Book Review: The Good Shepherd and the Child: A Joyful Journey

The Good Shepherd and the Child: A Joyful Journey 

by Sofia Cavalletti, Patricia Coulter, Gianna Gobbi, and Silvana Q. Montanaro

I purchased this book in the summer of 2011, before beginning my training as a catechist for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. I finally started reading it in October 2012 and I should have finished it long ago. It's actually quite a nice brief introduction to Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, especially for parents with children in the program, who are considering enrolling their children, or who do not have access to the program but are hoping to integrate some of the aspects of it into their home. It only took me so long to read because I kept it in the bedroom where I read only a paragraph or two every now and then before bed.

Rather than one single book, this is a collection of essays. Put together, they give an overview of some of the most important presentations and the reasoning behind them.

In the Introduction, Patricia Coulter says:

Our theme is God's covenant with young children and a way of being with children that helps them to live their relationship with God. It is a book about initiating children into that covenant relationship, helping children to receive and respond to God's unconditional, personal, love for each of them: "I have called you by name, you are mine...Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you" (Isaiah 43:1,4)

Kansas Dad and I laughed over some of the sentences written by Silvana Montanaro, like this one:

Mother and father, and every person in contact with an expectant mother as well, should be aware of and try to feel the presence of this new human being.

I think there's plenty of evidence that babies in the womb can hear and even respond to voices and bumps from outside the womb, but some of Silvana's language seems to make it a bit too touchy-feely for me.

Sofia Cavaletti in "God and the Child Together" talks about the child's relationship with God, which is at the heart of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program.

The relationship with God is basically an experience of love, of love without limits. In the covenant relationship there is a meeting between God who is "Love," and the child, who is so rich in love; different in their capacity and yet alike in their quality, they truly encounter one another. In the covenant relationship the child finds the Partner who is limitless, unfailing love, who meets the child's deepest need, and the child is in harmony with the world.

Our goal then, as parents and as catechists, is merely to introduce the child to God and let God and the Holy Spirit work within the child. We prepare an environment in which that relationship can be developed and grow.

In "Helping the Child" Silvana returns and has (in my opinion) some good advice for parents as the child grows in the first few years. In particular, I liked the small section, "Help Me to do it by Myself."

Helping little children in their own efforts to grow is truly a form or service. The child's intense desire is, "Help me to do it by myself."

I have found that little children can do a great deal when given the opportunity, but they often do so more joyfully and promptly when an adult or older sibling works beside them. Even when they are capable of completing a little task independently, they do not want to be alone. Stand back, but stay near by.

And this quote is pertinent to the reading I've been doing in Unconditional Parenting:

Try to be patient and slow down your pace when you are with your child. Helping your child to develop--the purpose of education--is not something that can be achieved quickly.

How often we start demanding instant obedience and yelling when we are in a hurry! With more time, we can work with our children. It's not just for the benefits of a calm and soothing environment, it enables us to collaborate with our children rather than order them about.

In Part Two, Sofia Cavalletti and Patricia Coulter give a lot more information. For example, the chapter, "Presenting the Good Shepherd to Children," details exactly how to give the presentation and a description of the materials and how they are used. It provides background on presenting parables to children as well as meditating with children.

It is the nature of the parable to leave the door open to further exploration. This is the time to help the children explore its meaning in a meditative spirit. If we say to children, "This is the meaning..." by words or attitude, they will stop looking for anything else. Then the parable becomes something already done in a sense; however, a parable always remains open to deeper reflection.

I particularly enjoyed the chapter on "Prayer," in which Cavalletti and Coulter present their understanding of how young children pray, based on their years of working with children in an atrium environment. Sofia and Coulter think children do not make many prayers of petition naturally and we should not suggest them or lead them in prayers like that. Doing so may redirect their attention from their true prayers.

First, the primary concern is helping the child's prayer, rather than teaching prayers to children. Our hope is to help children enter into prayer: that inner disposition by which the heart turns to God in openness so as to listen and respond to the presence of Love.

