Scooping

This is a good activity that you can use during the apple season. Look at the presentation, it is very important that an activity looks beautiful and attractive to a child. Apple bowls, matching red mat and the cute scooping spoon, are all so inviting. You can buy these apples from stores like Micheal's, Walmart, Target or any of your local art & craft store. These materials sometimes are seasonal, so make sure you visit one of these stores seasonally.

The child uses her dominant hand, scoops an apple from L-R, one bowl to another and back to the 1st bowl. Helps with managing an order, concentration, eye & hand co-ordination and independence.
 

Here, the child is repeating the scooping process. Notice that she scoops one apple at one time. This emphasize on concentration and order. The child is encouraged to use only his/er dominant hand. The second hand is used to pick the fallen apples only.

The child is patiently scooping the apples from one bowl to another bowl.

Now, scooping the apples to place them on the left bowl, as to make it ready for the next child. Remember, that the child has to always begin the activity from L-R. We read and write from L-R, the number line begins from L-R.

Control of error - scooping from left to right, tilt of the scooping spoon from the tip.

Variations-

these are candies, to my surprise children did not recognize this at all, but if they do you can direct them to work and not eat

Pink stones

Enjoy creating good activities !

Order, Co-ordination, Concentration and Independence

A child pincer grips a bead and place it on the plastic pockets. See that he is picks up only 1 bead at a time. Helps to develop concentration and co-ordination. Notice that the child also picks the bead from L-R, this is order.

Number of bead are equal to the pockets on the plastic mat, which also adds as the control of error and reinforce concentration. When the concentration is re-inforced, encourages independence because the child gets to sit on this activity for a long time and is able to do it by himself without any help. If you start this activity at very early age like 2 years, a child will get familiar to these personality characters of himself/herself that early.

Now, the child pincer grips each bead and place them on a small white leaf saucer. This re-inforce order and co-ordination, for order - the child is directed towards the white saucer to place the beads. So, the order is from basket to the plastic mat to the white saucer and then to the basket again. In the next step, each bead goes back to it's place one at a time, this encourages co-ordination. Notice how neatly child is doing the activity. Children love to do this activity but sometimes because parents and teachers do not understand the benefit of the process of this activity, they discourage them to go in this area - Practical Life (see curriculum). I strongly encourage everyone to emphasize a 2-3 year child on this area for at least 4 months.

Child pours the beads back where he started from - the basket.

Activities that can help O.C.C.I ( order, concentration, co-ordination and independence) are squeezing, scooping, pouring, pounding, twisting, grasping and stringing. These activities are very easy to make at home. It will help your child to concentrate, co-ordinate, order and be independent. Try practicing at home for few months and you will see the difference right away.

Have fun !

Jiggling rice

What fun when you jiggle rice and find a star fish, pine cone, cute eraser, a rock, and other cute objects. This is one other activity that helps a child's hand and eye co-ordination, develops independence and order. It also helps more control over holding objects and the develops hand muscles.

Materials - Plastic jar half filled with rice, some objects(could be your child's favorite things) and a cute bowl of your choice. All the objects are hidden inside the rice.

Procedure - A child tries to open the lid of the jar. You can guide him/er by telling to open from L-R, hold the jar tightly and roll the edges of the lid from L-R. Most of the times children are able to open this lid but if the child is petite then you may have to help by opening it half way, let him/er open completely. Place the lid on the side. Child puts his/er right hand and jiggle into the rice to find one object, place each object in the container on the side.
Note : The child takes only one object at one time.
Once each object is out in the bowl, child returns them back inside the rice in the jar and hides them. Close the lid.

Control of Error - Jar's lid open only one way L-R, Number of the objects.

Enjoy jiggling !!

Paper clips activity

I went to observe Cambridge Montessori School in Cambridge, MA, few years back. The school is beautiful and organized. I was able to observe the classroom of a friend, and couldn't stop raving about the activities and children. Children were so well behaved and such good listeners. I was very thankful to my friend for letting me take pictures of all those activities. The activity I am sharing with you is simple and can be done at home.

