The hand and it's tools

"The hands are the instruments of man's intelligence" M. Montessori

The importance of the hand is at the heart of Montessori education.  The use of hands helps the child construct itself thought Maria Montessori.  "The hand is the tool of the mind".  Years later, science tends to prove that indeed manipulation is paramount in learning, and that retention will be greatly enhanced if the child learned through manipulation rather then mere rote learning.

If the hands bear such importance, then the tools we use should allow the hand to work at optimum level: to help the learning process, but also to foster the love of learning.

What is more frustrating, even for us adults, to use a tool that is either defective or of poor quality?  This experience can be even more frustrating for the little child who does not have the amount of coordination we do for common tasks.

I often see in children's store or catalogues tools aimed for children that are either poorly constructed or made with lesser quality products.  And unfortunately, they seem to be the norm.
They are also usually made to entice the children's eyes, with bright colors of other features like mass media products which, in the end, makes them overwhelming.  For the parents, these items are cheap, and thus interesting budget wise.
But if the hand truly has the importance we attribute it, I think it is wise to use high quality, functional, attractive and beautiful material to keep it working.

Children are able to use tools way before we expect them to and better then we them credit for.  What they need is guidance and an adequate and safe environment where they can experiment with such tools.

E was given true and good quality tools at a very young age.  And I can see the results of this already.   His desire and will to work with his hands and use tools is very strong.

I try to fill his need of using his hands for very meticulous tasks by having a rotation of practical life activities requiring fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, and also deep concentration...  in a variety of situations, whether they are real of artificial.

Good quality tools can be found now easily thanks to a some Montessorians who wished to offers good tools that would be correctly sized for children.

I usually find what I need and get inspired by:

For Small Hands and Montessori Services : both have beautiful and inspiring material for the small and not so small child

Michael Olaf is another site that is just as wonderful.

But do not underestimate locally found products.  There are many treasures that can be found in regular stores.  Sometimes, it is just a matter of thinking outside the box.

Everyday Montessori

I have no idea what happened, but I lost my blog post yesterday after it got posted... Blogger cam really be a pain sometimes...I miss wordpress...

This is something I frequently find in the house.  A spontaneous sorting activity initiated by E.  I just have to leave the material in an easy to reach spot in an attractive way.  These colored bowls are his favorite for any color sorting activities.

This time, he used the number puzzle that was close by as objects to sort.  Sometimes, he goes around the house and uses other items, and sometimes he asks for material, or he uses the ones I provide with the bowls.  I rotate this material often.

Color sorting is a good and easy to set up Montessori activity for all ages.  You can easily step up the work by letting the child search in the house for colored object without having a reference in his hands, or over ask for shades a few colors.  This also has the benefit of teaching new vocabulary and train the eye to become more accurate in distinguishing hues.

Pinterest is  full of ideas for color sorting activities, if you need more inspiration.

What E (30 months) is loving right now

At 30 months old, here are E's favorite activities right now: (sorry the pictures are dark, it is very cloudy and snowy today)


The letters are going strong right now:

Tag toy's peg tumbler:

Pegs he received at Christmas from family members.  This wouldn't have been a choice for me as I try to limit plastic, but E seems to enjoy it for now. Very interesting for counting and color matching.

Wooden block in a bucket.  I think his favorite part right now is to sort them in the holes.  This too was Christmas present

Building train tracks: I was happy to get them out again.  X played so much with these, and E seems to enjoy them just as much!

Number puzzle

Vehicles puzzles: E is very much into trucks, tractors and such.  Anything related is interesting to him

And the one thing that I see all day long...

this is a real replica of a tractor his grandfather owns.  He plays with this all day, everyday.

The rest of his time is spent with BOOKS, and PAINT, 2 things he loves deeply.

Cards!

I've been trying to keep E busy all during this chaotic time we are going through.  One thing he is very interested in right now are cards!  All types of cards, playing cards, flash cards, wishing cards.  He loves to go around the house, cards in hand, and just name what he sees, and have us name with him too.
I think he also just enjoy having them in his hands, and piling them up, keeping them close.  Just having them in his hand is thrilling, just like holding a treasure.

His language is exploding right now, both in french and english.  So I have been trying to find cards and material that will fulfill all his language needs: french cards, wordless cards and english cards as well.

Sometimes he goes around the house, walking with his set of playing card, and keeps them for hours without using them.  He even falls asleep with his cards in his hands!

One sets he adore is this one:

as you can see, naming is a big thing!

They have hole, and so they can be hooked on a hook for easy storage.

