Apparently I missed the fine print...

Unbeknownst to me, we have been transported to somewhere on the Siberian tundra, or so it would seem.  It has been almost 3 months of temperatures -30 or colder.  Note to mother nature- most Minnesotans are DONE.  My family and I sure are.

credit

Of course, most people would stay bundled up and cozy in their homes.  What is the DIY crew doing this week?  That's right, we're moving house.  *sigh*  I'm not sure what we were collectively thinking; except that now we have the ability to have a school room and a big fenced yard.  The last 2 times we've moved it's been the same deal, right around the coldest set of days during the year.

Right now, about half of what we own is in the new house, most of the larger furniture and the necessities for day to day living (except the coffee pot belonging to my hubby...poor fella is sure a trooper, he's been 3 days without a cup of coffee)   We started to set up the school room downstairs and I am starting to realize how big it really is.  Right now we have 2 trikes and a ride-on airplane as well as a slide, a swing, and some big balls to roll around.  (they needed a place to run off some energy)  The downstairs needs to be remodeled and we're in the process- it's not very pretty right now.  I'm going to work on it some more tomorrow.  The items from Yama should be here early next week, so I'll be building, facilitating, and reviewing those in the near future...stay tuned, moving can't last forever...can it?

On to my next project...

Progress, and this week in shelves...

So we're about 4 months into our Montessori journey.  The part I find the hardest is a total reconstruction of my parenting.  I yell, rush, and end up doing things for my boys rather than taking the time to let them do it.  I needed to revisit my strategies, Montessori gave me perspective and hope for change.  It's getting better, but sometimes I revert to my old way.  They are very patient and wait for the calmer me to come back out.

I've noticed a big difference in my previously uncontrollable 3 year old.  He learned the yelling and demanding from me.  I had patient moments before but with very little sleep over the course of the last 4 years and more so in the last year, I was shot.  This wasn't their fault, of course, but it was a rough time for everyone.  After these few Montessori months, he's had 3 really good days at school (no refusals, yelling, throwing himself, or (most importantly) not hitting, pushing, or taking things from others.  YAY!  He also isn't fighting every single thing we tell him.  Don't get me wrong...there are still moments that I want to tear my hair out, but they are getting better.

Here is our shelf set-up this week:

Minnow has:

Fruit cutting set M&D

Sound cylinders- these were a DIY project- tiny opaque shampoo bottles from Walmart (same size, same color, same weight)  with wood beads in one set, jingle bells in the second set, and rice in the third set.  I put a colored star sticker on the bottom for control of error.  (same color star is a match) 

Matching board M&D this is a nifty item I found at a local bookstore.  It has 7 laminated matching cards that are interchangeable- but the possibilities are endless!  You could make extra cards with anything on them and laminate. Right now, it's set to numbers but I think we're going to do sight words next.

Wood toolkit M&D 

Number stacker and corresponding number cards

word puzzles

Po has:

DIY Sight and sound cylinders  

2 piece jigsaw puzzle

prince/princess pegs and pegstand

triangle shape sorter

red sorting activity

touch and feel book

3 size container and lids

wood nuts and bolts

I also just got some amazing news- we're moving!  We'll now have a house with a fenced yard and a dedicated school room.  I'm so ready!  Which means I need to get on packing.  

On to my next project...

Trying on a new title and our first review!

Our DIY Montessori seems so much more like what we're about.  There are a lot of changes coming around our house pretty soon.

We're getting ready to move, we just don't know where.  New vehicle soon, and some new reviews of items we'll be buying/making soon.

I'm hoping to get busy this week on a learning tower and weaning table *so excited*.  I had planned to make a tower and broad stair, but am finding that I no longer need to do that.  I'm going to build one from laser cut parts found on etsy!

Check this etsy seller out, ATXinventor!  I'm hoping to see even more wonderful things coming from this shop!  I'm so inspired and impressed by what I've seen so far already.  Fantastic materials, looks easy to assemble, can be used as a building project as well as a Montessori work for your set-up!

One of the best shops for the DIY Montessorian I've found!

He took my tower/stair problem and made it nothing at all! His prices are fabulously low, so getting the materials you need is literally a click away.  He's easy to talk to and very open to ideas.  There are multiple ways to buy these items depending on the level of effort you want to put in or have time for.

The products: Broad Stair

The tower/pink tower

Spindle box

What's that you say?  You want a tower and stair?  SURE! and there is a combo deal if you buy both!

So, my next question was how strong these are, because they look fairly delicate, no?  I mean, the wood isn't very thick.  So we asked him how strong they are...He sent this:

Yep, that's the spindle box under his foot.  Pretty sure it can handle what my 1 and 4 year old can do to it :)  

So far we've seen a spindle box, tower, broad stair, and I'm told today he's coming out with US puzzles!  Maybe soon even more expansion!  Thank you, Yama, for making these materials available to LITERALLY everyone.  Please, check this seller out, you won't regret it.