This is the chapter that talked the most about providing an environment of silence and contemplation.

To create a climate of silence is a way of helping the child's inner meditative spirit. Creating time and space for silence is a way of nourishing that special need for listening which is at the heart of the child's prayer. Silence becomes the soil in which the child's prayer may flourish and grow.

 In "Moral Formation," the last chapter, there's a wonderful summary of the whole book (and really the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program):

All the major themes of the Christian message outlined in this book have one aim: to help children discover and enjoy the presence of Someone in their lives. There is a Person who calls them by name, who creates the most steadfast and enduring relationship of love; it is Someone who, in giving them the gift of his own life and his own "light," gives them his whole self.

Appendix A is a great introduction to the program of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and provides background on Sofia Cavalletti and Gianna Gobbi. You may even want to read it first. I have now completed my training for Level 1 (3-6 year old children), but this book is a good supplement to that training. (It's one of the recommended books.)

By the way, if you really want to purchase a copy, you can find reasonably-priced copies at the store of the National Association of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

The Range Version of a Salt Box for Handwriting

Along with our handwriting program for next year, Cursive First, and recommendations for young children learning to write in Essentials, I decided to make a real salt box. I wanted to make one using only materials I had on hand. Counting the time to wander around the house looking for supplies, I only needed about twenty minutes to make this box.

I found a box that had arrived in the mail full of pictures (minus the pictures) that opened nicely and covered it with the remnants of a shimmery green gift bag. For the bottom of the inside, I cut a piece of black construction paper to fit. (That paper is perfect for colored chalk drawings, just as an aside.) I used double-stick tape to hold the paper in place on top and inside.

On the inside, I made sure to put double-stick tape lined up in the corners so they would stay nicely in place.

I added packing tape around the edges of the green bag so no little fingers would be tempted to peel it off.

After adding salt, I realized I needed to tape up the corners on the bottom. The box had enough spaces for salt to sprinkle out on the table and floor.

I think it'll be perfect! If it doesn't last forever, I'll make another one. The girls have already been using this box on a regular basis. Second Daughter in particular loves to pull it out, but I have to watch her because after a bit of drawing she likes to scoop up the salt and let it slide through her fingers -- and not always back into the box.

Of course, I put the extra bits of shimmery green paper in the craft box so Second Daughter can continue gluing creations like this masterpiece:

I searched online a bit and found some other homemade salt boxes (much more beautiful than mine): this one and this one were my favorites.  (I think the sandpaper letters in the second link look awesome! So much nicer than the ones I made. I have been tempted to make new ones with cursive letters...if I ever get around to it, I'm going to put them on colored card stock and round the corners. Somehow I have a feeling I'll be making those for my grandchildren.)

Fabric Basket Game

First Daughter shared her fabric basket game with First Son. I think the highlight is wearing the hat.

Using Number Rods

I had hoped to photograph First Daughter using her Montessori activities this year and did so very well. On Sept 1st. I'm not sure I've taken many pictures since, though we're enjoying quite a few of the activities. Here she is back on September 1st using her number rods. First we lined them all up from smallest to longest and matched the correct number.

Then, because that was really too easy for her, we did some addition.

I think she was hoping for something a bit more exciting that day. We used our spindle box for the first time this week and she loved it. First Son wanted to play with it, too. Then Second Daughter was interested. They used it off and on throughout the day until First Son brought it to me with one of the inserts pulled out. So it only lasted one day. Luckily, it was easily mended and we can bring it out again some day.

The math activities, so far, have all been a bit too easy for her. I am not surprised as she's been following along with the more interesting lessons with First Son's math manipulatives for over a year. She's thoroughly enjoying the sensorial activities, though, and we're still working our way through the sandpaper letters. I'm seeing definite progress there, though we're using lots of letter activities, games and Kumon workbooks so I can't say it's all the Montessori activities.

Montessori Preschool on the Range

Last year, I created a bunch of homemade Montessori materials based on Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years (read my recent review here) and then decided not to use most of them. This summer I expanded our materials a bit and am hoping to use them more deliberately this year.

