Wow. Love this! The retro charm teamed with a seriously great idea. Oooozes cool in my books.

Originally posted by Unschooling Conversations.

Now I wonder if we have a family member who can make a set of these for the boys for Christmas?! ;)

We are finding our true centres. Mama included.

i just made the commitment

 


Natural v Man-Made

+

=

Provide a collection of items (these are our "phonetic objects")
Make "Natural" and "Man-Made" labels.
Lay out 2 mats & sort the items as per their origin.

Silkworms | Week 1

Margaret Homfray: The Montessori *Reading* Curriculum Lectures

Here are links to the Margaret Homfray Reading Curriculum Lectures Videos: 

Montessori Reading Curriculum, Lecture 1 Preparing Children to Read

Montessori Reading Curriculum, Lecture 2, The Insets for Design

Montessori Reading Curriculum, Lecture 3. Sandpaper Letters

Montessori Reading Curriculum, Lecture 4. (no link)

Montessori Reading Curriculum, Lecture 5 Phonetic Reading

Montessori Reading Curriculum, Lecture 6. Phonetic Grammar

Montessori Reading Curriculum, Lecture 7. Phonograms

The Getty Museum: Art Cards and Resources

When I was in LA about a year and a half ago I visited the J. Paul Getty Museum. It's an amazing building in a spectacular location with some really great art... and a brilliant store! Lol. I looooove museum and gallery stores ;)

I bought a set of Getty Museum Art Cards for Lovely & Hug but put them away on my return and got them out for the first time recently - only to discover that the cards are SO beautiful. I also bought the book Going to the Getty among other things.

Each card is well titled (with the name of the artwork, the artist and the year it was produced) and a "matching" card which is a very small detail of the original painting. 

As you can see from the image above it's quite a sophisticated matching game but something that I think would be universally appealing for kids with their amazing eye for detail.

There are also many opportunities for extension work - creating a timeline of the artworks or grouping the works into artistic genres are a few that come to mind. 

Here are links to some cool art resources on the Getty website:

Getty Games (interactive art puzzles)

Art Scoops (for parents and kids to explore together)

Looking and Learning in the Art Museum (lesson plans)

Understanding Formal Analysis - Part 1

Understanding Formal Analysis - Part 2

Elements of Art (pdf)

Principles of Design (pdf)

Introducing Line  (pdf)

Introducing Shape (pdf)

Classroom Resources

Tips and Tools for Teaching Art

The Art and Depiction of Dance

Grade-by-grade guide to building Visual Arts lessons

Examples of Watercolour techniques

A Timeline: Four Centuries of Perspective
Make a Bookmark (pdf)
Visit the Getty Museum on Whyville (interactive)
Making Art (videos)

Looking at Art (videos)
View the Collection 
Art Books for Children (age guides)
The Gallery Store (for kids)

What are your favourite ways to learn about art?

Montessori Grammar Materials - Free downloads

I am making some Montessori Grammar materials for my boys at the moment.

I am happy to share them for your personal and classroom use. If you are interested just click on the image to link to the full size file at box.net and please leave a comment to let me know who you are :) Thank you!

The Parts of Speech poem is an amended version of this poem. Please let me know if you are aware of the original source :)

Enjoy! x

Margaret Homfray & the Montessori Grammar Lecture

Margaret Homfray was a student in Maria Montessori's Teacher Training course in London in 1929. She subsequently continued to work with Maria Montessori for more than 20 years. While she was alive Ms. Homfray gave permission for a number of her lectures to be recorded and the Montessori community is blessed to have these direct-source references to Maria Montessori's work.

Margaret Homfray

The video below is relevant to our current study of grammar and I will follow with a post listing all of the lectures in the READING series with more links to come in the future.

Montessori Reading Curriculum, Lecture 6. Phonetic Grammar

Paper Cutting as Practical Life

Print out a page with a grid on it (or find something in the recycled paper as we did) for practice with the paper cutter. 
Show the child how to use the cutter in steps. 
A cutter like this will keep their fingers safe while providing a challenge which can be altered depending on the complexity of the paper grid provided. 
Much concentration is required to line up the paper, position it straight to the blade and then to keep it in place. There is also a built-in control of error  as the paper will not be cut to the grid if all of the steps are not carefully followed.
L loved this work!

Winter blossoms make my heart sing