Monday, August 17, 2009

Little Bro: All Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed at 4:30 a.m. Today






So, is it dinner yet???

I feel like it should be about time for dinner vs. lunch, as Little Bro got up at 4:30 a.m. today...FOR THE DAY!!!

He got up super early, as he really wanted to get to do the work that Big Bro had selected for his morning work (fraction skittles)...
Little Bro decided if he got up early and got going, he could do Big Bro's work before big Bro even got out of bed...and he was right...he did the skittles work and had it all back before Big Bro had even started to stir. I did not take photos of him doing Big Bro's work, as I did not want Big Bro to see that Little Bro had done this...

We have started to select our morning work the night before, so that the first work for the day is on the kitchen table, ready and waiting when we all wake up.
The boys start at the kitchen table and then, after eating breakfast, they progress into our playroom for the remaining work.

Now, I normally get up around this time every day, as Dear Hubby normally leaves for work early and our puppy has to go out with DH to do his duty...waking up when my hubby and the puppy are up is not as much of a challenge, as they are pretty quiet and do their own thing.

Little Bro was so excited to get cracking on his brother's work...he just beamed the whole time! He was so full of energy and so proud of himself that he got to big Bros work first.

After having a bit of fun with Big Bro's work, he then got right to his own work...he did the Pink Tower, then, the Broad / Brown Stairs, and then, a few of the extensions for these.

Little Bro then got out the spindles and did 0 to 9.

Then, he chose a new work, a wooden animal game called Who Lives Where? by Cadaco.
He just loved this work! I am sure that he will be bringing it off the shelves again and again!
I found it at a children's consignment store.
Pretty cool independent game, goes along nicely with what we have been doing, etc.
Following the game, Little Bro wanted to read with me. We read two books, which he loved.

Little Bro wrapped up his morning with matching 3D shapes to their cards.
He matched up both plastic and wooden shapes and then, sorted them back out before putting them away.

He finished off his morning by putting on a variety of costumes and playing with the dog.

All in all, a very productive morning...he is a very hardworking tike!

7 comments:

Montessori Moments said...

Once again you amaze me!
You have so many wonderful works for your boys to do.

The Sunshine Crew said...

Thanks but Little Bro is the amazing one...
Cannot believe how driven and how energetic he was at 4:30 this morning...he, Big Bro, and I all ended up lying down for a nap...we slept for over three hours!!!
Thanks for saying that we have wonderful works, though:)

Heidi said...

Are those the mini pink tower and brown stair? For some reason they are looking small to me...maybe I'm just nuts!

Where do you fit the very practical life of personal care into your morning with that schedule? Before they work? After breakfast? Just curious how other families do it!

What if the kids change their mind about a work when they get up? I think its great that they are ready to work so early. For your sake, however, I hope he doesn't make a habit of it!

The Sunshine Crew said...

Yes, that is the mini pink tower and the mini brown stair.
They are still to scale, just smaller.
Last year, we had to split our time between Virginia and Florida, so the mini ones came in handy and the boys still like using them.
As far as personal care, generally, I am up, showered, and dressed before they wake up in the a.m.
As far as their personal care, many times, the boys will choose to start their first work in their pj's...they get out their own food for breakfast, and many times, eat as they work. Sometime during the morning, they get dressed.
We do baths for the boys at night.
They still wash their faces, brush their teeth, and do their hair after they get dressed.
We have all of their clothes laid out for the week in hanging bins in their closets, so their outfits are ready to go. The boys either select their shirts or their shorts/pants for the week and then, I select everything that coordinates with their selection.
We have purchased "uniforms" of sorts for when we will have to go out and about during the regular school hours...bought them some khaki shorts, navy polo shorts, white socks, and belts.
As far as changing their minds about their morning work, this has yet to happen...guess we will cross that bridge when we get to it. i supposed that they would just put it back and choose something else.
They only do their first few works at the kitchen table and generally switch to working in our playroom later in the morning.
Today was a different story, though, as Little Bro was up so incredibly early. I had him stay in our kitchen and family room so that he wouldn't wake up his Big Bro.
:)

Unknown said...

Hello!! I subscribed to your rss feed last week when I 'discovered' your blog but only realised today that we already "know" each other! How are you?! I'm loving your blog - are you in your new house, still in Florida?

I loved this post :) Hug also woke at 4.30 am yesterday but I don't usually get up until 6 so I wasn't suggesting any early morning Montessori activities! But having read this post - I might be inspired to in the future!

Are you full-time home-schooling now? Hug started school (Waldorf) this year & I am continuing with Montessori at home... so early morning work is perfect for us really.

I am about to write a post about how I want to try to "loosen up " our Montessori work at home so I was very interested to hear about the boys eating their breakfast while working!! Very interesting...

Can't wait to read more!

Warmest regards,

p.s. I'm interested in the Peace project :)
Amber (in Australia)

The Sunshine Crew said...

Hi Amber,

So glad that you found us on here, as I had misplaced your blog address when we moved!
Was planning to contact you via email and postal mail, too. I just sorted the cool things you sent us last year for our continents boxes.
We would love to have you do the Peace project with us. Will send you an email tomorrow.
Can't wait to catch up with you:)

Unknown said...

Ahhh, great to hear from you! I've thought of you often - especially when I see the boys using something that you sent :) Looking forward to hearing more about the project...

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