Here’s a glimpse at what Pearl has been working with the past couple of days. Prepare yourself for lots of pictures.

See my new cabinet? And doesn't the sight of tidy trays of work just make you happy? Or am I the only one...

You know what else makes me happy? This great plaque that my friend gave me. What a weird word--plaque.

As a sidenote, here's my current solution to little hands that want to get into everything. Works like a charm.

Sandpaper letters, a classic Montessori activity. Pearl traces the sandpaper letters with her finger and we say the phonemes for each letter as she traces. She chooses this work quite often. I got this set of letters (and sets of lowercase letters and numbers) from Lakeshore Learning.

An example of work that I wish she would choose more often. This set of blocks with the pegged holder comes with several pattern sheets. Once your child is comfortable making the patterns with the blocks, there are sheets with blank spaces in the patterns for your child to fill in on their own with the blocks. I got this set from Lakeshore Learning and keep putting it out hoping that Pearl will work with it more.

A nice little stamping set from Melissa and Doug.

A valentine center with glue, foam hearts, coloring items, and paper. This work was a big hit until the glue stick ran out of glue. Adding it to my shopping list.

Beads! Pearl loves bead work.

I thought Pearl would enjoy this valentine-appropriate work of spooning individual cinnamon candies into a heart-shaped ice cube tray and I was right. She loved it. A little too much, unfortunately. I couldn't get her to stop eating the candy hearts, so this work is currently in time out.

So, that’s what we’re working on this week. I just had my inaugural run with my new laminating machine and made a nice set of matching fruit cards. This set took the place of the tempting spooning work and I’ll post pictures of it soon.

In review, here are some of the skills taught through all of this work:

  • Letter recognition
  • Letter sounds
  • Pre-writing letters
  • Pattern recognition
  • Hand-eye coordination
  • Pencil grasping muscles strengthened
  • Creative expression (not really taught, but you get the idea)
  • Coordinated movement

In addition, each time she chooses a tray, takes it to her table, completes her work and then cleans up and returns the tray to the cabinet, concepts of independent learning, responsibility, and care for your environment are being reinforced. Gotta love Montessori.

P.S. I have no affiliation whatsoever with Lakeshore Learning or Melissa and Doug. Just love their products.

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