Apple Units

Parts of an Apple:

As a part of our seasonal activities and since this is is the month of the apple, we are learning about how many different kinds of apples we have, we are also learning about the parts of an apple, how they look inside, their life cycle and many more activities that allow us to learn about them. I found this beautiful apple units at : http://www.2teachingmommies.com/2011/09/apple-unit-expanded.html and they are free to use.

Sand tray tracing...

Bug ask me today if she could play with the sand tray and the sandpaper letters. I let her explore how far she could go and I was amazed by her results. She traced the sandpaper letter first (she sense the rough surface in her fingertips) then she trace it on the sand..... Great job Bug!!!! she was so proud of her self....

Using a Grater

Children use the Montessori practical life area to help them build their concentration skills as a foundation for later academic work. They also use these activities to gain independence, as they are using real items from their environment. Use a grater for fun food prep and other practical life activities in the classroom or home." WARNING: Make sure the child is under the supervision of an adult"

Fabric Matching Box # 1

Sensorial activities :

aid the child in the development of their senses - sight, touch, sound, taste and smell. Dr. Montessori wrote, “Everything that enters the mind, enters through the senses.” Children develop visual and tactile discrimination, using materials designed to stimulate the senses, such as smelling jars with candles, temperature bottles, fabric matching and a Montessori favorite, the “pink tower.” Emphasis is placed on textures, shapes, sizes, colors, smells and sounds of objects.

Today we are doing the Fabric matching Activities:

After a long week of homeschooling.......We visit the Birmingham Zoo

As a part of our learning journey, we had to visit the zoo. Fall is perfect for this kind of activities, sunny crispy weather, leafy and breezy perfect for long walks at the zoo. Here are some pictures of our trip to the zoo.

What We Have Done This Week...

The Sandpaper Letters:

When teaching children the sounds of the alphabet, Montessorians tend to focus on the sound the letter makes, instead of naming the letter. Learning the names of letters first often confuses the child as he strives to learn all of the sounds. For example, the letter “c” has a name that starts with the sound /s/, but it is first taught has having a /k/ sound. Using the sandpaper letters is recommended as it involves more of the child’s senses, especially the sense of touch. When using the sandpaper letters the child’s brain is getting tactile and kinesthetic memories to help remember the letter/number, as well as the visual memories.

Phonemic Awareness

In Montessori, children refine their hearing sense through work in the Sensorial area with Sound Cylinders. Children are introduced to sounds through stories, songs, games, and rhyming activities at circle time. These phonemic awareness activities train the child’s ear to distinguish between different sounds.

Sandpaper Letters

The child’s first exposure to the printed letter comes with his work with the sandpaper letters. The teacher will demonstrate the proper formation of the letter as she traces it with the first two fingers of her dominant hand, simultaneously saying the sound. She will then guide the child’s fingers in the same fashion, saying the sound, and having him say the sound with her.

L second introduction to sandpaper letters, he wanted to know how his name sound and look like (I know that each presentations should be with 3 letters at a time) but he really wanted to try and since we should follow the child I let him experience and to my surprise his first attempt was pretty good, he figure it out on his own pronouncing each letter sound, he put it all together and say it : "LUCAS". You should have see the expression of his face and I was so proud of his first reading and the way he figures how to put his name together , kinda like a puzzle

Bug decided that she wanted to trace some letters and simultaneously using sandpaper letters and sand tray ~! I'm so happy to see their progress .

The Sand Tray

To continue practicing writing letters with the hand, and as an extension of the Montessori sandpaper letters, we use a small tray filled with a thin layer of sand. The child first traces the sandpaper letter and then write it in the sand. When done, the child gently shakes the tray to erase the letter. You can also use cornmeal or even use a Ziploc bag filled with shaving cream or food color water (I saw this on many other blogs but I haven't tried yet, to be honest).

Counting Activities with Stickers

Bug and L enjoyed very much this counting activity , I made hers till number 5 and his till number 10. I'm so excited about L, he love to count everything now that he knows his numbers till 15, tomorrow we will be working all the way till number 20.

Paper Cutting and Hole Punching Exercises.

Paper Cutting exercises.  After practicing with scissors and cutting on the lines of small strips of paper.

We couldn't find her scissors, so she use mind.

Preparation for Math

Sequence Number game:

Another counting game, specially adapted for bug since she wasn't  too interested in to the other counting game version. I think this version is more fun and simpler. I also noticed that she was a little bored and frustrated, so I just cut it down to number 5 instead of 10 before she loses interest.