By the way, I wasn't asked by anyone to write this, and I have not received anything for writing about ATXinventor, I'm just really impressed and like to share the awesome whenever possible.

On to my next project!


Edit on 2/28/2014- After this initial review and some conversations I will be receiving materials from ATXinventor that I have not purchased. I will be reviewing both these and items I have purchased.  Just to keep everything on the up-and-up.  The no-cost materials and the materials I have purchased will be reviewed in exactly the same way, on their merit and durability/ease of construction and use as works/materials and without bias based on his generosity.  I have been asked for an honest review, and that is what I'll be writing-pros and cons.  Thanks and I'll be getting off my soapbox now :)

Sometimes I think I should have called this page DIY Montessori.

So here's what we did today:

I made some very basic puzzles for Po.  I made some dressing frames for Minnow that he is completely disinterested in...He may gain interest hen they are presented (I hope)

We did a group project today inspired by http://www.naturalbeachliving.com/2014/02/strawberry-scented-edible-cloud-dough.html

Yeah... I'm sure this is a great recipe- I just did it wrong somehow and ended up aggravated beyond belief.  I used cherry Kool-aid for scent and inadvertently created a really bad staining hazard.  My OCD can handle the mess, but I don't do staining if I can avoid it.  We also added cocoa powder so it smelled like chocolate covered cherries.  (it smelled wonderful by the way) and before I realized the stain potential 4 of 5 kids were elbow deep.  Minnow was literally covered head to to and a fun time was had by all.  Then I noticed wherever it got wet, stained red... I bit my tongue the best way I knew how and tried to minimize the damage, while not totally freaking.  Suffice it to say, I won't be repeating this with Kool-aid.  The cocoa powder variation stands a definite repeat chance.  It sort of resembles dirt, but in a clean, nice smelling, soft sort of way.  I like it and the kids love it.

Hubby got me a pot of tulips, which will be beautiful when they start to bloom.  We got a line on a bigger house and we look at it on Sunday.  We took a quick look and not only is there a yard, it's fenced!  It also seems there's a full basement and if so, I will have my school room!  Oh huzzah! Time will tell.

Then the kids cut up their own fruit and made parfaits with honey greek yogurt and granola :)

Then at the end of the day I made some 3 letter cvc word rods for Minnow.  He hasn't seen them yet :)

Good news on the materials though, I'm told we are able to make the tower, stair, learning tower, and weaning table- construction starts next week :)

That was our Valentine's Day, hope yours was equally lovable.  On to my next project...

So the theme is changing for the week inadvertently...

So I know it's valentine's day this week, but I'm on a DIY kick that just won't quit.  The boys are following my lead and Minnow has taken such an interest in cooking/kitchen activities that I just can't help but do the Montessori thing I've been avoiding.  I had previously given over a drawer to the boys in the kitchen, but it was hard to open and Po generally only went in there to throw glassware *cringe*

So, today I did it.  It's sort of a work in progress.  We need more utensils and I may have gone overboard with food options.  Overall, it's a start.  Not only that, but it's a real test of my self-challenge to change my parenting style to one more in line with the Montessori philosophy.  I'm a born yeller though, so it's been really rough.  I just keep reminding myself that this is the best thing for them and their development and I don't need to expect as much as I do.

So here's to a positive outlook and good mental health :)

On to my next project!

DIY Day :)

We're having a do it yourself day around here today.  Minnow made his own lunch (I honestly think he's just going to do it this way from now on, he loves it and there are more days he does than days that he doesn't.)

I have been huffing around because at this current moment we are without funds to increase our collection of Montessori works.

I woke up renewed today and decided that I didn't need to spend a penny and I could make some fun works for my little fellows!

First on my "DIY" project list was the single shape sorters for Po.  I made a triangle one and a square one:

Reused Similac Containers :)

I started out with a wood basketball hoop from a thrift store and then used dowels and wooden beads that I already had to make these two:

The number stacker on the left needs color coded numbers and the horizontal stacker needs...something...but the work is done except decorating.

I opted for the food coloring and vinegar coloring, it should be safe for chewing, but the color doesn't seem to come off on hands or mouths.  :)  Montessori win!  Now, onto the next project...

Please forgive the cell phone images, it's what I had at the time. 

And we're live on Facebook!

Thank you to everybody who's liked us or is following so far :)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Learning-Tree-Academy/763722793656871

Valentine works for next week

I've seen some awesome Valentine set-ups from all the folks on various fb boards lately and was feeling rather sheepish that I hadn't done anything at all yet.  As Valentine's day is next week, I figured I had better get going.  The boys were excited to try things out and get going.  

