My 100th post!!

I never realised until today but my last post was actually my 100th !! I can't believe it!   Little did I know last February when I started this blog how much fun I would have! Starting a blog was the best learning experience I have ever had to be honest! And it is constantly full of surprises. I love my little spot in cyberspace. This is where I have made so many new friends and have connected with many kindred spirits.  And of course I love sharing away thoughts or ideas with other people who find what we do in our classroom useful. Every single comment  I receive are so important to me. So thanks from the bottom of my heart to all you readers who make my day every time you open up one of my posts or leave a comment. Thank you.

My list of science books

Here are a few books I use for science. Check them out. They are full of ideas, tips and tutorials:

Not just a craft book. All the activities are designed to demonstrate fundamental scientific concepts and bring them to life in an interesting way.

Obviously, some of them are far too advanced for preschoolers, but I adapt the activities to their needs. Check them out.

Working on our science/nature corner

Throughout  my 3 years of teaching, there is something that has never stopped amazing me: the amount of questions we get. Questions such as:  who makes the clouds? how many starts are there in the sky? how do your bone grow? why is the sky blue?  The questions are endless. But the proof is there: the children are inquisitve by nature and a Montessori classroom should quench their thirst. Science should an integral part of the Montessori curriculum in which children develop problem solving skills and pursue their curiosity.  In our classroom, children are introduced to zoology, botany, astronomy and chemistry and they develop a fascination for the universe, nature and the world in which we live.

 I already wrote a post regarding our science corner (right here)  and I haven't really modified it. I removed the geography/culural shelf as I have created a special corner for it and I also took some activities away. Relevant materials with graded instructions will be slowly reintroduced throughout the year as we follow our curriculum, our themes and each season.

Science for young children need not be complicated or expensive.  The important thing is that they see things happen firsthand and participate. So, here is what our science corner look like:

These are wooden wine boxes I nailed to the wall. It will hold all our botany and zoology puzzles cabinets. I have also placed a tray with our Lotto game (fruit theme). I have also purchase a little cabinet for leaf puzzles and cards. It hasn't arrived yet but I have left the bottom box on the right free. This is where it will go. I will use the boxes on top as an interest/season/nature table.

On the left hand side of the botany/zoology cabinets, we have a little "pretend" window with a sign placed above it that says "what can we see outside our window?". According to the seasons and the holidays, we place laminated pictures of landscapes, animals, plants, flowers etc..

This is a zoology shelf. We have our aquarium with rock pooling creatures, jigsaws about animals and their habitats, jigsaws about what animals eat, pictures of animals around the world, farm animals and dinosaurs etc.. Nothing new on that shelf really.

This is our nature and science shelf. I place shells, drift wood, rocks, whale bones etc.. on the shelf for the children to touch, play with and investigate. This is where I will also have the activity with magnets, the activity called "what make a sound" (this is a science center activity to explore sounds made by common objects), objects that spin or roll,  a magnifying board etc.. Again, everything will be gradually presented to the children. No need to overwhelm them with too many new experiences. 

This is what our science/corner looks like when you stand out a little bit:

 

You can see our science/nature shelf on the left hand side, laying against our Mathematic shelf, partiotioning the 2 areas)

What do you think? What do you do at home or in your classroom? Please share with us.
 

John Bowman's new book

Olives and Pickles is holding a brilliant giveawa for you all who are looking for ways to enhance your child's abilities. The book "Early Learning Activities" by John Bowman is a fantstic resource for parents,   and teachers alike. You will find lots of illustrated activities, all using very practical learning materials and all easy to setup.Check it out on Olives and Pickles blog.

And if you are looking for a handbook relating to the Montessori method only, have a look at John Bowman's Montessori at Home Book on his website. 

 I think it is very interesting and will give people who are just starting the Montessori method at home a great boost, especially if they are feeling a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of info and ideas they can come across on the internet. Go on, have a look for yourself.

HELP!