I've scheduled some "preschool" time into each day. So far (and we're in week four now), we spend a little time four days a week with one of the Montessori activities. (On the fifth day, we attend story hour at our local library which includes work on letters and numbers in addition to running around in the gym and a story.) The activities cover a wide range of abilities; some will best challenge First Son, some First Daughter and some Second Daughter. Mostly I work with First Daughter. First Son watches with some interest (and would be welcome to take part if he likes) while Second Daughter entertains herself. I also read one book I pick specifically for the girls. We read a lot of books together, especially ones Second Daughter chooses every time I sit down, because that of course means I'm going to read to her. The ones I count as "preschool" tend to be my favorites, though, like One Morning in Maine (Picture Puffins), Owl Moon and Bear Snores On.

I decided to put together a single post on all the Montessori materials I made so I can find the links myself. Someday I'll look back and either be impressed with all the stuff I made or laugh at myself for dreaming we'd ever use all this stuff!

Here's a list of what I'm planning for our preschool this year:

1. Practical Life Exercises - pouring rice, dusting, folding, washing dishes, setting a table, washing a table, sweeping, lacing, tying, stringing beads, using a dropper, cutting, puzzles, cardboard sewing cards, dressing frames (see the ones my mom and I made here), bottles and tops (see our lovely box here).
2. Early Sensorial Exercises - tower building, fabric basket, button games, rough and smooth boards (see ours here), silence game, walking the line, mystery bag, scent and sound bottles (see ours here), color tablets (see ours here), geometric insets (see ours here), geometric shapes (see ours here), color circles (a few more pictures here).
3. Reading and Writing Exercises - sandpaper letters (I made some last year), command cards (our commands are here), pictures and sounds (see ours here), movable alphabet (see ours here), tracing letters, sticker series (see our sticker pre-reading exercise here).
4. Arithmetic Exercises - number rods (see mine here), spindle box (see ours here), sandpaper numbers (which I made the same way as the letters), tracing numbers, number progression (I just cut up one of our extra hundreds boards like this one), measuring exercises.

Our Color Tablets

I think this is the last post on our home-made Montessori materials, at least for a while. I finished these up the night before Second Son was born.

I loosely followed the instructions in Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years to make these. Kansas Dad and I were at a superstore and I picked up oodles of the paint cards from the home improvement section. I had come prepared with a list so I knew how many of each card I'd need. At home, I trimmed them so only one color was showing and glued them (with a glue stick) to roughly square pieces of poster board I had left-over from another project.

I placed them in plastic bags marked as Box 1, Box 2 and Box 3. I wrote the "box" numbers on the back of each card so it should be easy to sort them again if the kids mix them up. (Ideally, only one set is out at a time, but I've seen how my children play.)

This project was a little more time consuming than most because I had to cut the poster board, cut all the colors and then glue them together. It is, however, something an older child could very easily complete entirely alone. It was also very inexpensive.

Rough and Smooth Boards

I mentioned there were a few Montessori materials I made the night before Second Son was born. These rough and smooth boards took about fifteen minutes -- certainly a lot less time than we spent at the store buying the sandpaper. I modified the design a little from what I found in Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years because I couldn't find a fifth sample that wasn't black. (I put them on cardboard rather than the nicer balsa wood, but I wouldn't want to mar the looks with black sandpaper! Oy, I'm silly sometimes.)

These were ridiculously easy and practically free if you already have four kinds with graduated levels of coarseness. I just used glue sticks to adhere them to the cardboard.

Book Review: Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years

Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years by Elizabeth G. Hainstock

I have been using this book for a few years now but re-read Part I (Montessori in the Home) in preparation for our preschool activities this year. I was struck most of all by how Montessori methods are child-centered and activity-center based after recently reading Left Back: A Century of Battles over School Reform by Diane Ravitch. I am not interested in letting my children decide what they'll learn and when through our homeschooling years (I can use the plural now that we're starting first grade, right?), but I do think it's an appropriate methodology for the preschool years. There is plenty of time ahead for First Daughter to learn letters, numbers, logic, Latin, and all sorts of other things, but now I am most interested in encouraging her to develop her own interests and build a solid base on which to place her later "book learning."

