2008/06/latest-word-on.html" target="_blank">here</a>). Here's a peek inside drawer 1...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>
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...and here's an example of my 3-y.o. matching words to pictures (drawer 25):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>
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Drawers 39-60 contain our <a href="http://montessoristory.blogspot.com/2009/06/exception-words.html" target="_blank">exception word</a> cards, which you can download <a href="http://www.box.com/shared/e49zsje1uy" target="_blank">here</a>. Each drawer contains 10 words, as well as a list of the words that should be in it (just so I know if a word has gone missing):<div><br />
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I also put the drawer number on each card and on the back of each word, so that if either gets misplaced, I easily know where to return it:<div><br />
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I keep strips of lined writing paper and clip boards by the word drawers; once my daughter has matched the words to the pictures, I write the words on the lined paper in highlighter, and my daughter traces over the highlighter (a technique I saw used when my oldest daughter, then 3, attended a private Montessori school). So that I don't have a million strips of lined paper floating around, I tape her strips into a composition book, which is a very nice way to collect them (my daughter loves to flip back through her book and read the words): <div> <br />
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Lately, I've started writing directly into the composition book. It doesn't have a dashed line between two solid lines, but I notice that the spacing is identical:<div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span">I also use the highlighter with my 5-y.o. We use <a href="http://www.welltrainedmind.com/" target="_blank">The Well-Trained Mind</a> and <a href="http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/" target="_blank">Writing with Ease</a> for our writing/grammar/literature curriculum. Susan Wise Bauer places a strong emphasis on journaling; however, Bauer points out that </span>for a child this young, it would be difficult to think of something to journal about and then keep it in her head long enough to write it down. Therefore, Bauer recommends dictation -- my daughter says her journal entry to me aloud, and I record it for her. As an added twist, though, I take my daughter's dictation in highlighter so that she can then write her entry herself: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>
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I even use highlighters with my 7-y.o., who currently is working on cursive writing. This is an example of a "copywork" page from Writing with Ease, Vol. 1. The theory behind copywork is that, by copying well written excerpts from literature, the child learns proper sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, etc. But because the excerpts are written in manuscript, I model the cursive writing for her with highlighter, and then she writes over my writing:</div>
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The majority of the older girls' handwriting practice is not highlighter-assisted, but the highlighters are extremely useful in special circumstances like the ones I just mentioned. And although this may sound trivial, letting the girls pick which color highlighter they want me to use makes handwriting just a little bit more fun :)</div></div></div></div>Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-67753181258821770982012-01-24T00:29:00.002-05:002021-03-19T19:51:13.938-04:00Following the Child: Our 3-y.o. and AdditionEvery morning, without fail, our two older girls do math. It goes without saying that after breakfast they grab their math books and get started. So I guess it was only natural that our 3-y.o. wanted to do math, too.<br />
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Seizing upon her interest, over the past semester I introduced most of the math basics: the red and blue rods, the sandpaper numbers, the spindle boxes, numbers and counters, numbers 11 - 19, introduction to the decimal system, the "crisis of 9s," etc., until I got to the point when I thought she was ready for "shell math," an activity I read about in the <a href="http://www.newchildmontessori.com/" target="_blank">New Child Montessori curriculum guide</a> I bought a couple years ago (the other big Montessori investment we've made since our original purchase of Montessori materials four years ago).<br />
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Using <a href="http://www.montessoriforeveryone.com/Complete-Set-of-Math-Equations-Answers_p_239.html" target="_blank">addition sentences and answers</a> from Montessori for Everyone (which I printed, laminated, and cut out), she would choose an addition sentence, choose the appropriate number of shells, and then find the appropriate answer card (here she is showing 1 + 1 = 2 and 3 + 5 = 8):<br />
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(For the shell math activity, I would select, say, 7 different math sentences and their corresponding answers; then I would set out the 7 answers in random order so she wouldn't be overwhelmed by all of the possible answers, a tip provided by Montessori for Everyone -- thanks!) </div>
