Photo credits: Montessori Training Center of Minnesota, Little Miners Montessori, The Natural Child Learning Company, Sun Garden Montessori, LePort Schools. We have been in our new home for a couple of weeks and most of our areas are coming together. The children's study has been by far the most difficult room to put together. It is currently a homeschooling room, it's much larger than their previous space and both boys seem to have grown physically and in maturity since leaving our last home. I've been able to create different 'stations' or areas however I am in desperate need of some... Read more →
In my last order from Karla I asked her to pop in a set of folding cloths for Otis. I didn't use them with Caspar (although he would have had access to them at school) and I really wish I did. I think I've mentioned previously that Otis has a tendency to rush his work, while enjoying the task he is quick to finish and move onto the next thing. I'm hoping the folding cloths can be just one of many activities where I can show him how slowing down and being accurate/precise is important. Folding cloths like this would... Read more →
When Caspar was around three I started looking for good Montessori first/early readers. The Bob Books were the series most recommended. While he was learning to read at school (he was at a Montessori school) I wanted to complement this learning by having good readers at home. As a Montessori parent what do I look for in a first/early reader? Books that start with the Pink Series and progress in a logical way. The first books as with the Pink Series have a focus on phonetic, CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. Has an interesting (non-offensive), engaging story line. Is not in any... Read more →
Living in Brisbane our lifestyle has totally changed. Although the warm weather is everywhere in Australia right now, never before have my children spent so much time outdoors. Practically all day, everyday. Dirty feet - every night. The boys have been using the Nature Play Passport which has given us a few new ideas. The boys love chocolate and I knew I could come up with a healthy chocolate snack. They don't look so pretty but they taste fantastic and only took a couple of minutes to make. Today we walked to our local library to find a beautiful organic... Read more →
I've mentioned before about Montessori not being something we do during a specific hour, at a designated time, about it being more of a parenting and educational philosophy. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy to make Montessori a part of every day. And to those who are skeptical of Montessori I think the way we live makes sense. Gosh Otis loves to sweep and he loves these stairs. I get that cleaning is really satisfying - and that the stairs needed sweeping. Sometimes he makes a rushed effort but today he paid attention to detail. Today he... Read more →
What we have been reading and listening to this month. Please note this post contains affiliate links and possibly a link to my own shop. I have been reading Smart By Nature - Schooling for Sustainability. This was such an enjoyable read, schools get so much bad press it's refreshing to read the great work many school are doing. I would recommend this book to teachers and school administrators looking for inspiration from real life (US based) examples of integrating sustainability into schools. Caspar has been particularly interested in space and reading Moonshot - The Flight of Apollo 11. How... Read more →
Yay! We made it to Brisbane. We are far from feeling settled (Caspar is feeling very unsettled) however we are comfortable and loving everything Brisbane has to offer. Even the scorching weather - no complaints here. Queenslanders are the most down to earth - laid back and all round chatty people. We have been made to feel so very welcome. A big part of our life right now is finding our rhythm and most importantly enjoying the same things we did in Canberra, enjoying the familiar. On moving in day the house was full of boxes and strangers (removalists!). A... Read more →