Happy 18 months Tyler!

We celebrated Tyler turning 18 mos old today by taking him to open gym and the indoor playground at our local gymnastics center. He had an absolute blast! It's hard to believe that he's 1.5 years old already. This little ray of sunshine makes everything okay, no matter what else may be going on in our lives. We're so thankful that he's here and can't wait to see what the future holds for him and for us as a family!

Happy Half-Birthday Tyler!  

Fun with Hot and Cold

One of the activities I have planned for this month is to talk more about, and experiment with, hot and cold. Seeing that we've had both snow and 70 degree temperatures here this month, it has been a good time for it!

Last week we went on a hunt for rocks, which wasn't as easy as you'd think in the city neighborhood that we live in. It took a lot of looking, but we finally found a few and washed them off. The next step was to put half in the freezer and to boil the other for a minute, letting the hot rocks cool down just enough to avoid burning.

 Unfortunately, when presenting, instead of saying that the rocks were warm and cold, I accidentally said "hot", which Ty knows means he shouldn't really shouldn't touch. I was happy that he was a bit fearful of the rocks after this, that he understands not to touch something I've told him is hot, but of course the activity was bust. Oops! I tried again a several days later, but once he saw the activity on his rug he hid behind me and wouldn't come near it. Oh well. I had another way to experiment with the topic, so we just moved on! My plan was to identify the two temperatures and sort them accordingly by the way, in case you'd like to try this with your child.

Here I made different sized ice blocks which we then played with in very warm water to observe the melting process. To make this even more fun, after the blocks were in the freezer for a bit, I added a few little treasures and a ball that would be exposed for play during different stages of melting. I also added a rainbow of food coloring half-way through freezing. If you put the food color in at the right time, it will become suspended in the middle of the ice block and it looks really neat!

Hmmm...what's in there?

This ball is stuck!

This was a fun science project and Ty was thrilled to play with water in the house Our Pergo flooring is certainly not water friendly so his water play has had to pretty much remain in the bath tub until it gets a bit warmer outside. He constantly wanted to dump the water out at the end so I played a lot of defense!

Observing how much the ice had melted at this point and comparing to one cube we left out of the water. 

   “We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry.”

--Dr. Maria Montessori 



Pipe cleaner and container work

Things are starting to calm down and get back to normal around here. Whew! I have plenty of new activities for Tyler to try that I can't wait to get to this week, but until then, here's a little activity that stems from the Q-tip work, but with added difficulty.

Using a parmesan cheese container again, I showed Tyler how to put pipe cleaners into the holes. This was more difficult as pipe cleaners are longer, and of course they bend. He had to figure out where the best place would be to place his hand in order to lift the pipe cleaner up enough and also have enough control over it to get it through the holes. He experimented with different types of grips, learned what to do when the pipe cleaner bent or  got stuck on other pipe cleaners that went in somewhat sideways, realized that he would need to sometimes take pipe cleaners out in order to put another in and had to work to figure out how to keep the light-weight container from falling over.

It was fun to watch him learn and experiment, all without interrupting his focus with correction, assistance or praise or other forms of interaction, as is the Montessori way. The idea is allowing the child to have full focus without distractions and to work independently once they've been shown how to do the work. If I noticed that he was using materials incorrectly or needed guidance, I would wait until the next time I presented the activity to simply show him how to do the work again rather than correcting.

Tyler returned to this activity several times this morning and it will surely take a place on his shelf. Though he enjoyed the Q-tip activity for a couple days, it quickly became too easy, as was apparent by him constantly throwing the activity on the floor rather than doing it. In Montessori, it's said that if a child throws and mis-uses an activity they've been thoroughly instructed on how to do, the work is either too easy or difficult for the child. This work should take a bit to fully master, as there are several more components to explore, and if not, I will quickly work to take the activity to the next step!

"To stimulate life, - leaving it then free to develop, to unfold, - herein lies the first take to the educator. In such a delicate task, a great art must suggest the moment, and limit the intervention, in order that we shall arouse no perturbation, cause no deviation, but rather that we shall help the soul which is coming into the fulness of life, and and which shall live from its own forces. This art must accompany the scientific method."

 --Dr. Maria Montessori

This whole Montessori thing...it's working!

At 17 mos old, I wasn't sure how much the activities we do and things that I have introduced Tyler to would really matter. Sure, he seems to enjoy and understand a lot of it, but is he truly working towards normalization yet? Well, I've been surprised in the last week to see how much it's sinking in!

After doing lessons on his fruit and vegetable nomenclature cards a few times and feeling confident that he knew what to do, I put three sets on the shelf. I wasn't convinced that this was something that he'd choose to do, especially as it's in the same location as his latches board, coin box, color stacker/sorter and farm puzzle(big favorites), but I had an empty spot on the shelf that was driving me nuts. These cards would have a lot of competition, and how much joy would he find in matching? He seemed to like working with them, but how much really? I expected that he would simply dump them on the floor and that I'd need to find a better choice for that spot soon, but it was worth a shot.


