A Photo Tour of Our Homeschool Set Up For the Summer...Getting Geared up for the New School Year!

 Here is a photo tour of our homeschool set up for the summer...

Some things are in storage, as we spend some of our time in the summer doing summer camp versus a traditional Montessori work period...
This is what I have been busy doing the last few weeks though...organizing and getting things ready.

Hope that you will enjoy these photos!

Please click on the Geoboard photo below & it will take you to my whole photo album of our materials...

Sunrise Learning Lab: Photos of Our Homeschool Set Up for the Summer & Our Montessori Materials

This is linked up at Mom to Two Posh Lil Divas as well as a few other Wordless Wednesday linkys.

Hope you will enjoy these photos for 

(kinda) Wordless Wednesday.

A Photo Recap: A Few Very Busy Weeks

Making Memories Monday:
Some of our recent memory makers...and having fun while at play...

We have been super busy here lately, celebrating Big Bro's 7th birthday, trying to implement an awesome new hands-on math program that ties in beautifully with Montessori Math***, and visiting all kinds of fun places...Hilton Head, Epcot,  Downtown Disney, and the new Glazer Children's Museum, to name a few...plus, we have been working on some home projects that have kept us extraordinarily busy, too...hopefully, some neat memories in the making! Noy yo worry, though...took plenty of time to play and to enjoy the outdoors, too.

***I am going to do a more extensive post about integrating Montessori and Hands-On Standards in the future, but want to get more into it so that we can give you a better idea of how the integration really works. So far, we just love it!

Have not been blogging that much, but here is a photo tour of some of what we have been doing:

We Play: in trees...Big Bro and Little Bro hanging out in a tree in Hilton Head

We Play: in fountains...Little Bro enjoying the new Coligny Fountain in Hilton Head

We Play: in the sand. Beach fun in Hilton Head

We Play: at the playground...Big Bro enjoying spending time at the playground in Harbour Town

Little Bro climbing at the Harbour Town Playground

Little Bro riding the motorcycle toy at the Harbour Town Playground

We Play: in a tree house...Loving the tree house area at the Harbour Town  Playground

We Play: in the hotel...Little Bro enjoying jumping from pirate ship bed to pirate ship bed at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort

Big Bro and Little Bro having fun in our pirate themed room at Disney...

We Play: in the water...Ahoy, Matey! Big Bro is having such fun!

Little Bro going head first down a slide.

We Play: at Disney's Epcot...Epcot China exhibit

Electronic shuffleboard type of game at one of the exhibits at Epcot

We Play...and pretend to drive...Little Bro driving and Big Bro giving some pointers to Little Bro

We Play: in the stores...Having fun, Viking style! Gotta love Epcot!!!

What a birthday celebration! Thanks to the Grands for bringing us this cute cake!
Happy birthday, Big Bro!

Birthday balloon swords!

We play: with props...Big Bro checking out x-rays at the Glazer Children's Museum

We Play: to be like our community heroes...Little Bro digging being a firefighter

Big Bro hanging out by the fire hydrant

The boys having a ball at this exhibit...definitely one of their favorites...

We Play: and help out, too...Helping the pets at the Glazer Children's Museum

 Figuring out sets using Montessori and Hands-On Standards materials...yes, math can be fun!

We Play: to help turn on to math...Happy Big Bro, who loves using Hands-on Standards in conjunction with Montessori for math...

We Play: with blocks for math...Little Bro practicing ordinal counting...first through fifth...

Big Bro and Dear Daddy...when Big Bro was newborn...seems like it was just yesterday that Big Bro was this tiny!

We Play: with Daddy...Big Bro and Dear Daddy having fun working together to build one of Big Bro's birthday presents.
Happy 7th birthday Dear Big Bro! We love you so much!

This post is linked up at Childhood 101 with the We Play Link ups.
Be sure to pop over and see all of the posts about play and children. Always feel inspired when I read all of the neat things others are doing with their children to encourage play and learning...



