Starting Montessori

I have been reading the books by Barbara Curtis titled, "Mommy, Teach Me!" and "Mommy, Teach Me to Read!" I actually purchased them a year ago and skimmed through them, then they got put aside. Just recently on a Homeschool.com message board thread I brought up the "Mommy, Teach Me to Read!" book. I decided it was time to start reading it again. So I read both books and decided it was time to organize and plan. I ordered some sandpaper letters from Montessoi Outlet, but I am still waiting for them. So I decided to start introducing the girls to some simple practical life exercises. On Monday I introduced the spooning.

Tabitha showed great concentration, though she hasn't been interested in doing it again. Come to think of it, maybe she thinks she needs to wait for me to give it to her. I will let her know that she is able to get it off the shelf if she wants to do it.

Amelia also enjoyed this and shows great concentration. When I worked at the Montessori we gave the younger children bigger things to spoon, like cotton balls, but she seems to do well with the dried beans. She doesn't quite get the concept of going from left to right. Once she gets some in the right side she tends to go back and forth. And she likes to hold the spoon in her right hand and use her left hand to move the beans. She keeps trying to play with it on the shelf though so it does keep getting moved up, another reason Tabitha may not be using this work. Doing Montessori at home with an almost 3 year old and a 18 month old is sure different than having the age groups separated.

I did struggle for a while on what to use for trays. I want to see if the thrift shop has any decent ones. But for now I am using shoe box lids. Lots of improvising going on here finances the way they are.