Following Maddux: A Very Independent Worker

Maddux is three and a half years old. I have been working with Maddux since July of 2010. Maddux is developing interest in all areas of subjects. Maddux enjoys to work alone, and he tends not to work in areas where there is high traffic, but as soon as everyone else has left the area is when he will choose a work from that area. Another thing I observed about Maddux is that he starts his day with the last work he worked with the previous day.

Working with Sandpaper Numbers while playing the game "knock,knock".

Learning to order the Number Rods.

One of his favorite activities is to use prepositional phrases while working with the Grammar Farm. In the above photo he is putting the horse in the fence.

Sorting magnetic and non-magnetic objects.

Polishing the geometric soilids that I used from our Mystery Bag that was being untouched by all the children.

Madduxs' new favorite activity is working with the World Map puzzle. In the photo he is using the control chart to match the shapes of the continents, and then he completes the puzzle.

Montessori Monday

The week went by so fast for us. The children mostly repeated the same activities throughout the week. I love when they repeat the activities! It allows mastery of the materials and it shows me that they are enjoying themselves. The horse puzzle.

Matching sandpaper letters to name card. Later in the week Jessica went on to spell her name correctly.

Transferring sand using a measuring cup. This work is still a hit among the children.

Stringing beads.

Pin punching a heart. Lils' most favorite activity right now.

Andrew revisited the Geometric Solids.

Color box #2 is completed because Jessica favorite color is pink.

Lil was introduced to the Teen Boards two weeks ago. Now this work brings her much pleasure and it is a work that she will do at least once a day.

Mr. E has found he likes a new number the #1. For the longest he would only work with the sandpaper number 3. Mr.E enjoyed completing the #1 booklet.

Counting the number rods. Jessica is not too far away for using this work with the number cards.

Knobbed Cylinder blocks.

Working on stamping the letter "Bb" and working with sound picture cards.

I am looking forward to another great week with this group. They have built themselves a strong community as well. There are a lot of birthdays coming up and everyone has invited each other to the parties. I also love how they have made friendships between parents happen.

To see other children doing activities inspired by the Montessori Method please visit http://www.livingmontessorinow.com/ for Montessori Monday.

If You Give A Montessori Child .......

Bouncy Balls They will want to transfer them, and then if you you let them transfer them .... They will want to count them, and then if you let them count them.....

They will want to sort them, and then if you let them sort them....

They will want to put them all back, and if you let them put them all back....

Then they are going to want to do it again!! This post was inspired by reading a post over at Confessions Of A Montessori Mom Blog. It was titled You Know You Have A Montessori Child When... Heres' the link if you want to go have a good laugh http://montessoriconfessions.blogspot.com/2012/01/you-know-you-have-montessori-child-when.html. It was a fun read to me. In the end I got to thinking about some characteristics that Montessori children may have and then today during the work period I observed it. Wonderful moments!!

Easy Peasy Valentines' Work: Montessori Monday

I am expecting two new three year old students this week! A lot of my children are ready for new lessons with the traditional Montessori materials. So my plan was simple add some valentine related work, and activities that my oldest children may be able to show the new students how to do. Roll-Count-Color this work is from http://meandmarielearning.com. The dice is in the cup with the markers. I haven't had an activity using dice in a long time. The children are going to love this.

Sorting hearts by color.

Using the pincer grasp to place the balls in the heart. I thought this was a good one to entice the newbies to want to join in the work period.

Dry pouring using a meauring spoon. This will be a new work for all. I particularly had Lil in mind who has been working with the Fraction Skittles. They'll all love seeing the sand take form of a heart.

Valentines' Card Making Tray. The point of interest is using the tape dispenser. They will use their name cards to aid in writing their friends' names.

The front and back of the cards.

The stickers they may use to decorate the cards with.

Stringing beads to make a bracelet.

Play doh. The point of interest is using a fondant roller with a handle.

To see other children inspired by the Montessori Method please visit http://www.livingmontessorinow.com for Montessori Monday.

Good Choices: Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day 4

Welcome! Thank you for joining us as we celebrated the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Today I want to share with you some work that was avaliable to the children on the shelf for independent work. I am so thankful to Donna the author of http://www.peacelovelearning.blogspot.com/ for putting together this great resource pack that the children have learned so much from. Good Choices Sort. The children sort the pictures of examples of what would make Martin happy or sad. The illustrations on Martins' faces helped the children to be successful at this work. Also a recording sheet was avaliable which involved cutting and gluing. Sorting M,L,K, Sounds. This work was the most favorite among the children. They learned about the initials in their own names. So many learning possibilities with this work! Another recording sheet for the kids who love to cut and glue. Counting Friends. Matching the number to the friends on the card. They especially like using the number stamps to complete the recording sheet.

Ordering Sentences. They would glue the sentence in order, glue it on to a sheet of construction paper, and finish the sentence by drawing or writing, a real big hit.

Not all children did the recording sheets, but all of them did put their best foot forward with trying all of the activities. A wonderful theme this was for us. The children learned so much about Dr. King while having so much fun. The best thing about our celebration is that the children learned that they are peacemakers too!! Thank you for joining in our celebrations. Don't forget to come back Monday to see what else the children have been busy doing all week. Linking this post to the Preschool Corner hosted by http://www.homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/.

What's On The Shelves? Montessori Monday

We had a lot of Christmas related works on the shelves, so it was time for me to change it up a bit.

       Counting Winter Cards from Montessori Print Shop.

Making patterns and also labeling what kind of pattern it is.                                                                        

      Making a numberline with snowflakes.

                     Winter collage tray

 Our favorite work to change is the puncher, the kids love to see what new picture they will be punching out.

 Folding paper. I found this around in my supplies, I couldn't get anyone interested in folding napkins. I hope this brings interest to someone.

                           Pouring beans.

               Spooning winter objects.

 Sorting at words. Looking for the middle, and ending sounds. This work is from the We Love Hot Chocolate packet avaliable on teacherspayteachers from the inspired apple

            Winter language cards from Montessori Print Shop

               Making animal tracks.

 Linking to Montessori Monday hosted by Living Montessori Now . I am also linking to the Preschool Corner hosted by Homeschool Creations and The Friday Linky party at Living Life Intentionally.