MaMaws' Montessori

  Today's playtime was, in part, I inspired by some neat-o toys acquired at our local fast food store (see tags) and let us tell you, they are a hit with our LO! You'll notice, in the picture,  an arrangement of toys to structure the concept of exploration. A 1,000 cube, a couple of kid's meal toys, a gift from the holidays, and an old toy of mine were gathered to provide an opportunity to have some fun and learn at the same time? After playing with the rubrics puzzle for a while, he discovered that turning the xylophone upside down made a different set of sounds, than when it was turned the way I played it down. The picture is blurry due to the fact that he was using the mallet to push and pull the toys in the arrangement he felt was most optimal for play.  ☺ Pose for the camera! Possibly the cutest picture from today's play: "Rabbi with Son."

 Getting presents is always good fun, especially when you can make 'em educational!!! As you observe: What do you see... Shapes? Colors? Letters? If you participate at home: What do you feel... What sticks? What floats? Where is slippery? Here is an idea that literally popped in my head while in the tub. Foam alphabet letters from Amazon and Crayola toddler crayons can help parents and caregivers get that quick 10 minute lesson in before the fun begins. What you don't see is us tracing the letters in shaving cream. You don't hear the giggles as he explored how the shaving cream smears, sticks, and ultimately dissolves. You dont feel the elation as we discover that we can, then use them as stamps.  Finally, you  also don't see all the drawings on the tub walls, a perfecto opportunity to have a splish splash clean up party. (Hint, the foams letters work great as a mock sponge!) Yes, it takes time. Yes, it takes moneies. And, yes, it also takes a lot of effort. Butt,  i...

 We recently shared with yall some fun times we had with our Pour and Explore activities.      Recently, K has been having so much fun we have switched up our schedule from just a few days a week to everyday!  This means much more research, prep, shopping, and clean up but IT iS WORTH IT! Here is a "generic" or "whole group" version of today's sensory bin experience:    First, we took a survey of what was around us.  Shopping is on the to-do list, so today we are working with whatever we have and can locate around the houses.  If you do what we do, you'll notice when your LO stays focused on a particular thing or activity; this can be used as evidence we use to help us communicate with them.  (If you LO is currently pre or non verbal that is.?) Today we had, at our disposal, whatever was in Mom's pantry as well as his snacks for the morning.  Take a look below to see what we found today.  A few things were grabbed and outsi...

  TO SEE RESULTS, CLICK HERE:   Pour and Explore: Day 2 What is it?         Pour and Explore  is how Montessori Maws' do sensory play.  What is sensory play? Lets do some research! *googles the question* "  Sensory exploration is a  child's way of examining, discovering, categorizing, and making sense of the world, and it's beneficial to provide them with opportunities for  sensory  play."   (Mar 5, 2020   www.verywellfamily.com  › why-sensory-play-is-importa... )        Ok, yes technically everything that you do can be considered sensory exploration, but we as Maws need some time for us to treat ourselves!  So, create a goal that is reasonable to your family (at least once a week) so the time spent can be 100% focused  on the activity.          In our home, with our LO, we try to theme these and spend at least 3 days before we 'exit' the activity.  Yes,...

TO SEE DAY ONE, CLICK HERE:  Pour and Explore: Day 1 The goal:  to create an edible play dough for Outdoor Sensory time.  Last week's rice based 'Pour and Explore' was a hit and I hoped this would have similar results.  After comparing the ingredient list to my pantry, I halved the recipe to mix the following: 1 cup Flour (extra to roll) 1/2 cup Salt 1/2 cup Water (extra to sight) I decided to go from basic to extra and add in a bit of food coloring and flavoring; seeing as how we only has yellow available, the lemon flavoring/scent was the only real choice. How to: Check our our page for full instructions: https://mamawsmontessori.blogspot.com/p/diy-play-dough.html The Results: So, we successfully created the dough and placed it in the activity we still had going from the day before; (Pour and Explore: Puff Rice Edition) and it seemed to fit in quite well!  I have "heard' you can create shapes with the dough and through it in the oven @ 200 until hard, but...

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Hey ,  ...feeling overwhelmed yet?  Please, rest assured that we feel the same way!!  While in the process of gathering resources, primarily to support a small group class-structure, I have chosen to be selective in the resources to share at this time.  Rest assured updates are forthcoming. Here are a couple of resources that may be of some use to get started.? (Creating accounts will help by saving progress and in some cases necessary to assess the content, or if "Guest" option is available this is a choice as well.)     https://bookadventure.com ~  Described as similar to AR programs used in schools.     https://allinonehomeschool.com ~ Quite a comprehensive collection of contents. ReadWorks.org ~ Offers resources for differentiated reading instruction & easy 2 use. XtraMath.org ~ Web-based resource designed to help master basic math facts. Not what you were looking for? Contact us  Facebook or profnessfitwell@gmail.com K...

Whether you are conscious of the play pandemic, manically minding mindfulness, or just trying to do what’s best (like us?) Then you may share and the feeling of overwhelmed-ness at times.? If you’re ever curious about my punctuation theories on this blog just let me know? ;) However, name brands are always a great tool; however, sometimes you just have to go with your gut. Below you will see a couple of Learning resources (aka: toys) we purchased on the web recently. This all wooden tree is a great activity for little one to sink his budding teeth into, and we are eager to teach him how to pick up; . This was originally purchased with the intent to be a night light but it has turned out to be so much more than that; Do you go by name brand? How do you choose your toys, learning resources, or other ways to Montessori?

****************************** ****************** Ok yall, disclaimer alert!  I know this blog has been all over the place; however, from here on out I will be focusing A-LOT on parenting and brain/baby development.  If this is going to be weird for you, or make you feel uncomfortable, please feel free to find another blog.  If you decide to stay, thank you for your support! ❣ ****************************** ****************** If you have been around, you know how much time we (B and I) have been spending on research… Research about WHAT you ask?  Well, about… -            Parenting strategies,  -            Sleeping options, -            Bottle vs breast feeding, -            To sleep train or not, -      ...