Wow! This morning I was looking something up in Google and came across Wikisori.
Did I already say, "Wow!" ?
Wow!
I've been thinking about this for some time - how frustrating it is that I have all of these links to all of these different Montessori resources and that it would be helpful to have them all in one place. Well, this is that place! Anyone can join and contribute links, materials, videos, etc., and the goal is to become a sort of "one-stop shopping" for all things Montessori. I've added it to my sidebar. Check it out!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Busy, Busy
On Monday, things were buzzing in the classroom, especially as a result of this little guy:
Miss C's son has taken his classroom work to a "whole nother level." He chooses his work, diligently finishes it, puts it away, chooses his next work, diligently finishes it, puts it away, lather, rinse, repeat. On this day, he chose the hanging bead stair (above)...
...this sensorial puzzle (check out that rabbit!)...
...the open and close boxes...
...pouring rice...
...another sensorial puzzle...
...grinding spices with a mortar and pestle...
...and numerous other activities that I missed because I just wasn't quick enough with my camera!
(By the way, the spice grinding activity, which I saw at The Wonder Years, has been the most popular PL activity in the classroom for about five weeks running now. I started out using a whole black peppercorn/coriander blend that I happened to have in my spice cabinet, and now we've moved on to allspice berries, which I also happened to have. After taking another quick look in there, I've also found celery seeds and dried whole thyme, which I'll put out over the next couple of days.)
Miss D's son busied himself with the stamp game...
...and more word drawers (he's definitely in a sensitive period for reading and writing right now):
My daughter worked on the map of Asia...
...she spontaneously grabbed the dustpan and broom to clean up some crumbs...
...and then she and Miss D's son played dominoes, which is their current favorite activity.
Initially the dominoes were on the shelf for domino math, but they played one time a couple weeks ago, and now they play daily. I know dominoes isn't a traditional Montessori activity, but I don't mind it because my set goes up to double 12. I love that they can look at a domino and say, "That's the 11/6," or "I have a double 9." (In the meantime, I'm looking over their shoulders, trying to count the dots :)
Miss C's son has taken his classroom work to a "whole nother level." He chooses his work, diligently finishes it, puts it away, chooses his next work, diligently finishes it, puts it away, lather, rinse, repeat. On this day, he chose the hanging bead stair (above)...
...this sensorial puzzle (check out that rabbit!)...
...the open and close boxes...
...pouring rice...
...another sensorial puzzle...
...grinding spices with a mortar and pestle...
...and numerous other activities that I missed because I just wasn't quick enough with my camera!
(By the way, the spice grinding activity, which I saw at The Wonder Years, has been the most popular PL activity in the classroom for about five weeks running now. I started out using a whole black peppercorn/coriander blend that I happened to have in my spice cabinet, and now we've moved on to allspice berries, which I also happened to have. After taking another quick look in there, I've also found celery seeds and dried whole thyme, which I'll put out over the next couple of days.)
Miss D's son busied himself with the stamp game...
...and more word drawers (he's definitely in a sensitive period for reading and writing right now):
My daughter worked on the map of Asia...
...she spontaneously grabbed the dustpan and broom to clean up some crumbs...
...and then she and Miss D's son played dominoes, which is their current favorite activity.
Initially the dominoes were on the shelf for domino math, but they played one time a couple weeks ago, and now they play daily. I know dominoes isn't a traditional Montessori activity, but I don't mind it because my set goes up to double 12. I love that they can look at a domino and say, "That's the 11/6," or "I have a double 9." (In the meantime, I'm looking over their shoulders, trying to count the dots :)
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Catching Up and Earth Day Fun
I haven't been posting about school much lately, but we've been meeting faithfully and getting quite a lot accomplished.
Among the many Circle Time themes Miss K has introduced since my last post (cringe) - including Spring, community helpers, Palm Sunday, and Easter - Miss K's Circle Time theme for last week was the zoo. I used it as an opportunity to introduce all of the lessons I recently bought/printed out from Montessori for Everyone: Living vs. Non-Living, TheFive Six Kingdoms, Plant vs. Animal, Vertebrate vs. Invertebrate, and the five categories of Vertebrates (amphibian, bird, fish, mammal, and reptile). We also took a class field trip to the zoo - a little crazy, considering we were visiting the National Zoo during high tourist season, but still very fun and memorable.
Miss K's Circle Time theme for this week was Earth Day. To celebrate, Miss K got each of the kids their very own terra cotta pot and packet of seeds (which they chose at random), and today they decorated their pots and planted their seeds.
