We’re finally home and getting back into the swing of things. It’s crazy to think we were gone for nearly 8 weeks. Eight weeks!
Whew. That was a long time away from home, but we had a lot of fun visiting family.
I’m still catching up on e-mails and working on the infant/toddler posts—so hold tight…they’re still coming. 🙂
We’re ready for February and I actually put together our works for the month ahead of time. I usually only keep out 6-7 practical life type activities on the shelf at a time, because that’s all we have space for and rotate them throughout the month.
14 Valentine’s Inspired Montessori Activities
Pencil Sharpening
Spooning
Sorting Beads
Making Patterns with Hearts
These are just little heart boxes I picked up in the dollar section of Target. If you take them apart you’re able to make longer and more complicated patterns. Children could try to come up with patterns on their own or you could make pattern strip cards to guide them.
Making a Valentine’s Card
Folding Towels
Putting Rings on Napkins
Tweezing Hearts
When I took this picture I couldn’t find the tweezers, but you could do this with or without tweezers. Without tweezers would focus more on the general pincer grip and with tweezers would mimic a pencil grip and require more fine motor muscle control.
Cards & Counters with Hearts
Candy Box Counting
At first I wrote a number in each space (trying to keep them consecutive), but now I wish I hadn’t and had used stickers to write the numbers in that way he could work on numbers 1-12 consecutively or 1-6 in random order to make sure he knows the quantity.
Often I’ve seen children be able to quantify numbers when they’re consecutive, but switch them up and they can’t tell you the quantity of number 7 if it follows number 3. Does that make sense?
Pouring (dry & wet)
Lacing
I just made these out of construction paper and laminated them for sturdiness. If you try this with a paper doilies, you might want to put a heavy paper between the layers. Our doily is quite flimsy.
Setting the Table
Tracing Shapes
While I love the Montessori philosophy and am happy to incorporate it into our home and make it our choice of schooling, I never want to hold so tightly onto the philosophy at the expense of losing our home environment.
What I mean by that is the home should first and foremost be a place of rest, comfort, and retreat from the world. It should be a safe place where children can speak openly and honestly with their parents and know they are loved without their latest accomplishment or failure looming over them.
I want my boys to love learning, to explore the world and discover its mysteries. I want them to come to the schoolroom excited about their next lesson, expectant at the knowledge unfolding. I want them to feel empowered by their education.
But I never want them to feel because we choose to school at home that our home is always a school; that I am always the teacher, and they always the student.
I’m careful to notice when I’m becoming too overbearing, nitpicking, or take on the “You have to finish this work before you can have fun” attitude. And I keep an eye out for when my boys feel overwhelmed, overstimulated, or constrained by their work.
My relationship as a mother comes before my role as a teacher. I am their confidante, encourager, comforter, truth-speaker, and leader before I am their Montessori guide. Before I look for their sensitive period, I want to look at them–how are they doing, what do they need, where are they struggling.
I want to meet them where they are at and let them know that our home is a place of love, acceptance, joy, and discovery.
How can I do this practically?
- Make a point to stop and talk to them face-to-face, one-on-one each day. Ask them how they’re doing, how they’re feeling, is there anything they’re concerned about, excited about or for, or even how can I help them.
- Slow down life. Take an inventory of my pace for the day—Am I rushing? Am I making my children rush? Are we out too much for activities or errands? Am I taking their pace or forcing them to take mine?
- Respect the child. Acknowledge their emotions, help and encourage them to express themselves in useful and healthy ways, allow them to contribute to the family work.
- Join in the play. Be intentional to join in the play and discovery with my boys. To play with them—initiate play or follow their lead. Give them opportunities to discover new environments, objects, and ideas.
- Evaluate. Take time regularly to evaluate how I’m doing in these areas and how our children are faring in our home as well as in their schooling. Identify areas in need of growth, my own strengths and weaknesses as well as the children’s, and what we can do to make our relationship and home healthy.
How do you manage the balance between homeschooling, your philosophy, and family?
Living Montessori Now – Inexpensive & DIY Moveable Alphabets
Like a Warm Cup of Coffee – Homeschool Wisdom
Quirky Momma: Kids Activity Blog – Activities for One-Year-Olds
Therapy Fun Zone – Fine Motor Skills (a lot of ideas for various ages)
Woodbridge Public Library – 100 Books for Kindergarten (I think we’ll try reading through this list this year.)
Kids Pages – Flashcards (A ton of free printables that could easily be turned into 3-part cards–animals, seasons, body parts, instruments.)
I hope you had a great holiday. We’ve been enjoying family from coast to coast and are in the middle of a month-long visit in San Diego. It’s a nice mid-winter break from the cold weather and snow, so we’re soaking up the sun and getting outside as much as we can while we’re here.
For the beginning of the year at Our Montessori Home, I want to focus on infant and toddler activities as well as the some of the basics of the Montessori philosophy.
Infant/Toddler Montessori Activities
Here’s what you can expect to find in the next month or two:
If you don’t have an infant or toddler, don’t worry. I’ll still be posting activities for preschoolers and focusing on making homemade Montessori materials from time to time.
About the Montessori Method
Homemade Montessori
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We’ve come to the end of 12 Days of Montessori Christmas. It’s been fun and I hope you’ve been inspired by a few ideas to do in your home.
Today I’m combining activities for infant/toddler and preschoolers with apple-cinnamon ornaments.
Making Cinnamon-Applesauce Ornaments
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup applesauce
- 4oz cinnamon
Directions:
1. Mix ingredients together.
2. Roll out the dough and cut with cookie cutters.
3. Make a hole at the top of the ornament to string through after baking.
4. Bake at 200* for 2-1/2 hours.
Pretty simple and wonderful smelling! 🙂
