Construction Site Fun

We are so very into construction right now, as our street is expanding for more homes.  The twins watch the big machines with wild wonder all day, and at night we say goodnight to the machines once the workers go home.  It's our favorite pre-dinner walk.  We love to touch the snorts :)

Here's a little list of our favorite books about construction, or construction machines (they never leave our shelf rotation):

Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site

How A House Is Built

Are You My Mother? (This is where we get the word snort)

If you'd like to create some nomenclature work on construction vehicles, here's two that we love:

Montessori Print Shop's Construction Vehicles

Construction Equipment Cards

"That's a big wheel"

Montessori Monday: Magnets and Letters!

 A new collection of Magnetic and Non-Magnetic for our house, gathered by the girls.  It's got a little Valentine's theme with the box and the cookie cutter!

Why do I teach them cursive in this world of print, computers, and type?  Dr. Montessori found that cursive had gentle curved lines are a natural extension of the hand.  I tend to be a little 'old school' about Dr. Montessori's writings at my home, and lead my children by her old lectures.  Plus, there are far less letter and sound reversals (b,d,p,q,g) when the child learns the sounds with cursive first, or alongside print letters.  I have found the transition to print very easy for my girls, since they were so very interested in letter formation by the time they had a good amount of time with cursive.  Give it a shot!

"Must one begin with strokes? The logical answer is “No.” These require too much effort on the part of the child to make them. If he is to begin with the stroke, it should be the easiest thing to execute. But, if we note carefully, a straight stroke is the most difficult to make. Only an accomplished writer can fill out a page with regular strokes, whereas a person who is only moderately proficient can cover a page with presentable writing."
(Dr. Maria Montessori, 'The Discovery of the Child', Clio Press Ltd, 193)

Care of Environment:  Polishing and watering our Peace Lily and our budding Amaryllis.  They simply CANNOT wait for this plant to flower, because they know to expect the Part of Flower puzzle, cards, and booklets to come out.  Our Flower Puzzle is this exact flower!  During a New England January, flowers are few and far between.

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Montessori Monday: Colors, Cursive & Magnets

This week we actually got a lot of work time in.  I forgot how nice it is to work when no one is sick!  Even with afternoons booked with appointments and errands, we spent many evenings with the materials.  

Peanut does this work every day.  She loves that binomial cube!  For a view of the lesson, check this older post-  A Look At The Binomial Cube

I brought some of my work home this week.  I needed to make new Botany Cabinet Cards, so I took the cabinet home to trace my own.  I did find another option at Montessori Print Shop, that matched our school's Neinhuis cabinet.  Bean and Pumpkin were busy making sure all the cards when back in order.

LISTEN, Mom!  It MATCHES!!!!!  She's using the Sound Cylinders, finding matches.

Mid process, work time :)

Bean working on the letter Mm in cursive!  Sandpaper, chalkboard, then paper.  She  is extremely interested in cursive writing, so she got the cursive lowercase sandpaper letters for Christmas.  She's busy using the sand tray and practicing on the chalkboard.  She really wants to get practiced with her signature (her name in cursive)!

Using the Primary Colors to create a color wheel.  

We did SO much work opperation an eye dropper this fall.  It pays off when you get to make your own color wheel!  This printable can be found at Mama Jenn, for free.  My own girls, and all of my school classroom adore this activity.  

Sorting and journals with Magnetic/Non-Magnetic.

Exploring with the magnets.  Wow, they are all stuck!!!!  We love the book, Mickey's Magnets to go along with this experiment.

Look at the tongue!  Concentration with cutting.

Bean's favorite color grading extension on the color box.

Pumpkin grades the color box.

Vacation, Montessori Style

This week was our vacation week, and it was full of relaxation.  The girls had mild pneumonia and ear infections, so we kept the week calm.  I didn't take too many photos, since someone was always in my arms.  

Happy New Year to all!  May 2012 bring peace, health, and joy!

Peanut Plays in her room while sister naps

Pumpkin LOVES mud.  Real girls do, you know.

Our pencils, sharpened by the girls

This is first thing in the morning, see the sun just poking in?  Bean couldn't wait to attack the cursive sandpaper letters.

Peanut adores the mini knobbed cylinders.  She was concentrating so hard, she didn't even notice me.  

Mom Bloggers Talk Montessori

This is very exciting!  Deb Chitwood and John Bowman have collected a bunch of ideas from Mom Bloggers for Montessori, and they included this blog!  Click the button for a free ebook!!

