Montessori Triangles

I made some of the Montessori constructive triangles for Kiddo. I was going to make them out of matte board, but when I went into the art store I saw the craft foam and realized that it would be so much easier. It was really inexpensive and very easy to make them. My favorite is the batch of 12 blue scalene triangles. So simple and yet so versatile. Even if you are not into the Montessori method, they are great for free exploration and an excellent sensory experience in making shapes and the science of geometry. Kiddo enjoyed experimenting with them. Full disclosure: I made the shape in the top photo!
Montessori purists would be horrified at my lack of structured presentation of the materials. But truth be told, I like their materials more than I like the rigidity of the system (or maybe I just don't understand it well enough). Plus, I am just not that organized.

I made box #1 and box #2 (alas, no photo) also. You can find the templates here.

Moon Activities, Phase 4

Several Traditions have names for the full moon of each month. The most familiar is the Harvest Moon, occurring in September (occasionally in October). Each month's moon has a special name. You can read about them here and here.

I cut out 12 large circles in a few colors and each month Kiddo will make a moon reflecting that month's traditional name.
As you can see, I had to let go of any preconceived notions I had as to what a Harvest Moon might look like! Also, he used so much glue it took three days to dry!Reading Assignment:
Long Night's Moon A nice intro to the full moon names.
The Birth of the Moon I loved this book which is a subtle introduction to the way the moon reflects the sun's light.

Read a Banned Book

Sept 26 - Oct 3 is Banned Book Week... as in Read One, not ban one.
Don't be afraid of knowledge. And for heaven's sake, don't teach your kid to be afraid of it.

Ways to celebrate the free circulation of knowledge:
1. READ
2. Discuss what you read with other people.
3. Support your library with a donation. Consider how much money you save every year by patronizing you local library and repay them for their generosity.

Resources:
ALA
Banned Books Week

Quarterly Report

Quarters: the perfect plaything for a child who is currently obsessed with states and dates.

Moon Activities, Phase 3

This was a super easy moon activity designed to reinforce the concept that the moon's phases run on a monthly cycle. Also, its a good way to use all those charity calendars.Using office supply stickers and one calendar already marked with the moon phases, Kiddo identified on an unmarked calendar which days in the coming months the moon will be new, waxing half, full and waning half.

Easy, fun and kept him occupied for a time, what more could I want?

Reading Assignment: Billy the Bird (chapter book read aloud)

Nature's Manipulatives

Kiddo has been collecting acorns in the park.They are the perfect manipulative. Great for sorting (size, color, with or without hat), counting and pretend play.
Best of all, they are free, are not made in China and decompose when you are done.
Go get some!

Time Travel to the Theater

Kiddo loves to check out the train and bus schedules and is constantly asking what time it is, so for our trip into Manhattan this past weekend we made a chart to track our travel times. He was totally into it. I was surprised to find out that he was able to accurately tell me how to draw the clock hands! I don't remember teaching him that! His mind is like a sponge. Mine is like a sieve.
Before:After:Seeing the end results helped Kiddo develop a sense of how the time had passed, especially looking at the clock faces.
Our trip was to see Shona Reppe's performance of Cinderella touring from Scotland at the New Victory Theater. If you live in the area, I urge you to see this marvellously whimsical and inventive production. The place was filled with girls, but I was pleased to see some boys there, too. Kiddo LOVED it.

Shiksa in the Kitchen: Apple Challah

It is safe to say that Daddy-O is a fairly non-observant Jew: he lights the candles at Hanukkah, tells the Exodus story to any willing ear during Passover and takes the day off work (but doesn't fast) for Yom Kippur. I'm pretty sure Kiddo will not be attending Hebrew school. However, I try to encourage a little tradition for each holiday. This year I decided to make an Apple Challah for Rosh Hashanah. Apples and Honey are traditionally eaten to welcome a sweet New Year.I rolled diced apples, lemon juice, cinnamon and honey in the center of three strands. I never peel my apples before baking. It seems like such a waste of time, energy and nutrients (and color!).Even though Challah is often formed in a circle for Rosh Hashana, I stayed with the typical braided version.
When you slice, you see a delicious surprise!

Since it is almost impossible to walk around Brooklyn for two days without encountering a nice young man with the shofar and an extra kippah we can add hearing the shofar to our tradition, too. (Although this year Rosh Hashanah is on Shabbat, so I'm not sure what happens - do they skip it just on the first day or both days?)