He also like having standard flash cards

I change the set on display regularly to keep them fresh.  I find cards that are in relation with what we are currently experiencing as a family.  These were out before and after we went camping during summer time.
I have the same set in french.

Speaking of cards, have you seen this new set of cards designed by a former Montessori child?

These are made by Lisa Camp a former Montessori child and  mother along with her mom, a  Montessori teacher for 25 years.

 They designed this set to help children learn the letter and the sound they make.

I love how they also have a hole to hook them together, and I really love the images they have used!

These are still into production.  Here are the latest news from Marie-Claire:

We have finalized our A to Z list (but the full list is only available for Backers to see)
• We have revised the fronts and backs of each card, a preview is attached
• I am personally working on small illustrations on the back of each card, an updated preview of B is available (vowels are color-coded blue, consonants are color-coded orange)
• We are now an official LLC, with a lawyer, an accountant and business name
• Marc is on schedule to complete the large front illustrations


I am sure E will love those as well!

If you are interested, they are here

Present for a 2 yo

Birthdays for 2012 have come and pass.  I now have a 7 yo, (with another lost tooth!), a 5 yo, and a 2 yo.
Life goes just too quickly.

Choosing a present this year for X and M was easy, but I have to admit that for E (2), it was harder.  I don't know why, maybe because we already own the basic 2 yo things.  But I really had to look and look.  I had many ideas, but that were more geared for the 3 yo crowd.  Yes, next year will be VERY easy!

But I finally settled  for this, which was my first choice (before I changed my mind a zillion times).

And am I ever happy!

E LOVES it.  he plays with it everytime he sees it, day or night (yes, he actually woke up one night, and played with it before coming to join us in our bed!)

Right now the thrill is to put the pegs, and have them tumble down.  He can repeat this over and over again.  But as an added bonus, he is starting to recognize numbers.  He is not at a stage where he can internalize this, but he is able to do recognition work.  I was impressed.  But again, at this point, that was not my principal hope, I just wanted him to have fun with the mechanical part of this toy. check.

*** Of course, how could I forget to name this toy, and link you to where I took it.

It is the Tumble Down couting pegs toy.

VERY well made, super sturdy!  THis is built to last.

Sorry all, now, you have all the informations! :)

I'll take about X's present tomorrow.  That is another complete HIT!

Cutting

Oh, we have been and still are busy lately!  Planning for homeschooling and using in part the Montessori method does take... loads of... time.

For the last week, I have been printing and cutting, and cutting some more.  And of course, E, that has already been interested for a while in cutting is more then happy to follow along.

I have set up a special cutting tray for him that  have put in his reach. I fill a new stack of paper cutting pieces almost everyday now.  (I use this file)

I have showed him that cutting should only happen while sitting at the table. He carries his tray, sits, and then happily cuts away.

There are many scissors on the maker for young children. In my opinion, you want to avoid the ones that springs open after the child has pressed the handles.  Re-opening the scissors is a tedious task to learn, but it is very rewarding for the child, and is very good for fine motor skills, which leads to good handwriting.

For a young child you want scissors

• that do cut well.  Scissors that are dull or not sharp enough are frustrating to about anybody that uses them, so imagine a young child learning on top of it. 
• that have rounded tips
• that are sized for a child's hand
• that are not too heavy, but yet rest well in the hand
• and soft handles is helpful for little fingers.

The scissors that E is using are my sister's old school scissors.  They are not small enough for my taste, but E clearly seems to be a lefty, and so is my sister.  So it is the best pair that I have found so far for left handed child.  I am still on the lookout for a good left handed child size scissors, so stay tuned for a post on that when I finally find something I am happy with.

Cutting at this age requires all of the child's attention, so having everything prepared before hand and layout the same way really helps the child focus on the actual task of cutting.

Do you know of any good left handed scissors for children?  If so, leave me a comment!

Toddler's art caddy at playful learning spaces

I have been invited by Mariah of Playful learning to be a contributor to her blog!  How to refuse this?  I am so in tune with her ideas, and she is a big inspiration to me. I am delighted to be able to contribute modestly to her work.

Today my first post is up  about E's art caddy.

Go check it out, and take the time to indulge yourself and read her very inspiring and wonderful blog!

Thanks Mariah for this invitation!  I hope you all like the post :)

Have a great day!

J'ai été invitée, récemment, par Mariah de Playful learning, a devenir contributeur pour son blog.  Comment ne pas accepter, j'adore ses idées, et ce qu'elle fait!