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She got so good at shell addition that I decided to see how she would do using stamp game units instead of shells; also, rather than matching an answer with a sentence, I wrote columnar equations and then let her write her own answer (here she is working on 4 + 4 -- she gets 4 unit stamps, 4 more unit stamps, lines up all the stamps, then counts how many she has altogether): </div>
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<br />She keeps the sandpaper numbers close by in case she needs help remembering how to write a number:<div><br />
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She got so adept at doing addition with stamp units that I ran out of equations -- there are only so many combinations you can do that add up to nine! </div>
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I wanted to introduce equations with sums up to 18, but I wasn't sure how to do it. I didn't think she was quite ready for the full-blown bank game, and the addition strip board and addition charts didn't seem like they'd hold her interest. I was curious to see how she would do with a modified version of the bank game, so first I reviewed the overview of the decimal system and the "crisis of 9s" with her:</div>
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When she spontaneously said to me, "Mommy, I can make 10 like this..."<div><br />
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"...or like this..."</div><div><br />
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I thought she was ready! So here's how we did it:<br />
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First, I wrote some equations with sums up to 18. Here, she's working on 4 + 7:</div><div><br />
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I gave her a bank with 10s and units:</div><div><br />
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She puts 4 units in one cup, and 7 units in a second cup:</div><div><br />
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She pours all of the units into one cup:</div><div><br />
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Then she starts counting units. When she gets to 10 units, we say, "Stop!"</div><div><br />
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I remind her that there is "no such thing" as 10 units -- there's only one ten -- so she gives her units back to the bank and exchanges them for one ten:</div><div><br />
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She's left with one ten and one unit, so we get the number card for one ten and the number card for one unit, and she reads her answer to me: "One ten and one unit are eleven."</div><div><br />
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She writes down her answer, and voila!</div><div><br />
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<br /></div></div></div>Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-88026077703342047532012-01-19T23:57:00.005-05:002021-03-19T20:05:46.568-04:00Free Knobless Cylinder Extensions<div style="text-align: left;">
Just in case you missed <a href="http://omsdaily.blogspot.com/2012/01/tuesday-january-17-2012.html" target="_blank">this post</a> over at OMS Daily, my husband and 3-y.o. did some very cool extensions with the knobless cylinders the other day:</div>
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When I saw this extension they did together and recognized all of math going on, I was absolutely blown away:</div>
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The red is there, acting like zero. The green and yellow are there, making fact families. I was thrilled that my 3-y.o. got to experience all of this math! I was so excited about it that my husband was inspired to set up and photograph some more knobless cylinder extensions for our homeschool. </div>
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Unlike most knobless cylinder extensions (which involve matching cylinders to circles on paper), these extensions are more similar to the <a href="http://montessoristory.blogspot.com/2012/01/free-pink-towerbrown-stair-extensions.html" target="_blank">pink tower/brown stair extensions</a> we posted a few days ago, which model combinations for you and your child to recreate:</div>
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Our 7-y.o.'s creation:</div>
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You can see the entire album <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZaezHdtSv85juXTr8" target="_blank">here</a>. </div>
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Please feel free to repost, share, etc.; if you do, please include a reference to the blog and/or link back. Thanks! :) </div>Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-72970263936819844662012-01-15T12:01:00.001-05:002021-03-19T20:08:19.612-04:00Montessori RenaissanceWe recently have experienced a Montessori Renaissance in our home, in part as a result of resurrecting this blog. It's been so refreshing for the older girls, because Montessori is a welcome change of pace from the rigors of, "Now it's time to do math, pages 89 - 101 and the corresponding exercises." (I kid. But truly, Singapore Math is INTENSE.)<br />
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<a href="http://omsdaily.blogspot.com/2012/01/friday-january-13-2012.html" target="_blank">On Friday, the girls worked for hours.</a> They were busy and happy and productive, and somehow I even managed to clean a little while they worked!<br />
