glue sky » Learning

Timeline of the Day

Lou’s been asking about time lately. So we made a timeline of the day. We got a roll of colored paper, cut it down to a strip, and stuck it to the wall. After every hour I drew what we did on an index card. Lou did not want to draw it, and she hasn’t [...]

Kids Hammer and Nails (and Safety Glasses!)

We got a check from Oma for Lou’s birthday. I asked her what she wanted and she said a hammer and safety glasses. She got the idea from our Montessori Services catalog. We got them, and they are adorable. We went to our local lumber shop and got some nails with fat heads on them. She [...]

Pre-Learning to Write

I believe that to be Katakana, and not Kanji. I’m almost certain it’s not Hangul. Montessori believes that children practice writing before they practice reading. Which I thought was neat, and I agree. Lou’s been writing all kinds of little letters and symbols lately. She’s also got some actual letters too. Oma said it was [...]

Learning Math with D&D Dice

We found Pete’s old D&D dice the other day. Lou wanted to play a game with them. We told her we didn’t have the books for the games anymore. So Pete taught her another game. Craps, without the gambling part. He taught her to throw the dice, add the two dice together, and then to [...]

Making Montessori Objects for Reading

We have our sandpaper letters, our movable type and a little carpet. Lou is eager to kick reading in gear. Now all we need are some Montessori Objects for reading. These are usually things Montessori moms hunt for all over, or they can be bought from Montessori Services. But I didn’t have the patience to [...]

Making Sound Cylinders

We continued our Montessori kick this week. Uncle Joe brought over an old spice rack thinking we might re-purpose them for something else. He was right. I had been looking for something to hold some noises. We did pairs of sounds. Rice, pennies, pasta, beads. I changed the pasta into spaghetti for a more distinct sound. Then [...]

How Not to Make Sandpaper Letters

Look at those sad little letters. They should look like this: Fail. So here’s how not to make sandpaper letters. First off, we used some thin wood that was fuzzy on its back. That didn’t work out so well. We cut it into decent enough sizes, but lost one piece so one of our letters [...]

The Balance Beam

We bought a 4″x4″ and screwed on some blocks of wood at the ends for stabilization. It was a hit. Especially with the 18 month old. Note: Our piece of wood didn’t seem to have any splinters. Also, it’s a bit cumbersome to have laying about. I just knew I was going to end up tripping on it, [...]

17 Months – Lacing Beads

I didn’t expect Ero to be able to do the lacing beads. Peter however, doesn’t have a good grasp on when kids are ready to do things, so yesterday he started playing beads with him. Ero seemed to be getting it, at least getting the part where you put a bead on the little stick [...]

15 Months – Knobbed Cylinders

My Uber Montessori Neighbor told me knobbed cylinders are a staple in the Montessori Classroom. So I got the first of four levels to see how the kids reacted to it. Both Ero at 15 months and Lou at 3 years loved it. I think it’s supposed to be for 2-5 year olds. Ero rolls [...]

Add Some Oat O’s to that Spaghetti

I found Lou doing this the other day. We had this stuff out for her old scale which we got from Grandpa Carl.

Hippo Bath – Montessori Animal Washing Activity

We went on a Montessori school tour last week and a couple kids were doing an interesting activity. They brought out a tray with a pitcher, bowl, soap, toothbrush and a small animal from the bookshelves.