What a wonderful collection of Moms who love Montessori :)

Gingerbread, Sand, and Holiday Sets Basket

Please visit Mommy Moment, for a view of our Holiday Sets Basket!  It's been a daily favorite :)

This week, we made Gingerbread Play Dough.  I got the idea from Pinterest, but changed it to the spices that we love most.  We also ground each spice by hand.  The girls did all the measuring and mixing.  They packed some for their classrooms, since the twins are in the middle of a Jan Brett unit at school.  Today they read Gingerbread Baby.  Tis the season!

Bean, age 5.5 reads her new book to Peanut, age 3.5 at bedtime.  Bean is really into being the big sister, and takes her job very seriously.  Especially where books are involved.  

Mortar and Pestle for Clove & Nutmeg Grinding

Counting and Grinding Whole Cloves

Great Gingerbread Playdough Recipe from Pinterest

Our first batch!  It smells like a dream.

Busy hands and cooperation

Peanut is beaming with pride here.  She made a capital I, her first initial.  

Peanut says hello to Pom Pom Spooning

Bean sorts landmarks

M for Mom.  Awww.

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Montessori Monday: Our Montessori Everyday

Sometimes I giggle about this blog, because we are so different:  we have a Montessori home, with Montessori Philosophy and Materials available 24/7 for traditionally schooled children.  So, the work we do is a little different than a Montessori School or a Homeschool.  We afterschool?  Is that a word?  I guess so!!  

Water Transferring with Eye Dropper, this is SO challenging.  Great for 5 year olds.

Pumpkin exploring some Pink Tower & Brown Stair Extensions

After baking, we used our mortar and pestle for crushing egg shells.  They LOVED this!

Crushing Eggs and Filling Muffin Tins with batter.

Bean comes home from a FULL DAY at K and still wants to work!  This is her sensitive period for writing, and reading.  She's taking full advantage of the movable alphabet.

Bean spelled all types of things, with objects and through her imagination.  After all that work, she still wanted to write it all down.

Bead Transferring by hand, sorting by color.  Perfect for Peanut, age 3.

I took Bean to a Waldorf Faire, where you could Hug A Bunny.  She spent the day there, this photo is hanging next to her bed.  She really fell in love with that bunny.  Between the bunny and the Gnome cave, we almost had a convert!  We left with a car full of fairy treats, covered in bunny fur.  

Bean with her 3 part matching cards for color words.  An extension of  the Color Boxes.

I'd like to link to Mommy Moment, where I've made two posts on Mondays.  Please visit!  Rainbow Name and A Look At Practical Life Through Pictures

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Montessori Monday: Picky Eater Giveaway & Our Work at Home

I have been reviewing book lately, and my most recent review was for Elizabeth Pantley, of the great No-Cry Solution parenting books.  She kindly sent me an extra copy to share with one of my blog readers.  Simply comment below and follow this blog on either Facebook, Twitter, or Google Friend Connect to enter.  Each daily comment will be counted in the random drawing, scheduled on Sunday, October 31 at 8pm.  The book is amazing, and it has some healthy recipes for children to create--- think Food Prep, Montessorians!  For more interest on the book, The No-Cry Picky Eater Solution, see my recent review here.

And onto my little ones...

This week was back to normal, back to health-  full of good work and constant art.  We have a variety of art materials available at any time, for any purpose.  It has become a place of retreat, our little den full of child treasures.  With a few rainy days, we found ourselves snuggling, reading a ton of books, and having some Montessori time.  

Bean is in Kindergarten for a full day, so many times it's just the twins and I until 3pm, and she'll work with us until dinnertime.  When she gets home, all she wants to do it write and color.  Her journal is her top pick!  

The girls are all settled into their school schedule, so our afternoons are becoming even more purposeful.   Sometimes it's just a nap, sometimes it comes as the fun pictured below.  

Peanut works with the Metal Insets, drawing lines from top to bottom.  

A wild little pose with her Yellow and Red Knobless Cylinders

Watercolors!

After our nature walk, the girls used some interesting leaves and pine needles to rub with crayons and paint over with watercolor.  Very seasonal and fun!

We have the best luck rubbing leaves (and sandpaper letters/sandpaper numerals) with Stockmar block crayons.  

The twins brought me marshmallows (pretend, we know they are mushrooms).

"My mushroom is so cute"


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