Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Building Blocks

Our family loves to build and we specifically have an area we keep all the building materials available to allow time and space for creativity and imagination to unfold there. I find construction in this environment to increase their hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness and motor muscle strengthening which  means it is a pretty important work for kids.




Our materials in the area have a wide range of formats. We have simple wooden shapes, magnetic tiles, loose parts and Brain Blox.





We just recently got these wonderful wooden planks, in fact, to add to our area and we have really had a blast creating things with them! I am especially fond of the fact that they are natural, non-toxic and earth friendly materials which are significant factors when my important little humans are playing and touching them constantly.





Something else I appreciate with these building toys is the invitation to create without direction. Due to the fact that each piece is the same as the next, it invites some major engineering and math skills and the girls don't even know they are learning!!! Learning through play is what our home is all about!





If you would like to get your own set of these amazing toys that teach I have a discount code for you to get 10% OFF: 
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What are your favorite objects your kids like to build with? Share with me, I love changing up our space often. 


Thursday, August 9, 2018

The Colors Around Us (Using Color Box Three)

Some of our most favorite materials are those in the Montessori world. I love how they provide beauty and quality to our educational journey.  As much as I appreciate the materials and their worth in their original intent I also like how they lean themselves to extensions that provide another realm of learning for the kids.
Color Boxes are just one of these materials that inspire extensions, specifically Color Box Three! I use this material set to encourage my girls to really see the world around them in COLOR!

Here are a few examples we have utilized this one material to further the knowledge and awareness of nature around them by providing time for observation, discriminating colors, language building and to simply orient the world of colors.

Can you match the colors of these objects of nature? 


Garden Fresh Tomatoes:



Butterflies:




Turtles:




Reptiles:





Seashells:






Fruit:





Birds:




Another way I really like to present these tiles is through our art invitations and work trays. Here are a few we have done that the girls have enjoyed.

Painting Ocean Zones:





Ordering and painting watermelon Colors:





Flags of Countries Around the World:





Painting the colors of a Thunderstorm:



Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Easter Egg Stuffers That Are Not Candy

We eat very little sugar in our home. We find our bodies have immediate negative reactions to it so when the idea of having an egg hunt for the girls came along we have had to become inventive as to what to stuff them with each year.
Here is a list of just a few ideas.





NON FOOD ITEMS
1. puzzle pieces to build into a puzzle when the hunt is over
2. rock crayons
3. wiki sticks
4. seeds for planting
5. stickers
6. nail polish (We prefer this brand)
7. lego pieces
8. hair ties
9. sea shells
10. match box cars
11. coins, especially specialty ones or ones from another country
12. chapstick
13. play doh 
14. socks
15. fake bugs
16. Flower TOOB pieces 
17. rings
18. temporary tattoos
19. shoe laces
20. peg dolls
21. story rocks
22. band aids
23. hair caps
24. washi tape
25. slime
26. dice
27. nuts and bolts
28. erasers
29. gems
30. mini soaps
31. wooden buttons
32. mini sewing kit
33. needle felting
34. finger puppets
35. sea glass
36. fossils
37. dried nature to explore
38. marbles
39. handwritten jokes
40. whistle

FOOD ITEMS: (we rarely put food items into the eggs but we have done these in years past)
grapes
crackers
assortment of nuts
raisins
seeds


I hope you have found this list helpful. It is sometimes tricky to think of things when you need them!
(I may be speaking from experience)



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Monday, March 26, 2018

Bunny Glyph 2018

Here is the glyph if you would like to participate in the Bunny Glyph!
We would love to see everyones drawings and be able to read and graph them for ourselves as I hope you all will too!

Be sure to follow along using #bunnyglyph2018 on either Instagram or Facebook!

HOPe to see yours!

