The Power of Observation
Anytime you are frustrated or confused by a behavior, the solution will probably come from observation and careful reflection There is a student in my class who on a regular basis used to walk over to the changing area in the room, climb up on the changing stool (where children sit to remove wet clothing and get into dry cloths), and start removing diaper rash cream from her classmates diaper bins and popping the lids open.
The Montessori Mobiles: Dancers
Part 4: The Dancers Mobile This is the last mobile in the series of visual mobiles, and is easily my favorite to watch in action…It is presented between 2 to 3 months. I have skipped past the Gobbi for now, because I am still working on it…so stay tuned for that! Although some DIYs have all of the Dancers hanging from one dowel rod, I opted to hang them in a similar fashion to Murani because this makes them more dynamic.
The Montessori Mobiles: Octahedron
Part 2: The Octahedron Mobile In making these mobiles, it was very important to me that I make them “correctly” - I love the fact that in Montessori the approuch to figuring out what works well is very scientific i.e.. it is well thought out and then tested and adjusted until the material perfectly suits the needs of child development, so I don’t want to mess with a good thing. That being said, I am not the biggest fan of hologram paper; I seem to have some deep seated, negative, childhood associations with it that I can’t quite pinpoint.
The Montessori Mobiles: Murani
Making the mobiles was not only a fun experience but well worth the effort Part 1: The Murani Mobile This mobile is presented first, and while there are many other black and white mobiles out there that could be presented at 1 - 2 weeks, I think there is a lovely elegance to this one (not to mention being the one that follows the pedagogy)! Materials black card stock (construction paper is fine too but I like the weight of card stock) white card stock (or construction paper) 36 cm dowel painted white 30 cm dowel painted black 18 cm dowel painted white, with black stripes (I’ll talk about doing this) hack saw (for cutting the dowel) clear sphere clear sewing or jewlery thread (I’ll talk more about this too) drill with 1/8th inch drill bit (not strictly necessary) Step 1 - I like this video for cutting out the 2D shapes https://www.
The Power of Responsibility
Sometimes it’s easy to forget how much can be achieved by giving children just a little bit of responsibility and independance! There is a student in my class who was having a very difficult time with the concept of continuing to “rest” after waking up from nap. At the begining of the year he also had trouble winding down on his cot before nap time, however with the implementation of a consistent routine and clear expectations about what pre-nap time looks like, he easily found a way to settle in and have quite time to himself before falling asleep.