Montessori Monday

"The adult aught never to mold the child after himself, but should leave him alone and work always from the deepest comprehension of the child himself."

~ Maria Montessori

Practical Life:Pouring macaroni.

Spooning Mung beans.

Transferring pom-poms into an ice tray using a strawberry huller. James really liked this work and completed it many times.

Cutting paper continues to be a challenge. James simply has little to no interest in it.

Open and close work - always a favorite, so I keep this out nearly every week. I change the objects, however. And I always put a little "surprise" (shells, stones, buttons) inside of each object.

Whisking eggs for our chocolate muffins and sorting grapes for a snack. James has been independent for quite some time now when it comes to retrieving and making his own snacks. I keep a shelf on the inside of the fridge just for his healthy snacks. His bowls, cups, spoons, etc. are kept low in a cupboard so he can help himself. We've recently had to implement one little rule - he must ask permission to open the fridge door. We've had several... "situations" occur that made us think this a wise decision. (picture: 3am snacking, a thawing fridge, and several once bitten apples decorating the kitchen.) Oh and this:

sneaky little chocolate lover! :)

Sensorial:Lo and behold the Pink Tower was used this week! James came up with his own extension and I must say I was really impressed with it! Oh and on a funny side note, I recently received a Montessori materials catalog in the mail and on the cover is a photo of the Pink Tower. James saw it and said, "Oh it's a beautiful Pink Tower!". :)

Grace & Courtesy:
James' kind and considerate personality has been really shining through lately. He's taken to calling everything "sweet" or "cute". The other day he said to Paul, "Dada, you're so sweet!". :) He's also really into saying things are either "beautiful" or "delicious". It's wonderful to hear him using big words like that. And now he's also saying "thank you" as a reflex every time he receives something - we are SO pleased about this!

Other activities: I've been meaning to do the magnetic vs. non-magnetic lesson for quite a while now. Even though James didn't separate the items, he really enjoyed using the magnet to see which items would stick and which wouldn't.

I recently rearranged James' reading area. The 'after' picture is on the right. We like this so much better and I've noticed James reading on his own more often.

Click the button to the left for more Montessori fun! And, check out my Tot School post to see what else we did this past week.