This post is linked over at Adventures in McQuill-land as part of her Making Memories Monday link ups.  Thanks to Jennifer for always having a  place to link up family memories. It makes me reflect on the fact that even when life is very busy / bordering on frenetic, to take time to savor the small and large moments in life with your family.
Thanks, Jen, for the reminder. Please be sure to read Jennifer's post and all of the link-ups over on her blog.

Deals, Deals, Deals and Where You Might Get Lucky Finding Them...

Some people have asked me where I have found the various resources, so here is a run down of where I have had the best luck...

Picture Books, readers, and nonfiction selections written for young children, as well as wooden toys, Ravensburger games, and riding toys...
Look at: Children's resale shops and consignment stores
Best Luck at: Once Upon a Child
The books at Once Upon a Child do not seem to stay on the shelves for very long, so if you see a good deal at one of these stores, grab it.
Have found so many of our books at Once Upon a Child.
As far as great wooden toys, such as Haba, the consignment stores and resale shops do not seem to realize their value. Have bought several at such low prices at these places.
Picked up a Haba Walker Wagon that lists for $143. plus shipping for $4.
Picked up a Peg Perego Front Loader that lists for $173. for $30.

Math Manipulatives
Look at: Target dollar section, party stores

Polishing Work, children's books in other languages, books on Montessori, and random finds:
Go to: Goodwill and Salvation Army Stores
Have found other random things there, too like wooden clogs(I only paid a few dollars for these), a Kettler Sprint Balance Bike (lists for $99; I paid $3.06), a wooden train table with extra storage (lists for $150; I paid $15.)
Have found cool sterling silver containers, spoons, etc. at these stores for very little money.

Wet Transfer - small pitchers and bowls
Gotta See: Target and Cracker Barrel Restaurant gift shops.
Buy after the season has ended and save until the next holiday season to save additional money.

Dry Transfer, wooden trays, finger puppets, child sized kitchen utensils, glassware, ceramic mugs, etc., chalk board / dry erase white board easel set, child sized table and chairs sets
Best Luck at: IKEA
If you or you hubby is handy, you might be able to pick up a table and cut down the legs for a nice fit for your child...that is what some of my friends have done and the results are great...but if you want something light enough for a child to move by themselves, and if you are on a budget, IKEA is your best bet.
There are also some sites out there to do what folks call IKEA Hacks, where you buy an item from IKEA and re-make it into something else.
I have not personally tried this, but want to at some point...

Arts and Crafts supplies
Go visit: Michael's and Walmart
Buy past season and save some $

Fabric Fat Quarters and Neat Buttons
You'll find them at: Walmart

Bi-lingual wooden puzzles (English / Spanish), children's bible story books, and board books
Tuesday Morning

Little Labs Science Kits, French Bingo, Playmobil, Click Clacks (plastic containers with airtight lids for snack storage), international snacks, and cool trays
Home Goods

Equipment to work on balance, physical fitness, etc.
Look for children's gyms that are going out of business.
Bought most of our materials at an auction for a My Gym that had closed in Virginia.

Items for continents boxes, international Christmas ornaments, foods, and games:
Marshall's and World Market

Have also found some neat items for my continents boxes at the local Asian market, as well as Epcot.

Best Luck : Participating in continents swaps with other Montessori inspired schools and homeschools to get unusual items from around the world.


You can do a Google Search if there is something you are really hoping for to see if someone out there has something you want up for grabs.

Well, hope that this is helpful!

Deals are out there, you just have to know where to look, what to look for, and how to stay focused...will write more about staying focused as another post...