Aujourd'hui, mon premier billet est affiché:  La boite d'art de E

Allez faire un tour, et profitez-en pour faire le tour de son blog, il est excellent!

Bonne journée!

Being a bilingual family

Now that I have been a mother for 5 almost 6 years, and having been blessed to be the mother of 3 children, I know how experience really changes mothering.
I remember how, with X, just having to take care of him was more then I could handle, and I am sure that if somebody would have told me at that point that I was going to have 3 child, I wouldn't have believed him.

But here I am almost 6 years later, with 3 children and a confidence that I never dreamed of at first.  I have no regrets, I have walked the path of motherhood, learning and changing (oh so much!) at my own pace, and I am still on that road, still evolving as every day passes.

I can say that I am much happier about how I am parenting E then how I parented X.  Why? experience... again.  I have manage to do with E what I didn't even think of possible with X, one thing being a completely bilingual family.

X and M have always grown with english around them.  But not as much as I would have liked.  This time around, I have decided to go another route with E, and not only surround him in english, but immerse him completely.  I always speak to him in english, I read to him in english, whatever I do, I do in english.  I was scared at first that since english is not my mother tongue, I would somehow "screw him".  But these fears are long gone.  As long as he is able to talk he'll be able to adjust his language, just like a child who is learning his mother tongue would do if he had picked up something incorrectly.

There was one thing that was bugging me though.  The fact that I was the sole source of english around.  I wanted E and X and M too in fact, to hear english everyday, and often, english used by someone else.

Sure, there is an english town just right by.  But I have not yet found the way to integrate this community.  Still working on it.  But in the meantime, I found the way to increase their exposition to english, and I am happy to report that it is working!!  E understand just as much in english and in french, and even M and X are making leaps.

So here is what we have been up to recently:

1. We have been listening to the radio everyday, while commuting, in english.  We are lucky enough to have english radio channels, and so I am taking advantage of these.
2. Again, in the car, we have satellite radio.  Well, I have discovered some weeks ago that there is a book channel, on which books are being read all day.
3. We read at least 3 books a day in english.  Some book are stories (most of which I also have in french, and that were previously read in french for comprehension) and others are picture dictionary
4. I have found several learning site such as Petra lingua, that features language games that all my children love to play, yes, even E (That gives more vocabulary to M and X)
5. And finally, and not least I have found online stories that the kids can hear.  There are many free sites for that, but our favourite, hand down Sparkle Stories.  Sparkle stories are geared toward a Waldorf type of crowd.  There are different types of stories, some of which are very fairy tales oriented with gnomes and so on.  But some of them are very reality based, including the one we choose: At home with Martin and Sylvia.  I LOVE those stories, and what can I say about the kids.  When they hear the intro tune start, they usually dance until the story begins.  Friday has quickly become the story day, the magical day. I love the rich vocabulary they use, I love how the stories are told, I love the themes of the stories, and how it paints a simple and yet fantastic childhood picture for the children to listen to.  The stories have also brought many interesting topics of discussion.

Being a bilingual family is totally doable now.  I have found a great website talking about this: Multi language.  If you feeling like giving bilingualism a try, but fear you might not be able to, this site will give you the push in the back you need to carry on.  I think it is a great asset to be bilingual in the world we live in, and why not enjoy this time in the life of a child when absorbing language is like absorbing water for a sponge.  M.Montessori defined this sensitive period for language, and said that the languages learned during that time will be learned by the child in a way that he will never be able to later on.  So let's take advantage of that!


*************************************************
By the way, if you are interested in Sparkle stories, they are handing out a little bit of magic. They are giving you the chance to try Sparkle for 1$ for the first month.  Here are the info:


The magic code: SPARKLEFRIENDS
The magic page:  www.sparklestories.com/trysparkle.


You get a chance to receive four weeks thus 12 stories = 3.5 hours of delightful audio for kids! (and you can cancel any time)
Go ahead if you feel like giving it a try.  We got hooked pretty fast!

Nature buddy

Classes are finally over, I have only 2 exams to correct, and then, this school year will come to en end!  I am SO glad, and most of all so relieved!  It has been a very busy and dare I say exasperating year, and the mere thought of it being almost done makes me giggle like a little child.

Not having to drive to work yesterday, I was able to enjoy the "almost-raining-but-not" day we had.  The wind was coming from the south, making the day rather comfortable.

Not having had much time to really spend time with E, I took advantage of this time we had together to do something he really loves: Nature walk.
E could be outside all day long.  Whether it rains, it snows, no matter the temperature, the first things he asks for is "dehors" (outside in french).  He can say this word 50 times a day.  And truthfully, every time I hear this, it makes my heart sing.

walking head up...