Maria Montessori's methods include a "truly good and sound education for the preschooler" but that education is one based on thinking and moving rather than reciting letters.

A young child's curiosity is insatiable, and he should have unlimited opportunities for observation, movement and exploration--in his home, in his garden. Let him discover himself and the world around him. Encourage him to be active and to follow his natural urges, for that is necessary for the development of his character.

In addition to the more structured activities described in the book, Ms. Hainstock encourages lots of time outside (playing and helping in gardens or other outdoor chores) and plenty of opportunities for art (like painting and clay). She also encourages parents to read aloud and often to children. (Does anyone today suggest not reading aloud to children?)

The author likely overstates the importance of a specifically Montessori preschool education, but that's partly to be expected in a book of Montessori preschool activities. I'm also not likely to introduce the activities exactly as Ms. Hainstock suggests. I do not intend to set up our classroom (which is also our living room and First Son's first grade classroom) only as a Montessori preschool classroom. We will have activities at different levels. I will often keep the preschool materials locked away in the cabinet so Second Daughter does not destroy them. We will also not be having "preschool" for up to two hours a day.

Not that I've quite figured out how the preschool activities will be incorporated. We're supposedly starting school on August 23rd and I've set aside a bit of time each day for preschool -- though my schedule doesn't actually have any times on it. I anticipate an evolving routine for the first few weeks. Second Son will only be one month old when we start and, at this point, he's not anxious for me to do anything besides feed him. I'm trying not to set my expectations so high that I feel like a failure after only two weeks of first grade!

I have not read much more on the Montessori methods and philosophy than this book. It is only the smallest of introductions, but I think it's enough to get started with some preschool activities with your children. Personally, I think the Charlotte Mason and classical approaches will better suit our style as First Daughter grows (and already for First Son), but I just love how these little activities seem to lead children to more challenging ones like reading and writing. Also (confession time), Montessori materials are beautiful (at least the ones you can buy). I would love to fill my home with them.

Our Picture and Sound Cards

I started our box of picture and sound cards last year and then set it aside when I realized how few of the Montessori activities we'd be using. I tackled it again this summer, though. I finished them up a while before Second Son was born but didn't get around to actually publishing the post.

The idea is to use pictures from magazines or greeting cards to illustrate the sounds of each letter. I happened to have a huge stack of magazines I was cleaning out and went through them to pick out some good pictures first. The big expensive magazines definitely had better pictures for a project like this. You won't be surprised that some sounds were much easier to complete with six or eight pictures than others.

I found some of the best pictures in seed catalogs. The most expensive sellers had the most beautiful pictures of all. So our box has lots of fruits, vegetables and flowers in it. (I did try to stick with ones the kids might actually know.)

I also used an old child's dictionary my mom found at Goodwill. It was already missing a few pages so I cut out some of the best pictures to use.

In the end, I had to resort to searching online for pictures for the last few letters. Most of the sites were not incredibly helpful (showing only pictures I had already found on my own), but I did think the Children's Picture Dictionary had some cute pictures. This Online Photographic Dictionary had some nice ones as well. Sometimes, too, if I knew what word I wanted to use, I would just search Wikipedia. (I would copy the picture to a Word document, print it out, then tape it to an index card. The ones I made last summer were pasted with rubber cement, but since that's apparently toxic to pregnant women and their babies, I switched to a glue stick or double-stick tape for the ones I finished up this summer.)

For letters like x, Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years says to choose words that actually have an "eks" sound, rather than the ones where x sounds like z, using pictures of things with x in the middle or end of the word rather than the beginning. I also picked a few things that start with x with a z sound. It seems right to teach that sound for the letter as well, though I'll probably focus on the "eks" sound first.

I have a few more Montessori projects I finished up the night before Second Son was born. Those posts will come eventually.

