Autumn is such a wonderful season, and the best one to observe nature's transformation. The days grow colder and darker, the animals gathering food and preparing for winter, and the amazing leaves changing colour, from their usual green to the enchanting red, yellow or rusty. But did you know that there are two types of trees? The trees that lose their leave are called "deciduous" trees (shedding leaves helps trees conserve energy and water during winter) and the ones that don't, are called … [Read more...]
Learning to tell time – Hands-On Ideas
I have noticed that generally, children get interested in clocks early on - before they are old enough to be able to read the analogue clock all on their own. For children to be able to tell time with analogue clocks they need to : be able to recognise numbers 0-60 know fractions be familiar with the definition of past and present, a.m, pm., afternoon, noon Usually, preschool children do not know these math concepts. However, schedules and time is something that often becomes an … [Read more...]
Hands – On Montessori Homeschool Activities For A 4 Year Old
The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child's own natural desire to learn. Maria Montessori I decided that it is time for us to share activities that our Montessori preschool home classroom is buzzing with. Talking homeschooling journey has been an exciting and strange adventure for me. I had to adapt and change my approach from what I used to do teaching in a classroom. Creating and running a homeschooling routine with a baby on board is more of a challenge than a … [Read more...]
Hands-on Learning About Plants In Our Montessori Classroom
As Maria Montessori said, "Nothing should be given to the brain that is not first given to the hand". We embrace hands-on learning in our Montessori homeschool classroom. I use every opportunity to make learning practical. My 4-yo Blossom told me that she would like to plant something in our garden. Truth be told at this stage our garden is non-existent, however, we started looking into the life cycle of the plant and learn about seed germination. The whole Plant Unit I plan contains … [Read more...]
Australia Themed Free Printables.
Australia themed printables will help you to organise fun and educational activities for kids. Australia day is just around the corner - it is a perfect time to stock up on great resources. Children will love learning about animals, culture, the geography of the land Down Under with these amazing freebies! Check out great Australian materials.. Australia Preschool Printables by Preschool Mom (great collection of a variety of Australia printables) Free Australia Unit Packs: My Australia … [Read more...]
DIY Montessori Inspired Activities and Games for 3 – 5 year olds.
The Montessori method offers such a wide range of amazing experiences for children. Child's work is their play. Generally, children do not need stimulation or encouragement; they naturally gravitate to activities that reflect their interest and enrich passion for learning. Senses play such a huge role in their learning. All materials and activities that are presented below have a goal to make learning hands-on, connect hand and brain, provide an opportunity for discovery. Our Montessori … [Read more...]
Montessori Inspired Art Appreciation Activities.
Without much preparation, planning or intention, Art as we know it, feel it, experience it, experiment with it took a huge part of our everyday life. We started 30 Days of Creativity and Art to help navigate our homeschooling towards creative side of learning and I do not think we will ever stop. Whatever it is - learning poems, listening to classical music, creating mosaics with leaves outside, looking for funny cloud shapes in the sky, painting on a mirror - it all provided a new perspective, … [Read more...]
Preschool Process Art Inspired by Kandinsky.
Art masterpieces are an incredible source of learning opportunities. Through studying and discussing art children learn to pay attention to small details, colours, use of space, shapes and creativity. Among pictures of masterpieces that we received from Montessori By Mom with the Art Appreciation toolbox my daughter especially loved painting done by Wassily Kandinsky - Russian artist. Kandinsky also was a musician and often drew his inspiration from music. Kandinsky said: "each colour lives … [Read more...]
Montessori Focus: Land, Water, Air Activity.
Today I am going to share with you one of the classic Geography lesson setups in the Montessori classroom for preschool children. It is a fun, hands-on Geography lesson will help the child understand the concept of land, water and air. After presenting Sandpaper Globe (1), which helps the child to develop a concept of a shape of the earth, and gain the understanding of the distribution of land and water over the earth, the child is ready to work with Land, Water and Air activity. When … [Read more...]
40 Must-Have Books for Preschoolers
Children are very curious by nature, therefore, I consider this list of books to be perfect for preschoolers. With absolutely gorgeous illustrations they give a wonderful presentation of the world surrounding kids. As a Montessorian, I picked mainly books with realistic content that represent the real world and open children's hearts and minds towards understanding people with different culture and traditions. Every single one of these books is on my "must have" list. I chose books that also … [Read more...]
PROCESS ART FOR KIDS INSPIRED BY CLAUDE MONET
Child's imagination and perception of art at a young preschool age is often a blank canvas. It is wonderful to be able to spark inspiration using creations of great artists, like Monet. My little artist is only three, this means that she benefits the most from art experiences that allow her to create through discovering and exploring without adult direction and the final result is not as important as a process. I prepared her art space - which a part of our homeschooling routine - and … [Read more...]
MONTESSORI FINE MOTOR ACTIVITIES AND FREE PRINTABLES
Fine motor skills are so crucial for the child to learn to write. Maria Montessori also pointed out that development of fine motor is directly connected to the development of the brain. Many fine motor activities are practical and represent work that is usually done in real life. This is the reason why it is quite simple for parents and teachers to create practical fine motor learning experiences - most of the time they use objects and things found at home and everyday items. Fine Motor … [Read more...]
Mirror Prints – Creative Fun for Kids | Preschool Art Lesson |
Welcome to Day 2 of Creativity and Art Series. I love spending time with my preschooler experimenting with different art media. The reason I decided to set aside time for this series is to work together and help her bring meaning into art, connect it with reality and help her transform ideas and thoughts into something beautiful. Print art is usually very intriguing, fun and messy. For this activity, I prepared something with a smooth surface to paint on. Initially, I was planning to use a … [Read more...]