Nature has always been a integral part of my life.  As a child, I could spend hours outside, exploring, walking, and playing in the forest or on vacant lot.  Being an adolescent, I was part of so many activities that were taking place in nature, survival techniques, camping, canoeing, name it...  When I got to university, my personal time was rather restricted, and I had to cut in the amount of time I spend outside.  Looking back now, I see how this was not the best choice.  (live and learn).  Got my diploma, started to work, had a family...I'm sure you have a faint idea of what I am talking about.

...and head down

I have had a year that was punctuated with loads of life altering situations.  Many of which have deeply changed my vision of things.  During that year, I also got a copy of Richard Louv's Last child in the woods. Needless to say that I tremendously enjoyed this book as it was touching a fiber that is deep inside me.  I didn't take much work to have me convinced of the importance of the child in nature, I guess I had just forgotten over time.  I made it a point, then, to include nature in an other level in our lives ASAP.  (along with many other changes that I'll talk to you about soon)

But I know that putting these plans in action are not always easy, but seeing E's interest for wilderness definitely makes it easier.  I SO want to protect this love of the outdoor, of nature, that it comes naturally to be outside more then I could plan for the day.  Plus, what is best then to have a buddy to go outside?

I love seeing him walk, hand in pocket, protecting his new found treasure.

He turns every rock he finds to see what is hiding beneath.  I love looking at him explore with fascination every square inch of earth he is walking on, and experiment new paths to walk on. I have seen E be concentrated, I most of the time see him be happy, but in no other setting do I see this awe in him. Nature really is his favourite place.

I all have special connections with me children.  With X, it is his love of sport, of reading, and of music.  With M, it is the handiwork.  She has a patience for this type of work that goes beyond what I could think possible.   But I have to admit that I am particularly happy to have found this true love of nature in E.  I really feel this is a part of me that has been passed on, one that I cherish.  I can see hours of fun in the nearby patched of woods, and fun trips to other settings.  And the best part, it that this love we both have for the outdoors seems to be spreading to the rest of the bunch.

So to celebrate this first day off, we went to the forest nearby, and E did he does best

My best tips to enjoy nature with a toddler:

• Do start with shorter rides, and progressively do longer ones, to let the child get accustomed to walking long periods of time
• Have the child wear clothes and shoes that are comfortable and that will not restrict his movement (and clothes that you don't mind being dirty...they will be!)
• Make sure that the child has either pockets of a small bag to collect treasures, and once back home, treat them as such.  Putting them on display in the child room is a fantastic way to create a continuity in this experience.
• Talk to the child during the walk, pointing at things, but also let the sounds of nature enter freely the ears of your child.  Show her how to listen to bird sounds or other nature sounds by showing them how you are attentive to these sounds yourself, they pick up more on what we do then what we say...
• Enjoy yourself.  They are picking that up too.

Puzzles

E has been into puzzles for a couple of months now.
All sorts of puzzles.  From shapes to vehicules, with knobs or knob less, he just loves to fit the pieces together over and over again.

When I choose toys and material for my children to use, I always try as much as possible to use beautiful items that are gentle for our environment, and also safe to play with.  These are discussion we are having a lot right now with X.

We have had loads of Melissa and Doug puzzle, and although well thought, they are of poor quality.  The paint chips easily, and they are still being produced in China.

In an attempt to find new puzzles for E to play with, I found this:




It is called "The First Jigsaw Puzzle Square" by Young mind at play
It is a hand made wooden puzzle made of hardwood and finished with food grade beeswax and oil.

The quality is outstanding.  The pieces are big and chunky and very nice to manipulate.  I love the various colours of the wood they used for the pieces.

E obviously like to touch and make this puzzle over and over again.  And I think that one of the reasons it is not getting tired of it is because the pieces can fit together differently!

and so creating simple patterns ad shape is possible.

Since the pieces are interlocking rather then just made to fit into a pre cut shape, it really does train some other movements of the hand.

instead of just sliding the piece until it enters the hole, now he has to lift the piece and fit it one onto the other.  Loads of fine motor skills.

I really love finding (and sharing about)  products that fits all our criteria of protection of environment, and also development for the child.  This one, while not cheap, totally does, and I can see that it will stay on E's shelves for a while.

using the letter pouches

They have been finished for a while now, and the kids have had the time to play with them a lot.  

They are intended to be used just like an alphabet box.   But again, each of my little ones is using them for their own purpose.

