After my last post I decided to give Otis the opportunity to do matching work with a greater number of items. With a refrigerator full of food matching fruit and vegetables (once again) looked like a good option. This was good, physical work for Otis. I want to mention that we do this work together and Otis doesn't always complete his matching work or get it right all the time.
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This matching work could also be used as a language activity as I realised Otis doesn't know the names of all of these vegetables. My floor was clean and we have or will eat all of these foods.
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This is another matching activity Otis has on his shelves. There are only three objects but he is familiar with all three and I thought this would be a good starting point. When I started preparing activities like this for Caspar I was hesitant because I knew I wasn't doing it or presenting it in a purely Montessori way. I've let go of that now because I have accepted that I'm not a teacher but a parent and I don't place unrealistic expectations on myself. I think we all work with the information that we have and the resources we have and by doing this we are doing the best by our children.
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I made these cards at home with my digital camera and ink jet printer. Except for a bit of reflection these were easy to photograph. I put the utensil on a white piece of paper on a table outside (in a shaded but bright area) and took the photograph looking down. I made sure in each photograph the utensils were the same size, in the centre and printed on gloss paper. I prefer gloss over matt. Gloss looks a little more durable but these are not water proof. If you have a little dribbler like I have keep them away from dribbling on the paper. You could use contact or laminate if you want.
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Other items can be more difficult to photograph. Even with the help of Otis.
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I love these model Australian birds. I have two sets so Otis can match the models and also match to the cards. I have printed these with a border but my printer will print to the edge if that's the look you prefer. You can tell they are DIY, they're definitely not perfect. I use a Mac and use iPhoto to blur the edge (corner point) where the two background pieces of paper meet in the photograph.
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It's a matter of compromise. I recently had the opportunity to see in person some cards from Michael Olaf and they were gorgeous, nice to hold and really high quality.
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With matching work there are so many options!
