Making Things More Simple

January 31, 2016 by Freebird SpeaksUncategorized

We are transitioning. Since I’ve had the opportunity to meet a new friend & also be guided by her expertise as a Montessori teacher, things are changing around here. The girls are more interested & driven to learn and there is an independence about them that begs us to notice it. And we have. Every day the firms look forward to the things on their shelf. They never know if it will stay the same or if it will change. If something will be added & if something has been exhausted. During the day I set up something extra on certain days at the middle of the day, whether it’s an open ended play with the rainbow and blocks or an activity that centers itself around an insect or animal, like the life of the ant. We break up the day with something different whether it’s laid out and discovered or if I present it at the table etc.

Beginning with the shelves. They are more propelled towards practical life now & sensorial ideas. The aim is to teach self regulation in the form of focus. This is a skill Lily highly needs. And it is doing good to teach Maggie to slow down to experience perfection.

This is how our shelf looked after Bridgette left. Mostly spooning excercises & pouring. Looks boring but it’s the basic important stuff. It’s fantastic.

Lily did very well with the spooning excercise. One of her weaknesses has always been self feeding. Recently, she took interest to eating with a spoon & fork and finally didn’t care about the error to gain the skill. I covered her in towels & the spilling was no longer an issue. She is doing very well with the pea & bean spooning so these things compliment each other.

Here Maggie is working with the geometry cabinet. The circle drawer. She learned here how to properly space her circles so they fit together in a nicely well spaced line easy to see & study.

Maggie & the brown stairs.

Then she realized they were the same size.

And then it happened. Lily chose the pink tower after much hesitation in the beginning after realizing the care that had to be taken with them as she is used to free play with blocks.