We're Back!

So we took a looooong break. Things got really hectic as I tried to organize school and life kept happening! We are back now and we have a school room and a new baby! Well he's actually already 10 months old but I've just now finally gotten organized enough to get going again. That plus we got a new camera, so the pictures won't be so horrible.

So here's a peek at what we did today:

Cat and Tes working independently.

Tes working on the beginner sewing basket. It's just a piece of vinyl in an embroidery hoop with holes punched in it. She is using a very large needle with a piece of string that is similar to a shoelace. The string is knotted at the end with a pony bead attached to avoid pulling it all the way through.

Here is her work journal. She is only in primary (so she doesn't need to use one yet) but she likes to do what her brother and sister in elementary do. So she has her own journal. She says she writes what she is doing. That says "sewing". :)

Here is her finished work. She then takes the lace out one hole at a time and puts everything back in the basket ready for the next person, or in our case, the next time SHE wants to do this work. There are no other primary students in our class to do this work.

Cat worked on the trinomial cube today. She is already in elementary, which doesn't include this work, but I let her chose it because I'm happier with her doing something than rolling around on the floor saying she has nothing to do. She picks this from time to time. Especially when we've come off of a long break. This work is the physical representation of the equation (a + b + c)^3. She doesn't know this, of course, but it helps build a solid foundation for understanding and working with this equation when the time comes. She had a little trouble today, but she was able to finish it up once I pointed out that two of her layers were switched.

The finished cube!

This is the first thing MJ worked on. It is the equation (2 + 4)(5 + 7). The first set of parenthesis are the "2" and the "4", which are represented by vertical dots. This is because the initial work was done with bead bars: a 2-bar and a 4-bar. He multiplies those bars 5 times, then 7 times and gets his answer. He is now able to do it completely on paper without having to use the beads. The boxes of dots on the paper are his way of working the problem out. Then he counts up all the dots (we're still working on multiplication facts) and gets his final answer. Notice his final answer is written backwards. It should be "72" but he wrote "27". It happens.

Here he is fixing his answer.

Today I also showed him how to work similar problems with the golden bead material. Those beads differ from the ones he's been using for multiplication. Golden beads include single beads (units), ten bars (10 units joined on a wire), hundred squares (100 beads joined) and thousand cubes (1000 beads joined). I didn't get any pictures of that work. I kept forgetting to take pictures here and there.

Here is Tes again, working on the lined chalkboard. Today she worked on writing the letters "n", "e", "o" and "c". This chalkboard is only for writing letters that have no tail or high back. I'm sure there is a term for those things but that's what I call them. Basically letters that only stay within one line space. She has a few other letters to practice this week and then we'll move onto the next chalkboard with 3 line spaces for the rest of the letters.

Here Tes was working with the moveable alphabet. Up to today she had only been composing single words. If you'r trying to read the words, yes, that is "poop" and "peepee" that you see there. Cat helped her compose those yesterday. Thank you Cat. Today I introduced her to the next stage which is writing short phrases like "the pink tower" or "the red box". I had to ask her a question which would lead to an answer that we'd then compose on the rug. This work is not for spelling. That will come later. Right now we just want her to be able to sound out words that come from her own head so she is able to express her thoughts. I do, however, show her how to spell "puzzle" words when we write things together. Puzzle words are the words that do not follow phonetic rules, like "the". And that is Swiper (this is what youngest munchkin shall be called) at the bottom of the pic destroying her work so I can take a picture. I got to him just in time. He only swiped off two letters!

Here is Swiper manipulating a glass pitcher, after knocking over all of color tablet box 3 (behind him).

He's checking to see if the pitcher has water in it. Darn, no water.

Here is Cat working on her phonogram commands. We have a box of small cards that contain short (3-5 words) commands on them using words that have phonetic spelling containing phonograms (sets of letters that make a sound together). I'm fairly certain there is a better way to articulate what a phonogram is but that's what it is to me. Anyway, this is basically for reading practice. She has to do whatever the command is to show that she was able to read it.

Her command was to "get sixteen sticks". She went outside to go collect the sticks.

I also gave her the presentation with the hierarchical material and the cards today. It is material that shows the relationship between quantity of 1 all the way up to 1 million. And I forgot to take pictures of that :(.

Here is MJ practicing reading. He is reading out loud to me so I can help him with the words. He is not a fluent reader yet. In Montessori, children will start reading at about 4-5 years old, maybe even sooner. It comes easy at that age and they enjoy doing it. I missed that window because we had just found Montessori and I had not gone through the Language part of it yet. By the time I got there, MJ was into elementary Montessori. At that point, we are not focused on just reading anymore. He is supposed to pick it up on his own as long as I give him short lessons frequently and he is doing work that requires some bit of reading. Well with having a baby and 2 other kids to work with, I have neglected this area. So he is behind. And it is discouraging for him. And I don't want to push it because I don't want him to hate reading like I did when I was a kid. I wouldn't pick up a book unless there was some sort of negative repercussion involved if I didn't. So currently what my plan is, is for him to read one page of this book everyday. It is for children so the spacing is very wide and the chapters are very short. We're talking 2-5 pages here and there are a few pictures. Some are longer though. At this age, in order to build confidence, you want to give them something that they can handle while also challenging them a bit. This way they see that they can do it, and they are not overwhelmed. I'll add more pages as he gets better and faster. I chose this book because I knew it would interest him. It is called Wild Boy: The Real Life of the Savage of Aveyron by Mary Losure. Maria Montessori's teaching methods stemmed from the studies of this boy. He was found living in a forest at a young age by himself. He is seriously Mogli from the Jungle Book! Anyway, Maria Montessori talks about this boy and the man who studied him A LOT. 

Here is Swiper testing out the functions of a bookmark. Not edible. He had just been brushing up on his Spanish reading as well as object permanence, as you can see to the right. :)

Here is MJ and Swiper having a table slap contest.

Swiper picking up his mess, after he dumped out all the puzzle word packets onto the floor. He's picking them up one by one and giving them to MJ.

About 4 down and 13 more to go. 

Ok so he's not so good at finishing a task that he starts. Packets are still on the floor. It actually looks like there are more now. He moved onto some measurement work and is finishing up his Spanish practice.

Swiper working with the wipey bag. He tasted it multiple times to make absolute sure it was not edible. But only after he got some page turning practice in with Goodnight Moon, which is not Montessori approved for his age. No talking rabbits allowed.

This did not happen during school hours. I had to squeeze it in while dinner cooked on the stove. I presented the different ways things combine. Today we looked at solutions and suspensions.

Marble and hydrochloric acid

Water and cupric sulphate.

Water and sugar.

Test tubes: sand, water, water, chalk powder.

The first 3 combinations combined (solutions). The last 2 did not (suspensions). It took the hydrochloric acid FOREVER to dissolve the marble chips. I must not have put enough, not sure. Either way, it finally dissolved by the time we went to bed. 

I was also able to give the black strip presentation. It is a very long strip of black material that represents the amount of time (or work) that went into creation of the world up to the point humans arrived. It is meant to give an impression of all the work done to prepare the earth for our coming. We sure are special :). Wind blew the strip all over the place (yes I forgot to put rocks on it), but the kids brought bricks to the rescue and we were able to resume the presentation. And I couldn't take pictures of that since I had too much stuff in my hands and daddy was helping me out with Swiper!

That's all I have for today.

Jenn