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The sensorial materials still have as much appeal for our 5-y.o. today...<br />
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...as they did three years ago:<br />
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Our 7-y.o. is rediscovering her favorite Montessori materials and -- in a wonderful turn of events for our family -- is thoroughly enjoying presenting materials to our 3-y.o.:<div><br />
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It's like having an extra teacher in the house (and further testimony to the brilliance of the Montessori method)!<br />
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I certainly don't plan to abandon the curriculum choices we've made, because I feel confident that our girls are getting a great education; however, I am looking forward to incorporating more Montessori into our weekly schedule, and the girls are too. :)</div>Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-52995227400799595992012-01-13T18:08:00.000-05:002012-01-14T00:56:37.292-05:00Free Pink Tower/Brown Stair Extensions, Part 2Of all the things I've posted about on this blog, nothing has sparked more interest than the free <a href="http://montessoristory.blogspot.com/2009/01/pink-towerbrown-stair-extensions.html" target="_blank">pink tower/brown stair extensions</a> we set up and photographed in January 2009.<br />
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Looking back at the post, I was reminded how beautiful the Montessori materials are -- they are sublime in their beauty, simplicity, and sheer genius. We were inspired to make a new set of designs from scratch, and the girls welcomed the challenge (there are a few pics of the girls working on them <a href="http://omsdaily.blogspot.com/2012/01/thursday-january-12-2012.html" target="_blank">here</a>), even designing one of their own.<br />
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Below you will find photos of a new set of extensions for you to use in your Montessori classroom (and the names we gave them). Like the Montessori materials themselves, the pictures call to our kids and compel them to build, build, build! We hope you enjoy them!<br />
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(Please feel free to repost, share, etc.; if you do, please include a reference to the blog and/or link back. Thanks! :)<br />
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Chunky:</div>
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Labyrinth:</div>
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Circle:</div>
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Nautilus:</div>
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Stairstep:</div>
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Double-S Snake with Tail:</div>
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Back-to-Back Skyscraper (our 7-y.o.'s creation):</div>
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Symmetry Facade:</div>
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Argyle:</div>
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Starburst:</div>
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Aztec Antenna:</div>
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[You can see the entire Picasa album <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/111646945314532650528/PinkTowerBrownStairExtensionsPart2?authuser=0&feat=directlink" target="_blank">here</a>, and you can see the album with the first set of extensions <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/111646945314532650528/PinkTowerBrownStairExtensions?authuser=0&feat=directlink" target="_blank">here</a>.]<br />
<br />Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-40802468995134117172012-01-12T00:30:00.000-05:002012-01-12T01:03:40.649-05:00OMS DailyAs promised, we're starting a <i>somewhat</i> daily ;) photo- and video-based blog to record our homeschool work.<br />
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Over at <a href="http://omsdaily.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">OMS Daily</a>, you can see the work the girls do each day as well as a monthly spreadsheet we use to track what they have accomplished.<br />
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OMS Daily will be rough and definitely not stylish -- just a place where we upload pics from the day, with brief descriptions of what's happening in the picture, so you get a feel for the pace and subject matter of the girls' work. It's been a fun way to record everything the girls do in a day, and the older girls really like tracking their progress.<br />
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Tuesday is our big day to be out of the house, so we won't have much to post on Tuesdays -- the older girls, the baby, and I go to our homeschool co-op (where the big girls take their co-op classes and I go to a ladies' Bible study while the baby hangs out in the nursery), and our 3-1/2 y.o. goes to her preschool.<br />
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We have posts back to January 2, so you'll need to click through a page or two to see all the older posts. <br />