Two New Extensions for Three Part Cards: Lift the Flap Arachnids and Volcanoes Game

An interior shot of Big Bro's All About Spiders and Their Relatives work.
Attached to the foam spider body is a mini book that features various spiders.
This photo flipped upside down for some reason, but this is the reverse side of the spider mini book...Big Bro made a web out of pipe cleaners and taped it onto the spider. The pipe cleaner web is then taped to the corner of the interior of the book, so that it dangles like a real web.
Here is the three part cards extension for the arachnids cards - made an additional copy of the cards for Big Bro to use as "Life the Flap" activity pages inside his book. A big thanks to Montessori Materials. org for sharing these cards! Here is the link to their arachnids three part cards.
Here is Big Bro working on his spiders mini book. The control of error is at the top of the photo...he has it as a guide to refer to for the different spider markings, etc.
More three part cards used as a "Lift the Flap" activity page...
Big Bro's cover...
Mighty Spiders! reader, at Big Bro's independent reading level.
Spiders and Scorpions is a cool spiders and scorpions reference book.
Little Bro working hard at his transfer work...he did "one to one wet transfer", then got out "one to many wet transfer"...then, was totally taken in by what he saw Big Bro doing, so he cleaned up his work and joined in with Big Bro. The plastic play yard in the back of the photo blocking the lanai is my new attempt to keep our pup away from the boys as they are working in the morning.
Hot Lava Pool - This was a huge hit with both boys! When they landed on a "Hot Lava Pool" space, they had to read and do the commands on the cards. Big Bro read the command cards to Little Bro.
Was able to stretch the use of the three part cards for volcanoes by making an additional copy and using them for some of the "Hot Lava Pool" command cards.

I Can Read About Earthquakes and Volcanoes reader at Big Bro's instructional level...could not find one that was completely at his independent reading level, but this was a pretty good fit.
This is the Volcanoes game board. Goes over initial consonant blends, but is somewhat open ended with the Hot Lava Pool. The three part cards for volcanoes were used in conjunction with this game. Boys were able to refer to the three part cards as they answered volcano questions on the "Hot Lava Pool" command cards.


Each week, in Big Bro's homeschool co-op class, they have been exploring different science themes.
This has been a huge motivator for him, as he loves his class and wants to learn even more about the themes when he is in our homeschool.

So, in my attempt to follow his lead, I took the entire syllabus and have prepped two boxes filled with various work that relates to the themes he is covering. One is a hanging file folder box that houses the various books for the themes. The second box is actually a cake box, so that cards / file folder games / various supplies can be in a stack instead of buried at the bottom of the hanging file folder bin.

The boxes include various nomenclature cards, nonfiction selections on the particular themes, children's picture book extensions to go with the three part cards, file folder games, and art project ideas.

He then has the option of choosing anything from within this box, along with anything else from our shelves.

Well, the first thing that really piqued his interest in the box was a volcano game.

Every night, both boys select their first work for the next morning.

For volcanoes, I included three part cards for parts of the volcano, a facts book about volcanoes and earthquakes, and a file folder game.

Big Bro picked out all of the volcano materials first...
He liked the three part cards and the book, but he LOVED the volcano game.
The game's objective is to go over initial consonant blends, but then, there is a "Hot Lava Pool" that makes it the work a little open ended.
For "Hot Lava Pool" questions, I had various questions about volcanoes for him to answer, such as "Name the layers of the Earth" along with some kind of quirky command cards for him to read and do, such as "Dance like an erupting volcano for one minute."
He loved the whole concept of this! He was so focused at doing his work and was having such a great time that Little Bro asked Ryan if he would please let him join his work.
So, Little Bro wrapped up his water transfer work and started in with Big Bro.
When it was time to read the initial consonant blend word, Big Bro would read the word to Little Bro and then, Little Bro would either define the word, or act out the word.
When they got to the "Hot Lava Pool" questions, Big Bro read the command cards to Little Bro and helped him find the answers. He shared the three part cards with Little Bro.
They had a great time learning together.