Bunny Glyph

Color of your bunny
Blue
If you are a Girl
White
If you are a boy

Where do you live? Color your bunny belly:
Orange
North America
Pink
South America
Green
Africa
Red
Europe
Yellow
Asia
Brown
Oceania

Do you prefer jelly beans or chocolate?
Two ears up
Jelly beans
One ear down
chocolate

Do you prefer hunting for eggs or decorating eggs? Draw a:
Bow Tie
 decorating
Hair Tie
 hunting

Can you wiggle your nose?  Make your nose:
Pink
YES
Green
NO



Thursday, March 8, 2018

Our Daily Rhythm



I want to start by saying this has been and continues to be a work in progress. I feel daily rhythms come and go and adjust according to the seasons of the home. Some times they can run smoothly and you seem to have fit in every thing possible and then some into your day. While other times you wonder how will we get it all done.
Just know you don't have to get it all done and your rhythm may never look like someone else's. It probably really shouldn't anyhow because let us remember we are all living different lives with different variables and different needs.

Table Time: Finding Wild Invitation

Here is a glance at what happens in our home settings for school.


After breakfast we do our family responsibilities for the day. Every day is something different we each focus on for the chore.

After responsibilities are complete, we head to our school space where we do our circle time. This includes prayer for our day, specifically praying for a country around the world, calendar time, number talks, and a read aloud.


Then we move into our work cycle. The room is a quiet space. I have no music playing and nothing flashy to distract them allowing them to keep their focus and attention on what they choose to work on. Here the girls choose works from our shelves as they feel drawn to. 


This is a multi age space so there are works that are under challenging as well as over challenging for either of them as it is all set out for both children. Sometimes they try and do the others works, which is allowed by me because sometimes my oldest really just needs to feel like she can have control and complete multiple things in a morning. While my oldest is just curious about the materials and wants to see what her older sibling gets to do. But over all they are drawn to their own works and thrive here.


Sometimes they may never work on a math or language work tray all week. And this is ok, with me but I make a mental note. I feel observing them in this setting allows me to notice what sensitive periods they are in and what they are able and willing to really grasp in lessons at Table Time (described below).

This work cycle can move through in 30 minutes up to an hour if they are wanting to really get into big works. I give them the space and time they need.


From here, we move to Table Time. Here is where our curriculum comes out to play.
I work with basic letters, numbers and hand writing with my now 4 year old. And I work with Reading, Math  and writing with my almost 7 year old. This time is set up by me with lesson plans. I set the table for them and create a warm space with candles, classical music playing and sometimes refreshments if their work cycle went on the longer side and they feel they could use a drink or small snack.



When Table Time is complete, they go and play how they want. They usually choose outside if the weather permits. The mud kitchen is mostly what is prefered.


From here I set up either art or science for the day. I don't usually do two in one day as I feel I want them to have less directed time and more self directed. Lunch and naps follow this time.


When they wake from naps they have the entire afternoon to play how they choose. The only exception is our once a week Tea Time.

Tea Time consists of read aloud literature, usually poems, snack and of course tea. Depending on my week, I will make it super fancy or super simple.



I would love to say this is how our days go alllll the tiiiime. But I would not be telling the truth. This is my ideal goal for us. We do our very best to make it the priority but sometimes life does happen and things come up.
But this is us for about 90% of the time.


I would love to hear about how your daily rhythm is in your home. Please share!

"Our care of the child should be governed not by the desire to 'make them learn things' but by the endeavor always to keep burning within them the light which is called intelligence. "  
                    ~ Maria Montessori 





Thursday, January 25, 2018

Winter Theme 2018

Our Montessori Inspired trays for the two weeks:



  1. Rock snowman mix and match story telling
  2. Pattern making with templates 
  3. Create your own pattern
  4. Sandpaper numbers and glass (ice) beads 
  5. Numeral and dot snowman match 
  6. Tens and ones roll and count 
  7. One to one correspondence with penguin stickers
  8. Stair counting with snowman manipulatives 
  9. Hundred chart cover and find the number 

1. Shape matching penguins 
2. Snowball ten frame 
3. Numerals and for ten frames using penguin manipulatives (cards from Your Sister's Shoppe )
4. Mitten Double letter blends picture card match 
5. Wooden snowflake match
6. The Mitten animal word building with the moveable alphabet
7. Penguin puzzle with penguin fact card 

Our winter feels Math Table:


Wooden scale can be found here


Our Loose Parts set out for them in their Block Area:




Here are our Invitations:

Invitation to Build: Can you build a snowflake? (pay attention to main parts of what make a snowflake) We paired this with the book: The Story of Snow



Invitation to Explore: What story can you tell using these loose parts on the light table?