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If you are interested in what we are doing, please check it out. :)Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-45846648235363157252012-01-10T23:13:00.000-05:002012-01-10T23:13:03.867-05:00The Curricula We Use (January 2012)After our oldest daughter, now 7, was ready to move on from Montessori as her core curriculum, we decided to try the classical model of education for her (we have a full Montessori preschool set up in our living room, and while we felt comfortable teaching those materials and extensions, we weren't prepared at that time to add elementary Montessori to the mix). We started when she entered first grade, and her younger sister, then 4, did everything right alongside her. We loosely based our curriculum on Susan Wise Bauer's <a href="http://amzn.to/zDqFwa" target="_blank">The Well Trained Mind</a> and supplemented with <a href="http://www.singaporemath.com/" target="_blank">Singapore Math</a> (Standards Edition) and some classes through a local homeschool co-op. This year, we added <a href="http://www.classicalconversations.com/" target="_blank">Classical Conversations</a> to the mix (we do it at home because our local CC groups were full, but that arrangement has worked out well for us :). We have continued to add bits and pieces, and this frankensteinian approach has produced good results, allowing us to tailor our teaching to each child's strengths and weaknesses.<br />
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Here's where we are today:<br />
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N, 7 y.o.:<br />
<ul>
<li>Classical Conversations memory work, science, art, and music (currently on Cycle 3) and Veritas Press history cards</li>
<li>Singapore Math (currently on level 4A)</li>
<li>Spelling Power (currently on level E)</li>
<li>Zaner-Bloser Handwriting (currently on 2C)</li>
<li>Writing With Ease (about to start level 2)</li>
<li>Story of the World (about to start volume 4)</li>
<li>Montessori (various practical life, sensorial, and grammar work, and lots of demonstrating for her younger sisters)</li>
<li>Bible (currently reading the Bible in a year)</li>
<li>Homeschool co-op (U.S. Geography and Bible classes 1 day each week)</li>
<li>Piano lessons (1 day each week) and practice (5 times a week)</li>
<li>Ballet (2 days a week)</li>
</ul>
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S, 5 y.o.:<br />
<ul>
<li>Classical Conversations memory work, science, art, and music (currently on Cycle 3) and Veritas Press history cards</li>
<li>Singapore Math (currently on level 2A)</li>
<li>Spelling Workout (currently on level A)</li>
<li>Zaner-Bloser Handwriting (currently on 2M)</li>
<li>Writing With Ease (about to start level 2)</li>
<li>Story of the World (about to start volume 4)</li>
<li>Montessori (exception word drawers as well as various practical life, sensorial, and math work)</li>
<li>Bible (currently reading the Bible in a year)</li>
<li>Homeschool co-op (Bible class 1 day a week)</li>
<li>Ballet (1 day a week)</li>
</ul>
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G, 3-1/2 y.o.:<br />
<ul>
<li>Classical Conversations memory work, science, art, and music (currently on Cycle 3) and Veritas Press history cards</li>
<li>Montessori (the full preschool curriculum)</li>
<li>Public preschool (tailored for <a href="http://montessoristory.blogspot.com/search/label/infant%20hearing%20loss" target="_blank">children with hearing impairments</a> with a focus on precise speech and language development -- 1 day a week)</li>
<li>Bible (currently reading the Bible in a year)</li>
<li>Ballet (1 day week)</li>
</ul>
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E, 1-1/2 y.o.:<br />
<ul>
<li>Montessori (getting started with basic preschool work :)</li>
</ul>
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I'll post more about why we chose these particular curricula and our opinions of them later, but I wanted everyone to see where we are so our daily blog, which I'll link to soon, will make sense.</div>
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<br />Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-41064447465433838392012-01-09T18:03:00.000-05:002012-01-09T19:04:08.862-05:00Really?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Has it really been two years since my last post?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">How I've missed you all, and how I've missed this blog, and how I've missed the Montessori world. (Because not only have I not been posting, I also haven't been reading very much!) Thanks for sticking with me. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Much has happened over the past two years, and I hope to be able to share a little over the next couple of weeks. Very briefly, though: </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1) I changed my name to<span style="font-size: small;"> Ren</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">é</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">e</span>. Hi. :)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2) The girls are now 7, 5, 3-1/2, and 1-1/2.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3) We continue to homeschool, although--due to a number of families who moved and other changes--no longer in a home co-op format. :(</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4) Although the older girls (7 and 5) have pretty much moved on from Montessori as the core of their curriculum, we are in the thick of Montessori with our 3-1/2 y.o., and I look forward to slowly incorporating our 1-1/2 y.o.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm excited to start blogging again, and I plan to blog here at least once a week about bigger-picture, curriculum-type things and any new materials I've made (but I'll be talking about more than just Montessori, because we use multiple curricula now).