Montessori Monday- Rice Pouring

Rice Pouring

What you need:
Tray
Funnel
2 glass cups (same size)
Rice, beans or dry pasta noodles

Skills/Goals:
Hand eye coordination
Learning the life skill of carefully pouring between containers.

What to do:
Ask your little one to bring the tray to the table.
Ask the child to watch you while you demonstrate how to properly use the funnel.
Place the funnel into empty cup and pour the rice into the funnel. Deliberately miss the cup and spill some rice on the tray.  Then tilt the tray and transfer the contents into the glass. This will show your little one how to go about cleaning up the rice in the tray.
Now pour rice into the other cup.
That's it! Now ask your little one to try it!

Emily loved playing with this activity.  Towards the end of her play, she began to pour it out all over the table. I showed her how to hold the tray on the edge of the table and slowly push the rice with her hand back into the tray and she continued to clean up after herself for awhile. Give it a try!!

Montessori Monday- Jars & Lids

I have been incorporating Montessori type activities into Emily's daily life since her first year.  I have been asked many questions regarding what it looks like in our home so I decided to blog about it.  Although we practice life skills everyday, I will showcase some of them every Monday.  The tools I use aren't anything special. In fact, most of them you probably have laying around your house.

Right now Emily and I are focusing on Practical Life Skills.  To read about the philosophy behind the Practical Life Skills activities, click here for a brief explanation.

All the activities connected with looking after yourself and your surroundings, such as getting dressed, preparing food, laying the table, wiping the floor, clearing dishes, doing the dusting, etc., are activities belonging to what Dr. Montessori called ‘Practical Life,’ and are precisely the tasks that adults like least. But between the ages of one and four years, children love these jobs and are delighted to be called on to participate in them.
—Dr. Silvana Montanaro, MD, and Montessori Teacher Trainer

Jars and Lids

 What you need:
 Different size lids and jars

Skills:

Eye hand coordination, concentration, control, ability to screw
lids on jars, one-to-one correspondence, etc.


Age:
 1.5yrs and up


Presentation: 
1. Ask your little one to bring the tray with jars and lids.
2. Start emptying the jars and lids onto the work space.
3. Pick up a jar and hover over the lids until finding a match (your little one should be watching you closely).
4. Turn and tighten the jar and continue will all other jars.
5. Invite your little one to play!

Emily was really excited when she saw all the jars and lids.  Immediately after I finished doing the activity , she jumped right in.  I only collected a few empty containers because I thought it would be overwhelming at her age..but I think she is ready for more.
I really like this activity because it will teach her the everyday skills she needs. Try it! It's sure to keep you little one entertained for awhile.

Montessori Monday-Water Station

Inspired by the Montessori method and this post, I decided to set up a water station for Emily in our kitchen.  I set it up when she was about 15 months old and she took to it very quickly.

Her water station is fully loaded with 2 or 3 small drinking glasses and a set of dish towels to wipe up any spilled water.
She really LOVES her water station and the freedom she has to quench her own thirst.
I love that it is hidden behind our pantry doors and doesn't take up any extra space in our already small kitchen.  I don't think I could squeeze in one more piece of furniture if I tried.

I think the self-serve water station is great at cultivating independence, motor skills, focus and concentration in a toddler.  Give it a try..I think your little one will surprise you!

No crib for Emmy

As most of you already know, I've pretty much adopted the Montessori philosophy.
As I was getting ready to transition Emily to her crib, I started to research if there were any other alternatives to the modern day crib. I was intrigued when I stumbled onto the "floor bed" idea.
I knew it would probably raise lots of eyebrows, as it's pretty far from the "standard" way of doing things...but deep down I knew it would work for our little family. And besides, who am I to worry about how people see me and my parenting ways ;)

The idea is that a low mattress on the floor provides the child with a better view of his room and surroundings and more freedom to move about, which in turn makes for a calmer and happier child.  Often a rug or pillows will be placed around the edges of the mattress, so if the baby rolls off she won't be harmed.  It is of course important that the entire room be completely safe for the child to crawl around in, essentially turning it into a giant "playpen" for baby.

So you've guessed it...Emmy sleeps nice and comfy on her floor bed. We've baby proofed the entire room.  I am still in the very early stages of decorating it the way I want, but for now it works for us.
I really think she LOVES the freedom of exploring her room and everything being at her level. 

Before bedtime every night (most nights), we play in her room. She crawls around and pulls out books from her shelf, toys from a basket and wooden puzzles from another shelf. When she gets tired, she happily crawls to her bed and climbs up and starts to say "nii-nii" (night,night). It is the cutest think to watch!!
My favorite thing about her room:
I love that when I go in to feed her in the middle of the night, I can just lay right next to her and nurse her back to sleep. :)

It's a working experiment. I  thought for sure I would change my mind when she started crawling and pulling up on everything but so far, so good. And if at some point it becomes clear that it's not working anymore, then we'll figure out something new.  But for now, I'm liking it! :)

Here are some awesome photos of the type of room I am going for!!

Aren't those awesome!!!

I will post pictures of Emily's room once it's done.  I am currently working on an awesome play area and a cozy reading corner made out of play silks like this one: