mamaguru

Home Sweet Preschool: Washing Dishes

No, it’s not just because our dishwasher died and the new one won’t get here until next Wednesday.

My kids really needed to learn this life skill.

After breakfast and lunch, they took their own dishes outside to a dish washing station.  It was very basic with warm soapy water, rinse water, and towels for drying.  I gave them a scrub brush and a sponge which I had cut in half so it would fit their small hands.  They had so much fun that I scored the same points I would have had I taken them to the zoo!  Mom bonus: their dishes were clean and put away by the end of this activity.  Yay!

Washing dishes is part of Montessori’s Practical Life curriculum.  Practical Life simply means giving children the chance to cultivate skills they can use around the house.  These skills foster independence, a sense of accomplishment, and competence in everyday life.  While children learn these tasks, they also strengthen their finger muscles and gain an eye for detail.  The yogurt didn’t disappear off the bowl just by putting it in soapy water.  Jack had to actually wipe it off.  See how focused they are in the pictures; that shows their full engagement.

Their final task was putting the dishes back where they belong, which teaches responsiblity and sorting skills.  

The kids kept begging for more, so I guess we better keep eating.  Maybe we don’t need that delivery next Wednesday. 

That reminds me of my mom’s favorite joke when I was growing up: Why would I buy I dishwasher when I already have two? (meaning my sister and me).

Moms are so hilarious.

DIY Sandpaper Globe

I never thought of geology or geography as subjects for three year olds, but Maria Montessori taught us that young children are capable of learning anything and everything.  A few months ago we began our geography lessons.  Because young children are tactile learners, we started with a sandpaper globe.  All of the land is bumpy and the water is smooth.  This gives children an idea of how much of the Earth is composed of land and water.  It’s very easy and a little messy to make your own, but here’s how to do it.

How to Make a Sandpaper Globe

1.  Search thrift stores or family members’ basements for an old globe.  We found one at a thrift store with the USSR and a $6 price tag.  (Great recycling lesson here!)

2.  Paint over the oceans and large bodies of water with a bright blue craft paint.  Allow paint to completely dry overnight.

3.  Working in small sections, apply craft glue to the land masses with a fine paint brush.  Sprinkle with sand and gently pat it into the globe  (You can take it from the beach or buy it at a hardware store.)   Allow the sand to dry.  This works best if done over a period of a few days.  Trying to get it all done at once makes for a messy and uneven finished product.  If you miss a spot, simple go back the next day to touch up when it is completely dry.  A lot of details in archipelagos will be lost.  That’s OK.  This is just to give a general concept of Earth.  Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good!

4.  Once all of the globe is covered in blue paint or sand and dry, coat it with Mod Podge.  Allow it to dry and then begin your lessons.

How to Teach with a Sandpaper Globe

1.  Before introducing the globe, explain that Earth is made up of three things: water, land and air.  Make sure your children have seen an ocean, lake or river, so they have a concept of a large body of water.  Give the child small jars of dirt, water and air.  You can talk about air and how you breathe it and how wind is moving air that you can feel.

2.  Give your child cards that represent water, land and air.  Allow your child to classify each by placing them in front of the jars.  Question mistakes in a friendly way.  Keep it positive.  Take nature walks and point out land, water and air.

3.  When you introduce the globe, say, “This is a globe.  It represents the planet Earth.”   Teach your child to place his hands on it and feel it with reverence.  Tell him that the water is smooth and the land is rough.  Show him how it can slowly rotate.  Let your child explore the globe on his own.  Answer questions.  Point out where you and loved ones live.

4.  Once your child has explored the globe, ask him about air.  Explain that the air is over both the land and the water.  You can show pictures of Earth from space and point out clouds.

5.  Allow your child access to the globe and classification cards and jars at his will.  The next step will be introducing continents, so move in that direction.

Easter Egg Sort

If it were up to me, my children would only have one Easter basket, but so many people like to bring them to our Easter brunch that we ended up with ten this year.  Ten!  It’s great that the boys are so loved, but:  What to do with all those baskets?

I’m pretty sure a garage sale is in order, but until then, we’re having lots of fun with Montessori-inspired activities.  Sorting objects is an important skill which teaches discrimination, counting and an eye for detail.  Here are some activities we’ve done using the props the Easter Bunny left behind.

Sandpaper Number Egg Sort

I placed the numbers 0-9 next to the baskets and Max filled them with the correct number of eggs.  (This is really an enlarged version of the Montessori Spindle Box, but the variation brought fresh energy.)

Egg Size Sort

Max divided the eggs into small, medium and large.  Then he counted them and we placed the correct number on each basket.

Egg Color Sort

This one is easy for the little ones.  Every basket gets one color of egg.  It reinforces color sorting, but also the variations in shades and patterns prompted a lot of discussion with Max.  Does this look more orange or brown?  This egg is yellow with blue ducks, where does it go?  Problem solving and discrimnating thoughts are important milestones.

Egg Shape Sort

This activity introduced geometric solids to our understanding of shapes.  Max sorted spheres and ellipses.

After all this, Max wanted more sorts.  Does anyone else have some great ideas?

St. Patrick’s Day Party

Today we hosted a St. Patrick’s Day party for the wee little lads.  It was a very simple gathering just to introduce the children to the holiday.  Other cities put on much larger affairs, but Miami barely notices the Irish holiday, so we had to make the effort.  Here’s what we did:

Decorations

A few shamrocks posing as weeds in our yard, a couple of paper cut-outs and a pipe cleaner rainbow for our leprechaun gnome set the mood.

 

 

Liquid Rainbow

A few months ago Martha Stewart had a guest show how to make a density column out of household materials.  I saved the idea for St. Patrick’s Day.  It was exciting to watch each layer hold steady.  Later in the day we dropped objects to see which density would catch each item.

Search for a Pot of Gold

I told the wee ones I had caught a leprechaun and got his pot of gold.  He told me there were more in the back yard, so they had to go find them.   Each little pot had gold coins and shamrock stickers.

Color Matching

I cut shamrock shapes out of paint samples for a color matching activity.  This is a Montessori-inspired activity to teach the various shades of green and fine tune perceptions of subtle differences.

Story Time

We raided our bookcase and the library’s for a few fun St. Patrick’s Day stories.

Arts and Crafts

I printed a few coloring sheets from the Internet and broke out the crayons, including the rainbow crayons from earlier this week.  We also glued three hearts to make shamrocks.

Snack Time

What more do you need than shamrock cookies flecked with gold sprinkles and green milk.  I pretended not to have any green coloring, so I used yellow and then blue to make green.

Irish Music and a Jig

We sang a cute St. Patrick’s Day song to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb. 

I’M A LITTLE LEPRECHAUN

I’m a little leprechaun,
Leprechaun, leprechaun.
I’m a little leprechaun
On St. Patrick’s Day.

See me dance a little jig,
Little jig, little jig.
See me dance a little jig
When I come out to play.
                        Elizabeth Scofield

Unfortunately, our guests had to leave for a nap before we got around to our Irish jig which was super fun and tuckered us out.

None of these ideas cost much money and were very simple to prepare.  I hope you steal a few for your own celebrations. 

May the luck of the Irish be with you!
Love,
Rebecca

Montessori Sandpaper Numbers

Max and Jack can both count to ten reliably in both English and Spanish and we take every opportunity to count things we see in our daily life, from mama’s bicep curls to how many sweet potato fries are on the plate.  Counting all day long has made them fascinated by numbers.  I’ve also heard them express simple addition and subtraction concepts, such as: I will eat this raisin and them I will have five; or give me that car and then I will have three.  It’s so fun to hear them make these connections on their own.

Our first officail math lesson was learning the numbers 0-9 with sandpaper numbers my husband and I made ourselves.  This helps children make the connection between the concept of numbers and the symbol.  It also prepares them for writing.

How to Make Sandpaper Numbers

1.  Choose a very fine grade of sandpaper.  Cut 10 pieces of inexpensive wood to 5 x 4.  Paint the wood green if you want to follow the traditional Montessori color patterns.

2.  Download the font, Montessori Script.  Type the numbers 0-9.  Enlarge to 500%.  To save ink, use the outline option in your printer properties. 

3.  Print and cut out numbers.  Trace them onto sandpaper in a space-saving way.  Montessori uses lots of sandpaper, so it’s good to save this for future projects.  Cut out numbers and use a paint brush to apply craft glue to the back of the numbers.  Press and allow to dry. 

How to Teach with Sandpaper Numbers

1.  The first lesson is to trace the numbers in the same way the child will later write the letters.  Here’s a great video to see how to do the method.

2.  Talk about the concept of zero.  Most parents teach their kids to count from one, but explain how zero is a number and it means to have none.

3.  Use small objects (manipulatives) to count the value of each number.  The child places the correct number of objects under each number.

4.  Give your child colored pencils and paper to make etchings of the numbers.

5.  Give your child a small container of sand or cornmeal and let them trace each number in it.

Those are the first few lessons.  Later the sandpaper numbers can be used with number rods.