Wanting to add some craft fun into our daily routine this summer, I picked up a used copy of Around the World Art & Activities: Visiting the 7 Continents Through Craft Fun .

I was drawn (no pun intended) to the idea of learning more about world cultures and their arts and crafts and it seemed like a great way to give some structure to our mornings. I’d assemble our materials and then we’d come to the table and sing through …

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Previously, I posted about using songs to signal transitions in the classroom. Today, however, I’d like to focus on using songs as teaching devices. Singing makes everything more fun (at least in our house) and it really aids with memory work. Children really seem to love using their voices to sing tunes and if you can sneak some facts in there, all the better! Here are some songs that we sing almost daily around here.
The Continents Song
We learned this song …

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This has nothing to do with loyalty, but I love that my kids were camped out in the crib reading books together.
I’ve been thinking a lot about loyalty lately and being loyal to my family has been at the forefront of that thinking. In society, we talk a lot about loyalty–to country, to employer, to spouse. But I don’t think we talk enough about another very important kind of loyalty–loyalty to our children. Often, I find that in an attempt …

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Just wanted to share this lovely poem I came across recently. I hope it is as inspiring to you as it is to me.
If I Had My Child to Raise Again
If I had my child to raise all over again,
I’d finger-paint more, and point fingers less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I would care to know less and know to care more.
I’d take more hikes and fly more …

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Hi, all! I’m going to post about my February goal results soon, but until then, head on over to Lee Taylor Photography for a fantastic (and I mean FANTASTIC) giveaway. My darling friend, and super talented photographer, is giving away 2 free sessions to 2 very lucky winners. Mandi has done birthday photo shoots for us in the past and, trust me, she’s awesome. I’m keeping my fingers crossed because I would love for her to do our baby’s newborn …

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Oh, sure. Montessori work is great for things like developing hand-eye coordination, teaching autonomy, encouraging responsibility. But you know what else it’s good for? Distracting hungry kids. Pure and simple.
It was that time of the day. You know the one. I’m trying to get dinner ready in the kitchen. Dinner prep is taking twice as long as it should (or maybe could?) because Monkey wants me to hold him and show him and feed him. It’s an hour before bedtime, …

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So, I’m guessing a lot of you have heard of the book The Happiness Project: Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (how’s that for a title?) by Gretchen Rubin. It’s been on the New York Times Bestseller list and gotten its fair share of buzz. I read the book in December and was motivated to work on my own happiness project, a la …

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If there’s one thing kids these days often don’t get enough of it’s etiquette training. Don’t you think? A lot of people might shove etiquette to the side and label it as old-fashioned, but good manners just can’t be beat. If you’d like to teach and reinforce principles of etiquette to your child in a fun way, may I offer a suggestion?
Behold, the Polite Pigs!
Good Manners Flash Cards from eeBoo (teeth marks across top not included)
These Good Manners Flash Cards are …

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I have to admit, when I first started working at our Montessori preschool, I was a bit overwhelmed–by both the number of children (28) and by the age range of those children (18 months to 6 years). The 18 month-old is the child of one of the other instructors and the 6 year-old is a homeschooled child whose mother wanted to give him some social learning time. Most of the children are between the ages of 3 and 5. I …

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As the busy term comes to an end, I find myself with a bit more time to post and a renewed desire to think through all I’ve learned these past several months. As I mentioned before (like a million years ago), since August I have had the pleasure of working in a real-life Montessori classroom. With almost 30 children and 3 supervising adults in one classroom, things can get a little crazy (more on that another time), but it’s been …

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