Dabber paint pens

I found these paint pens in ASDA and thought they would come in handy for those days when we cant get messy with paint!! The pens are actually really good, perfect for toddlers. Little-N painted a boat and then added some details with his felt-tip pens.

Tangramino: Architect blocks

I picked up this activity the other day from a toy store. I thought it was a tangram, when I got home I discovered it was a set or architect blocks [It didn't say that on the box!!]. Little-N played with it for hours today. The blocks come with a book that has 60 [or more] different models to build. He copied some models from the book but then decided to use his own imagination and came up with a rocket. This is a perfect activity to add in your Montessori homeschooling area or classroom.

Here is the rocket he made.

Singular and Plural

Here are pics of Little-N working with the singular and plural box 1.

Continent Puzzle

The other day I bought this puzzle. Little-N has enjoyed putting it together and matching the animals. i really like that the puzzle has a built in control of error. Little-N doesn't even have to ask me where the animals live. While playing he said 'This puzzle lets me teach myself' and he was so proud of it.

The colour coding is different from the Montessori continents. To help Little-N identify the continents I stuck little coloured stickers on the back of my continent cards, the stickers were coloured as the continents on the puzzle.

After Little-N matched all the animals, we got out his wooden animals to match.

I got these wooden animals from Amazon. The animals are made by a company called 'Sri Toys'.

Blog Award

Last week I was nominated for a blog award by Stephanie at Montessori Free fall. Thank you so much Stephanie!!!

I would like to pass the award onto seven of my favourite blogs.

Montessori a la Masion

My Montessori Journey


A Bit Of This And A Bit of That


The Moveable Alphabet


Home Made Montessori



Montessori Mama

Chasing Cheerios

Grammar: Article

Little-N has been practicing with the article grammar cards. This is what we did:

Have a basket with several objects [4 cups, 3 pegs, 2 dogs....]

A noun Card for each object [with a black outline or on black card]

Article Cards [with grey outline or on grey card: You will need to have an 'a' card for each object and abt 6 'the' cards.

1. Take the basket to the mat.
2. Lay out the cards [I place the articles at the top in two piles an 'a' pile and a 'the' pile. Then below them I would have a pile of noun cards. Place the noun cards in order so that the child will read cup, then cup, then cup ex..']
3. Remind the child of the 'Nouns' and ask the child to place the object and word together on the mat. Ask the child to read and place the next card and object on the mat [this would be cup again]. Do this until the child has read all the words that say 'cup' and matched them with the objects.
4. Point at the article cards and tell the child that we place these before the noun cards. Take an 'a' card and place it in front of the 'cup' card. Invite the child to place an 'a' card in front of the other 'cup' cards.
5. Next remove the additional cup objects and cards and leave only 1 object and 1 noun card. Remove the 'a' card and tell the child that when there is only one we can put a 'the' card.
6. Do the same with the other objects and cards.

After the child has understood this concept extend the activity. Provide the child with a basket of objects in which you place some objects in doubles and other in singles. ask the child to place all the objects in groups on the mat. Next ask the child to label the objects with the noun cards. Provide enough article cards and ask the child to place them in front of the noun cards ensuring that 'the' is placed for the single objects and 'a' is placed for the double objects.

Montessori Maths materials are not out dated

Today a homeschooler said ' The montessori math materials are out dated, mathematics has developed since'. She said that there are plenty of modern materials that are better for teaching mathematics!!!

The montessori mathematics materials are not outdated!! Not by anyway. There is an amazing actvitiy to teach each concept and all the materials come together in a way or the other linking all areas of mathematics together and even linking mathematics to other areas of development. The only way someone can assume that the montessori materials or method is outdated is if they have not yet developed a deep enough understanding of the materials and principles. And if you don't have enough knowledge about the materials or method you can't Judge!!

The mathematics materials teach complex and abstract concepts in a concrete way that even the younger children can learn with ease. Each step is carefully planned and each new activity has just the right amount of challenge.

The materials that she said were better, were not concrete, worksheet based and nothing continued into other concepts to allow the child to build their understanding step by step. If I was a child I would get so bored and confused by them. I'm not just saying that to defend Montessori but honestly whats fun in a work book when you can work with Golden beads??

Once you get to the Elementary level you really understand how fun mathematics is. The materials are not just GREAT their SUPER!!