Materials - some colorful paper clips and small pieces of art paper or any kind of paper. In the image papers are cut from the edges using the zic-zag scissors.

Age - 2 and above.

Procedure - A child picks one paper and a clip out of the tray. He places the paper in front of him. Using dominant hand pincer grip, he flips 2 metal handles other side, squeeze open and clip the paper in it.

Aim - The child learns to control and balance his hand movements. It encourages concentration, independence, order and co-ordination.

ENJOY !!!

hm, fingers !

From the beginning, I have seen children move their fingers as if they are trying to catch a star :) As they grow, the grip of their fingers gets stronger. We believe that the movement of fingers helps the brain to work faster. I have seen this on myself a lot. If I am continuously typing, my thoughts are loaded, while when I am not then my mind is so relaxed. Even when we cook, our mind is always rushing at full speed.

It's the same with children. The brain is more active and extra charged if the fingers are always wiggling. Hm, I know, you are thinking of the benefits !! Well, there are lots of benefits. But before I go there, I always wonder why people are so result oriented ! Like, lots of times people would skip the process just to see the result. Most of the time they want to know the outcome/benefits/result, nobody really give a thought to the process.

On this note, just to give you a slight hint that Montessori education is all process oriented rather than result oriented. We all observe the child's actions from the beginning, like each step he takes, follow him and guide him through that process. The development of the brain and other internal organs only become stronger when they are continuously in action or say repeatedly practicing. Oh ! let me not divert from my title. So, fingers gives the brain the motive to grow and to be more curious. Wiggly fingers help the child to develop a pincer grip. It is when you a carry an object using your fore finger and thumb.

image taken from www.dicesetter.com

A Pincer grip eventually helps the child to hold a pencil, colors, and carry other objects like a tray, a bowl, a spoon, and everything else. A child begins to develop control over his body. Gradually, learns to balance his movements.

Below are a few beginner activities that can help develop a pincer grip via squeezing.

Activity 1- Squeezing koosh balls

Koosh balls in a basket

Koosh balls are harmless, soft, rubber balls that are easy to grasp and you can clean them with water or just wipes. This is a good activity for a child between 1 year - 3 years. Children simply squeeze these balls, it is a good hand muscle exercise :) Of course, develops their grasping capability, pincer gripping, and control over the fingers. They simply have to squeeze them.

Activity 2 - Tower of cubes

The Pink tower/Tower of cubes/Stacking cubes

Children love this activity. This activity keeps children busy for hours. It is a great exercise because they get to walk to the tower to get each cube one by one, to the rug, but you can do the same thing at home, either on a carpet or in their play room or anywhere they are comfortable to work. The motive is, they should get each cube one by one and spread them randomly, choose the biggest to smallest cube, again, one by one and stack them from big to small. This activity helps to observe, compare, contrast, discriminate, gives reason, helps them decide, solve problems, make judgements, create order, that goes from biggest to smallest and appreciate sequential quantities. That's why I love Montessori education and every time I talk about it, I always feel so lucky to have it in me and that I can share it with others and pass it on to children.

I understand for some people it is very hard to send their children to a Montessori school because either they are too far to reach or there are none in their town. A good variation to the Pink Tower is the famous stacking cubes that you find in every toy store.

image taken from toys r us - http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3472513

Wonder, if you have any ideas to make something on your own. If you do, then it would be my pleasure to get some idea from you. Until then, ENJOY learning :) !

Tiny hands. Really ?!

There are lots of good things about Montessori curriculum. One of it is the 'house keeping shelf' in the Practical Life area. That is a pure life saver. It is simple, attractive and you get everything at one place. Infact, I was so convinced that I wanted to have one at my home. I always suggest people to have this, if not the exact one but at least partially. The other day I was walking in IKEA and saw smaller version of the house keeping area. I love that too. It is small and convenient. People with bigger homes and apartments can nicely afford the one I have it in the picture.