Easy Graduated Shapes

Another Montessori activity suggested in Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years is working with graduated shapes. There aren't any templates for these in the back and I couldn't find anything online, so I spent about fifteen minutes in Word and created some myself. Just in case anyone else is searching and wants to use my fancy document, I'm posting it here. (Always happy to save someone else fifteen minutes of time!)
Graduated Shapes

I just used the shapes in Word and decreased them by 25% each time. I think the particular shapes used depend on what you want your child to know the best. I chose oval, hexagon, diamond, triangle, square, circle and rectangle. I printed it out on card stock (a different color for each shape) and cut it out. Done! (I considered laminating them, but they were so easy to make I decided not to bother. If something happens, I can always print them again and ask First Son to cut them out for me.)

First Son did work with graduated shapes in his kindergarten math curriculum (and so First Daughter did as well). We'll see if they are interested in them for next year, but if not, I'm sure Second Daughter will be soon.

Making Some Early Sensorial Exercises

I thought I'd post a few pictures of the even-easier-to-make sensorial exercises for our Montessori preschool next year. It's been nice having something to keep me occupied while I wait for baby to finish growing.

First, we have a fabric "basket." In the past few months, I've started saving bits of fabric for our craft area. I had thought we would use them for something fun like clothes on paper bag puppets or collages, but so far the kids haven't been interested in using fabric much. I went through the box and cut "squares" from some of the materials I thought would feel interesting. I think this exercise will be most useful if I put the squares in something like a bag that will hide its color so First Daughter will be forced to really feel it. For now, though, I'm storing them all in that little holiday box I picked up for about a penny last holiday season.

One of the things that's really fun about using bits of fabric like this is remembering where the material came from. The white in the back is extra material from my wedding dress. The blue in front of it is from the material used to make the bridesmaid dresses. The blue striped material and the pink next to it were both from favorite outfits the girls wore when they were babies. I saved big chunks of them after I couldn't get them stain-free.

Here are pictures of the mystery bags my mom made for us last summer. We picked up the material from the scrap bin at the local hobby shop. She very nicely made the ties for me, but sewing a little bag is so simple even I could have done it. (I'm very thankful she did, though.) I can use these with the fabric squares above, but also with just about anything from around the house. We'll put some items in there and see if the kids can guess what they are feeling. Seriously, how is that not fun? I can't believe I forgot about these last year.

Finally, here are the very simple color circles I made for Second Daughter. I used a sour cream lid to trace identical circles on a few pieces of construction paper and then cut two or three together. (I always save our plastic containers because they're so great for glue and paint when we're having craft time.) I put some address labels on and wrote the color names. I punched holes in them and put them on a ring, because we had one. She can't play with this by herself because it can't handle her kind of playing, but she needs someone to talk to her about the colors anyway. Luckily, that "someone" could be First Son while I work with First Daughter on something else. Or wash the dishes. Or help First Daughter wash the dishes.

Book Review: How to Use Child-Sized Masterpieces for Art Appreciation

How to Use Child Size Masterpieces by Aline Wolf

You might be surprised to learn I decided to use this for our homeschool next year before I had actually read the book. Well, I did. You'll be even more surprised when I tell you it took me about thirty minutes to read through the whole book (though I just skimmed some of the information at the end).

After reading it, though, I am excited to try these exercises out with the kids. (The kids are really excited, too, after seeing me put all the cards in folders.) We'll be working through the first three steps: matching identical paintings, pairing companion paintings, and grouping four paintings by one artist. As she describes the approach, children are pulled deeper into the paintings, learning to pay closer attention to details and style in order to complete the exercises. Later steps involving schools of art and timelines build on those skills to increase knowledge of art history. She even mentions using groups of art work as an addition to history, culture or geography lessons. We'll work through at our own pace and see how it goes before investing in steps 4 through 8.