Catching him at work

For the first couple days, I saw him take the cards out at least once and do a match or two on the floor all on his own. I was shocked. Since then I walk into the kitchen several times a day to see that he is using them, or I notice the matches together on the floor where he's been. I can often hear him trying to pronounce each as he's looking at those cards as well; he now has a cute toddler-ese word for "potato" that I won't even attempt to sound out here!   


Taking the matching a step further by matching red pentagons from his color stacker as well?

If Tyler hadn't been interested in this work and I had attempted to force it upon him, this wouldn't have been the result. Pushing a child to learn something they're not interested in or ready to learn simply leads to an internal resentment towards learning as well as whatever specific activity you're trying to shove down their throat. The philosophy of Montessori is to follow the child's lead and to allow the child's natural path and pace of learning guide what they do and what you introduce, not to attempt to "create a genius".  I find this is the way some people who don't understand Montessori view the method and it couldn't be less true. Learning is to be seen as joyful to the child and seem like play! If Tyler isn't interested in an activity, we stop and try again another time. If Tyler is showing keen interest in another area, which is revealed by keeping a close watch on his daily activity, I introduce as much of that sort of work as I can create and find. A love for learning develops with the Montessori method, and I can see it truly budding in my little guy!  

Another recent "he's getting it!" moment happened over the weekend. I had been to Hobby Lobby for the first time and I excitedly came home with several bags full of goodies to create activities, a spring display, and art projects. As I was unpacking the bags onto the floor to take-in the sights of my many treasures, Ty became interested in some colorful glass bottles I had purchased. I had bought tiny puff-balls for him to put into these bottles for fine motor practice, and in an effort to keep him busy for a bit, I quickly opened the puff-balls and showed him what to do. He caught on and enjoyed the challenge of managing the tiny balls and getting them into the small openings on the bottle. He enjoys the glass gem and glass bottle activity so much, I figured this would be similar but more difficult. Success!

 After working for a few minutes, he suddenly got up and headed to where we keep his rug and frantically started to pull it out. He realized that what he was working on was an activity that would usually be done on his rug and wanted that area to work on! We've only really used the Montessori rug concept for two weeks, but it is an idea that Tyler clearly enjoys! We helped him move the work to his rug (and have since moved his rug to an easier, more accessible place) where he calmly continued and finished.  Normalization has truly begun!

An interesting piece of work, freely chosen, which has the virtue of inducing concentration rather than fatigue, adds to the child's energies and mental capacities, and leads him to self-mastery."

--Dr. Maria Montessori 



"Mom, Please Let Me Work!"

I've noticed that Ty has been feeling a little out of sorts lately, sometimes more than a little. He's always been a child who's tuned-in on many levels and channels all at once, not able to help seeing, hearing, and physically and emotionally feeling everything around him with intensity. Often this just leads to curiosity and exploring, though it seems that when you combine this constant alertness with feeling tired, hunger, teething pain, or a change of routine, he becomes overwhelmed and doesn't know what to do with himself. Attempting to get Tyler to nap on his own without co-sleeping lately has led to shorter naps and thus, a tired little boy who feels frazzled quite a bit.

After reading "The Absorbent Mind" and realizing that when Tyler feels and acts this way, he needs work (i.e. the Q-tip blog), has been so enlightening and helpful to us all. While Tyler became bored with the Q-tip activity quickly, filling glass containers with gems has become a huge favorite. This is not to say that we don't also provide quiet snuggles on the couch, reading and singing, but Ty is understanding that are other ways to become balanced. outside of us..

For a few days, we rolled out his rug and gave him this work when he was feeling overwhelmed, and he would gladly take to it, leaving it when he felt centered and happy. Now he is noticing his own emotions and realizing what he needs to do in order to feel better and he's actually requesting, if not begging, for the activity. As the gems are small and require supervision, it is on top of a bookshelf just out of his reach, but he has no problem letting us know his wishes. At times he will also pull his rug from behind the chair, or if it's still out (oops) he will catch our eye and sit on it with a hopeful look. It is amazing to me that at 17 mos old he is not only recognizing his own emotions, but knowing what to do in order to relieve himself of them. I know adults who can't do this!

I'm left thanking all of my lucky stars for Maria Montessori, as well as feeling happy for my child on his journey towards self-soothing and emotional regulation (something my sensitive sweetie has always struggled to manage on his own).  I'm proud of you Tyler!

Homeade Art Cards

So, things have been a little slow around our house this week. This is not to say that we haven't been busy outside of home, with classes and playdates and literally exploring and playing outdoors, but all of that activity has seemed to make Ty want to snuggle and play with familair items a bit more this week. Of course, after-hours, I've been busy as always with my own plans and projects, and this one I'm especially excited about...

