Load the ship! - Small Motor coordination development
March 1, 2010 — Alenka | Posted in Educational Ideas, Montessori. No Comments »
Montessori Practical Life transferring activities seem redundant and boring to me… and absolutely irresistible to my kid. I think my older one, Sunshine, can spend hours just pouring water or spooning beans. Though it’s tongs and tweezers that are the dearest to his heart!
This activity came together spontaneously, but it immediately became his favorite out of all our similar activities.
What did we use? I happened to have these things in my house…
- Transferring tool: I had training chopsticks for kids
Beading is an important part of Montessori teaching. Large beads are offered to toddlers to improve their motor skills. Small beads are offered to preschoolers to get them ready for writing. Beads - are part of sensorial materials for Montessori. Around four, mathematic bead materials are introduced. 
Who said that size doesn’t matter? It does, when it comes to planet sizes. As we are learning the Solar System, I constantly chant: “Jupiter, the biggest planet in the Solar System… Mercury, the smallest planet in the solar system…” Yet, size numbers don’t mean much to a four year old. So, we did this project to try hands on learning on the planets sizes and their distance from the sun.
There has been sort of a break at ChildAndMe. We’ve been busy. No, not just with holidays (that are too much of a distraction as well). I am finally taking more organized approach to our learning - defining categories and trying to approach every subject more thoroughly.
I am reading quite a few Montessori books at the moment. I am looking through the videos. Nevertheless, I have tons of questions and it still is in a bit of a haze! So I decided to try Karen’s course for parents and teachers.
My little one is turning 10 months in a few days. These are his favorite Montessori activities:
So, here are the Montessori resources that I found useful! Enjoy and please share if you discovered something that I haven’t seen yet!
Having a second baby didn’t change anything for us: we are still as eager to spend tons of time educating and having fun with our kids. Actually, it is the same thing - learning - is fun…
My son absolutely loves using “adult” real equipment: instruments, kitchen utensils, office supplies, even my makeup brushes. Anything that I use myself. Many of those tools can actually do a great job developing his small motor skills, so I love finding a chance for him to use it. I even set up a shelf in my kitchen closet filled with his own “adult” tools: a little water pitcher, salad tongs, spoons, dough roller, bowls and cups of different sizes. He loves it!!! Montessori-style, I also added a tray and a little mat to place underneath his tools, to avoid slippery surface. 
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