Ms. Wolf describes her simple approach to art appreciation, giving detailed instructions so you can easily create your own folders using whatever postcards you have at your local museum or that you might chose online. You most certainly do not have to buy any of the prepared groupings of cards (like Child Size Masterpieces of Steps 1, 2, 3 - Matching, Pairing, and Sorting - Level 1 Easy). Personally, I'm really glad we have the first three books because it's a little easier to see how it all works with some examples to move around myself. Using her descriptions, I'll also be selecting some postcards from our local art museum to augment our collection and make it more personal for the kids. (I'm hoping it will also make them more interested in the actual pieces in the art museum. We took them recently and they were definitely not interested!)

If you want to use the prepared groupings, you should plan on purchasing at least the first three books (Child Size Masterpieces of Steps 1, 2, 3 - Matching, Pairing, and Sorting - Level 1 Easy, Child Size Masterpieces for Steps 1, 2, 3: Matching, Pairing and Sorting - Level 2 Intermediate and Child-Size Masterpieces for Steps 1, 2, 3 of Matching pairing and sortingy, Level 3--Advanced). The books provide groups of postcards for the three steps at each level, but the instructions in the book seem to indicate you'll want to introduce the exercises to children with all three levels for Step 1, then all three levels for Step 2, and finally all three levels for Step 3. It seems like it would have been a better idea to group all of Step 1 together so people could give it a try that way, with only one book. I can understand being hesitant to purchase all of these resources to start a new program. I luckily only had to purchase one and used a gift card for that.

I do think you want this book if you are interested in using the Child Size Masterpieces. You may be able to muddle through without it, but it seems to provide all the important information on using the postcards with Ms. Wolf's approach. I read a few reviews online of people who thought it was too complicated. They seemed to think you could just throw some postcards together and go through them with your children. I'm sure you could, however, I think the system is actually fairly simple once you see the cards in action. I also think a more thoughtful approach in art appreciation can build the same kind of appreciation I'm hoping to develop with our music appreciation plans. Ms. Wolf provides the kind of detailed instructions I've found in other Montessori materials which often seem unnecessary, but work perfectly when modeling activities with children.

We'll see how these work in the fall, of course. I'll try to remember to post more on it once we're using them.

Originally, I was going to store the postcards in plastic bags because that's what I had and the folders seemed unnecessary. (A lot of other reviewers of the program said they just used bags or regular folders.) I didn't want to bother cutting down and stapling folders for postcards, but I was inspired after reading the book. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of the kids being able to get the folders out themselves and go through the exercises. Having separate pockets and the identification of the colored dots makes it very simple for them to complete the activity and return everything to its place so it's ready for next time.

I'll write a separate post with a few tips on making the folders, in case anyone is interested.

An Easy to Make Montessori Pre-Reading Exercise

I wish I could remember where I read about this simple homemade exercise. I'm sure it was on the same blog where I learned about Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years. I made these at least two or three years ago and all the kids have enjoyed playing with them (though Second Daughter really just makes a mess with them).

The idea is to encourage children to learn to "read" the stickers from left to right. Start with a very simple series like the one on top (big stickers, just a few shapes, very different from each other) and progress through different ones that become more difficult like the one on the bottom (smaller stickers, closer together, harder to tell apart).

They are incredibly easy to make! Here's what you need:

• card stock in a variety of colors (I used a different color for each series.)
• 2 sets of stickers of things your kids like (I bought most of ours at a local hobby store when they were 40-50% off. Most sticker sets come with 2 or 4 sheets, so you only need one package to make a series.)
• scissors

First, create the series for the kids to copy by putting a line of stickers on a piece of card stock. Then, using the same stickers and the same color card stock, create another line. You'll want the second line farther apart so you can cut the line into pieces. I asked Grammy to laminate ours for us, just so they'd last a bit longer.

You can read about the three period lesson and other Montessori concepts online and in books. Basically, to use the sticker series, you would:

1. Show the child the line of stickers to copy.
2. Point to each of the stickers and name it, from left to right, as if you're "reading" it.
3. Show the child the separate sticker cards that match and line each up in order underneath while saying its name or describing it by pointing out how it is unique in the series.
4. Mix up the separated sticker cards and ask the child to put them in the same order. Make sure the child is also orienting the sticker properly to match as well, just as letters would need to be.