This is Po's set of shelves:

He's working on:

• posting
• cookie cutter puzzles
• basic flower arrangement
• love your heart/healthy heart food bean bag toss
• pom-pom transfer with a spoon 
• foam flower stacking or use as blocks

I also put a small assortment of valentine books out for him to look at as he loves books.

So far, his favorite is the toss and the posting.  He can't walk past the shelves without posting.  

This is Minnow's set-up:

Minnow is working on:

• Word finder-he says the word on the heart wand and finds that word in a assortment of books and says it whenever he sees it as he pages through the books.
• Salt letters- akin to sandpaper letters using a blunted pencil for proper grip as he's able to do them all with his fingertip now
• pom-pom pinch and sort- up until recently he couldn't squeeze a regular sized clothespin so we're working on that.  
• heart size sort into small medium large trays using reference cards
• water pouring- going to have colored scented water for him to practice pouring
• flower arrangement- he's working a lot on small medium large so I've cut his flowers in that configuration by color and we'll see how it goes or if he even notices.  He's very fond of arranging flowers
• Red bear 0 family adding- on the advice of some Montessorians I'm starting with the 0 family, working on them all, then moving on.  Fingers crossed that it will be easier for him, I think this will help him considerably
• The obligatory valentine art basket- We have various cookie cutters to use as stencils, hearts, arrow hearts, flowers, teddy bears, and all the letters to spell valentine if he chooses; as well as an assortment of markers, colored pencils, and crayons. I also tossed a pair of scissors in there in case he REALLY wants to get creative.  

It's all ready to go and so I leave you with this pic of the boys today.  They are REALLY tired today, can you tell?

Happy Montessori days to you all :)

The first post and an introduction :)

A Montessori Day

The first post seems to be the hardest.  Learning Tree Academy was created for my 2 sons and the sometimes education of 3 other kiddos.  The saying about the apple falling from the tree was not lost on me, yet, I could never know how true it would be until my first son was born.

We made the decision to home school our son, Minnow, before he was born.  He's almost 4 now. It could be argued that it was in the works even before our marriage.  I've been a fan of home school for as long as I can remember.

I had the traditional public school education because that's what my parents knew and understood.  They always did the best they could by my sister and I, but as my mom says to this day, "we had no idea, nobody did that back in our day."  A child got around 6 and you sent them packing every day to the school.  I don't blame them, but I resented and loathed just about every minute of my institutionalized education.  Over the years I vowed I'd explore every avenue and give my children the best education I could find, make, or get them.  So, when I was pregnant with my son Minnow, I went into overdrive.  I planned half of his education while he was in utero.

Then, Minnow was born.  He was a needy baby and became a needy, high energy, but exceptionally bright, toddler.  I started teaching him at about 14 months.  At the time I did a lot of activities with him and we drew and played and learned.  At almost 4 he knows a great many things.  The thing he can't do is muster self control in almost any form.  We've been working on it for his whole life, but he struggles incessantly with other people, his will, and the general unfairness of the world around him.

I started looking for a way to boost concentration, independence, and general self control.  I found Maria Montessori,  Well, not actually her, but her method.  That lands us at today.  I now have my almost 4 year old Minnow, and just turned 1 year Po.  We also have 3 other kids with us half time from my husband's previous marriage.  They are 13, 9, and 7.  They are forced to attend public school, but we get to have our fun on evenings, weekends, and the off holidays.  More on that in another post.  Probably more than one.

We started Montessori activity/work inspired learning and living about a month ago.  In that time and more every day, I see a sense of pride in Minnow.  He has the ability to do the things he wants and likes to be able to do things for himself.  He's starting to like learning even when a computer isn't involved.  Not every issue becomes an event.  We aren't at the place I'd like to be, but every day brings us one step closer.  This blog is our journey.

This is Minnow in his work area right after I got it, It isn't very Montessori, but it was workable for a few days.

Minnow's work area with lego tens/ones placement, salt letters, rice pouring, color matching, upper/lowercase alphabet sorting, a sponge squeezing activity, a magnetic ball tracker, and an art basket.  

This is Po's area.  He has matching animals to cards, foam blocks, thread spools and dowel, flower arrangement, self care area, stacking, pulling beads apart, bean bag toss, rainbow stacking/nesting and some cloth and cardboard books.  On the left side is his musical instrument area and on the right is his napping bed downstairs.  

It took me almost 2 weeks to get to this point.  I'm trying to implement the philosophy as well, but it's harder to change than I thought.  So far, things are getting better, and I'm excited for what's ahead of us.

We're on facebook also https://www.facebook.com/pages/Learning-Tree-Academy/763722793656871