Over the past many weeks, we've continued to read and enjoy My ABC Bible Verses. The verses and stories we've read:
T: "Thou shalt not steal." Exodus 20:15
U: "Unto Thee, O God, do we give thanks." Psalm 75:1
V: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life." John 6:47
W: "We love Him because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19
I continue to be amazed at how easy it is for the kids to learn these Bible verses. At the end of each school day, we go through the alphabet and say the verses one by one, and even though we're all the way up to W, with only very little assistance, they can say each verse from memory!
Among the many Circle Time themes Miss K has introduced since my last post (cringe) - including Spring, community helpers, Palm Sunday, and Easter - Miss K's Circle Time theme for last week was the zoo. I used it as an opportunity to introduce all of the lessons I recently bought/printed out from Montessori for Everyone: Living vs. Non-Living, The
Miss K's Circle Time theme for this week was Earth Day. To celebrate, Miss K got each of the kids their very own terra cotta pot and packet of seeds (which they chose at random), and today they decorated their pots and planted their seeds.
Over the past many weeks, we've continued to read and enjoy My ABC Bible Verses. The verses and stories we've read:
T: "Thou shalt not steal." Exodus 20:15
U: "Unto Thee, O God, do we give thanks." Psalm 75:1
V: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life." John 6:47
W: "We love Him because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19
I continue to be amazed at how easy it is for the kids to learn these Bible verses. At the end of each school day, we go through the alphabet and say the verses one by one, and even though we're all the way up to W, with only very little assistance, they can say each verse from memory!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
A Clearer Picture
With kindergarten looming on the horizon for my oldest daughter, a (somewhat) clearer picture of next year has started to emerge. For various reasons, both Miss D and Miss K (and their respective children, of course) will not be returning next year. That leaves my family and Miss C's. If nothing else changes between now and then, this September we would have two adults and five kids ages 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1, or three kids in the Montessori room and two kids in the playroom, which sounds...totally doable.
Without Miss K to lesson plan and run Circle Time, I'm considering purchasing this curriculum. Has anyone out there tried it?
Without Miss K to lesson plan and run Circle Time, I'm considering purchasing this curriculum. Has anyone out there tried it?
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Still Here...
...and working harder than ever (and therefore not blogging much at all).
My oldest daughter will be five this September, and it's looking more and more likely that we'll homeschool for kindergarten (I'm touring a Montessori school next week, and if that's not a good fit, we'll probably homeschool). (I just re-read that last sentence - how's that for commitment? :)
The possibility of homeschooling has forced me to reexamine our current setup and has revealed many deficiencies, which I hope to blog about soon. In the meantime, I've been trying to finish up some outstanding projects and create some new ones.
I've finally finished making all of the word drawers from Laura at My Montessori Journey's system. I've had the three-letter word drawers out on the shelves since day one (drawers 1 - 16), but the four- and five-letter words with digraphs have been long overdue, and I've finally finished them. I have 60 word drawer compartments (two sets of drawers with 30 drawers each, like this), but there are only 38 sets of words in Laura's system. Rather than let those 22 drawers sit empty, I've decided to fill them with sight words (words that must be memorized because they cannot be sounded out phonetically). I'll upload those files as soon as I'm finished creating them (read an excellent post about introducing sight words here).
I have many, many other projects in the works, and I'll try to get a post up each time I finish something new.
My oldest daughter will be five this September, and it's looking more and more likely that we'll homeschool for kindergarten (I'm touring a Montessori school next week, and if that's not a good fit, we'll probably homeschool). (I just re-read that last sentence - how's that for commitment? :)
The possibility of homeschooling has forced me to reexamine our current setup and has revealed many deficiencies, which I hope to blog about soon. In the meantime, I've been trying to finish up some outstanding projects and create some new ones.
I've finally finished making all of the word drawers from Laura at My Montessori Journey's system. I've had the three-letter word drawers out on the shelves since day one (drawers 1 - 16), but the four- and five-letter words with digraphs have been long overdue, and I've finally finished them. I have 60 word drawer compartments (two sets of drawers with 30 drawers each, like this), but there are only 38 sets of words in Laura's system. Rather than let those 22 drawers sit empty, I've decided to fill them with sight words (words that must be memorized because they cannot be sounded out phonetically). I'll upload those files as soon as I'm finished creating them (read an excellent post about introducing sight words here).
I have many, many other projects in the works, and I'll try to get a post up each time I finish something new.
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