Flower Arranging

Flower arranging is a traditional element of Montessori curriculum.  It dovetails well with some of our other activities around here, such as weekly Legion of Mary meetings (where fresh flowers are required) and weekly visits to residents at a nearby assisted living facility.

But how to transport the precious posies?  One workable solution is to save the 4-pack Starbucks Frappuccino packages.  (We buy these for long, cross-country drives and save the empties.)  The glass bottles look a little like the old-fashioned milk bottles (*love*) and the handle on the cardboard carrier is, well, handy.

Now for the gratuitous cute baby photo of Alleluia in a hat.

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Kids in the Kitchen: Teaching Tips

The more the kids and I cook together the more I realize there's a lot of stuff to learn (that I hadn't thought of making into a lesson).  "Chop" is really good at chopping, but when she comes across a blemish in a fruit or veggie she's preparing she has no idea what to do.  She stops dead in her tracks!  She's not sure if she has to throw out the whole strawberry or if she can just cut around the goo.  

Also, different kinds of food require a different amount of peeling or chopping, and some of this is really specific to family preferences.  For instance, in our family we wash the mushrooms (I know, I know--the pros on the cooking shows never wash them because they say it makes them too rubbery!) and just trim off the end of the stem.

Since we're cooking for little ones we remove all of the gross stringy stuff in chicken that they might choke on.  But you have to give the kids a feel for how picky to be about that...... (Mommy and Daddy are a little different in this department, which I'm sure the kids pick up on!)

When I was a child we were told to rinse raw chicken before cutting, but I think now the recommendation is not to (because that only spreads germs in your sink?).  Have you heard this, too?  We use a separate (plastic) cutting board for raw meat and we stick the knife and cutting board directly into the dishwasher.  

This is a lot of stuff to remember!  When you do it automatically it's hard to remember to pass it on to your children--whatever your family habits may be.

Another thing I hadn't realized was a "skill" -- how to measure flour.  You scoop it out and run a knife along the top, right?  You may have learned that so young that you didn't even consider it a skill!

One of the nice things about Montessori lessons is that they break up a single lesson into several discrete steps.  With that approach in mind, slow down in the kitchen with your children and think about all the mini lessons you might pass along.

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The Everyday "I Love You"

The Everyday "I Love You"

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Birthday Candles and Number Recognition

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"Wasabi" is turning 15 today and, since our birthday candles get quite a workout around here, I decided to buy some nice shiny new ones.  Well I wasn't prepared for how excited Alleluia would be about the sparkly "1" and "5" candles we found at Target!

She had to ride home with them in the car (along with a new dog leash) and rocked them like little babies.  We practiced singing Happy Birthday and, by the time we got home, the fact that it wasn't HER birthday--but her sister's instead--had finally sunk in. 

Speaking of "sunk-ing in" the wax candles reminded me of playing that "Float/Sink" game last week, where we used a spider to scoop out the ping pong balls that floated, we saw that feathers could float, and these little wax ducks and planes that Chop makes out of the wax from her lunchbox cheese--they floated, too.

So when we got home we did a quick Number Recognition game where we floated all of the birthday candles in a bowl of water (you can use the bathtub, the kitchen sink or a baby pool) and I asked her to pull out different numbers.  It was definitely way beyond her 2-year-old brain for now, but she knows "5" alright!

She was SO taken with this silly little game (which lasted less than 10 minutes!) that she took the stuff inside and wanted to try to sort the numbers.  Again, number sequence is WAY beyond her right now, but it was interesting to see her match two numerals that were of a different style.  It was also funny to see that she doesn't realize when some of the numbers are upside down or backwards.

The candles we'll use tonight had toothpicks sticking out of the bottom, so if we do this again I'll either snip those off or buy candles without the pokies.

Who knew birthday candles could be so much fun?

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Open Shelving: Please Touch!

It's important for toddlers to be able to reach stuff they are allowed to use and to NOT be able to reach stuff they are NOT allowed to use.  That's why my house has a ga-zillion step stools and the teenagers' rooms are as secure as Fort Knox (safety gates galore).

For things it's okay to use I have lots of different kinds of open shelving--most of it cheap.  In the photo above there are tons of those melamine closet organizers along one wall of our hallway with a picture ledge from Ikea a little higher.  Sometimes it holds books, right now it holds Dressing Frames.

On the other side of this hallway:

I do have some special shelving that I splurged on (you can see one in the left of the above photo).  The specialty shelves fit the Montessori equipment perfectly and sometimes go on sale at Lord Equipment Company.

In the kitchen I have cheap shelves from office supply stores that kinda match (during sale season I think they were about $17 at Office Depot?).  I also repurposed several cubbies from Target that we've used in the kids' closets off and on.  In the sunroom there's one long bench that can serve as shelving.  I've seen makeshift classrooms with long wooden boards and cinder blocks used as shelves, but you'd have to be pretty sure that no one would be getting hurt around those!   As long as it's safe for the purposes intended, any affordable solution you can imagine will work.

Baby Jonathan, who is 14 months young, is old enough to know where to get his books and--MORE IMPORTANTLY!-- where to put them away.

This cubbie from Target is perfect for toddlers to independently get their things and to return them when finished.

For the older kids it's nice to have adjustable shelves that are still low and stable but which can accommodate even big books.  The baskets along the top (from Pottery Barn) are used to separate the four levels of easy reading books.

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Montessori Lite: Cards and Counters

Normally this work isn't introduced until a child is about 4 (it's 5th in the Number Work Progression), but Alleluia REALLY wanted to work with it--I think she likes the way these materials FEEL--so I gave in.

This is easy and cheap.  Go to Michael's (or Hobby Lobby or any good arts and crafts store) and buy card-sized pieces of wood.  These are for the numerals 1-9 and all you need to do is sand them a little before painting the numbers in red.  For 10 I had to buy one of those little wooden signs that hangs from a door knob (also from Michael's)--you know, those kind that can say "Please do not disturb" or whatever?  This will have to be cut down into a rectangular shape that is roughly twice as wide as the 1-9 cards.  No biggie--it's super thin wood and even good kitchen shears can cut through.  Sand it and paint.

You may want to polyurethane the cards if they will get a lot of use.

Even numbers have two columns of counters.....

...while odd numbers have the last counter in the middle.

For the counters:  you can use anything that is a uniform shape and color, but watch out if you have a child who puts everything in his mouth!  (Usually this work isn't presented until well after the age when this is a problem, but ya never know.  Plus, think about younger siblings or visitors).  I just bought those cheap glass stones you see in the dollar stores and in craft stores.  I've seen people use pebbles, poker chips, acorns--pick something you and your child like to handle.  I store these in a locked "Math" cabinet.

For a container in which to store the counters I used a heavy glass tea light holder.  I like the sound the counters make when you return them to it.  Only problem is, it makes carrying this work on a small tray a little heavy for a toddler.  (Oh, the tray was from Michael's, too, and you've seen this extra big mat before--it was sold as a table runner at Pottery Barn.)

Neat sound!

Rolling up the mat is part of returning the work.

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French for Toddlers: Tea Party with Grandma

Here's another short dialog in French.  Made by Ellen Green, it is a fanciful conversation about a tea party with Grandma.  Enjoy!

French for Toddlers: Teaparty with Grandma

And here are some awesome flashcards:
Quizlet French Flashcards

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