When Big Bro put this work away, they went back to doing their own work.
He decided it was time to investigate spiders and their relatives.
Big Bro went back and selected another work from his box.
He took out arachnids cards and did his work with his three part cards.
Then, he started in on making a book.
He used a template and made a construction paper spider. Then, he drew a web and attached it to the cover. In the inside of the book, he decided that he wanted to do a life the flap sort of look...so I scanned a copy of our three part arachnids cards and voila! They worked out great for his lift the flap concept! He chose to put the photo of the arachnid under the flap and then, he placed the name of the arachnid at the bottom, by the edge of the flap.

Then, he set to work on making a small shaped book all about spiders.
For the control of error, I had a sample book that showed the spiders colored correctly.
Big Bro then was able to read the pages but he was able to refer to the sample book if he was at all uncertain about the spider's markings or coloration.
He then made a spider web out of pipe cleaners and attached his book to a foam felt spider body.

It was so neat to watch him work.
Little Bro was focused on his work, but did take a few peaks from time to time to see how Big Bro's book was coming along...
The best part was when Big Bro finished up his Spiders work, after first sharing his work with me, he then asked Little Bro to sit with him so that he could share his work with him!
He read the entire book to him, showed him how to do the arachnids three part cards work, and then, had him draw his favorite spider.

When Dear Hubby came home, both boys shared their enthusiasm for volcanoes and spiders.

Awesome!

Homeschool Co - op Class is Awesome!

Big Bro's Volcano...will post how to make one of these soon...very cool...it actually erupts!


The Moon's surface - To make:
Mix plaster of paris, light brown paint, gray paint, and sand. The use marbles and have your child push these objects quickly into the mixture and then, have them quickly remove the items. Your child may also use his or her fingers to make the imprints.

First, discuss the moon during circle or group time...
Prepare a chart with the Moon poem on it.
Read it to them and then, go back and have them help read it to you.
Moon poem and art work - Prepare a circle template. You could use the one from your metal insets, or you can make one from cardboard...
Have your child trace the circle onto paper.
Then, have them cut out their circle...or they could use push pins...
Then, have them glue on their moon.
Then, let them select metallic stars. The class had the opportunity to choose multi-colored stars, Little Bro just prefers red...then, have them glue on the stars. Finally, go back and review the poem with your child and then, have glue the poem onto their work.
____________________________________________________________________

Big Bro and Little Bro both participate in a fabulous homeschool co-op on Mondays.
The co-op is not exclusively Montessori inspired, but there are many within the group who subscribe to the Montessori philosophy and use Montessori materials in their homeschools.

Each semester, our co-op offers some really amazing course offerings, such as:
Lego Education - From Simple Machines through Mindstorms Robotics
Chess
Literature Circles
Fine Arts - Architecture
Nursery Rhymes
Yoga
Computer Software Development
Scientists and Inventors
All About Animals

This semester, Little Bro is taking a class that combines art and phonemic awareness.
The format is great for children ages 3 to 5...they start the class with circle time, then they go to their tables and do some neat art and reading activities tied in with that week's theme.

The class is very hands on. For crafts so far this semester, they have made glow-in-the-dark moons, a multi-media collage about sun and sand, and a handprint elephant craft.

For pre-reading skills, they have made little books, similar to what you would have a in Montessori classroom.

They have learned some cute poems and have read some neat books, both nonfiction and fiction selections.

Little Bro loves his class!

Big Bro also loves his class, which is affectionately referred to as "Magic School Bus Class".
Each week, the class has a different science theme. Like Little Bro's, his is also multi-aged: 6-9.

Themes include:
hibernation / adaptation / migration, volcanoes, space, spiders, insects, sink/float experiments, animals in a tide pool, desert animals, kitchen chemistry, bats / echolocation / nocturnal animals.
Each class, the children do a few hands on experiments.
Big Bro's favorite so far include making: a volcano that erupts, rockets, and the surface of the moon.
He has also been so taken by the different topics discussed in class that his interests are kind of driving some of our homeschooling...
He wants to read books on the theme, do additional experiments, and do more research into the various themes.

Both boys are amazingly motivated to learn...the trick has been to tap into their interests without losing our focus...

