Our next topic was Geography. For this topic I had to prepare lots of materials, so today I wanted to share the details about one of them: felt continent map. The wonderful idea for this map came from montessorimakers group in Yahoo – thanks to Lisa and Sarah for an inspiration!!!

Materials that I used:

1. Hard felt in different colors
2. Blue marker
3. Map file: there are plenty on the web, but I used this one – Large World Map. I actually created few smaller files that were easier to print on regular 8×11 paper:
   • Africa and Europe outlines

After we finished Botany, we jumped right into the Zoology. I was surprised by how much we managed to cover, diving as deep as the vertebrates/invertebrates! However, we’ll cover them in more detail in the next unit.

We are still using the same PPT presentation about all the things we’ve learned: Introduction to Biology, Botany and Zoology. Vertebrates/invertebrates deserve a separate presentation but in the meantime, let’s get going with the first social mingling in zoology…

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

• Materials Useful for learning Zoology
• Unit 1 – Introduction to Biology and Zoology

Read more…

Winter time is great: skying, snow days, holidays – all of that is fun. On the other hand – the amount of times we’ve all been sick this wither wasn’t fun at all! Luckily, unlike me, the kids get over their infections very quickly and I am the only one dragging behind from one cold to another…

So, while I am still working on other articles, I couldn’t resist sharing this wonderful resource that we found: little videos that help kids understand the rock cycle, types of rocks and how it all comes together. We’ve been studding Geology and I found this site very helpful for my son and.. for me! Apparently, my own knowledge in geology completely weathered away since my college years…

• Growing our roots into Botany
  Posted on Sunday, January 24th, 2010 in Encyclopedic Knowledge – Comments: (0)
  We started Botany last month and picked Zoology as our next topic. It really worked well for us to learn their introductory units one by one – so much in common! Though, it stretched a little – holidays, long weekends, flu… but we don’t mind – it is fun! We even have a new PPT presentation about all the things we’ve learned:  Introduction to Biology, Botany and ZoologyOther Categories and how we use these materials.

We started Botany last month and picked Zoology as our next topic. It really worked well for us to learn their introductory units one by one – so much in common! Though, it stretched a little – holidays, long weekends, flu… but we don’t mind – it is fun! We even have a new PPT presentation about all the things we’ve learned:  Introduction to Biology, Botany and Zoology

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

• Materials Useful for learning Botany
• Unit 1 – Introduction to Biology and Botany

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