2013 - May #9

Here's some of what we did today:

Jay:

Helicopter

Bicycle. To him, this one doesn't need pedals.

This is suppose to be a factory of some sort. He specifically told me the smoke comes out of the brown tunnel.

I gave in and let him create. 

More practice on sight words and making sentences.

( I got these free from here. )

Vocabulary in English. At the same time, trying to create awareness of the first letter sound and the letter. There's follow up activity to this. 

Alphabets review. Stamp the correct letter.

Or circle the correct letter. He finished all the 26 letters in one sitting. 

 Joy :

Colouring practice. With her left hand.

More handwriting practice. She can actually do this. I told her repeatedly that I am very proud of her. She just smiled at me. (For the record, we have to place her pen on the beginning which we marked as beginning. Then she would do her tracing or printing)

Felt items to help with her speech imitation. 

Home made Play Dough

I finally pushed myself to make our own play dough. The kids, especially my boy loved play doh - he could play with it all day if allowed. My girl loved it too - ermm... sometimes more to putting it into her mouth. I've always wanted to try to make play dough myself but ermmm... I'm lazy.

Anyway, here it is:

I thought I might have failed....

Then we kept kneading and adding more flour. I love the kneading process.

We made 3 colours.  I initially hate the stirring process especially when it gets harder and harder to stir. But by the third colour, it's better. It's actually so easy to make. :)

Store in airtight Tupperwares and playdoh containers.

Now I'll never need to buy expensive play dohs anymore. :)

The beach in our backyard... with cloud dough

I am being rather adventurous. I've always wanted to do more sensory activities with my kids. But the very thought of the mess puts me off. Well, I finally gone and prepared some cloud dough for them. It's so easy to make and is much cheaper and more convenient than going to a beach.

Jay dug in right away. I asked him to search for alphabets I buried.

Joy was reluctant at first. She saw a flower she wanted, but she used her pointer to try to get it. When she saw that the sand (dough) can be patted hard, she got brave. - she patted for awhile before digging with her fingers... :)

I think they both enjoyed it. That makes everything worth it. 

2013 - May #5

Here's some photos of Jay's activity with the Pink Tower and Broad Stairs.

He made this himself. - interrupted me half way when I tried to make a presentation.

erm... visual discrimination? He did make a few mistakes, but quickly corrected by himself.

He specifically asked me to take the photo of the 'bridge' and the teeny tiny pink block in the middle. 

Another that he made by himself.

A wall? hi hi

This is a little challenge to him. I showed him a picture of an extension exercise I took while browsing through pinterest - I just showed him the picture from my Note 2 and he built this based on the picture. (I am glad my phone saved me the trouble and cost of printing and laminating) He did quite well, though I had to remind him to refer to the picture a few times in the beginning. Oh... he took this photo himself. I left him to finish while I teach his sister. When he is done, he just took my phone and snapped... :)

The Pink Tower and Broad Stairs were just kept in the boxes they come in. It makes sense as they don't take a lot of space - and most importantly, when they are not out for display - the kids won't take them out without supervision. :) oopppss ... not quite the Montessori way, but this is what works for my family. :)

2013 - May #4

We received our pink tower and broad stairs this week. Jay was excited and wanted to try right away. I even forgot to take photos ( okay, more to I was excited along with him that I did not even want to get up to get my phone).
Today I did manage some photos. Joy and I were alone at home. So we managed to get on to some lessons. She is not showing much interest though she would build the tower when requested (half heartedly).

These are not Montessori perfect lessons, but hopefully with practice and more exposure...

In the end, I decided to leave the Pink Tower and Broad Stairs in the middle of the room while we are doing other things. (secretly hoping that she would pay more attention to them when she wants)

Montessori - sensorial