Letters From the Homefront

My latest DIY: Our solution to the Hundred Board: I had a  free printable hundred chart from Livable Learning  on our shelves last year, that we only used briefly because the interest in it was very little. Miss Priss used it some in the end of the year with glass gems to work hand-in-hand with the tens boards, but never was extremely interested in either, to be honest with you. This year, though, she asked about the hundred chart on her own about the second week in, and I spent a few days trying to think of a fun way to re-create it to be more like the  Montessori Hundred Board . So far, this is the best I've come up with, but I think it just may work!  I had already laminated the hundred chart, so I cut each number square out, making 100 tiles. Then, using velcro (I found a pack at Walmart that has 80 small rectangular pieces, and then cut them in half again to be the right size to go behind my chart. (Note - the printable that I u...

We are starting the beginning of our third full week of school!  Most of our time has been spend trying to get back to a normal routine. I initially didn't want to take a summer break, because it is very hard trying to get back to where we once were, but that's okay :) I have about a handful of pictures to share with you and some details on what we are doing so far. The first thing I have been so excited to show you is our brand new, beautiful brown tower and brown stair!  Yes, you read that right - we have a brown tower! Why is it not pink, you say? Well, first we should start with where they came from to start with. I have been wanting some of the early primary sensorial materials for a LONG time, but wood working just does not  happen in this house. So I went to a great friend, who I've known my entire life, who is also a master craftsman! I gave him the measurements, and then spent what seemed like forever trying to help him understand why I needed ex...

I thought I would share another DIY that I have had on my shelves for quite some time, just haven't had the chance to take pictures and share it with you. I have been so busy lately, and almost felt a little guilty for not paying more attention to my blog, but first comes family, then comes blog. :)   Introducing: DIY Sound Bottles    I made these quite a while ago, and had done some research before making my own. I read a post long before making these from Mari-Ann at  Counting Coconuts  where she spoke of buying Montessori sound bottles, only to realize later that she really could have made them far less expensive, and it would have been easy. That was my first introduction to them, reading that article, so I decided then and there that I would NOT purchase them, but find the best way to make them for little money. I looked through many great ideas for  making them from the sensorial link at What Did We Do All Day's ultimate DIY materi...

My children love homemade playdough! You can find the recipe  here , and some great tips for enjoying it here at counting coconuts   ,  here at 1+1+1=1 , and  here  and  here  at Living Montessori Now. That's just a few to scrape the surface of the many great things you can use playdough for. We have a great way to keep our playdough, and I hope to get that post up soon. Since I was making some new balls of dough today, I figured I would just take a few pictures and make a 'pictorial' of sorts :)                                                                           Gather your ingredients                                               ...

I thought I would take a minute to show you how I made THIS:                                                                       for less than $10!   Okay, so I didn't actually make it just like the picture.  But here is what ours looks like:  I found everything I needed at Walmart, and you could purchase everything for the moveable alphabet for less than $10, and you can have the alphabet and cases for around $15. All it takes is a bit of work and time.        The letters were found in the craft aisle(s) and markers were just the inexpensive kind (I really prefer to use Crayola for all things coloring, but I knew that I would be using the red and blue A LOT so I went with a cheaper brand, in case I used the markers up in the process).    ...

There is a hot new topic in our house - MONEY!  My husband and I decided it was time to institute allowance in our home, but not without a way to earn it. We don't believe in just giving the kids money for nothing - we want them to learn to earn what they get, and have an appreciation for it. So we gave all of them, except Buddy Boy, charts with four or five jobs a day, and told them they would earn 'X' amount of dollars - if they complete each of them, each day, all week.  Most of them are things they were fairly accustomed to, and we will change them now and then, probably monthly.  With their new found 'wealth', it was a great time for teaching two things: 1. How to spend and how to save! We believe in a 10% tithe, so one dollar of their weekly allowance is always given in dimes, making it easier to understand the concept of 10 percent. We also encourage giving extra to missionaries - there is great value in a dollar well earned, but we also want to teach...

Rounding off my re-cap of our Valentine's Day - themed work at home today! The number wheel was one of their favorites, which left me wishing I had put it out the first week of February instead of the second! It is fairly self-explanatory - each space had a specific amount of Valentine's Day stickers, and the heart-shaped, glass bowl (it was a wedding present 10+ years ago, so I have no idea where it was found, but the Dollar Tree has similar ones around Valentine's Day) held clothespins with the numbers 1-10 on them. Fine motor skills work for this was the action of using the clothespins and working the grasp needed for good pencil control. There was also a counting concept for Math skills that made this both fun and educational at the same time! I would have to say this is definitely one that would need to be repeated again, with a different theme for the stickers.                                 ...