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."

 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 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...

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...

****************************** ****************** 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, -      ...