I store the cards in separate envelopes with a few of the stickers on the outside, so the kids can tell where they go without reading (though I also wrote names for the series like "dinosaurs" and "leaves" as well).

Very Simple Geometric Insets

My Montessori book (Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years) suggests using geometric insets to help with coordination and learning the names of shapes. We have some shapes puzzles, but I decided to make some insets anyway because they seemed pretty simple and I had some stuff lying around.

Though the book didn't say to enlarge the shapes, I think the author assumed I would. I did not. I just copied the page right onto card stock (because I had that and did not have different colored poster board). I cut out the shapes, traced them onto blue card stock and then cut the shapes out of the blue.

It was very easy to cut the yellow shapes, but much harder to cut the blue card stock to exactly match (even with the tracing). I especially had trouble with that rounded cross or x-shaped one. (What would you call that? And why is that shape one of the six? I could think of a lot of other shapes that would be more common.) I'm sure we'll use them a bit, but I think you might do just as well with puzzles without all the hassle.

Practical Life Exercises and a Call for Advice

Most practical life exercises use what you'd expect - items around the home for learning practical life skills. Oh, it might be nice to have some smaller sized items around (like a small broom) for little ones to use, but for the most part you just teach them with what they have. We did make some dressing frames last year and I plan to use our bottles and tops more, too. I just saved some plastic bottles with different shaped lids and put them together in this box. Fancy, huh?

I'm debating about actually buying a few things for other practical exercises, though. I plan to work with First Son and First Daughter on lacing shoes. (First Son may know how to do that already; I haven't asked him to see.) You can buy or make a dressing frame or little toy for that, but it seems to make sense to me that using a regular shoe will work.

I would also like to teach First Son to tie his own shoes, however. I've looked around a bit because I'd really like some laces that are different colored, to make it easier to see where the different ends are going as he's tying (or as we're showing him how to tie). I can't seem to find any. There are a few books or toys with laces like that, but I really just want the laces. Anyone know where I could find them?

I'm also thinking about buying some eye droppers. It was clear to me during a summer reading program experiment that both First Son and First Daughter could use some practice. There is a science supply store in town that probably carries them, but it's not really close to other places we regularly go. I found some online (here, for example) and they're very inexpensive, but with shipping it seems a little ridiculous. My local hobby store carries them (at least they are in the online store), but they're twice as much. Anyone know of an online store that might have them that offers free shipping? Or with enough cool stuff at good prices I could make a decent sized order?

Our Homemade Spindle Box

I'm finally reaching the end of my planning for early next school year and decided I'd add some more Montessori materials to our collection, even though we hardly used the ones I made last year. Hopefully I'll be better about incorporating them into our days next year. The first I tackled is a spindle box. You can find very nice wooden ones online, but I didn't want to spend that kind of money. Kansas Dad offered to make one for me, but he has enough on his plate already, so I decided I'd figure something out. (So often sites or books will say something like "make divisions in a box" but I like to see examples of homemade ones.)

I had saved some popsicle sticks Grammy gave us (we often receive left-overs from classroom crafts) and watched all year for the perfectly-sized box to put them in, preferably with ten even compartments. Of course, no such box appeared. I decided to use a plastic container that's been empty for a while, awaiting some contents. I cut dividers from cardboard I'd stashed with our craft supplies. (I'm pretty sure I used some that came wrapped up with Amazon orders.) I started out making the dividers almost two inches deep (to reach the first little notch in the plastic bin), but realized they'd be so tall it would be hard to reach in for the little sticks, so I cut them in half.

I roughly cut the nine dividers, measured my box and marked where I wanted them on a sheet of paper I could slip beneath the box. I then started gluing them in using my most trusty glue (Aleene's Original Tacky Glue).

