Migration

Dear friends and family who have been visiting this blog. As of Nov 2009, I will be using FaceBook-Notes instead of blogger to ramble about our lives.

However, there will be a new blog:" My Teacher-My Mommy". This is a blog whereby I will like to share the experiences and knowledge I've gathered from being a parent. By the grace of God, I am very blessed to have the privilege of a home ministry to raise my firstborn as a (almost) full time mother.

The blog will feature materials/equipment we use at home, books we read, activities we do, and hiccups we encoutered. Also, there will be learning materials for purchase. I've pledged 10% of the sales of materials towards our adopted charity: Children Cancer Foundation.

Visit: http://myteacher-mymommy.blogspot.com/

Have a blessed parenting journey :-)

A Gift From My Daughter

I came home one evening and my daughter put a string of beads around my neck and said the necklace was for me *touched. There were 34 beads altogether and my grandma told me that she was sitting quietly in one corner stringing the beads on her own. For the entire evening, I wasn't allowed to remove the gift from my neck :-)

Oh yes, the pictures were taken by Megan too.

Bunnies 2 + 2

Barbara, they don't get along. Let's give them a few more days, but I hope you have another family who could take the bunnies in. I am ok with fostering them till you find someone to collect the pair - they are larger in size than my pair of 2yos and all over them :-(

Busy Toddler

I thought I was busy having to take care of one child. But look at Megan with her 2 babies ! She is a very good mommy to two of her fave dolls (she has four). She would pretend to feed them, clean them, send them to school (in her coupe) sling one of them while pushing the other in her doll stroller. Sometimes she pretends she is the grandma, and I have to be their mommy :-)

Practical Skills: Preparing Food

I showed Megan how to handle a knife (I gave her a knife from a set of children's cutlery). I told her that scissors and knives will cut through things, including her fingers if she isn't careful. I let her feel the sharp ends to reiterate my point. The ground rule was that she must be at a table when she is working with a pair of scissors or a knife and chopping board.

Drawing Printing Painting

Water Activities Consolidated (Basic/Intermediate)

Montessori Preschool Practical Life – More than Pouring Water

To have a vision of the cosmic plan, in which every form of life depends on directed movements which have effects beyond their conscious aim, is to understand the child’s work and be able to guide it better. - Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

To the untrained eye, the Montessori Preschool/Kindergarten (ages 3 to 6) Practical Life activities appear to be, well, child’s play. On closer examination, however, the Practical Life activities present themselves as a highly logical, sequential chain of activities that indirectly lead the child to grander things.

Take the simple task of pouring water, for example. At first glance, it comes across as ‘no big deal’. After all, the child is only pouring water. Take a closer look. Did you realize that the activities for pouring liquids come after the Montessori child has learned to transfer and pour solids? Why? There is a greater chance for error when pouring liquids. Transferring and pouring solids offers an opportunity to practice those skills first with something that is easier to clean up.

Look again. Why are there so many pouring activities on the shelf? The Montessori Practical Life activities are graduated and isolated in difficulty. When transferring water from one container to another, we begin with the largest motor skill to isolate. In this case, we begin by transferring water from one bowl to another using a sponge. The child concentrates on using whole arm and hand movements. Once that is mastered, the child moves on to pouring from one pitcher to another, one pitcher to one glass, one pitcher to three glasses. Each activity introduces a new level of difficulty.

So why all the emphasis on pouring? I thought if you knew how to pour water without spilling it, you were finished? The Practical Life activities are indirectly preparing the Montessori child for something larger. There is, so to speak, a behind-the-scenes theme happening simultaneously. First, the child is preparing for more complex works that require more steps. This builds concentration. Second, the child is now able to pour herself something to drink when she is thirsty. This builds independence. Third, the child is able to serve others something to drink without spilling. This builds coordination. Fourth, the child has learned to evaluate how much water is in the pitcher and estimate how much should be poured into each glass so that they are equal. This is developing a mathematical mind. And last, but certainly not least, the Montessori child has developed small muscle control by moving from a whole hand to a pincer-grip movement. This is an indirect preparation for holding a pencil and writing.

On the surface, pouring water is simply that, pouring water. However, dive a little deeper and you’ll find it is much more.

Source:http://montessoritraining.blogspot.com/2009/10/montessori-preschool-practical-life.html

Putting On Socks

Megan likes to do many things for herself these days. Putting on socks is one of the skills she has been practising lately. She is getting rather good at dressing and undressing herself. In the mornings, she will remove her night diaper on her own (and trash it) and take off her own trousers to get rather for her shower. The only task which remains unchecked is removing her t-shirt.

And she was so pleased with herself that she started making snow angels on the floor :-)

Other Water Activities (wringing)

Megan spilled some water and mop up with her kitchen towel (her play kitchen is probably better equipped than my real kitchen). She has recently learn how to wring a wet cloth and kept wringing her wet rag, mop it up, wring it again, mop it up again... I had to make her stop it by asking her to wring her rag at her sink (so that there will be no more wet table to mop up).

Baby No More

You know your lil one is really no longer a baby when:

1. You don't seem to need diapers or wet wipes
2. You don't need the safety gate (or in our case, Megan has figured out how to open the gate)
   
3. You don't need to undress your child
   
4. You don't need to feed her
5. You can use a booster seat and 2-point harness
6. You can trust her to feed the pets
7. You can (almost) trust her to give herself a bath
8. You are ordered to sit only on a particular chair
9. You are being entertained by song & dance (instead of you singing/dancing to a baby)
10. You are asked "Why?"