Invitation to Build: Can you build a sled? This went along with the Red Sled book we borrowed from the library. We LOVE a good STEAM invitation.




We had a fun Small World Sensory Play day where I filled a baking sheet and froze it. Then I mixed baking soda and shaving cream and made a super fun moldable snow! We added the Safari Ltd. Penguins for some chilly play! When the ice melted it was a great discussion opener about icebergs! 




Below are just some of the Science, Math and Art we did during these Winter Theme weeks.

How Do Penguins Stay Dry?
I printed a picture of a penguin from A Scrap of Time. We tested just water on the penguin and noticed it got drenched immediately. Next we rubbed oil onto the penguin first and then added water. Conclusion: try it yourself to discover!



Making Snowflake Names:
Fold your paper like you would to make a normal paper snowflake. Then write the name you want on the fold of the paper. Cut along the lines careful not to cut the fold. Viola!






Painted Snowflake Symmetry:
Place some paint into the center of a folded piece of paper. I prefer the larger pieces of construction paper for durability of the wet paint. Then fold the paper. The child then pushes the paint into three lines moving it away from the center of the fold to the edges of the paper. Be careful not to press too hard or the paper could rip and to not go past the edges. Open the paper carefully!



Penguin Coding
After reading Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers. I set up a basic coding game to follow the order of events of the story to get the penguin to the South Pole. My daughter then had to write down the code the youngest was to follow in order to achieve this goal. 




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Saturday, January 13, 2018

Games - The Secret Learning Tool

Have you heard of Game schooling?



This is just a few of the games that are out for the girls to
freely choose from to play when they want. 


It is basically playing games to facilitate learning .

Although we don't game school 100% we are HUGE fans of utilizing games into our days. They save all of our sanity most days when working on our lessons just aren't an option for my girls. I much prefer pulling out a game we can all play and will have fun together. They bring connection and the girls have little idea that they are learning!


Sounds amazing, right?



Here is a list of a few games that have frequented our table as of late.

For my youngest: 

Nonsensical Stories Game : This is a cooperative story based game for ages 3 and up.

Haba Orchard Game : This is a fun game for cooperative learning and fine motor.

Hape Listen to Clues  : This is good for paying attention and following directions.

Guess Who? : Great for asking questions and paying attention to details.

For my oldest (who is now 6)

Outfoxed!  A simplified game of Clue!

Sums in Space : A fun addition and subtraction game using number 0-9.

Qwirkle : a fun strategy game for the entire family. My husband and I really enjoy this one too!

Scrabble Junior : This particular version of Scrabble has options to play with a younger playing for letter recognition and is able to move to a more advanced version for spelling.


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Play Dough Recipe

Here is my MOST FAVORITE recipe for play dough.
You can add all sorts of things to this to have a different sensory play each time. I love this because it is made of items already in my pantry making it a simple last minute play time tool.




The basic recipe is as follows:

2 Cups of flour
1/2 cup of salt
2 Tablespoons of cream of tartar
2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups of VERY hot water, boiling is best


ADD INS: (optional)
Glitter
sequins
sprinkles
food coloring
essential oils

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Add the vegetable oil to the hot water and then add to the dry ingredients.
Stir together until it starts to form.
Take out of the bowl and knead together. BE CAREFUL IT WILL BE HOT!




This recipe if stored in a sealed container will last up to a few months.

For add ins, if they are dry add in with the dry ingredients and likewise, if they are wet, add into the wet. For add ins like sprinkles it is best to add them in after the entire mixture is cooled down or the coloring will bleed from the hot water.


Let me know if you make this! Leave a comment or post to your social media (Facebook or Instagram) and tag me (@momducator) ! I love to see how you adapt it to your own.