Mirror Polishing Work

Since O(5) LOVES the polishing works at school, I decided to set a few of them up at home for her and E(2) to do. E LOVES this work! She polished the mirror at least 15 times in a row when I first introduced the work to her!
First, spray the mirror with water.

Then, dry it with a little cloth. (we used tiny flannel wipes leftover from the girls' diaper days)

She also really loves to spray herself in the face with the water!

Pouring Pigs

O(5) loves to help me think of activities for E(2) to do during our Alphabet weeks, and she came up with the idea for E to "pour pigs!" Great idea, big sister!


E(2) LOVES pouring the 2 tiny pigs from one glass to the other and back again and again and again...




Then she cuddles them and carries them for a while. She said she needed to put them in their pig pen :)

Painting & Washing A Pumpkin

I've been suggesting that the girls paint their mini pumpkins for weeks, but they haven't been interested. However, as soon as I set up the activity as a "work" on a tray, they were all over it! Luckily, I had 2 pumpkins, and they both got to work immediately.


After they finished painting their pumpkins, I asked if they wanted to wash them. O(5) initially said "no," but she changed her mind almost immediately. (you can see her hand on the spray bottle in the picture...she couldn't wait to get started!)

O said that washing the pumpkin was more fun than painting it!



E(2) had difficulty with spray bottle, but didn't want any help. She didn't stay with the task very long, but she still seemed to enjoy it.

Spooning Candy Corn

E(2) enjoyed this spooning work a little too much this week! She kept grabbing and stuffing the candy corn in her mouth, so I had to put it away. I told her she could have a piece of candy after she finished the work, but she doesn't yet understand the concept of delayed gratification!

Halloween Spooning Work

E(2) enjoyed this spooning work using white beans. I drew eyes on the beans to make them look like ghosts using a black sharpie marker. I should have drawn eyes on both sides of the beans because E did not like it when they were accidentally turned over backwards! She did a great job spooning the beans from one bowl to the next, and I'm looking forward to setting up more spooning activities for her.

"Mathiplication"

O(5) was SO excited that she has learned to do "mathiplication" at school last week! She loves working with the multiplication board, and she was excited to record her work on this sheet.
O has requested to have a multiplication board at home, so I'm working on a homemade one (and I'm VERY excited about it!). I'll write a post about it once I'm finished with it!

Pouring Corn Kernels

E(2) has been learning to pour corn kernels this week for "C" week!

She poured them perfectly the first 2 times, but then she started putting her fingers on the spout. She really enjoys pouring, and she's been asking to pour water. That's definitely an activity that we'll do outside!

Pouring Black Beans

Pouring black beans from one glass to the other and back again was a big hit with sweet E(2)!

The tiny glasses came from IKEA, and they are the perfect size for her tiny hands.
I finally got out the camera when she was pouring them for about the 4th time...

Sorting Silverware

Sorting silverware was a huge hit with E(2)! As soon as she saw the tray, she got to work and knew just what to do!

The silverware set came from IKEA, and it's the perfect size for sweet E.

I love to spend our "school" time on our porch, so that we can hear the birds and enjoy the view of the lake. Fun times!

Sorting silverware is a recommended activity in John Bowman's Montessori at Home. I highly recommend this book!

Checking the Temperature

After her initial excitement over her summer Montessori work shelf, O(5) quickly lost interest in doing "Montesori school" this summer. However, she does enjoy doing this work.

O's teacher gave me a copy of a thermometer, which I laminated. I have the laminated thermometer, a real thermometer, and a dry erase marker on the shelf. O puts the thermometer outside or inside, and then checks the temperature before filling in the laminated thermometer to match. Simple and fun!

Montessori on the Beach...Landforms

The girls and I had a great time making landforms on the beach last week! I laminated the landforms sheet from Montessori at Home and took it, along with a large aluminum container, out to our tiny beach (this would work just as well at a sandbox). We chose a landform to make and got to work!

We made lakes and islands on the first day.




On the next day, I remembered to take blue food coloring and small plastic animals with us to the beach which made this activity even more fun!

We made a bay on the 2nd day. I drew the outline with a twig, and the girls dug it out.


We then slowly poured the water into the container. This was a good lesson on erosion because when O(4) poured the water too fast, the land eroded away.

After playing with the bay for a while, O turned it into an island.

We all really enjoyed making landforms, and I think this is something we'll do often this summer! (and I'm so glad that I didn't go to the trouble of making model magic landforms like I planned to years ago...this was much much more fun and engaging for the girls than having premade landforms)