If anyone ever has a concern about homeschooling, I wish that they could come and observe our great co-op in action! Or maybe come spend the day in our homeschool:)

For nay-sayers who worry about keeping a homeschool child "motivated" or "socialized", this group meets both needs beautifully.

If you want to see an exemplary example of a peaceful atmosphere, you should see how wonderful it is at the co-op.

The environment is great for parents, too.
On several occasions this year, our co-op has met on what would normally be a school holiday, such as Presidents' Day. This way, many fathers were able to come in and help.
Dads got a chance to spend the entire day with their children, observing and helping out where there was a need.
For the most part, the week in, week out parents at THINK are moms.
Getting together every Monday allows us to foster a real sense of community.
The group is very close and really supportive. A true Godsend, really...I feel very, very blessed that we have become part of such an awesome co-op.

In addition to the weekly classes on Mondays, the co-op also does field trips, group evening events, volunteer work, and community service projects.

What it has done is it has forced me to re-think things and to go with the idea that less is more...so, I am working at preparing our environment to better match the themes that they are working through in their respective classes.

I will post more on this whole "less is more" soon...

Okay, MIT...You Won the Darpa Challenge...How 'bout Something Harder???

Okay, MIT, you impressed the heck out of everyone at the Pentagon with your speedy find of the ten DARPA balloons.

That is quite cool, and really, it is impressive that you won...but how about something more challenging...

How quickly can you locate the following:
1. Big Bro's pair of Sketchers Illuminators sneakers?
2. My Dear Hubby's Northern Illinois hockey jersey?
3. Little Bro's complete Noah's Ark Playmobil set?
4. Our framed wedding announcement?
5. The authentic recipe for pretzel rolls from the former Frontier Bakery and / or the authentic recipe for Aggie's salad, including the salad dressing, from the former Aggie's Pizza?
6. The ultrasounds from all three of my pregnancies?
7. The intro email Dear Hubby sent to me and the intro. email I sent to him?
8. The email announcement from when we got engaged?
9. Any of my former students?
10. A pair of wooden shoes for my Holland doll?

I bet that my list is more challenging than the Pentagon's, although it does not come with a big $40,000 reward.

I would be willing to give you a grand sum total of exactly 40 cents (your choice of four dimes or 40 pennies...)

As a bonus, I would LOVE to find a copy of a book I had as a child. It was about a kitten named Peppermint. I would bump up the reward money to fifty cents (payable in the form of five dimes or two quarters, your choice...)

Happy hunting!!! I have been looking for these for what feels like forever and cannot find them so if you have some secret method to get things found quickly, that would be awesome! Also, while you are at it, could you please go ahead and invent a remote iPhone finder and a keys finder so that I can find these two essentials in a flash?


The Pentagon gave you nine days and you completed the task in hours...how long will it take you for my list???

If anyone knows anyone from MIT's DARPA team or from any other DARPA Teams who would like to try to complete my challenge, that would be awesome!!!

Reggio Emilia and Montessori - Compatible...I Say Yes

Recently, someone posted to an online Montessori group about how successful the idea of a combination approach to learning using the Montessori philosophy and materials and the Reggio Emilia approach of having a studio could be...I say very successful!

Actually, if I had to describe what we have going on in our homeschool, it would probably fit this description.

We love using blocks as an educational tool.

If you have not yet checked out the Learning Materials Workshop website, I encourage you to do so:
http://learningmaterialswork.com/

The materials this company makes are well made, mostly wooden toys.

They are Reggio Emilia inspired, but they also work great in a Montessori environment.

We also love something else from the Reggio Emilia approach...integrating fine arts into our homeschool program, especially art.

We enjoy using Montessori materials and embrace the Montessori idea that learning should be child centered.
We have a pretty solid structure with the underpinnings of mostly Montessori work on our shelves, but we also embrace following a child's interest and running with a spur of the moment project.

What are your thoughts on this?