Preparation for Language

Following a sequence :

Today I presented a game that consist on following sequence: I use a strip of paper and place some stickers in sequence, for example: ( we use farm animals and I place them on the paper in sequence: cow, sheep, rooster, pig, duck and goat, ) the idea is that they continue the sequence using their visual skills and attention skills, once master the presentation they will know that there is a sequence that can be apply in certain activities, as you prepare the to next  activities that are build in each other. Here are some pictures and unfortunately they are not as good as I thought they would be, they were taken with my IPhone 4 (I thought that the camera was real good, for what I heard about the product apparently is not =(, I think I'm going to start using my Nikon D40 for that matter.

Presentation for Math

Sequence/ Patterns - Do as I do

We had a counting game today !  we use 10 sheets of paper with the numbers 1- 10 on each paper (example: 1 sheet  #1, 2nd sheet # 2 and so on), each sheet represent a number and an added value , for instance we use acorns, so L place 1 acorn under #1, 2 acorns under number 2, until you complete the activity and ends in # 10. A fun way to learn the number (1-10) using objects, so they will now how much 1 look like and how much 5 look like and so on, the idea is that they have a concrete idea about the numbers and the quantities they represent.

bug playing the counting game with acorns

I'm so proud of her, she finished and in order.

L super focus on his game....

Sensorial

Pink Tower  (first presentation):

The Montessori pink tower is a lesson consisting of ten solid wooden cubes painted a light pink. It is used to help develop coordination, set a basis for the number system and increase awareness of dimension. The set does not have to be painted pink, and if it is not, then it may be known as the cubes lesson.

Place the cubes at random on the  floor mat. The child can do this, carrying the cubes carefully two or three at a time to the mat and arranging them in a random order. You should be sitting side by side with the child so that the two of you will see the lesson from the same perspective.

Build the tower. Start with the largest cube, and place the cubes carefully and concentrically on top of each other. You must take care to place the cubes carefully since you should not adjust the cubes lest the child think the adjusting is part of the lesson and mimic your movements. As you pick up the cubes, grasp them with the fingers and thumb on all four sides in order to build a muscular impression of dimension and demonstrate that it is possible to judge size by touch as well as sight. None of this should be verbalized according to most Montessori experts.

    Take the tower down block by block. Knocking it over will cause a disruption and is disrespectful to classroom materials and classmates. Before you leave the child to work on his own, you must demonstrate the proper way to dismantle the tower.

    Allow the child to build the tower alone. Many children will have started to participate and even direct you or pick up cubes themselves before you have completed the first tower, so they will be eager to try their hand on their own. Do not correct mistakes at this point, as the tower will not stand steady if the cubes are not placed in the proper order.

    Encourage the child to work with the pink tower lesson on subsequent days. The lesson should be easily accessible, and the child should not be corrected or over-supervised. Only offer help if it is solicited or if the child is clearly struggling and very lost. Even then, some Montessori schools discourage instructors from intervening but recommend that you simply rework the lesson together at some other time.

 

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Language (Practical Life Presentation Part)

Bead Stringing ;

This exercise promotes: eye coordination, concentration, control, ability to follow a pattern  from left to right, preparation for writing, etc.

Bug like this presentation a lot and took 20 minutes of her time working on her beads.

Little hands, big steps...

Introduction to The 3 States of The Matter.

Solid, Liquid and Gas:

Matter is anything that you can touch physically.We point to several objects around the classroom saying "this is matter". We talk about matter is anything that takes up space, I explained to them that all the matter on earth is in 3 states: solid, liquid and gas. We have the matter tray that contains 3 objects a jar with water representing liquid, an empty jar representing gas and a little container with rocks representing solid. Each container is label solid, liquid and gas. Point to the label solid and say this rock is solid, let the kids touch and feel the rocks and look at them and repeat the same steps with gas and liquid. Bug was fascinated about solid and liquid, she repeat those words all they long and she even make a presentation to her older brother N.

Matter tray

Introduction to liquids :

Water is liquid matter, liquids have 3 main properties:

• Liquid does not have a definite shape. (using different shape jars fill with water) explain L and bug that it doesn't matter what  liquid is inside each container, the liquid take the shape of it's container. Pass the container around and fed their curiosity .

• Liquid does not have a definite volume.