School At Home.

Our older boys each had 3 years at a fabulous Montessori school, from ages 3-6. They loved it and learned so much there! The Montessori Method, when presently properly, is a beautiful way to educate all children--it's just not for all families.

Bryce is not at Montessori yet as we need to get his GI issues under control first. I didn't want him to be missing out on how the Montessori classroom works as we hope to enroll him mid-year. Luckily for Bryce, Mom has been paying attention all those years of picking up his brothers at Montessori and while I'm not a certified directress of Montessori, I'm going to make an attempt at teaching him some Montessori principles here at home. I like to think that we run a home that Maria Montessori would like--the activities are kid-driven, the kids are encouraged to do things for themselves (like pour drinks & set the table), and we like open-ended toys.

I've been googling and Pinteresting my heart out and have found quite a few nice blogs with Montessori resources. I have learned how to present a lesson (which includes putting the work BACK where it came from!) and have made him a few Montessori-type works to do at home.

Folding Work. Folding work is typically done as a Practical Life work and utilizes a square of fabric that is marked with folding lines for the child to fold it properly. Bryce has been helping fold our dishcloths for at least 1 year now and he can fold those perfectly without lines, so now I make sure he folds them every opportunity. Check out his tongue!!!  After he folds, he puts them away.

Something I made today based on a "pin" on Pinterest is a color matching, loosely based of the Sensorial work Color Tablets. Those are individual pieces of color on a small piece of wood that the children line up according to gradation of color. YIKES that sounds really hard to make! I used paint chips and clothespins to make a modified color matching.

I used my scrapbooking square punch to cut out a small square to attach to spring-loaded clothespins. I also cut the paint chip down to a nice rectangle. I just used a glue stick to attach each small square to the clothespin.

I only gave Bryce the colors from the darkest end of the paint chip, to make it easier. I showed him how to line it up exactly on the right color. His fine motor skills definitely need building and these clothespins will help with that.

Deep in concentration, Bryce enjoys Mom's homemade "color tablet" work. 

Success!

Link to blog which inspired this little project: Toddler Busy Bag Swap