E (20 months old)

He loves to empty and fill the pockets.  But I think his biggest pleasure is to explore what is in there.

Since he is in a very verbal state, he often asks me the "name" of the letter, and so I sound the letter he shows me to his great pleasure.  I often hear him saying sound now.

M 4 1/2 yo:

She is the one I had in mind when making this.  And she is using it the way I had in mind.

She gets a couple of pouches out, explore what is in them, sounds all of the words of the items. There is usually 5-6 items in each bags.   She loves it.

She is also using them as sensory pouches.  When I make a rotation of what is in there, she loves to find out what they contain by trying to guess what she is touching.  Of course, she has a good clue (the first letter) but it sometimes still hard.  This is such a fun game!

She LOVES looking at all the letter at the same time, she loves touching them (she is working very hard on her sand paper letters recently), she traces the  letters frequently.  I know she is wishing for these to be stored in her room. She asked me several time.

X 6 1/2 yo:

He loves to participate in the guessing game too.  But what he mostly does with those is to practice writing.  He gets an item out, and write it's name on a small piece of paper.  

He has also started to ask me to make a kind of a grammar game with it. (Mommy, this is LA souris, and LE saxophone right?,  La souris est AU DESSUS du saxophone...)  So I can see that is use of it will change soon

I cannot wait to be able to fetch a long piece of wood to hang them on there. I'll need to wait a little bit more until the wood has finally dried.  That leaves me a little time to figure out where they will be hanging 

practical life for the toddler - spreading

This is an activity that happened all by itself one morning, after I received the set of spreaders from Michael Olaf.  And since then, it is part of E's breakfast ritual to spread his own toast with whatever he wants.  There is no way we are going to be able to sneak this one past him, he demands it very strongly whether times permits or not.  The joy of the Montessori children!

I think it is a very easy activity to set up, and also very rewarding for the child.
Here is how we are doing it:

E sets his place with his plate and spreader.

Then he helps me put *just* the right amount of the spreadable item (here is organic peanut butter) in a separate bowl.  I think this is the key step in organizing this activity.
We are still only using things that are easily spreadable, organic peanut butter is more runny then regular one, so E has no problem with it.

He brings the bowl at the table and spread his toast (remember, the important part is not the result but the process!)

This part takes the longest.  I give him all the time he wants  to spread as he wishes (and trust me it was hard at first not to help him spread evenly!) as long as he is doing this purposefully.

And when he decides that he is done, he gives the spreading bowl back

I told you, the process, not the result :)

These spreaders from Michael Olaf are really well made.  The size is perfect.  But they MUST NOT remain in water, and they do need a bit of maintenance for the wooden part (of course, which can be done by the child )

they are stored here:

always readily available for E to use.

(sorry about the glass just in front of the pitcher, E must have put his glass back behind my back without me realizing!  I just caught this right now!)

The spreaders are in the 2nd stainless steal container.  As you can see, they are really tiny. (the big fork at the left is an IKEA fork for children, and the smaller ones are from Michael Olaf too)



E a commencé à beurrer ses rôties depuis quelques jours déjà.  L'activité s'est proposée de elle même, après que nous ayons reçu les couteaux à tartiner de chez M.Olaf.  Depuis ce temps là, tartiner sa propre rôtie est un rituel qu'il n'oublie pas, qu'on ait le temps ou pas!


Je crois que c'est une activité très facile à organiser, mais également très enrichissante pour l'enfant.
Voici notre façon de fonctionner.


E met sa place avec son assiette et son couteau.
Ensuite nous préparons le bol de la tartinade, en y mettant la quantité à peu près exacte pour une rôtie.  Je crois que ceci est le point tournant du succès de l'activité.
Il apporte le bol à table et se met au travail.
Je le laisse aller, tant et aussi longtemps qu'il tartine avec concentration (et parfois c'est dur de ne pas intervenir pour tartiner plus uniformément!!!)
Lorsqu'il a terminé, il le signal en me donnant le bol à tartinade.


Les couteaux qu'il utilisent sont géniaux! Ils sont juste de la bonne grandeur et facile à manipuler.  Ils ont besoin d'entretien particulier par contre, rien que l'enfant ne peut pas faire seul.
Ils sont rangé dans ses tablettes de cuisine (voir image plus haut), et donc toujours à sa portée.
(je suis désolée, sur cette dernière photos E a rang son verre sur la tablette devant son pichet juste avant que je prenne la photo à mon insu.  Je viens tout juste de m'en rendre compte, dans un éclat de rire :)  )