At first, I put the glue on the cardboard and then slipped it in, but that made a mess, so then I extended the marks on the page and put the glue on the plastic instead, which worked very well. If you want to attempt this yourself, I highly recommend putting the cardboard in a number of times to make sure it's going to fit well. Trimming after glue has been smeared is not so much fun.

As you can see, the spindle box isn't perfect, but I think it'll work for us. If you have talent with a sewing machine, I'd recommend trying this design, which I think is wonderful. I also found another blogger who used a tray she bought on sale. I thought a box would store more easily and we didn't have balsa lying around from other projects, but her spindle box is definitely more beautiful than mine.

If you don't have a book like mine (Teaching Montessori in the Home: Pre-School Years), you can search online for ways to use a spindle box like this one. I'll try to blog next year about how we used it ourselves.

How Montessori Fits In

Many of you may remember all the blog posts I wrote on the Montessori materials my mom and I made before the school year began last fall. Right now you're thinking to yourself, "Yes, I do remember all those posts. I wonder how they've been used this year."

Um, they haven't.

My revelation came after completing many of the materials. First Daughter has three more years before she even starts kindergarten. Three years is a long time. I began to feel my priorities should be focused on First Son's kindergarten year and my own development in organization and planning for a homeschool.

With three years ahead of us and a houseful of puzzles, building toys, art supplies and pretend play, I truly believe our home allows for plenty of growth for a three year old without formal schooling. First Daughter also listens to all our stories, participates in our art projects and science experiments and is learning math right alongside First Son.

I haven't abandoned Montessori. I still think these activities are wonderful in the preschool years. The practical life exercises help us (adults) introduce everyday life to a child and encourage her to participate. Some of the suggestions I've read include how to close a door and how to turn the page of a book. You may think these are silly things to show to a child, but remember she learns by watching us and we may do these things too quickly for her to see accurately what to do. Then we may get upset when a task is done improperly. So here on the Range, we work on things like turning pages and washing hands. These are good skills for the three-year-old set. (There were a few things like buttoning that I wanted to encourage in First Son, all skills he demonstrated on his own just before we started school.)

So, we haven't pulled any of activities out on a regular basis. Every once in a while the girls request the scent and sound bottles or the dressing frames. Other than that, they sit and wait. It will be nice to be able to plan on them for next year without having to make everything!

Smells and Sounds

I'm almost done with all the activities I wanted to prepare for our preschool. I am pretty excited about sharing these with First Son and First Daughter. I made the sound and scent bottles from Teaching Montessori in the Home: Pre-School Years. They were very easy (certainly under half an hour in time), but required I actually purchase something I couldn't find easily in my local stores: the spice bottles. I wanted plastic so I wouldn't have to worry about cleaning up glass if they were dropped. I also wanted them all exactly the same size. I often save our bottles to use around the house, but it would have taken a long time to get 24 bottles exactly the same. Plus, with the scents, I wanted new bottles that would not have any residual scents.

When they arrived, I cut 24 strips of construction paper to wrap around (to hide the contents). I used purple and the lighter blue, because those are the colors we have never used so we had a lot of them.


I just wrapped the construction paper around the bottom and taped the edge.

For the exercises, First Daughter will match the sound from one bottle with the matching sound, or the same for scents. So we have 12 bottles for each exercise, with two bottles holding the same scent or sound. The book suggests different colored lids, but I found it was cheaper to order all white lids and just used some extra stickers I had to indicate the groups.


I pulled things from the kitchen to fill our bottles.

Sound:
brown rice
cornmeal
lentils
oatmeal
popcorn
salt

It turns out the cornmeal and salt sound very similar, so I'll switch one of them out if we have too much trouble with it. Of course (and you may have noticed this), my nice bottles have a bit of space at the bottom uncovered by the construction paper (because of the shape of the bottles) so there's always the color to use as a guide.

Scent:
basil
caraway seed
cardamom seed
ground cloves
oregano
whole black peppercorn

If we have time, we're going to pull these out on the first day of homeschooling. So far, I've kept them a surprise and I hope the kids enjoy them.