More DIY materials: The teens and tens board

The first number concepts are very difficult to grasp for young children, and I have found that, as with all the materials that form part of the Montessori Math apparatus, this particular item has has been amazingly useful and effective in introducing place value.

First, here is what it looks like in Montessori classrooms (This materials can be found at alisonsmontessori.com):

Teens board

Tens board

And here is how you use them to present the concepts.

Now, my DIY version took only a few minutes to make, and I have used it with my three children over a period of five years... It is durable, and takes up very little space, which makes it ideal for the home environment.

Cut 4 tan felt rectangles, approximately 16" by 6"
Cut 16 tan felt strips, 1/4" by 6"
Cut 18 tan felt rectangles, 2 1/4" by 2"

Now the assembly part:

Follow this diagram to divide each 16" by 6" rectangle in five portions. Mark the horizontal lines with a pencil.

Using felt glue or a glue gun, attach one strip of felt on each horizontal line. Repeat with each 16" by 6" rectangle.

Now, with a Black Sharpie, proceed to write the numbers (centered on each column) as follows:

For the TEENS BOARD

Board 1:

Mark the individual rectangles 1 to 9. These are going to be your movable parts.

For the TENS BOARD

Mark the individual rectangles 1 to 9. These are going to be your movable parts.



And you are done :)

Doll houses and creative juices

A few years ago my children got a beautiful doll house made of natural wood, and I was so excited... I love natural wood toys, and this one was particularly well made. But after playing for a little while (like, two hours) they never went back to it again...

I was puzzled, and attributed to the fact that boys and miniature houses maybe are not a good fit... until my 6 year old son started his "house project." He was so excited he worked on it for days. He would wake up in the morning with all these ideas he wanted to incorporate into his project, and it has been so rewarding for him. He shows it to everyone that comes to our house, and he always says (with a very happy look): "It's all homemade".

I learned my lesson... at least for my kids, the capacity to transform common things into something else is deeply satisfying, and giving them the final product is not necessarily what will inspire them to create.

An alternative to narration

Narration is a very useful tool when it comes to reinforcing and understanding certain ideas with younger children. It basically consists of the retelling of a text by the younger child. It helps them organize ideas, grasp the gist, and differentiate between important facts and anecdotes.

But it can get a bit repetitive and yes, boring, over time. To keep our interest high, we sometimes recreate the story with home made cardboard figures. A few cereal boxes, some color pencils and a bit of imagination, and a child is ready to present the story in a more dramatic way. It's history, drawing and performing arts all in one. And it is FUN!!

Here is our latest, depicting

The Myth of Ceres and Proserpine

Casting:

Ceres & Proserpine

Pluto, the king of the Underworld

Jupiter himself, in his palace....

 

Writing

I am always searching for new ways to incorporate handwriting to our day, and this time I found a fun one for Kinder age kids... The idea is quite simple, but it works wonders, especially with children that are a bit bored of the paper and pencil approach.

All you need is a blackboard, some chalk, a container with water and a brush.

The aim is for the child to "erase" the letters by tracing them using the brush and water.

Simple. Fun. Quite effective. :)

Math materials part II

Addition strips board

This is another Math material I made years ago, which has been used countless times and has hold its own, even though I just used glossy heavy cardstock.

If you prefer, you can buy the already made printable through Montessori for everyone or Montessori print shop. Or just make your own using the pictures on those websites as a guide.

Here is a video lesson on how to introduce this material:

Easter Eggs

This week we have decided to explore the wonderful tradition of Easter Eggs and its rich symbolism and history.

Eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility, and rebirth. But in Christianity they assume a deeper meaning: they symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus:  though an egg appears to be like the stone of a tomb, a bird hatches from it with life; similarly, the Easter egg, for Christians, is a reminder that Jesus rose from the grave, and that those who believe will also experience eternal life. Eggs, while being dormant, contain a new life sealed within them, becoming a wonderful symbol of the Resurrection.

The Easter egg tradition may also have merged into the celebration of the end of the privations of Lent in the West. Historically, it was traditional to use up all of the household's eggs before Lent began. Eggs were originally forbidden during Lent as well as on other traditional fast days in Western Christianity (this tradition still continues among the Eastern Christian Churches).

One would have been forced to hard boil the eggs that the chickens produced so as not to waste food, and many traditional Easter dishes bear witness to that, having egg as the main ingredient.
  

Decorating and gifting (empty) eggs is an old tradition, particularly in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and other Central European countries.

Here are some examples:

So, after learning about them, we made our own. First, I followed the instructions on this video to empty the eggs. My children were absolutely fascinated by the process… 

After that we viewed many examples of this art on the Internet, you can use this gallery for reference. 

We discussed how each look like, the differences among them, and picked our favourites.

Then, with the help of sharpies, small icon pictures from a catalog, and some acrylic paint, we all made our own.  

We finished them with a thin coat of school glue and when they were dried I made a base for them to stand on. 

I used a penny and attached it to the egg with a small ball of modelling clay (approximately the size of a garbanzo bean) by gently squeezing them together. When the clay dried I painted it gold. 