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And instead of writing loooong posts about our daily work (my own fault -- I'm too wordy :), in an effort to catalog what we do each day, I'm starting a separate blog where I will quasi-live blog our lesson plans and daily work (I'll link to it as soon as it's ready to go live). That blog will be mostly photo-based, with iPhone snapshots (I'm retiring the big camera that requires lengthy uploads, which means I'll be able to get posts up faster, but the picture quality won't be as nice), and there won't be much text. It won't be clean and polished but instead will offer a quick, real-time look at our work.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I will do my best to respond to every comment/question/suggestion/request, but I can't promise anything...sorry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My husband will probably help me with my blogging duties here or at the new blog. He is an integral part of our homeschool, and I literally could not homeschool without him. After the addition of daughter #4, there were days--months, really--when I did no schooling and he did everything!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I will have some exciting news about some Montessori resources he and I are developing...hopefully later this year. :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm excited to be back, and I'm excited to share all that we're doing!</span>Renéehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14426038566437606399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-31823683842774022622010-01-13T22:41:00.003-05:002012-01-10T23:29:23.300-05:00I'm Not Sure How I Found These......but the other day I Googled something and happened across <a href="http://www.teachertraining.montessorilovetolearn.com/elem1.asp?page=4">these Montessori 6 - 9 Albums for Language, Grammar, Math, Geometry, History, Geography, Biology, and Physical Science</a>. <br />
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Wow! What an amazing resource - thanks so much!<br />
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<i>Update: Sorry, but the link is no longer working. :(</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-78649719649162631312010-01-04T20:28:00.031-05:002010-01-05T14:33:36.418-05:00Writing WorkshopThe break in between semesters gave me some time to reflect on where we started, how far we've come, and where we're going...which led me back to the beginning and <a href="http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Superintendent/Sols/home.shtml">Virginia's Standards of Learning</a>, which are described this way:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools describe the commonwealth's expectations for student learning and achievement in grades K-12 in English, mathematics, science, history/social science, technology, the fine arts, foreign language, health and physical education, and driver education.</span><br /><br />The SOLs are a very broad set of guidelines for what kids should learn in each grade, and I am using them to make sure I stay on track and to make sure my oldest daughter doesn't miss out on anything I may have overlooked.<br /><br />In reviewing them, I came across this goal in the English curriculum for first grade:<br /><br />The student will write to communicate ideas.<br />* Generate ideas.<br />* Focus on one topic.<br />* Use descriptive words when writing about people, places, things, and events.<br />* Use complete sentences in final copies.<br />* Begin each sentence with a capital letter and use ending punctuation in final copies.<br />* Use correct spelling for high-frequency sight words and phonetically regular words in final copies.<br />* Share writing with others.<br />* Use available technology.<br /><br />Hmmmmmm...writing? Honestly, other than handwriting practice and grammar symbols work, we don't do a lot of writing.<br /><br />I wasn't sure where to start, and then I remembered a conversation I had with our local public school's kindergarten teacher when I was investigating schools for the 2009 - 2010 school year. She said that her kindergartners start each morning by journaling. That got me thinking...<br /><br />I did a little research, and I came across <a href="http://www.writingfix.com/workshop/jodieb.htm">this website</a>, which I found to be extremely helpful. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you'll find links to the writing units this teacher uses each month. I looked through the units and decided to start with October. I thought the whole exercise was a big success!<br /><br />I started by asking my daughter about our pets and how she would tell someone new about our dogs. Then I asked her to draw a picture of the dogs and write down what she had described. I didn't tell her what to capitalize and what not to, and I also didn't tell her what to punctuate. She occasionally asked me how to spell certain words, and I just encouraged her to do her best. After she had finished, I asked her what she would call her story. She made a front and back cover for it, and we stapled the whole thing together into a book. For her first time ever doing something like this, I thought her story turned out great!