Any of you using a combination of approaches in your homeschool or school?

What does your combo. consist of?

More Montessori by the Sea Photos

Little Bro doing some work.
Big Bro and the binomial cube.
He normally does this at a table at our home. Big Bro seemed to like doing it on the floor with a mat, but later said that he prefers doing this work at a table. He was a bit distracted as he was doing the work, as he wanted to take in the whole room and kept comparing and contrasting the work on their shelves with the work on ours. It was neat to see both boys taking it all in that we had traveled so far and yet, so many materials were the same as what is back at home.
More pretty scenery from the school property. Talk about hands on learning! Wow!!!
Gorgeous location!
Big Bro can't get enough of Miss K's class pet!!!

It's Been a While...Part Two conference

There are so many things I would like to mention about the International Montessori Conference that I could go on and on, but just a few more...

Water and Air Workshops:

Harvey Hallenberg, Director of the Claremont Montessori School in Boca Raton, Florida, was the presenter for two great workshops.
I was scheduled to go to both of them but had to miss the second half of the first and the entire second one...Big bummer, as what I had seen and heard in his first was very interesting.
Unfortunately, diabetes, skipping a meal, and hot tubs do not mix that well and I ended up getting quite sick...had tried to squeeze in some family time at what was supposed to be lunchtime...since it was breezy, we had decided to try out the hot tub.

Okay, back to Harvey's cool workshops...
If you want to know how to really guide children in the area of science, you should really come and see one of Harvey Hallenberg's workshops and get his book, Wonders of Water & Air.

What he did in the time I was there was very innovative and fun for adults...can only imagine how much the children would love doing these activities in a classroom.

Two things that really stick out are the Dance of the Elementary Particles and the Dance of the Molecules.

His workshops are intended for those working with elementary, but since my older son is now 6, I wanted to go to see what we might be doing next year with respect to science.

Getting children to act out what would normally be very abstract scientific concepts is great, because not only does it make it more concrete and memorable for children, it also makes it fun!

Everyone in the room had a great time and, it really brought the concepts to life.

Venue: Very Family Friendly
The Hyatt was very nice and welcoming.
Dear Hubby, Big Bro, and Little Bro enjoyed the pool and the playground.
Across the street from the Hyatt is a neat science museum called G Wiz. The boys went on two of the days and loved it. They liked it so much that we have bought a museum pass and will go back there throughout the year.
Dear Hubby, Big Bro, and Little Bro also checked out the area beaches.
According to them, it was a blast.
There were also plenty of places within a short drive to get a casual bite to eat.

Exhibitors:
Overall, the exhibitors were very welcoming of my husband the the boys.

Big Bro and Little Bro actually ended up selecting some additional items for our homeschool.
Some of the materials they selected could have easily been items that if I had been by myself, I would have passed on...so glad that they were there, as the shelf work they selected are being chosen again and again and again...

Kaybee:
We purchased some very nice control maps and trays. The trays are nice quality, as are the control maps. The workers were helpful and nice.


Laughing Star:
One of their favorites is from Laughing Star Montessori. It consists of shelf work related to Caribbean Sea Life. The people here were very helpful and incredibly receptive to homeschooling families.

Waseca:
Their other favorite is the Continents Collection of Biomes Readers from Waseca.
Our whole family would love to purchase the entire collection of materials from Waseca. Their mats are just gorgeous! Their wooden stamp sets, trays, grammar stencils, wooden animals sets, and readers are all so nice.
Dear Hubby, Big Bro, Little Bro and I all marveled at their display.
Sharon and Martha are also great to deal with if you do order.
Sharon also goes out and does workshops, although she was not one of the presenters at the conference.
My goal is to get to one of her workshops.
If you love using Montessori inspired materials in your homeschool or classroom, you should really check out her materials and try to see her in action as a presenter.
What makes their materials so nice is that they work great for 3-6 but also would work very well for 6-9...so even though the materials are expensive, you get to use them for a longer time, making them more cost effective than some others.

