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:

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 :)

Rocking...

I don't know about you, but in my family rock collection is a favorite past-time. My boys simply LOVE collecting any type of rock they can find, so this book is really great for them. It not only provides a lot of information, but it can be read independently by my 7 year old, and helps both of them achieving some sort of organization in their ever-growing collection.

You can download this free book (in a .pdf file) here: The first book of rocks

Have fun!!!

Homeschool Enrichment

If you are looking for inspiration and ideas for this upcoming year, here is a great homeschooling magazine, Homeschool Enrichment, which is offering for a limited time a pdf download of all their 2012 issues... find the link below

http://homeschoolenrichment.com/goodies/all-issues-of-hse-magazine-from-2012

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 :)

Botanical Book with wonderful art

 Today, I'm sharing this resource  TOTALLY FREE, courtesy of Botanicus.org.

Botanicus is a free, Web-based encyclopedia of digitized historic, botanical literature from the Missouri Botanical Garden Library. They have been digitizing materials from their library since 1995, focusing primarily on beautifully illustrated volumes from their rare book collection.

 Go here, scroll through the pages list on the left  and enjoy. And if you want to download the whole book in .pdf format, just press "download" at the top of the page. The individual plates then can be printed as needed.

I personally find this botanical plates quite fascinating, and even young children, with their enormous appetite for everything natural and real, are quite attracted to them.

You can browse the complete catalog here

Classical education magazines

Classical Homeschooling Magazine is a free online magazine. 

 In its four issues it analyzes the burgeoning homeschooling renaissance of classical education from A to Z – the primary importance of the family to education, the Great Books movement, the liberal arts, the Socratic method, the paideia reforms, philosophy and education, homeschooling academic statistics, poetic knowledge, legal implications of homeschooling, ancient Greek education, medieval education, reading lists of the classics of Western civilization, restoring education at home, the ideal university, the future of homeschooling, where to begin and many other captivating topics.

You can access them here:

 
Classical Homeschooling Magazine

Art sessions

Montessori observed that children become acquainted with the world through movement and experience. The process of making something instills an inner satisfaction in the child which he wants to share. By "doing it myself," the gift becomes a gift of the child's self.

That is one of the reasons we love making Birthday cards with the kids... it is an art project that turns into a one of a kind gift... even our 2 year old joins in the fun!!!

We start very simple, with white cardstock folded in two (or pre-made blank cards) We brainstorm about what the person receiving the card would enjoy best, since the main point is to let them realized that the gift is meant to make the other person happy (as opposed to just drawing what they like best). This also helps getting them out of the"artistic comfort zone" some children fall into - (rainbows and stick people anyone?)

Holy Heroes 12 days of Christmas

The website "Holy Heroes" is offering a free download every day for the 12 days of Christmas. The offer for each item is valid only for one day, so you need to check the website every day.

Today it is a coloring book of the life of St Cecilia.

Holy heroes 12 Days of Christmas

Blank maps

This website has tons of blank maps, which are a wonderful tool for history/geography/biblical lessons!! I have been using it a lot with our "Story of the world" curriculum.

Blank maps from around the world: (http://d-maps.com)

Art extension for metal insets

A while ago we purchase some metal insets at discount prices, and after using them following the Montessori album pages, we started experimenting a bit with them in our art classes.

So what follows is an activity that combines the metal insets with a little play of straight lines vs curved lines in order to create a 3D optical illusion. (This can also be associated with a discussion/lesson on the science behind optical illusion.) For even more examples of this phenomenon you can see here and here and here ...

So the first step is to choose a metal inset (or any other shape that can be traced on paper) and place it on a white piece of paper. Trace around.

With a ruler trace horizontal parallel lines on the page, excluding the shape you have just traced. This gives the child quite a bit of practice with the ruler, too :)

Now the tricky part: using the points of contact of the lines with the edge of the figure as a starting and finishing point, trace an arch joining these two points. Again, it does not have to be perfect, but this first line is going to be the guide for all the other curves inside the figure, so you can actually help the child by tracing a couple and explaining that we still need to keep them parallel.

Once all the lines are traced, you are ready to colour. I made my children create their own color pattern, but it can also be just random. They can get creative there.

After all the stripes are fill in with colour, you can enjoy the effect!

This is very simple, but quite rewarding, even as an introduction to the concepts of perspective and any type of "applied" optical illusion in art and architecture.

Paper paper paper

Many Montessori materials, at least here in the US, include 3D realistic depictions of objects of interest going from famous buildings and landmarks to means of transport to wildlife. It is a bit challenging (not to mention expensive or prohibitive) to reproduce that at home, but I have found this website has a nice alternative: print your own 3D (scaled!) models and build them at home. All you need is a color printer, some paper and a pair of scissors and glue. OK, and lots of patience, but it is really a great project to "illustrate" any lesson.

Here is the link: 3D paper models

Check out some examples:

 

We are currently working on this one:

Art and History: Making mosaic

I was always fascinated by mosaic. It is so amazing how this technique can create beautiful work of art that lasts for thousands of years, with so much perseverance and patience!

In our History studies we are entering the amazing Ancient Greco-Roman times, so this project aims at understanding the basics of the mosaic technique, without having to actually work with the real thing. I will leave that for when we revisit this times in a couple of years.

This stamping technique is quite easy. All you will need is a stamp, which you can make yourself, and acrylic paint. Here are the instructions:

The square design was made by my 6 year old son, and he was very happy with the results! :)