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">[The cover has her name on it, so I didn't scan it]</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>My Dogs + Me<br />By ___________<br />J/4/2010<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdetT6SxZx6uHgZ9KH6GEYtrDo9qxgzjeskIBNaPrfRDcewCW_E7yx6iQGLVuheld6T9eEVSEyjEz5bZUI9oasPZORYsiRlE6k_-zIhyphenhyphent20kmWNVrAO6YVUKO8OaBolXG9sQwSnS5NwEgj/s1600-h/IMG_0001.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdetT6SxZx6uHgZ9KH6GEYtrDo9qxgzjeskIBNaPrfRDcewCW_E7yx6iQGLVuheld6T9eEVSEyjEz5bZUI9oasPZORYsiRlE6k_-zIhyphenhyphent20kmWNVrAO6YVUKO8OaBolXG9sQwSnS5NwEgj/s400/IMG_0001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423105178609693362" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80a2Hs-5U1rR2vGSrzntRet3f9L67XP6CpOtUMaaF3vfTt1MwL28Agmu-9LBdoKr_RX0lTyh4M-6GFDmLhdnDno9vEdpBZhVe9i0tq8daXgWvG6T84jILW9rz1XjFJUabEDxULIyEl-fT/s1600-h/IMG_0002.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80a2Hs-5U1rR2vGSrzntRet3f9L67XP6CpOtUMaaF3vfTt1MwL28Agmu-9LBdoKr_RX0lTyh4M-6GFDmLhdnDno9vEdpBZhVe9i0tq8daXgWvG6T84jILW9rz1XjFJUabEDxULIyEl-fT/s400/IMG_0002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423105184774921298" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Other homeschooling moms I know have mentioned that they're not sure how to teach their kids to write, and I thought this was a great place to start. I didn't use lined paper based on what I read at the website I linked to above. Now that I have a good baseline by which to judge where my daughter stands, I think we can progress through some of the other units.<br /><br />Question to all you Montessorians out there: How is something like this done in a traditional Montessori classroom?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-91047499235151250062010-01-01T08:30:00.002-05:002010-01-01T08:34:25.802-05:00Happy New Year!2010 promises to be a busy and exciting year for our family, as we prepare to welcome our fourth child, due to be born around the middle/end of June. I had a really, <span style="font-style: italic;">really</span> rough first trimester, but I've finally made it to the second trimester and am feeling like my normal self again - thank goodness!<br /><br />Hopefully I'll have more time to post now that I'm feeling better (and now that I'm awake more :) .<br /><br />I wish you all a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-2794551518862478252009-10-30T23:33:00.013-04:002009-10-31T00:40:01.614-04:00So Much to Say......so little time!<br /><br />I have missed this blog and I have missed all of you!<br /><br />I have so many things to write about that it feels like climbing a mountain to catch everyone up, so I'll just try to hit the important parts and then (hopefully) fill in the details later.<br /><br />Miss C and her two boys continue to come faithfully on Monday and Wednesday mornings, and her 4yo continues to be my star student (he chooses his work, diligently completes it, and puts it away - oh, if only my 5yo and 3yo would work so well!!).<br /><br />We attend our homeschool co-op on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Through the co-op, we've met another family with four kids (a 7-1/2yo boy, a 6yo girl, a 4-1/2yo boy, and a 2yo boy) who have started joining us at least two and sometimes three days a week on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons. That means we're doing Montessori work up to 5 days a week, which makes me so happy!<br /><br />The 2yo takes a nap in our Pack-n-Play while my 1-1/2yo (and sometimes my 3yo) naps. Maybe there's something about doing work for another person (as opposed to your own mother) that makes kids respond so well, but these kids are fantastic, too. The wonderful thing is that, because my 5yo tends to "play up," they provide peer pressure for her to do her work and do it well - love it, love it, love it!<br /><br />Also, because the little kids are sleeping, both Miss M and I stay in the Montessori room with all of the school-aged kids. Their family uses a completely different curriculum, so Miss M often brings work for my daughter to do, which I think is a total win-win. I believe wholeheartedly in the Montessori method, but I sometimes worry that my daughter is "over" it. Anyone else out there experience that?<br /><br />For instance, when working on addition and subtraction, my 5yo will shrug off every offer of finger charts or other manipulatives, saying, "I can do it in my head." She <span style="font-style: italic;">can </span>do the math in her head, but it's hard for her to get in a flow when she has to think about each problem so hard. (She's doing addition with carrying and subtraction with borrowing, which adds a whole other dimension of difficulty.) Maybe I should be cheering her "passage to abstraction"? In the meantime, though, I love having a Montessori-free outlet for her - if she so chooses - on the days when Miss M's family is here.<br /><br />That's it for now, I guess. Thanks to all of you for sticking with me! As I said, I truly miss this blog, and I hope to be able to post more often.