Hello Wood:
The craftsmanship is excellent. My sons loved many of their items they had for sale.

It's Been a While...Conference Update

First, the International Montessori Conference was just great!

Loved hearing all of the speakers, attending the various sessions, and getting to meet and exchange ideas with so many people.

Tim Seldin's Keynote about being authentic Montessori was inspiring, as well as thought provoking.
His speech actually made me do some introspection about the notion of authenticity as a whole, instead of specific to Montessori.
Tim Seldin made me reflect on my years of classroom teaching, my family structure growing up as a child, and my immediate family (with Dear Hubby, Big Bro, and Little Bro).
I still feel the need to please but am working on trying to move forward to becoming more of an actualized person. Am still trying to learn how to balance wanting to have everyone like you and wanting to do what you believe is the right thing for you to do.

As far as the workshop sessions, if you ever have the chance to see or hear Dr. Daniel Jutras, I highly recommend it.

Dr. Daniel Jutras, or Daniel as he told us to call him, was so interesting.
If I would have been a student of his as a child, I may have actually grown up loving math.
He made the Constructive Triangles boxes come alive!
Waking up a passion to geometry is a tall order, seeing that it was one of my least favorite subjects in school.
Math actually was fun for the first time in my life!

Here is a bit about him from his website, the Canadian Montessori Institute:

"Dr. Daniel Jutras is the (Canadian) Institute's Director who for the last 20 years has prepared over 1000 Montessori teachers and tutored Montessori Courses and Workshops in Toronto, Québec, London England, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Poland and Singapore. Daniel Jutras holds a Ph.D. in Education from Ottawa U., an AMI diploma (3-6+) from Perugia, Italy (his Instructor and mentor was the late Antonietta Paolini who worked with Dr. Maria Montessori for 15 years), and a St.Nicholas Montessori Advanced diploma (6-12) from England."

What can I say but wow!

Such an nice demeanor, such a genuine love for children / learning / all things Montessori, very personable, so funny, he just makes you love learning!

It was like taking a workshop from Santa Claus!

Instead of unpacking toys, he unpacked his knowledge of the truest essence of Dr. Maria Montessori and her teachings: having a sincere respect, love, and appreciation for children.

I found him to be so much more relaxed than some others in the Montessori arena.

This was so refreshing, as sometimes, I do feel that some people get so caught up on having the perfect materials, doing the perfect presentations, etc. rather than truly following the child.

Perfection does not translate into following the child or fostering a love of learning in children.

So, here's to embracing a child's love of learning!

Here's to being authentic!

Here's to waking up joy for learning all of life's lessons.

The 13th Annual Montessori International Conference in Sarasota

Well, what can I say but that I am very excited?!?

Going to the International Montessori Conference this week in Sarasota and just can't wait!

Here is the information about the conference:
http://www.montessori.org/sitefiles/conference_brochure_11-09/index.html

Looking forward to listening to Keynote Speaker, Tim Seldin and others, and attending some awesome workshop sessions! Looking forward to meeting other Montessorians from around the world...

Plus, some great exhibitors are coming, too!

If anyone who reads this blog entry is coming to the conference, please let me know.

Would love to meet you in person.

Will have to post lots of photos next week...

Yippie!!!

Early Christmas present!!!

Our "Friday" Field Trip, on Wednesday!

Usually, we do field trips with some of our co-op friends every Friday...but this Friday, we have company coming in town, so we took our Friday field trip on Wednesday. It ended up being a fabulous field trip, as there were very few people at the zoo. The volunteers had prepared a really nice show for a whole group of people but there were just two or three families, so we all got a chance to be very up close and personal with the animals. Both Big Bro and Little Bro got to hold a Red Rat Snake, which is also known as a Corn Snake. Big Bro and Little Bro also got to touch a Gopher Tortoise, as well as a variety of other things such as turtle shells and snake skins.

