If you read the title of this post and your reaction is “What’s a stink bug?” be thankful. The brown marmorated stink bug is an insect that was introduced to the United States by accident in 1998. It has now become an invasive pest in many states, Virginia is one of those. The stink bugs are now looking for a warm spot to pass the winter, our school must seem very cozy to them.Continue reading “parts of a stink bug”
I love food prep in the class and at home. It is a wonderful collection of activities that entice and call to almost all children, because really, who doesn’t love to eat?
Food prep activities truly get children excited about working. The works encourage independent choice, which is the foundation of all later Montessori work, general independence and development of confidence, coordination of large and small motor skills, concentration, and the works reinforce a sense of order.
For me they are the perfect practical life work. We have dedicated our top shelf to food prep and we rotate through a different activity about every 2 to 3 weeks.
Well it seems that starting back to school and keeping up with my posting was just a little too much for me. I thought a lot about what I wanted to post, but obviously was lacking in time management skills. I am starting to feel slightly more on top on things, so hope I will be posting more.
We have actually been back to school for 3 full weeks, 4 weeks if you include the children’s orientation week. This is what our classroom looked like during orientation week and for the first full week of school. I did make some brief notes about what we have changed and added since I took these pictures. If you have any questions about materials on the shelves or why we did something a certain way just ask.
The peace corner works are done at the small kneeling table next to the cube shelf.Continue reading “back to school–classroom tour”
I have had these DIY Montessori baric chests half put together for a little too long, it was about time to finish them up! These are completely inspired by this post from the wonderful blog Smiling like Sunshine.
These baric chests, like the baric tablets, require the child to focus on sorting the material based on one sensorial aspect, in this case weight. Each Montessori sensorial material targets one sense, this allows the child to work on refining that particular sense in a specific and isolated manner. By working with all the different sensorial materials the child has the opportunity to develop the ability to not only focus on certain types of sensory input, but also to notice and be aware of subtle differences in the world around them.Continue reading “baric chests — what I made this week”
I made these little guys, but I’m still not sure what to call them. I thought they looked inviting and they seemed like a good work for the beginning of the year. I see them as a Practical Life work, but I would totally understand if someone used them in Sensorial. They were a pretty easy DIY Montessori material.
That being said, I don’t really love them. Even though I see them as a Practical Life work, the idea of them in Practical Life kind of bothers me. I am really trying to focus on making our Practical Life as practical as possible, and is practicing balancing colored balls on top of matching pots really practical? I know that having a child use tongs to move the balls to the pots will help fine motor and reinforce how to use tongs (which is how they serve themselves snack) so it does go back to a true practical skill. But, I am still struggling with it as more of a busy work than a true practical activity.Continue reading “rainbow ball stackers and text copies – what I made this week”
One of the most beautiful areas in the Montessori class has to be sensorial. Dr. Montessori designed each material as a means for the child to explore and refine his senses. Each material encourage the child to compare, categorize and make order. These ideas then carryover and the child can use these sensorial experiences to see patterns, compare leaves, describe tactile experiences, etc. The materials provide the child the means to help interpret his world.
The sensorial materials themselves are substantial and impressive and are constantly in use in our class.
I have always had sets of extension cards for the knobless cylinders, and the base matching cards for the pink tower and the broad stairs. My coteacher and I also both know a handful of extensions that we always show the children, especially ones that combine using the pink tower and the broad stair. We decided that we wanted to make a collection of cards showing more and various extensions to help inspire the children that are drawn to these materials but are beyond the initial lessons.Continue reading “sensorial extension cards – what I made this week”
