Montessori Preschool at home

2012-01-05T07:43:00.001-08:00

Sensory Bin fun!

2012-01-05T07:28:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of sensory play. It's usually a little messy, but SO much fun! I found the idea of Rainbow Rice from Pinterest and new my daughters would love it.

Here's how I made it:

Buy a big bag of rice
Add about 4 cups of rice to a ziplock bag
Add a few drops of food coloring
Shake it up
Spread on bakin sheet to dry
Repeat with a different color

Add spoons, small cups, cars, etc.. This will provide hours of entertainment for your toddler or preschooler.

Giveaways!

2009-01-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

Visit my other blog for some great giveaways!

Usborne Volcano Kit

$35 Gift Certificate

Preschool Art

2008-12-29T11:07:00.001-08:00

Art is very important for preschoolers. A Montessori classroom would have art supplies available for the children at all times. While I think this is ideal in a home setting with certain children this will not work.

I tried to have lots of art supplies available for my daughter but it only resulted in a huge mess. Markers leaked on the floor, paint randomly on the wall or chairs, and play-do EVERYWHERE! So I had no choice but to put the art supplies out of reach for a while.

I still had my art trays but I put them in a closet with a lock. When it was time for art I wold simply take the trays out so she had a choice of what she wanted to use but it was under supervision.

If your child is mature enough to use the art supplies correctly by all means set up an art corner with art trays! Here are a few ideas for your preschoolers art corner:

*An Easel with washable paint and a smock
*A tray with play-do or beeswax with cookie cutters and other play-do tools
*A tray with paper and crayons,markers, colored pencils
*Child sized safety scissors and paper to practice cutting

Also hang art (at the child eye level) by famous artists along with art your child created.

Here are some fun art must haves for your preschooler:

Winter Fun!

2008-12-09T11:12:00.000-08:00

We did a fun and messy activity today with snow.

Take some snow from outside and place it in a bowl. Have your child add a few drops of food coloring (put newspaper on the table first). Let the child add another color of food coloring. Mix it up to reveal what the 2 mixes colors make! Be sure to use old gloves or plastic bags to mix the colors together.

Spring Sensory Box

2008-05-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

Spring Sensory Box:
Place grass, flowers, flower petals, rocks, twigs, acorns, crab apples, and any other spring related item you can find in a box. Place a blind fold on your preschool and ask him/her to reach into the box and feel an object. Have your child describe the object and guess what it is they are holding.

Montessori Chat Forum!

2008-05-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

Want to chat with other Montessori moms? Come visit us at the Natural Childhood Message board

Book Review: I Love You More

2007-11-21T05:03:00.000-08:00

I Love You More by Laura Duksta, is a touching children's book about a mother and her son's love for each other. It begins with the boy asking, "mommy, just how much do you love me?" The mother answers using things from nature to explain her love, for example. "I love you mightier than the mightiest wind ever blew, I love you fuller than the fullest moon you ever knew".

A neat thing about about this book is it's a flip-sided book! Simply flip it over and you have the son telling his mom just how much he loves her. The rhyming text and beautiful, colorful illustrations will keep young children engaged in this sweet story.

I read this book to my 5 year old daughter at bedtime. She loved it and thought is was so cool that we could flip the book and the story continues! After I read the story to her she looked at me at said "mom I love you all the way to Jupiter!" We then had our own little discussion about how much we love each other. Priceless!

Visit: http://www.lauraduksta.com/default.asp for more information.

Setting up you a Montessori Home Environment

2007-10-28T05:51:00.000-07:00

Setting up a Montessori area in your home for can seem like a daunting task at first. There are so many wonderful Montessori materials, how do you choose the best ones for your 3-6 year old? Here is a list to help you set up a Montessori area with the essentials:

Setting up the room/area:
* Lots of shelves
* Child sized table and chairs
* Display art work at child's eye level (change frequently)
* A pet to care for
*Live plants
*Art easel with paint and smock all out and available for your child as he/she wishes

Language area:
*Age appropriate Books
*Sand Paper Letters
*Movable Alphabet

Math:
*Baskets with objects to sort and classify and count
*Sand Paper Numbers
*Spindle Boxes

Sensorial:
*Smell Jars
*Color tablets
*Pink Tower
*Feely bags (different textures in a bag)

Practical Life:
*Child sized duster, broom, sponge
*pouring work

Montessori Halloween activities

2007-10-12T04:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some fun Montessori based Halloween activities to do with your preschooler!