Reading Assignment:
Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride. When I saw this in the library a few weeks ago, I couldn't help but giggle... the High Holy days AND a train? Sign us up!
The World's Birthday
It's Shofar Time!
Even Higher! This is better for slightly older children.
The Stars Will Still Shine. Actually, this is a secular new year book and a church figures prominently, but it is a lovely book and since we are an interfaith household, it seems appropriate.

L'Shana Tova!

Making Numbers

Kiddo likes to use his Montessori decimal number cards to make numbers he finds in books. He found the space section at the library and has been bringing home books about the planets. They have a lot of big numbers in them. So, of course, he has to make them.He gets so much mileage out of these number cards. He is also fond of recreating the numbers in his sudoku book. They were one of the best purchases ever.

Old Fashioned Fun: Whirligig

During our staycation we visited the Lefferts House (yes, yes, we go there a lot). As it was a holiday weekend they had a craft station and Kiddo made this simple but highly entertaining whirligig.Cut a cardboard circle, decorate it and pierce a small hole in the center. Thread a long piece of yarn or ribbon through the hole, tying the ends together.

To use:
Holding the ends of the yarn, spin the whirligig around and around. Once you have it going, pull the yarn in opposite directions, but not too tight. The circle should spin fast and you can look at your decoration to see how it looks different in motion. Experiment with keeping the yarn tight, or giving it a bit of slack.

Here's a link for more exacting instructions.

What's in the Activity Book

It's no secret I am not a fan of worksheets. Apparently, however, I am totally misguided.
One of Kiddo's quiet time activities is his activity pages binder. He could not be more in love with it and spends hours working on it.
A few blogs (forgive me, I can't remember which ones) posted that you can reuse work pages by putting them in page protectors and using dry erase markers.This makes them infinitely more fun.
I'm still pretty picky about what pages I choose for his book. Mostly it is traditional mazes, number mazes and grid work. (Thanks, Julie... it was a huge hit)
P.S. I still hate coloring books.

Practical Life: Dish washing

I needed to do a sink full of dishes and clear off the table but Kiddo wanted to play dominoes. I realized this would be a good time for some practical work since we could not play dominoes at the dirty table. I can't believe I've never done any dish washing practical life work with Kiddo. He was actually excited about it.

I set him up with a low square bucket on the counter next to me. He chose a sponge: blue, his favorite color, and I showed him how to wash his own dishes. You can see the fruits of his labor in the photo. I love that little metal cup... it was mine when I was a kid. Whenever I make myself some tea Kiddo likes to have tea in it; his is just honey, hot water and some milk.

He loved dish washing and asked me to show him "how to do something else" he didn't "know how to do." So next we cleaned off the table and I showed him how to sponge it down.

And then we played.

Moon Activities, Phase 2

I'm not sure why I spent so much time making this moon puzzle when I have so many other things to do but, as my mother says, "I got a bee in my bonnet."
I made it on poster board and used white and black card stock for the moon phases. I included "control of error" (as the Montessorians say) in ordering the names of phases by cutting the end of each as puzzle pieces. However, there is no inherent control of error with the moons themselves. You would have to provide a separate chart, or look in a book. You can see that Kiddo is making an error here. (Also I messed up with the Waxing Gibbous Moon and we had to fix it!)I hope, since it took me so long to make this, that he wants to do it again!

We also printed out these moon phase three part cards. I don't think they are fantastic, and again, you have to provide your own control of error for the order of the phases.
Extra Credit Reading:
Moon (Jump into Science)
The Moon Ring

Toys for Clunkers

I just realized that I had forgotten to post about our toys for clunkers experiment. So negligent.

Thanks to everyone who gave such great suggestions. Kiddo's choices were Citiblocs, Magnatiles and Lincoln Logs. He chose Citiblocs, which I think he thought were the coolest because of the awesome photos. I also was entranced by them.

However............

When I revealed the news that this would be in exchange for the box of clunkers I had sitting in front of me, there were tears. People, it was sad.

I had to opt for plan B.

Automoblox. Actually, these are super groovy and since we got the small ones, we could afford the three pack (because having just one seems pointless). They are mostly wood and have interchangeable parts for a bit of creative involvement. He immediately agreed and has been playing with them ever since they arrived. I guess it was only fair to trade transportation for transportation.

I still have the box of clunkers because I have not had the opportunity to put it out on the curb for another unsuspecting parent lucky child. I don't think Kiddo could handle seeing me do that.

Extra Credit Reading: If I Built a Car

The Domino Effect

During our "staycation" we have been playing a lot of dominoes. Dominoes is great for visual recognition of quantities. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that Kiddo is a huge fan of numbers and counting.It's a fun way to spend New Kid's nap time, but if he doesn't draw that double six, Kiddo feels as though the world might just come to an end.

