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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Here it is…the moment you’ve all been waiting for…my review of Maria Montessori’s classic text, The Absorbent Mind. My apologies for the long blog post. I couldn’t help it!

The Absorbent Mind by Maria Montessori
Truth be told, I think I’ve been putting off writing this review because the task just seemed overwhelming. How to review a pivotal text in early childhood education in a manner that is thorough but concise, that does it justice without boring you to tears, that adequetly …

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I know, I know. I said I was going to review The Absorbent Mind next. But after I said that, I picked up my copy of Teach Me to Do it Myself: Montessori Activities for You and Your Child and felt like it made for a nice compare/contrast review right after my review of Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years. Don’t worry, The Absorbent Mind really is next–I promise. Oh, and just a warning. I think I use …

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Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years by Elizabeth Hainstock
Introduction
This small volume, only 115 pages long, is a lovely little introduction to Montessori methods and a guide to creating and using Montessori materials in your home. Hainstock has created a glimpse into the Montessori world with brief overviews of Maria Montessori’s work and life, how to create a learning environment in your home, how to set up and demonstrate the various exercises (practical-life, sensorial, reading and writing, and arithmetic), …

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Remember that great treasury of picture book classics that I mentioned here? Well, it has brought another enchanting gem into our family library.

Goodnight Moon written by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd
Although I was more familiar with this text than with Harold and the Purple Crayon, I’m almost ashamed to admit that it wasn’t part of our collection of picture books until recently. In one word, Goodnight Moon is lovely. Lovely text whose rhythm is practically a lullaby, lovely illustrations …

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I adore books. For several years in college, I worked two floors underground in our university library’s special collections. Pretty much the coolest place on campus. This collection houses everything from ancient clay tablets inscribed with glyphs to real-life Oscar awards, not to mention the rows and rows of first editions, rare manuscripts, and fragile photos (ah, the prestige of donning a coat and entering the cold storage photo archives). I told you it was awesome.
Anyway, back to the point. …

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