Aha !! What a delight ! From Top - bottom, L-R : there is a broom, dust pan - brush, dusting puff, small wooden dust pan-brush for cleaning dry spills on the table, plastic dustpan and brush, wiping towels, Q-tips, cottons, small hand made wipe (love them !), big towels and a bucket. You must be thinking why we need a bucket. Bucket is used to clean the water spilled on the floor. Wipe the water squeeze it into the bucket and pour it into the sink. Love it. Is this not such a great activity to let a child know to manage their work and be more independent.



There must be some parents thinking, why do those tiny hands need to work so hard ?! Why are the adults for ?! In lots of countries you get that help from paid helpers. There is always somebody else available for a child. But do you guys think of what will happen when they are teenagers or an adult, now they get all the support from you and you do all their work. They will be so used to of having that help all the time, they will never realize the importance of independence and taking charge of their life. Nobody is too small for any learning. Imagine, when dependence forces a child to be physically lethargic and lazy. When I was a child, there were helpers around me all the time and would do every single work for me. Even to get a glass a water there would be a person. It was hard for me to do my own work. Struggled in my early years. Now, I have learned my good lesson. But I would not want my child to struggle like I did. Would you ?



So, if we have an organized place like this, that also looks so attractive and simple to look at, anybody would love to work on their own. Yes, it will take some time till you make some ground rules and till everyone follows them at home. But, the process to get your goal is fun and brings people close to each other. Develops relationship, forms the personality. We all want to be happy, who does not ! And happy, clean home adds to your happiness. In the end, it's not just the home, you are making an independent person of your child here, giving him his happiness for life. I think it is the biggest gift of our life - to be independent.

Children watch us

Children watch us every single time !!! It comes naturally to them. It's their brain telling them "hey, I can do what she is doing !" It is the way neurons work in their brain from their day of conception. This wide net is forming and developing. And that is why children are so curious to know everything around their environment. Their mind is like a sponge that absorbs everything just by their presence. Isn't this amazing !

I was amazed to observe this while showing a child a lesson in our Sensorial area (will get there soon). It was not that I was expecting him to do this activity right for the first time. But, I was amazed how well the child mimicked me during arranging the cubes from L-R and top-bottom. That was a great job for a 4 year old to arrange the cubes so well, I thought ! Well, after few days he was having fun while doing 'Binomial cube' again and again. Aha ! such a beautiful sight to see a child normalized. I am using some terms which may be hard for you all to understand but keep reading on, I will explain them all.

On that note, here is an activity that I had suggested parents from ages 2-6 years old.

Activity 2 - Folding socks.

Children love their socks. They'll force you to buy most cartoonish socks sold around. The displayed picture is from my classroom. But you can just simply ask them to stay around you during laundry and they will help you fold their socks at least, and then may be everyone's ! This is a 2 step activity as simple as shown in the picture. Older children can manipulate a little more than younger one's. Here, the child learns that a sock folds in two ways - downwards or upwards. A simple equation to understand. Enjoy !

Small wonders

I have talked to lots of parents about things they can do at home to help their children learn to be independent. Being a Montessori teacher allows me to work with children of ages 2-6 years and I know, how challenging it can be to create that perfect environment for a multiple age group. There are so many parents who wish that their children learn to be independent, co-operative and communicative. Others may be luckier !

In my classroom, I have 6 working areas named as - Practical life, Sensorial, Math, Language, Geography and Art. For their individual time we have a Library. For a bigger classroom, we can add History and a Peace Corner. Peace Corner is my personal favorite. Well, surely we cannot convert our living room, kitchen and bedrooms into a classroom. Wonder, what a home would become !

So, to make things simpler, for all the parents and teachers, it is my pleasure to share a few activities that you can accommodate at home. This will help your child to develop co-ordination, independence, order and concentration.

Activity 1 - Scooping/Twisting wooden beans

Here, your child can either scoop or twist around the beans using hands. In simple language they can play with these wooden beans. You can add variations to it by using - pasta/noodles, grains, baby toys  of your choice. This bowl may be placed in any reasonable corner or area of your house. Or, your child can simply work on it in front of you while you watch t.v ! I have so far not registered any choking hazard with this activity. The idea of this activity is to keep the child focused with his work and letting him know that the beans belong in the bowl and not outside. Great activity to develop concentration.