Last year, Kiddo played around with visual quantities with this game.

Visiting the Real Curious Garden

We are having a staycation (This word "staycation" is so useful, and yet so annoying.) of sorts around here. Hence, the lack of daily posts. We haven't been doing many indoor activities, either. Instead, we've been exploring the city.

Fans of Peter Brown's book, The Curious Garden, may know that he was inspired by Manhattan's High Line Railway. The first section of the new High Line park opened this summer. It is an incredibly delightful meeting of urban decay and urban renewal.
I loved:
the masterful garden design which made the plantings seem like accidental happeningsthe juxtaposition of beauty with decayKiddo loved:
walking the trackshanging out on the loungers set on railway wheelswatching the traffic from big glass windowsWe all loved:
the artisan ice cream truck We can't wait for the next section (rumored to have a playground and picnic area) to open!

Just a Thought

I am making a small departure from my usual blogging topic...

I hear rumors that some people are not sending their children to school today so their children will not be exposed to Obama's "socialist" speech to school children. Aside from the fact that this shows a lack of understanding as to the definition of socialism, and that his speech will not contain much more than the controversial message to stay in school, spend more time learning, your parents and teachers are your partners, etc., this saddens me. And not just because those same people most likely would have been outraged had a similar disrespect been shown for Bush. I am saddened because it means these parents do not trust their children to be critical thinkers.

Even if you do not agree with Obama's political leanings, why not discuss it with your children? Ask them what THEY think. Ask them to discuss what they hear in the speech. Did they agree with what Obama said? Did they disagree? WHY? Ask them what THEY think BEFORE you tell them what YOU believe, if they ask you.

I have certain political and cultural leanings. So does my husband. There is no reason why Kiddo has to have the same. Sure, I will share my thoughts with him. Sure, I will tell him the reasons I have for my way of thinking. But I will also tell him what others believe, and I hope he will ask why, explore the issues, remain open minded and come to his own conclusions. The last thing I want his for him to simply mimic my beliefs.

So go ahead, send your children to school today. Or if you homeschool, watch, listen, learn and discuss. Do not hide your child from the world. And if you're feeling reckless you could send them to school with a note like this.

There is so much talk about how schools don't teach our children how to think. Well, why should they, if parents don't allow their children to be exposed to ideas other than their own.

Practical Life: Closing a Door

After gritting my teeth after Kiddo slammed the door for the umpteenth time I decided a different approach might be in order. So I stepped into my most enthusiastic voice and said, "Kiddo! I just realized I never taught you how to close a door! Watch!" I showed him that if he turned the handle before closing the door, it doesn't slam. "Wow!" He was into it, actually and practiced a few times.

I won't lie to you, I still hear the door slam a lot, but every now and then I catch Kiddo testing out how to close a door silently.

It's amazing how far a peppy attitude will get you.

Moon Activities, Phase 1

The title of this post should be, "How I Make the Coolest Project Ever but Can Only Get Terrible Photos of It."

We have been reading some books about the moon lately (see end of post for three of them) and I have been working on some moon activities to accompany our reading. The first is our Moon Phase Viewer. I know this is not a good tutorial with photos and everything and the result is not a beautiful creation... For all you crafty folks out there I would like you to know that I did try hard, but let's face it, I will never be featured on The Crafty Crow.

I found another use for the salt containers I have been hoarding...
First I cut off one end of the salt container. In the opposite end I used an x-acto knife to cut 4 moon phases: new, full, half and crescent. I lined the full moon cut out with blue cellophane and the others with yellow. I then attached a circle with a cut out to the same end using a brad (you can see in the photo).
At the reverse end of the container I cut a hole to fit a small flashlight, inserted and taped the flashlight in place (otherwise I knew Kiddo would push it into the viewer and we would have to take it apart to retrieve the light! I taped the end back in place and decorated it with construction paper and stickers.

Here is a blurry photo of the full moon made by the viewer. Check out the real thing tomorrow night.

Reading Assignment:
Papa, Please get the Moon for Me
I Took the Moon for a Walk
The Moon Seems to Change

More moon activities to come soon.

At the Pump

One thing I love about where we live is we are within walking distance of so many great places. One of our favorites is the Lefferts House and recently we braved the 90 degree heat wave for some old fashioned fun. Kiddo loves the water pump and this time he asked me how it worked. Ah! Caught off guard! I knew it had something to do with suction but could not describe the action to him. I'll have to look that up before we head over there in a few weeks for the Harvest Festival.