Math:
Pumpkin Seed Counting: After carving a pumpkin, rinse and dry the seeds. Take 20 index cards and number each one (1-20). Have your preschooler count and place the correct number of pumpkin seeds to match the numbered index card. Example: If your child is working are on the index card with the # 3 on it, then the child should count out 3 pumpkin seeds and place them on the card.

Ghost Matching: Make 10-12 ghosts out of white felt or construction paper. Draw the same face on every two of the ghosts (ex: 2 happy ghosts, 2 mad ghost, 2 sad ghosts). Have your child match the ghosts by facial expressions.

Sensory:
Halloween Sensory Box:
Place small pumpkins, gourds, acorn squash, Indian corn and other Halloween items you can buy at your local pumpkin patch in a large box. Place a blind fold on your preschool and ask him/her to reach into the box and feel an object. Have your child describe the object and guess what it is they are holding.

Black Cat Touch cards: Cut out a cat shape out of cardboard. Buy black satin, fake fur, cotton and other textured fabrics from your local craft or fabric store. Glue the different fabric to your cardboard cats. Your child can "pet" the cats and feel the different textures.

Practical Life:
Cooking Pumpkin seeds: Let your child help prepare pumpkin seeds to be cooked. Your child can wash, dry and salt the seeds.

Art:
Painting: Provide Halloween paint colors at the easel.

Pumpkin Paper Plate: Have your preschooler paint a paper plate orange. Let the paint dry as your child cuts out eyes, nose and mouth out of black construction paper and a stem out of brown or green paper. Let child glue the face on when paint is completely dry.

Science:
Life Cycle of a Pumpkin: Montessori for Everyone offers a wonderful (and free) download of the life cycle of a pumpkin.

Reading:
Read several Halloween themed books: Avoid scary Halloween books. Read to your preschooler every day and place several Halloween/fall themed books in your childs reading corner basket so she can sit and look at the books as she pleases.

A Basic Montessori list of supplies for Preschoolers

2007-10-02T05:06:00.000-07:00

If you are just starting out in Montessori you may be overwhelmed by the cost of supplies. Here is a list of the essentials to get you by while you build your Preschool Montessori supply closet (some you may already have):

Sand Paper Letters and Numbers
Pink Tower
Wooden puzzles
Lacing cards
Play dishes- perfect for practical life activities- pouring, setting tables etc..
Baskets of nature items (rocks, sea shells) for classifying
Sensory Touch boards (satin, wool, cotton, wood)

Start with these basics as you continue to add to your Montessori shelves.

Leaf projects

2007-10-02T04:47:00.001-07:00

Fall is the perfect time of year to go on a nature walk with your children. While taking your walk give your child a bag to from nature such as leaves, acorns, pine cones, flowers, and rocks. Once you are home, here are a few activities to do with your preschool ages child for fun.

Leaf Rubbings Art:
1. Go on a nature walk and collect leaves.
2. Put leaves on table with, vein side up and cover with a sheet of paper
3. Peel wrapping of off crayon
4. Rub the long side of the crayon over the paper

This creates a pretty shape of the leaf on the paper.

Art Collage:
1. Take a piece of contact paper and tape it on a table sticky side up.
2. Have your preschooler pick out some of the flat nature items he/she picked on the walk (leaves in different colors, flowers)
3. Have child place nature items on the sticky contact paper.
4. Cut a another piece of contact paper and place it over the collage (sticky side down).

You will have a beautiful nature collage!

Leaf Classification:
1. Make Leaf flash cards by printing out pictures of different type of leaves from trees found in your area (oak, maple, willow, ect.) and glue them on note cards.
2. Help child identify what type of leaves she found from the walk using the pictures as a reference.

leaf pressing:
An easy was to press leaves
1. Put leaves between pieces of newspaper
2. Place several heavy books on top of the nespaper
3. Let dry for two- three weeks

Once your leaves are pressed there are several art projects you and your preschooler can do with them.
Some ides- 1. Make a scrap book together and use the leaves as decoration
2. Make fall cards to send to loved ones who live far away
3. Make a leaf book

Discovery Bottles

2007-09-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

What are Discovery Bottles?
Discovery Bottles are plastic water or pop bottles filled with different colorful materials.

