E's Montessori Shelf

E(1)'s Montessori activities are set up on a small shelf that was mine when I was little.  We attached the shelf to the back of the girls' play kitchen since we did not have a wall to attach it to.  This has worked out nicely because I can turn it to face outward into the room during the morning and then face it towards the sliding glass doors during most of the day.  Having these materials out for only a few hours a day seems to keep them a little more fresh and exciting :) 

The top row of E's shelf has the following activities: geometric solids, wooden nesting bowls, Brown Bear "I Spy" bottle and matching cards. On the second shelf is an imbucare box, a q-tip and bear bottle activity, a sandpaper e, and a bead maze (she was uninterested in the bead maze, so I replaced it with cutting fruit). On the 3rd shelf are the Montessori Cylinder Blocks and Ryan's Room (Lace 'Em Up Dragon) 2 (ours is actually a snake, but they don't make it anymore).



Here is the play kitchen.

Montessori At Home by John Bowman

John Bowman sent me a copy of his book Montessori at Home a few months ago, and I LOVE it! It is exactly what I was looking for more than 3 years ago when I first started implementing the Montessori method with O (4). If I'd had this book then, I doubt I would have even started a blog!


If you look at the top of the book, you can see that I have marked many pages. This book is full of great activities that I'd like to do with my girls. Many of the ideas and activities come from blogs, so you may have seen them before. However, it's nice to have them organized and in a book instead of on a computer screen.







I really love that many of the activities are included in the book. The materials are printed on cardstock at the back of the book, so all you have to do is cut them out, and you are ready to work!










Here is a little more about John Bowman (copied from the website)...

"John Bowman’s most rewarding and fun career was over a decade spent as a Montessori Pre-Primary Teacher and Center Director. He started three new Montessori programs; and was the first Director of the Garfield Montessori School in Denver, CO. His goal now is to inspire parents to do early learning activities at home with their children and show them how."

If you are just getting started with the Montessori Method at home, this book is really all you need. I could have saved so much time and money if he'd only written it 3 years ago!!! One of the most helpful sections in the book is a list of Montessori materials that you should buy for your home along with directions for materials that you can make.

I am in no way affiliated with the author or book. I received a free copy of the book, liked it, and decided to write this unbiased review. I hope you will take a moment to browse the website and learn more about this wonderful resource.

Snowflake Matching Work

Snowflake Bentley is one of our favorite winter books, so when I saw this snowflake matching work on My Montessori Journey I was very excited.  I love activities that are directly related to the books we read.  Thanks to Laura for emailing me the file!

The pictures for this work are actual photos of snowflakes, and they may be the photos that Snowflake Bentley took many years ago (we like to think they are anyway!).


O likes to sort the snowflakes into 2 groups before she starts matching them ("pointy" and "not pointy").  She looks at the tiny pictures of snowflakes through a magnifying glass in order to match them to their larger matches.  This is more difficult than I anticipated!


I put star stickers on the backs of the cards to facilitate self-checking. 

Geometric Solids for Baby

I introduced 5 of the geometric solids to E last week (I left out the ones with sharp points).  I told her the names of the solids and showed her that she could stack them.  Then I sat back and watched.  It is so rewarding to just watch her explore new materials.  She loved stacking the solids, and she kept trying to get the ellipsoid to balance on the top.




That didn't work, so she tried to balance the sphere.




I thought this was a good lesson in physics...until it worked!  It ended up being a lesson on persistence and balance!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

More than anything she loved taking the blocks out of the basket and then putting them back in again.  She spent a LONG time with this activity and was so focused the entire time.  Gotta love Montessori for building concentration and the ability to be completely absorbed by a task!




She was very proud of herself when she got all of the blocks into the basket!

Knobbed Cylinders for Baby

E is a little young for the knobbed cylinders (16 months), but I knew this was a work that she'd love, so I decided to go ahead and introduce it to her.  (One of the beauties of not being a real Montessori teacher is that I can do things the way I want to!)  E LOVED this work, and I was surprised by how focused she was on this task.

When I was giving her this lesson, I was very methodical, deliberate, and thoughtful with my movements.  I said "hmm" when I was thinking about which knobbed cylinder to put in each place.  When E was completing the work, she kept saying "HUMMM," and now she calls this work "HUMMM."  When I ask her if she wants to do "HUMMM," she excitedly shakes her head "no" which means "yes."  (she's gotten a little confused about the difference between shaking and nodding her head this week...so cute).
 



Here is a video of E working with the knobbed cylinders.  I could watch this video over and over again.  I love watching the way her mind works.  The mind of a child is an amazing thing.




She didn't finish the knobbed cylinder, but we left it out and finished it later.

Hmmm

Evidently, I need to establish some ground rules for using the moveable alphabet at home!

A Candy Corn Math Work

I gave O this set of Halloween foam stickers that have the numbers 1 to 10 written on them.  To complete the work, she was supposed to put the numbers in order and then put the correct number of candy corn under each number.  She enjoyed putting the numbers in order, but she was not interested in putting the correct number of candy corn under the numbers. 


Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I found this activity hidden in the top of the computer armoire...Elliott put it up there when he was cleaning the kitchen one night.  So, today I asked O if she was interested in this activity.  She wasn't that interested, but she really wanted to eat the candy corn.  I told her that she had to do the work before she ate the candy because we wouldn't have enough candy corn for the work if she ate it first.  So, she did it.   As she was working, she commented that the candy corn looked like the red rods.  She then commented in a surprised tone that 8 was the same length as 7.  I asked if she was sure, and she checked her work and realized that she had only put 7 pieces of candy corn under the 8.  She laughed and corrected herself.


As she worked, she excitedly chose the pieces of candy that she wanted to eat.  She was excited when she finished the work and had 2 pieces of candy left, and she immediately ate a piece.  I reminded her that she should have had the exact amount that she needed.  She checked her work and quickly realized that she had only put 7 pieces of candy corn under # 9.  She added a piece to make 8, but didn't have enough to make 9.  I was surprised by how upset she was that her work was not correct.  I told her it was ok, and reminded her to check her work before eating the candy next time.  Then we each ate several pieces of candy corn...I admit it...I have a candy corn addiction :)

Clothes Pins and an Ice Cube Tray

Since E enjoys putting popsicle sticks into small openings so much, I thought she might be ready for this clothes pin and ice cube activity.  She loves it!  She's recently started self-correcting when she puts the clothes pin in upside down.  I LOVE to watch her work!















So focused!