The Hundred Board (buy here) is a traditional Montessori material, consisting of a blank board and wooden numbers from 1- 100. There is also a control chart with all the numbers filled in. The objective is memorization, and an understanding of numbers and their sequence. Also, this material trains the... Read more →
Montessori Teen Board is a great way to introduce the concept of teens to a child. Not only children see how tens and ones are being build to make teens, but they are also physically building teens themselves! We are using a traditional Montessori Teen Board (bead-bars and beads sold... Read more →
With Adrian turning three years old, in addition to other geography lessons, I am also adding a theory curriculum, to introduce new terminology and other concepts. I have to be mindfull though not to be too wordy as Adrian will not sustain his attention if he is bombarded with many... Read more →
With Adrian turning three, my focus now is more on "core" lessons such as language, reading and math (as oppose to practical life and sensorial exercises he did prior to that). I know some children already read at this age; Adrian does not yet, so our main focus in preparation... Read more →
The concept of a numeral can be very abstract for a child. So to make this concrete, we are using Fall-inspired wooden 🎃 pumpkin counters to represent the quantity while building "teens" hands-on. Seeing that number one is small and ten is big allows the child to visually and concretely... Read more →
With all the vibrant Fall colors around us, Adrian expressed a wish to paint an Autumn tree. To prepare, we read books about Trees, talked about their composition, and looked at different types of trees. Adrian is using artist-grade Watercolor Paints, Washable Watercolors, and these paintbrushes. We read Woods and... Read more →
How to make learning fun? How to make an activity inviting, interesting, captivating, such that the child would want to do math or tedious writing or tracing? Well, you have to determine what does your child like. Adrian is obsessed with cars and transportation, so, for example, adding a transportation... Read more →
Adrian picked a pumpkin during our last visit to the farm, and he could not wait to see what is inside. We are using Montessori 3-Part cards where the child would match picture to picture and then label to label. It all starts with the seed ... or does it?... Read more →
I always try to find new ways to explore the same material: learning alphabet letters for example. So, today we are using Magnetic Pattern Geometric Shape Blocks (buy here) which come with a wooden magnetic play board and 120 magnets in a variety of geometric shapes and colors. I found... Read more →
I remember language lessons at a school that I attended (non-Montessori): they were tedious, non-exciting, monotone: writing in a notebook for an hour, the same letter - ten plus lines of it. However, with a Montessori approach, there is so much I can do to see a "spark" in my... Read more →
Adrian has been using all different types of tongs (buy here) since about two years of age, and at a three-year mark, he has mastered them all except for chop-sticks. So, to keep the interest alive, I change the setup frequently and offer a "new" and aesthetically enticing presentation. For... Read more →
Dr. Maria Montessori described the First Plane of Development (lasting from birth to six years) as a period of the Absorbent Mind, characterized by "young child's behavior of quickly and effortlessly assimilating the sensorial stimuli of his or her environment, including information from the senses, language, culture, and the development... Read more →
Adrian loves this 5 Layer "Pumpkin" Puzzle. It is developed in Germany, each puzzle layer is number-coded (1-4), and it offers four puzzles in one! It also goes very well with our Montessori Fall-Themed Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers! Adrian first sorts all the pieces into four "piles" by numbers... Read more →
Adrian has been enjoying cutting with scissors since about 25 months: it started with fringe-cutting, followed by simple strip cutting. At this point, Adrian is very comfortable cutting on the lines. So, today, we have many Fall inspired strips to cut. Practice makes the hand stronger and more precise. Once,... Read more →
Celebrating Adrian's 3rd Birthday the "Montessori style". What do children expect from a birthday? A party with gifts, balloons, a cake, and lots of people - some of whom they might be meeting for the first time, like distant relatives or parent's friends. The birthday child might also have many... Read more →