Purpose of Discovery Bottles: To encourage observation skills, scientific concept

Discovery Bottle Ideas:

Wave Bottle: Turn this bottle on its side and watch as "waves" roll.
To Make: Fill 1/2 the bottle with cooking oil ( you can also use baby oil). The add water until the bottle is full. Add blue food coloring and hot glue the cap shut and you're finished!

Glitter Bottle: Shake the bottle and watch the pretty glitter move through out the bottle.
To Make: Fill the bottle with water. Add food coloring (your choice of color). Then add glitter. Hot Glue the cap shut.

Autumn Bottle: fall inspired bottle
To Make:Fill bottle with fall nature items (acorns, leaves, pumpkin seeds). Hot Glue cap to seal.
.
Calm Bottle: Watching the glitter slowly float in the bottle.
To Make: Add glitter then fill the bottle about 1/2 full with clear corn syrup. Hot glue cap to seal.

Estimation Bottle: Child has to estimate how many items are in the bottle.
To Make: Fill bottle with several items (such as rocks, or sea shells) Be sure to count how many of the item you add so you can tell your child how close their estimation was.

Place the finished bottle on a low shelf so your child can observe the bottles as they wish.

Online Montessori class

2007-09-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

I am very excited I found an online Montessori class! The class begins October 1st and I am hoping to receive lots of great curriculum ideas from Karen, who has over 20 years experience in teaching.

If you are interested in Montessori and would like to sign up for the class, visit A Montessori Market Place for more info.

Fall Sensory Box

2007-09-26T07:48:00.001-07:00

A Sensory Box is a great sensorial activity for your preschooler!

How to use a sensory box: The child places her hand in the opening of the box and feels an object. She must describe the object and guess what it is by touching but not looking.

Why use a sensory box: It helps children with their tactile perception. Also improves language skills by describing the object.

How to make a fall sensory box:

1. Take a shoe box and cut a hole just large enough for the child's hand.

2. Place nature objects in the box- acorns, leaves, pine cones, nuts, twigs, rocks

3. Have child place hand in the box and describe what she feels. Then ask her to take a guess on what the object is.

Your preschooler will love this game!

This week

2007-09-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

Lessons for the week:

Tuesday:
Math: *Read We Love Counting! book.

Language: *Learn phone #
*Read several books

Practical Life: Help prepare dinner. We made Tacos and my daughter helped by rinsing and chopping (with supervision of course) the lettuce.

Wednesday:
Language: *Read Leaves Leaves leaves
*Practice Phone number

Science: *Go on a nature walk- collect leaves

Art: *Draw pictures of leaves and trees.
*Leaf rubbings
*Begin process of pressing the leaves to make a leave book (more on that process later).

Sensorial: Fall Nature fell and guess box

Practical Life: *Wash the windows

Thursday:
Math: *Pattern game

Language: *Practice writing letters and full name

Art: *Nature collage

Science: Talk about fall- weather changes, bird migration

Sensorial: *Grab and feel bag: Alphabet

Practical Life: *Help prepare dinner

Friday:
Math: *Practice counting to 40

Language: *Practice phone #
*Read several books on fall

Art: Paint

Practical Life: Help fold clothes

Tag

2007-09-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

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Mommie Moments Rules:

(please include rules)

1. Share 1-3 FAMILY FRIENDLY Mommie Moments you had recently (funny, brag, cute, loving, etc.)
2. A link back to the Mom who tagged you.
3. You MUST be a MOM to participate.
4. Tag at least 3 other Mommies
5. Mommies Coffee Break is the MeMe originator. (active link appreciated! ;))

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My mommy moments:
Brag- My 4 year old came up to me the other day and showed me a paper she was practicing her letters on. She had written out the whole alphabet all by herself! She's so smart :)

Tagging:
1. http://passthechocolate.blogspot.com/
2. http://www.slacker-moms-r-us.com/
3. http://starryskyranch.typepad.com/starry_sky_ranch/

Why Montessori

2007-09-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

Once my daughter turned 3 years old I decided to start introducing preschool learning activities on a regular basis. I read up on all the different methods of homeschooling a preschooler. I read about Charlotte Mason, Classical, etc..but when I read about the Montessori methods, I knew this was the approach I wanted to take with teaching my child.

Dr. Maria Montessori believes that children learn and experience their world though their senses, by seeing, touching, hearing and smelling. Hands on learning is encouraged and this is why I chose a Montessori education for my daughter.