Montessori Monday~ A New Plan of Action!
Well after all of my questions last week and all of your amazing advice, I think I have a plan of action that is going to give our school room the focus it so desperately need! We started today and Bunny really did a great job with more structure! She even was able to choose a research thing to look into! Pup didnt fare so well, but I think that she needs to start understanding her boundaries when its school time (its time to work and she needs to stay in the school room). Anyway, I made a skeleton plan for the next 6 weeks. My hope is that this allows me to know what is coming up next and what we need to do from which album, while offering enough wiggle room to explore other things. It takes alot of pressure off of trying to make sure that we are getting it all in within the research work. I think that I may have underestimated our ability to get things done, so this list may need to be explained in the last couple of weeks of my plan.The plan ends us right at the beginning of December, so that will let us have a break for all the fun of holiday planning! 🙂 Here is what we are going to be up to!
Math:
Bunny:
Finger charts (daily, we need to do remedial work badly)
Snake Games (if interested)
Equivalency of Fractions
Addition of Fractions
Pup:
Sandpaper Numbers
Number rod work
Language:
Grammar (Adjective and Verb)
Grammar Farm
Word Study (compound words, prefixes and suffixes)
Mechanics (capital letters, period and sentence)
Daily Reading Practice
Writing work (I think I may have her start a journal)
Metal Insets to practice pencil control
Pup:
Sound games
Sandpaper letters
Sand tray
Metal insets
Geometry
Finish Polygon work
Angles Study
Pup:
Intro to shapes (using the metal insets since I dont have a geometry cabinet)
Geometric solids
Geography
Composition of the Earth
Formation of Mountains
Sun and Earth (space, if we get to it)
Pup:
Same as Bunny, but using the Primary Albums
Great Lessons
Finish lesson 4 and 5
Redo God With No Hands
Science:
Start the Physical Science album from Karen Tyler. Bunny never did it, so I will do it with them both and Bunny and I can explore it deeper.
Music
Sensorial Bell Work
Notation (If we get to it)
So there you have it! Like I said this is our plan for now. Bunny and I are going to sit down together each morning and write out a work plan. This worked really well today, so I have a great hope that is will appeal to her very organized personality. Today her work was:
adjective/ noun family,
grammar farm,
reading,
writing,
finger charts,
state of matter presentation,
Grain Study (she asked to add this because this is what she wanted to learn about)
And we did it all! She had a good time, there was no major crying fits from her, and she was happy! Hooray! After she finished the traditional work, she wanted to see what kinds of grains would turn into flour when it is ground. We looked at some of the books we had about early humans and saw how they first ground grains a long time ago. So she asked if she could explore it with the mortal and pestle we have. I told her sure. She tried dried beans, corn, and oats. The oats were easiest and she spent an hour grinding them up into flour and sifting out the hard bits. She wants to do more tomorrow to make bread. Today she ended up with about a half a cup of flour!
October 30, 2012 @ 2:14 am
Glad you were able to create a plan and stick with it. Great to see the kids working and enjoying themselves! I also wanted to thank you for the Timeline of Life Download, I printed it today and it looks amazing! Thank you so much!
October 30, 2012 @ 6:23 pm
Ohhh…I am so glad that you liked it and can use it! It was so tricky to try and find good resources for the Time Line of Life! Thanks for stopping by!
October 30, 2012 @ 8:43 am
There are some grips for pencils you can buy from amazon and other places that can be helpful. However it can also help to do lots of fine motor practical life , like transferring grains of rice with fingers, or with tiny tweezers. I have found that practical life has a very short shelf life with some children. I know that at school the shelf is changed every two weeks and that is for 14 children. As you are at home you could also change the location. We use the garden a lot but we haves dedicated teacher out there all the time. However, you might think up something creative.
I love the look of the plans. Don’t worry if you go off piste so to speak. Just knowing where you are heading can be the greatest help of all. And bunny is doing the same work as Livi and she is a year younger so do not get her up about remedial. I think some associations have completely unrealistic expectations of children. I have certainly not got any children who start the maths album when they get into my classroom. Keep in mind your states requirements and you will see you are fulfilling and more their standards even while you feel bunny is behind. She isn’t. She is completely age appropriate in both maths and reading and writing. Keep on presenting and enjoying learning together and when she is ten no one will be able to tell how she was doing now, at six.
October 30, 2012 @ 6:32 pm
I really love the idea of moving my practical life to different places. I think that Pup would like that alot! It is a really good idea. I dont know what is going on with her. She is loving the science stuff however, so maybe I just need to do more of that and then she will feel like doing the “easy” work after!
I think that you are right about not worring so much about where Bunny is at. She really is fine by state standards, but when I read the albums and what a 6 year old should know, its hard to relax. At least with the plan, she seems to be enjoying the work more! Thank you so very much for taking the time to walk me through this! You are the best!
October 30, 2012 @ 4:34 pm
What about sewing for Pup?
October 30, 2012 @ 6:35 pm
Marnie what a good idea! I think I forgot about sewing! I was also thinking that a wisking work would be fun! She could use a dropper to add the dish soap to a bowl of water and wisk until there are bubbles. Thanks so much for stopping by and offering your thoughts!
November 1, 2012 @ 3:09 am
Love your plan!! Let me share something with you… Every morning, my princess its the one who pics her own works,… in the last few days, she just dont know what to pick!!! Can you beleive it??, then the cry…., so, I dont want to loose my peace soooo early in the morning!!lol, so I make two lists of 3 works per area, and the picks in her order and what se wants of that list!! Beleive me… Its the better way of start the day!! I should do that before!! … and now math… Should I have to? awwwwww!!! Beleive me, structure its OK!!! They work more happy!!!
and yes, sewing its a great idea!!! you also can try paper sewing… its cool!! and funnels too!!
Big hugs!!
November 8, 2012 @ 10:20 pm
Thanks Karen! You are the best! The structure is working out much better because now there is things that need to be done and Bunny is so much better with a plan! Thanks for all your love! I love the paper sewing idea! Too Fun!
November 4, 2012 @ 4:54 am
I’m so glad to see your new plan is working well, Stephanie! Thanks for sharing your ideas and experiences! I featured your post at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page this week: http://www.facebook.com/LivingMontessoriNow
November 8, 2012 @ 10:21 pm
Thank you Deb! I love all the cool things you pop up on FB! It’s cool that I make it up there sometimes too!