Help! I need your help... For some reason, I find it hard to post comments on some of your blogs!! It is as if my google account is not recognising me. So, at the moment, the only thing I can do is to add a comment on my own posts to thank you. Is there anybody out there who could help me with this problem? This is really annoying.

What's on our sensorial shelves for September?

Well, today I worked a little bit more in the classroom and I re-organise the materials in my sensorial corner. As you know now,  sensorial is a pre-academic area of the classroom that bridges Practical life with the other academic areas in the Montessori classroom (Math, Language, Cultural). Please refer to this post  to get more information on the benefits of the sensorial materials.  Again, to begin our new school year, I wanted to re-introduce the "old" kids to  the basics as well as lay the foundations of the sensorial area with the newcomers. I removed some items which were probably too advanced for the beginning of the year. We have 2 sensorial shelves in our classroom.

Here is the 1st shelf:

And the details:

Cylinder blocks

Knobless cylinders

Colour tablets

Not a Montessori item but brilliant for sensorialwork. As you can see, the child uses cards and needs to recreate the patternthey are copying.

Mosaic

Game of colours and shapes - patterning

Great game to differentiate left and right, up and below.

I forgot to take pictures of the top shelf. I have geometric jigsaws, a multi pieces cube & cylinders tray puzzle, a stackabe geometric tray puzzle and a pyramid.

Here is our second shelf: (it is placed right behing the first one)

Bionimal cube and touch boards

The brown stairs

I got this little game for 1 Euro at a Field day! Great game as the children have to match the colour and the texture with the picture.

I only put out one triangular box for the beginning

Peg boards

A simple jigsaw: matching the colour to the picture

Our popular little bears- classify by colour and by size

I don't know if you can see it on the left hand side of the1st shelf, but we also have our red rods in a basket. And on the left hand side of our 2nd shelf, you should be able to see our Pink Tower on a stand. Today, I placed some laminated cards I made on the shelf to be used in connection with the Tower. ANd my son had to try for himself.

This is when sensorial and maths overlap each other.  Great preparation for the decimal and number system.

So, what do you think? What have you got on your shelves at the beginning of the year?

Featured postin Living Montessori Now

Yahooooo.....my post studying clouds has been featured on Living Montessori Now. This is such a privilege and it feelslike I have been rewarded. Thank you Deb.  You can have a look for yourself  right here. 

Don't miss on another great giveaway!

Here is another FANTASTIC giveaway for you all on Montessori Printshop .  There are 100 of their amazing 3 part card to win! So, what are you waiting for? Go on and enter your name !!! I know I have and I keep my fingers crossed! Imagine what I could do with all these cards!!

Our classroom Calendar - Part 2

I finally finished my new calendar. Remember my last post on how I decided to review and update our class calendar? I added another cork board above it. A much smaller one. It is going to be used to focus on the current month, the season and on birthdays.

Again, I insist a lot on the passing of time in our classroom. I think it is very important for the children to be able to visualise where they are in time. One thing that always catch their attention is their birthday. They often ask me how far their birhday is. So in order for them to get the concept, I use month cards: they are colourful, attractive and their drawings represent a theme usually associated with the month in question. I have them up on the wall in chronological order. Above each card, I have placed the pictures of the children born in the month. 



Not that many photos yet... Wait that the school starts!!



In September for instance, I will take September card down and will place it above my calendar with the photos of each child whose birthday is coming soon. This leaves a gap on the wall, indicating how far we are gone in the year and how many months there are left til the end of the year or until their birthday.

What else do you do in your classroom  (or at home) to show your children the passing of time?

Madness Give Away!

I love giveaways and right now, Lori over at Montessori Moments is offering a giveaway:  the book "Montessori Madness"! This book has been reviewed all over the blogosphere! This is very interesting because this is Montessori from the point of view of a parent, not from an educator or practitioner. He is very enthusiastic about the whole theory.  I haven't been able to get my hands on the book yet so I DO hope I ' ll win. Check out it yourself on Lori's fantastic blog while you're there! Good luck.