Montessori on a Shoestring - book

This website tells about a new publication for moms implementing Montessori. Scroll down and you can view a few of the pages free. There are some cute (and cheap!) ideas in there. I heard about this from 4Real.

early reading materials

(sara): I'd love to be posting more CGS presentations, but ds3 is so ready for more reading materials. Ds5 kindof skipped this part... but lately I put together what is known as "pink reading" materials in our classroom. I put the consonant "sound bins" in this shoe organizer on the closet door:


Each one contains a sandpaper letter, a letter book (from Discovery Toys), flashcards with words and images, and images without any words on them, which are used for a variety of activities. These were made from sticker books found at Target, and laminated.



I recently cleaned out my kitchen cupboards and was appalled at how many plastic containers I have accumulated. I decided to use these for the vowel sound bins:

And these for digraph (i.e., ph, sh, th, etc.) sound bins:

We also use the book Phonics Pathways extensively. There is a game at the beginning of this book called the "short vowel shuffle" to teach the short-vowel sounds. We have been playing it this past week - the boys love it!

making bead material

(Sara): I really love Montessori math. Unfortunately (or should I say, of course!) it's the most expensive category of materials to purchase, and time-consuming to make. Because I have had the hobby of making & repairing rosaries in the past, I had most of the tools needed to make bead material. I just haven't had much time.

Here's how I made my "golden bead" material. Yes, the beads are traditionally wooden, not black. But that's what I already had at home. I bought the wire at Walmart. Thread 10 beads on at a time,

and then make a 90 degree bend on the end of the wire, about 1/2 inch in length.

Use a needle-nose plier to bend the wire back the opposite way, forming a loop. Close it so the circle is snugly formed.

To make hundred squares, I wove wire around 10 of these, just enough to keep them snugly together. I made 1 large and 3 small sets of number cards on cardstock.

I have made the small bead stair in the same manner, using appropriately colored beads.

I have purchased other math materials, including number rods, the stamp game, addition strip board, multiplication and division boards, and squaring chains. I'm always happy to address questions on any of these materials.

survival mode...

(sara): Two of the most-frequent contributors to this blog have recently had babies. That means that our families are undoubtedly in "survival mode" for at least a few weeks (or months.) That's just the nature of life with a newborn: sleep deprivation, the need for physical rest, visitors, adjustments all around.

Before the birth of our latest child, we started having a book or feast of the day, as mentioned in a previous post. This project has turned out to be a big help in keeping the learning going as we navigate these crazy days we're in. It ensures that my 5yo has his "daily dose" of good literature and handwriting practice. The posters I ordered from the CatholicCompany were just what I hoped they'd be (except that they are too big for my handy-dandy planning binder!) There are interesting pictures of the feast day on the front, and biographical info. on the back. It only takes us about 5 minutes to read, but provides fruitful discussion for the whole day.

comprehensive lists

Montessori For Everyone sells these pdf. files that are "Comprehensive Lists" of all the main Monressori activites. They begin with toddler (18 mo. - 3yo) and move on up.

A book or feast for each day...

(sara:) I recently bought a book-stand at Walmart. (The 2 round things on it are magnets.) Every morning we are picking a different book to be our Book of the Day. Although we (or the 5yo) read several books a day already, I'm hoping that this will help us remember to read a variety of books. We have accumulated quite a number of books in recent years, and some of them seem to get "hidden" in the bookshelves. Occasionally library books get returned that I haven't read with the kids yet. I think this will help.


Underneath the book-stand is a journal where the 5yo writes the date and title of each book, each day. He has always been a reluctant writer, like many boys his age I think, but this is a simple, short task to let him practice a little bit each day. As time goes on, I think he'll be proud of the progress he'll inevitably make.



Now alternately, I intend to occasionally substitute a poster to celebrate the various liturgical feast days. So far, I only have posters of the 12 apostles, which were cut from an old (free!) parish calendar and laminated. (11 onto red for martyrdom, John on white.) This Sunday we celebrate Peter & Paul, and instead of displaying the "Book of the Day", I'll display this:




I have long wanted a system to organize liturgical feast days. I'm starting with an accordian binder, large enough to hold posters. I know some moms actually use 365 manilla hanging folders for their work, but that was too much for me. I have ordered 2 packets of Saint posters from the Catholic Company - I've never ordered from them before, and hope I won't be disappointed. I also have countless holy cards that I'll eventually add to this collection.

Creation Presentation

Anne: Jen, Amy and I completed the Creation Presentation this past week. Here's my finished product with all the layers.To make the script better accessible for myself and to help my 3 1/2 year old do it on his own afterward, I made index cards for each layer/feature of creation that you are to add.
The front has a picture of the felt piece he is supposed to add next and the back has the 'script help' I wrote for myself.