Numberblocks is a British TV show aimed at 3-6 year olds. Through short stories and songs, the show provides its viewers with a fun and concrete way of thinking about numbers. For example, after watching the show, a 3yo friend shared with me excitedly, “Three has THREE blocks! Get it?” He was also able to… Continue reading Numberblocks Club
There are a lot of Montessori materials, many more then fit in a home! And yet, I have acquired MANY of them! But here is the short list of the reading and math materials/activities that I highly recommend for homeschooling ages 2-6! Beginning Reading and Writing Beginning Math Keep early math practice playful and when… Continue reading Must-Have Early Literacy and Numeracy Materials
My youngest has recently started playing the cello via the Suzuki Talent Education method. Developed in Japan, the Suzuki approach to music education is to create an environment within which children can learn music with the same natural ease that they learned language from birth. To this end the approach: In short, the method works… Continue reading What would Suzuki do?
How do you know if you are doing a good enough job as a parent? What if you are also homeschooling, are you doing a good enough job as a teacher too? The only person who can really answer these questions is you. Cultural expectations aren’t always a healthy match for individual families. And other… Continue reading My Self-Assessment
Thus far I’ve always demonstrated organizational strategies by static pictures of shelves, showing how a particular set of items is best organized. Similarly, in design shows the focus is on getting rid of some things, and organizing what’s left. The problem with all this is that the set of stuff we have is always changing.… Continue reading Organizing Life Cycles
Deciding to homeschool my rising kindergartener a few months ago, I’ve spent every week since then oscillating between vastly different plans for my initial homeschool setup. Should there be a set time that we do specific subjects? Should we have no curriculum plans at all, and just follow interests? Should we focus on learning skills… Continue reading Un-Montessori Montessori Homeschooling
When I have someone over to my house who knows a bit about Montessori, they often observe my elder child and comment something like, “Oh, he’s clearly a Montessori kid!” He doesn’t go to Montessori school, and we don’t have any of the classic Montessori materials out, so what brings guests to this conclusion? For… Continue reading Following the Child
In a Montessori classroom, there are rows of shelves filled with open trays of carefully grouped pieces. It is beautiful… but at home with little chaos tornados running around, it would be a disaster. At home, everything is going to get dumped on the floor and no one is going to spend more than a… Continue reading Easy Tidy Toy Organization
Including a toddler in cooking is much easier said than done. Toddlers love to be helpful and it’s incredibly beneficial for them too. Unfortunately, it can be really hard to find the extra time and energy required to let our toddlers help! Toddlers naturally slow tasks down and produce extra cleanup. But on the flip… Continue reading Rice Work
Some worry that because Montessori students choose their own work, they will be left with massive knowledge gaps in the areas in which they have little inherent interest. I’m of the opinion that regardless of the pedagogy one is taught under, knowledge acquisition is a choice and cannot be successfully forced upon unwilling students. Thus… Continue reading Crafting Math Beads