You can also use a generous amount of glue applied with a glue gun to attach the coin.

Have a Blessed Easter!

Math materials made at home part 1

 These are some of the Montessori Math materials we have adapted for our family. We have been using them all the time for a few years now, and they proved to be quite durable and fun.

RODS

Our Rods are made with 1/2" craft dowels, which I painted with acrylic. Since the dowels were 10" long, I used inches as the unit of measurement for them. They are quite smaller than the real rods, but our space is limited, so I compromised. :) Children really love these!!

 

COUNTING MATERIALS

One that was really popular with all three children when learning their numbers was the counting work. I simply provided them with a box containing the numerals from 1 to 9 in laminated card-stock, the corresponding number of pennies to complete the work (45) and the beads. Our beads do not follow the same color code as the traditional Montessori beads, but we have kept the consistency within our our materials and extensions.

Field trips: The Ocean Institute

We love field trips. There are so many wonderful places where you can learn, and have tons of fun. Here are some of the pictures of our visit to the Ocean Institute in Dana Point. The place is not that big, which is a plus since we did not have that weird, awful  "too little time, too much to see" feeling that sometimes accompanies going anywhere in California.

There were plenty of hands-on activities:

Dissecting and studying a squid

 

Looking at plankton with a microscope

Watching interesting creatures

 

Just outside the Institute we also had a wonderful time searching for crabs, enjoying the view, and searching for treasures at the beach.

Here is the information about the Ocean Institute:

Ocean Institute: Experience is the teacher

Have fun and learn!!

Rods

Cuisenaire rods were devised in the 1920s by Georges Cuisenaire, a Belgian educator. Similar to how written musical notes make music visible, Cuisenaire rods were designed to make mathematics visible by using wood rods of varying lengths and colour.*

In her first school, and in schools since then, Maria Montessori used coloured rods in the classroom to teach concepts of both mathematics and length. Developed independently much later, the Cuisinaire Rods are neverless a kindred spirit to the ones used in the Monressori classrooms.

 They are extremely versatile. I have been using them for all my kids, and they become handy to explain basic numeric concepts and not so basic ones...like fractions, factoring, etc. But of course my children also saw the building possibilities... so we also use them for geometry and history.

 And I can't wait to use them for grammar, and music, too. (Cuisenaire himself was a math and music teacher)

Here are some of their creations so far:

 On a related note, this is what happens when a boy uses the sensorial materials :)

Naked egg

This is a pretty cool experiment that uses only a few items, but provides a fascinating result. An egg is a perfect example of one animal cell that you can actually study without a microscope, plus who does not want to see what an uncooked, unbroken egg would look like sans shell...

If you ever wondered, here is the way to do it. :)

Materials: One egg, a glass container to hold it, and enough vinager to submerge the whole egg.

Steps:
Place egg in the container. Cover it with vinager. Wait for a few days (you can place it in the refrigerator if you want).

 The acid in the vinagre is going to dissolve the shell completely. You can help the process by gently wiping it with a moist paper towel.

This is what is going to look like:

 
Enjoy! Handle with care, and discard after you are done. You definitely do not want to make an poached egg with this one :)

Free poetry book

Getting ready for National Poetry month? In case you did not know, that is the month of April, according to the Academy of American poets. Is there a better way to celebrate the love of music and beautiful words than enjoying a little sample of the wonderful poems the English speaking world has produced?

That is what you'll find in this volume of selected poems for children. This collection progresses from little poems written for children in the past centuries, to examples of the best British and American poems both past and present. Hope you enjoy!!

You can download "100 Poems for the classical child" for free from my blog. I have 2 versions, one for Kindle and one as a pdf, just in case you want to print the work. 

100 poems for the classical child (Kindle version)


100 Poems for the classical child - .pdf file (you will need Acrobat Reader)


All materials for personal use only. Thank you!

And, if you are interested in more Kindle books for children, see here. I am planning to add more titles soon :)

Tangram fun!

The tangram (Chinese: "seven boards of skill") is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven flat shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. The objective of the puzzle is to form a specific shape (given only an outline or silhouette) using all seven pieces, which may not overlap. It was originally invented in China at some unknown point in history, and then carried over to Europe by trading ships in the early 19th century. It became very popular in Europe for a time then, and then again during World War I. It is one of the most popular dissection puzzles in the world
(From Wikipedia)

We just love tangram... it can be quite easy or quite challenging, and it just provides a wonderful fun way to improve geometrical perception.
These are some of the shapes you can build...I have a book that boasts +6000 combinations, with the corresponding "solution", so it is a self correcting work that allows children to work independently... I am going to make some cards to share soon...

But let's start with the set itself.

I have a black plastic Tangram set, but my children each wanted their own, so made a very simple one with black construction paper that has been previously laminated.

You can basically use any material you want, from  cereal boxes to wood, of any size you want. All you need to do is start with a square.

Step 1

Draw a square of at least 8" x 8"

Step 2

Step 3

 

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

 

Step 7

Step 8