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-64961210162378159422009-09-10T23:00:00.014-04:002009-09-10T23:40:51.476-04:00The Plan - Co-Op DaysBefore school started, Miss C and I got together to make a plan for our co-op days. This is how we laid things out:<br /><br /><a href="http://montessoristory.blogspot.com/2009/09/plan-circle-time.html">Circle Time:</a><br />- Pledge<br />- National Anthem<br />- Welcome Songs<br />- Calendar<br />- Circle Time theme<br />- <a href="http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/ASLweb/browser.htm">ASL</a> letter of the day<br />- Review previous letters learned<br />- <a href="http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/ASLweb/browser.htm">ASL</a> sign of the day (related to our Circle Time theme)<br />- Review previous signs learned<br />- Introduce any new work on the shelves<br />- Pray<br />Work period<br />Snack<br />Work period<br />Jobs<br />Read one story and verse from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/My-ABC-Bible-Verses-Hiding/dp/1581340052/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252639261&sr=8-1">My ABC Bible Verses<br /><br /></a>As you can see, we've added a little bit of sign language. Miss C's son loves learning sign language and already has a pretty big sign vocabulary, so we're going to implement that vocabulary further.<br /><br />I also plan to introduce a daily yoga pose, which I'll post about soon.<br /><br />We're going to start My ABC Bible Verses all over again this year. I looked around online and found many, many sets of Bible verses for each letter of the alphabet, but when you take the verses out of context and just have the kids memorize them, they don't make a whole lot of sense. That book has so many valuable lessons that Miss C and I decided to follow it again this year.<br /><br />Yesterday was our first day, and things went very well. I'll try to post pictures soon!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-45175934140832150542009-09-09T00:14:00.004-04:002009-09-09T00:22:10.075-04:00The Plan - Circle TimeHere is how I plan to run Circle Time:<br /><br />Pledge of Allegiance<br />National Anthem<br /><br />Sit Down Song:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Tapping at the window, tapping at the door.<br />Everybody sits down when we count to 4.<br />1 – 2 – 3 – 4 !<br /><br /></span>Songs:<br />[To the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb"]<span style="font-style: italic;"><br />We welcome you to school today,</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />School today, School today,</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />We welcome you to school today,</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />To learn and grow and play.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />We're glad to have you here today,</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Here today, here today.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />We're glad to have you here today.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Yes, it's a special day!</span><br /><br />[To the tune of "Skip To My Lou"]<span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Hello everybody, how do you do? (Wave at children)</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Hello everybody, how do you do? </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Hello everybody, how do you do? </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />How do you do this morning?</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />I'm fine (point to self), I hope you are, too (point to kids)</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />I'm fine, I hope you are, too</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />I'm fine, I hope you are, too</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />I hope you're fine, this morning!</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Turn to your partner, shake their hand</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Turn to your partner, shake their hand</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Turn to your partner, shake their hand</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Shake their hand this morning!</span><br /><br />[To the tune of "Good Night Ladies"]<span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Hello, (child's name); Hello, (child's name); </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Hello, (child's name), it's nice to see you today.</span><br />[go around the circle and sing for each person]<br /><br />Calendar:<br />Review month (Sing “Months of the Year” song)<br />Review calendar day<br />Review year<br />Review day of the week (Sing “Days of the Week” song)<br />Review season (Sing “Seasons” song)<br />Discuss the day's weather<br /><br />Circle Time theme<br /><br />Close Circle Time in prayerUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-31192866079304488272009-09-08T16:07:00.003-04:002021-03-19T20:12:31.506-04:00I Can't Believe I'm Saying This, But......I think I'm almost ready!
School doesn't start for 17 hours, and the Montessori room is pretty much ready to go! I have a few more things to do (I have to finalize my circle time plan for tomorrow, I have to put the finishing touches on a couple more PL activities, and I have to make a poster and cupcakes for my middle daughter's third birthday tomorrow), but I'd say I'm about 97.5% done! As a procrastinator extraordinaire, this is a major accomplishment for me. Typically, I'd be working until 3:00 in the morning (rationalizing it by saying that I'm a night-owl, anyway), and I'd go to bed disappointed and kicking myself because I hadn't planned ahead.
So instead, I'm going to toot my own horn for a second (please bear with me :). I often get discouraged, thinking that "you can't teach an old dog new tricks," that I'll be a procrastinator forever, that at this point in my life I just am who I am and I will never improve. But this is real, actual, visual proof that I CAN change and I CAN do better. Woohoo!
