As children begin to learn letter sounds using the Sandpaper Letters, it is important to provide other materials that reinforce the letters and sounds they are learning. Initial sound boxes are a great way to do this. These boxes help to refine auditory perception of sounds, encourage development of concentration, and prepare a child for reading.
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The Sandpaper Letters
The Sandpaper Letters are one of the main features of the language area in a Montessori classroom. They are beautiful and easily attract the attention of children. As children work with the Sandpaper Letters, their sense of site, touch, and hearing is involved. They can feel the sandpaper shape of each letter and begin to learn that each one has a name and a sound. Phonetic sounds are the foundation for the reading program in a Montessori classroom.
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Pumpkin Time
In the northern hemisphere it is time for pumpkins to be harvested. Many families and schools will visit pumpkin farms to pick pumpkins and perhaps enjoy a hay ride around the farm. The areas of Botany, Practical Life, Math, Science, and Language often have a variety of pumpkin themed exercises.
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Activities for Autumn
Autumn is such a fun time for a variety of activities found throughout the different areas of the classroom. The shelves in the Practical Life area are often filled with the orange, red, and yellow colored materials. Many art activities involve leaves, acorns, pumpkins, and scarecrows.
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Apple Fun
September is a great time to have fun with apples. Previous post highlighted some activities and lesson ideas to use with apples. Some may be repeated and others may be new on this post. I especially enjoy bringing a variety of apples into the classroom for the children to taste. During this month I like to include lessons on the five senses, and highlight the lesson on taste, a day before our apple tasting activity.
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Sunflower Fun
Depending on where you live, sunflower seeds are ready to be harvested at the end of summer or the beginning of fall. Many things can be done with sunflowers. It is good to provide actual sunflower heads for children to experience and work with. A variety of activities and art ideas can be introduced to the children.
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Preparing for Seed Lesson
It isn’t too early to start preparing for an upcoming lesson on seeds. I usually introduce a Botany lesson on seeds about the third week of school, depending on how the first few weeks have been going. Prior to a discussion on seeds, a simple lesson on the parts of a plant are given. Then the various parts of a plant are talked about separately over the following three or four weeks.
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New School Year
Many schools have begun the new school year and others start in September. Classroom routines, rules, and character education lessons are likely a part of your first weeks of school. Often lessons follow such as those involving living and non-living exercises, land-air-water exercises, and plant and animal ones. These types of lessons are the start of a good foundation to build on during the coming months.
May you all have a great start to your new school year! I will share some pictures of past years that include some of the lessons commonly presented during the beginning of the school year. These can be found in Weeks 1 and 2 and then Week 3 Day 1 in the curriculum pages.
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Summer Activities
Summer activities for the classroom or the home often involve an ocean theme. There is so much one can choose from and share with children. A variety of lessons on things related to an ocean theme can be found in Weeks 34-Day 3 through Weeks 36-Day 5 of the curriculum pages. These include lessons on things such as coral reefs, shells, tide pools, crustaceans, and sponges.
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Farm Field Trip
I first need to apologize for such delayed blog posts. We had a recent move, are building, things still in boxes, etc. I did however, have an opportunity recently to join a friend on her farm one morning for a field trip she was presenting for two homeschool families. If you have my Cultural Curriculum, lessons on farm and farm animals can be found in Week 32 Days 4 and 5.
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