History, by far, is my own favorite subject. It is truly rare to be able to find information on that subject adapted to younger kids, so these gorgeous presentations wonderfully fill the gap. I truly love how in these presentations A.P.P. is bringing a historical perspective to the subjects that are dear to every kids heart - such as sports, reading, and writing. Thanks to A.P.P. for sharing!

• Encyclopedic Knowledge - History: Ancient Greek Sports. Thanks to A.P.P.!(1/16/2010)
• Encyclopedic Knowledge - History: The First Nomads Become Farmers. Thanks to A.P.P.!(1/16/2010)
• Encyclopedic Knowledge - History: History writing and archaeology. Thanks to A.P.P.!(1/16/2010)

Wonderful, most wonderful new books by A.P.P. I really loved that this set of presentations helps the young readers with vocabulary and that it has more depth to the Charlotte Web lovers - more information about the pigs, about virtues and vices, and about swans and trumpets. Thanks to A.P.P. for sharing these gems (and many more that are coming over the next couple of days)!!!

• Teach your Baby to Read: Books: Virtues and Vices. Thanks to A.P.P.!(1/16/2010)
• Teach your Baby to Read: Books: Words from Trumpet of the Swan. Thanks to A.P.P.!(1/16/2010)

I’m going against the Doman grain here, but my own method did involve constantly “testing” the young reader, in a way. We began at age 22 months, and he was able to pronounce all of the (simple) words on the cards. So I was not just showing the cards. But it wasn’t as brutal as it may sound. We took it in stages and I was gentle every step of the way. Also, background: I went whole card set by whole card set, rather than adding new individual cards and retiring old.

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.

• Bead products instructions and images
• Buy the beads to make your own materials
• Buy the beads to make your own materials

Astronomy is our subject of the week and I am gathering resources to make sure I don’t forget anything…

Other Categories and how we use these materials.
Categories - Materials and ToDo lists (MS document)

• Materials Useful for learning Astronomy
• Unit 1 - SolarSystem

Materials Useful for Learning Atronomy

Books:

• The Magic Schoolbus:
  • The Magic School Bus Sees Stars: A Book About Stars by Nancy White and Art Ruiz
  • The Magic School Bus Lost In The Solar System by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen

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.

The idea for this project came from The Planets in Our Solar System (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out, Science, Stage 2) by Franklyn M. Branley.

No matter how strange this seems to adults, practical life exercises are not only fun for kids, but also great for small motor development AND their brain development. Maria Montessori already wrote dozens of books on this topic, so I’ll just get right down to this one: combining Astronomy and Practical Life tongs activity!

Lots of new materials need lots of new shelves. So, during my trip to Ikea to get more furniture, I picked up some heart shaped ice cube trays. Aren’t they cute? I thought so too. Especially, considering, that ice was the last thing that I was planing to keep in them! Ice cube trays without ice?! Yep, these hearts are just begging to be filled with some beloved possessions!

Single Words, phrases and sentences, to help your baby to learn to read! Enjoy!

• Teach Your Child to read… in English: Introductory Sentences 2 . With illustrations & sounds. (12/21/2009)
• Teach Your Child to read… in English: Couplets 13 . With illustrations & sounds. (12/21/2009)
• Teach Your Child to read… in English: Introductory Single Words - Animals 3 - Coral Reef Sea Animals . With illustrations & sounds. (11/22/2009)

Anatomy is one of my older one’s, Sunshine’s, most favorite subjects. Don’t ask me why - the answer is as mysterious to me. We were studding the skeleton this week, upon completion of our skeleton model he peted the ugly set of bones and fondly declared: “He is so cute! Let’s name him Sunshine, just like me.” I felt a little stupid, but I couldn’t agree with either of those statement. Definitions of cute cast aside, I prefer not to use my family members names for something like this… “All right, Mom, can we name him Smiles, like the baby?” What did I say about the family members’ names?