Here are some shots to document what I hope will mark the end of my procrastination days: <div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS2-9PWAxAg_XJsgyzYBhgVnPMuiCu-qHzH_22SFxw8uWHwXd2CDKUqIQdioUEtSdt1Ni9oyvNBsDoih1XOpTQ3arizPTGtVbhhL6pQn3aoXyR7Kfnw2E9HdLt53zcsXoKKt0nwLRqrqm7/s1600-h/DSC_2450_IJFR_1000.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379212451756736834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS2-9PWAxAg_XJsgyzYBhgVnPMuiCu-qHzH_22SFxw8uWHwXd2CDKUqIQdioUEtSdt1Ni9oyvNBsDoih1XOpTQ3arizPTGtVbhhL6pQn3aoXyR7Kfnw2E9HdLt53zcsXoKKt0nwLRqrqm7/s400/DSC_2450_IJFR_1000.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 266px; width: 400px;" /></a><div><div><br /><div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgeswVr1lhVYABE3Y8pnNT1odM7QU44G1wAU0-ChqhKVYq7m9KFpNLpIEMFUQ7nIcWPwbrO9ij8uyic4PiHCMQRWsHikkedpxHlilZd1HCPs8xUd3cAiqeNO7dvqSeIwzRLXvBZ3Tnrx5/s1600-h/DSC_2447_IJFR_1000.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379212433662688866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgeswVr1lhVYABE3Y8pnNT1odM7QU44G1wAU0-ChqhKVYq7m9KFpNLpIEMFUQ7nIcWPwbrO9ij8uyic4PiHCMQRWsHikkedpxHlilZd1HCPs8xUd3cAiqeNO7dvqSeIwzRLXvBZ3Tnrx5/s400/DSC_2447_IJFR_1000.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 266px; width: 400px;" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkcIrsQsj2wiqAJlmxaVFvO7hORer7EzYhm4wH4M3sdQR29oGsKN7llQi8Jllk5bL6G7QxkxeZwzON_p9Vi0gwD-E0XdLYlZ7ggNa1z1RAbcTohmkdhDLDlOIMQgbBftRnyZ3JsDUxTf5x/s1600-h/DSC_2448_IJFR_1000.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379212440267454642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkcIrsQsj2wiqAJlmxaVFvO7hORer7EzYhm4wH4M3sdQR29oGsKN7llQi8Jllk5bL6G7QxkxeZwzON_p9Vi0gwD-E0XdLYlZ7ggNa1z1RAbcTohmkdhDLDlOIMQgbBftRnyZ3JsDUxTf5x/s400/DSC_2448_IJFR_1000.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 266px; width: 400px;" /></a></div><div><div><br /><div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfozsapXQiiloQ5zkLqyjwsMS699nd0AsdiWsGhQjrwdQVo4HQhsg-gVDS4YWugibs2bT9ZiMEB3L3WM3qFtVipSx4HeGh4uk1kMrU2G6Dqgl1thof5Z59pfI8jM5WAqwiG4RTN0svvwbX/s1600-h/DSC_2449_IJFR_1000.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379212442106061602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfozsapXQiiloQ5zkLqyjwsMS699nd0AsdiWsGhQjrwdQVo4HQhsg-gVDS4YWugibs2bT9ZiMEB3L3WM3qFtVipSx4HeGh4uk1kMrU2G6Dqgl1thof5Z59pfI8jM5WAqwiG4RTN0svvwbX/s400/DSC_2449_IJFR_1000.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 266px; width: 400px;" /></a> <div><br /></div><div> If only I had taken some "before" pictures so you could see what the room looked like when I started (let's just say that Maria Montessori would have been mortified!). More about how I managed this miracle transformation coming soon...</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855865220950464318.post-26589970395345960522009-09-04T19:56:00.010-04:002009-09-05T16:15:18.549-04:00The PlanHere in Northern Virginia, school starts next Tuesday. I've been busy lesson planning and getting everything set up, and I'm feeling pretty good about how things are coming together.<br /><br />This is how our Kindergarten year is going to look:<br /><br />On Mondays and Wednesdays, Miss C and her two sons are going to join us for Montessori work. I will lead my soon-to-be 5- and 3-year old daughters and Miss C's just-turned 4-year-old son in the Montessori classroom, while Miss C plays with her soon-to-be 2-year-old son and my 17-month-old daughter in the playroom. It's a small crew, and I was hoping more kids might be able to join us, but we've yet to find another family that is interested. As things stand right now, I think the setup will work out great - I was just kind of hoping that we could find a family with a kindergartner so that my oldest daughter would have someone to work with/challenge her (last year, one of the wonderful things about Miss D's son was that he and my daughter were such nice complements to one another - she excelled at reading while he excelled at math, etc.).<br /><br />On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my daughter is going to take classes at a homeschooling cooperative hosted by a local church. On Tuesdays, she'll take an Elementary Bible class (at the same time the church hosts a Mom's Bible Study with free childcare!), and on Thursdays, she'll take a Beginning Art class and an Elementary Science class.<br /><br />On Fridays, we'll do Montessori work or we'll take a field trip somewhere.<br /><br />Through my husband's work, we have access to one Rosetta Stone language (for free!), so we're going to learn Spanish as a family.<br /><br />I think it's shaping up to be a great year. If you're in the Northern Virginia area and would like more information about possibly joining our little co-op, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email through the "Contact Us" link on the left.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3