Wednesday Work and Play

Well, today started off as a pretty typical morning for Big Bro and Little Bro.
Both started right in with their work they had selected the night before...

Big Bro went to work on the weight recognition blocks.

Have noticed that Big Bro seems to prefer to usually do sensorial or practical life first and then, he progresses into more "academic" works.

He generally puts off doing writing until near the end of his work. This is the work he finds most challenging at the moment. He always seems to choose to do something that involves writing, but hold off until the end of our school time to do it.

Little Bro started out as he likes to do...he got up earlier than Big Bro, checked out Big Bro's weight recognition work, put it all back exactly as it had been placed on the table, and then, started on his selection for his first morning work, a math number matching activity.

I then decided that maybe Little Bro would enjoy a presentation of the weight recognition blocks, as I had not given him one yet...so we did that together, he did the work "for real" this time, and then, he started in with a combo. color recognition / fine motor work.

The boys seem to always work in reverse order, as Big Bro gets up later, takes it slow and steady, and goes from work he is most comfortable with to the work he finds most challenging.

Little Bro consistently wants to do whatever Big Bro has chosen first and then, he prefers doing the most challenging work first, and then, wraps up his time with a work that comes very easily and he feels very comfortable doing, such as art.

Our day had a nice, unexpected bit of fun, as while we were out and about, we ended up being in the same place as a bunch of homeschooling families...just a coincidence that we all happened to be there at the same time...so we have met some new friends and look forward to getting together again soon.

Getting Geared Up for Our ePals Projects This Year!

Well, it is that time of year again to start working with a new group of pen pals through this great online group called ePals. I have been doing ePAls projects for years now, both with my own two and with my students as teacher and gifted specialist.
ePAls is a free, teacher / homeschool parent moderated online pen pal service. It is so cool because you can do a search for classrooms and put in the specifics...the country of origin, the age, the type of school, etc.
They have set up projects that you can join or else you can create your own...over the years, I have worked with classrooms from so many different places: Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Italy, France, Germany, and the U.K.
We exchanged Christmas stories and sent gingerbread houses to school in Italy. We exchanged care packages and a Power point presentation with a school from Japan...and then, the coolest thing...our Japanese ePAls classroom teacher was over for a fellowship so we actually got to meet and do an in-person exchange! Our Japanese friends wanted to try macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, and then, they wanted to know more about Santa and his reindeer! So we exhcnged all kinds of Christmas picture books with them!
They gave us a neat banner about classroom rules, a Japenese lantern, and some post cards and books.
This year, we are going to work with some new classes, as we are a much younger group and needed to be paired up with preschool through grade 1 pen pals.
We are doing exchanges with two schools (one public and one private) in California, one homeschool in Kentucky, a private Montessori school in Italy, a public school in New Zealand, and two private schools in the U.K. We are hoping to rope in some of you to join us in doing the International Peace Project. We will be doing exchanges in September and March for this.
We also love doing Holidays Around the World and Book Club.
If interested, please check out www. epals.com

Big Bro's Happy Day!

Big Bro had his second co-op class and today, he said it was awesome!
Last week , it was terrific, so guess he is enjoying his learning!
His teacher brought in examples of living vs. nonliving and vertebrates vs. invertebrates, which made me happy, as it reinforced some of the work we have been doing at home on our shelves.
Today, Big Bro loved seeing the mama and baby garter snakes, the snake skin, the rocks, the bark, and the crab shell.

In our homeschool before we had co-op, Big Bro and Little Bro worked together on a new classification work about living things. They had to match the specimens to the cards.
They both loved this work!
Was going to try to make something similar to this myself, but theirs had so many nice specimens that I decided it was worth the money. The boys and I still plan to make some additional cards from what we collect when we do our nature scavenger hunts and nature walks.

Big Bro and his tower with interlocking blocks.
Big Bro and binomial cube work.
Big Bro and color mixing work.
More color mixing...after making the colors, he then painted with them.