I'm making my own Montessori Art Cards! Being a lover of art, the idea of introducing the child with works from the great masters has truly intrigued me, though I've struggled in trying to choose my favorite classics without spending a fortune and creating a mini-museum (how could I possibly choose just a few?!). In an attempt to find cheap, 2010 wall calendars that focused on individual artists or time periods to use, I found this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076115759X/ref=oss_product

The reviews stated that the pages of this day-to-day calendar were good quality and thicker than you would think, the reproductions beautiful and the size much larger than a typical calendar of this type. I was skeptical, but ordered it anyhow. When it arrived, I was anything but disappointed! I was also surprised to see that each page was loose-leaf and that it included a nice display stand. I couldn't wait to grab my paper cutter, heat up my laminator, and get to work!

Typically, Montessori art displays spotlight one artist at a time. Sorting through, I was able to find enough paintings by Manet, Monet, VanGogh, Renoir, Cezanne, Degas and Gauguin to create displays for each. I chose VanGogh for our first, as Ty showed great interest in VanGogh's "Starry Night" when he first saw it last spring (my first favorite painting as a child too!). There are many other wonderful paintings, statues, artifacts, drawings etc. that I'm going to rotate through other areas on the house as well.


Using my paper cutter (probably about $14 at a craft store, cheaper if you use the weekly coupon at Michaels), I cut around the work of art, as well as the painting's information (artist, name, date, etc), placed the information under each painting on a laminting sheet and let the laminator get to work! The result was beautiful and it was so easy! The only change I may make for the remainder of the cards will be typing and printing the labels myself so that they're larger.

Horray for our first Art Display!

Checking out some of Van Gogh's work

He was instantly drawn to VanGogh's self-portrait, returning to study it several times!

Looking ahead, I will likely order a duplicate of this calendar in order to create matching and sorting nomenclature cards for the standard Montessori art/sensorial activities we'll do when he's older.

If you're interested in the idea, but maybe not making your own from scratch, you can find and print, (for free!) a few art cards here: http://www.montessorimaterials.org/mus.htm

To buy a set of 24 cards, Montessori Services offers them for $39.99:
http://www.montessoriservices.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=97_1419_5802&utm_source=googleprod&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=GoogleProductSearch&utm_content=A329

From Montessori Print Shop you can download and print your own cards very inexpensively.:
http://www.shop.montessoriprintshop.com/Pollock-Jackson-Art-Cards-AF-29a.htm

Toddler Art

I wanted to share a few of Tyler's latest artistic endeavors with all of you and perhaps provide (and receive!) a few new ideas. Ty's really getting into painting, coloring and enjoys chalking inside (though its easy to see that he can't wait to get back outside on the driveway!). Tyler's art activities at this point are all open-ended. There's no picture in my mind that I expect to see at the end, no parts to glue and stick in a specific place, no "right" or "wrong" way to do it; it's all about creating as he sees fit. He likes this very much and it's enjoyable, if not beautiful, to watch him work with deliberate strokes and thought!

I remember years ago, working in a traditional American day care, where arts and crafts too often meant toddlers being shown a model of what they were to themselves create, with expectations to follow through appropriately from their teachers. It seemed incredibly silly for these young minds to grasp this concept, and then sad when a teacher would lean over to "fix" the work or to guide the child's hand the entire time in order to complete the craft. For example, the class would be asked sit down at the table and to create a paper plate turkey, gluing the feathers and parts of the neck and head in specific places. Typically the child would attempt to glue pieces randomly all over the plate (which is developmentally appropriate) and a teacher would then swoop in and interrupt to provide assistance. The result would be a nice looking turkey for the pleased parents to hang on the refrigerator at home, but the creativity, joy and imagination (the whole point of art!) had been squashed. The child took little of value from the activity and instead of a sense of pride and confidence was lost. The child was left thinking "I sure didn't do that right. I guess I'm not very good at that stuff" and may be less willing to do projects such as this in the future.

At times, I did happily observe other teachers showing a quick model, giving the pieces and letting the little toddlers do as they wished. These children were much happier and came away with a true experience and sense of accomplishment. They may not understand that they have just created a turkey, though the gluing, sticking and simply developing their creative powers was fun and they developed fine motor skills nonetheless. In my opinion, it's not important to control the young child's artistic efforts but to simply provide materials and safety rules around their use. When a child grows older, there can be some value in following directions and making a specific piece of art just like a model, though even then, the majority of art activities should be about the joy of creativity and imagination and building those skills with the child's own mind...and wherever that mind may naturally go. Isn't that, after all, what art is about?

Okay, onto the fun stuff...Ty creating art!

Ty really got into coloring with crayons in January. A piece of paper taped to his table and a few crayons are always ready for him (he's not drawing on the walls...yet)!

Ty noticed our box of chalk from the warmer months on a shelf this day and begged to have it. This seemed to fulfill his desire a bit.

Painting with a brush

Painting with Q-tips

Sponge painting

I found a three-pack of sponges in the dollar section at Target and cut them into different shapes.

First time using markers

Marble painting. The idea is to roll the container from side-to-side so that the marbles run through the paint, but Ty rejected that idea immediately, and decided to use the marbles to paint with directly.

I then grabbed him a brush to use as well.

Painting with cars and trains to make tracks.

Big hit for any car, truck or train lover! Textured or bumpy wheels would make excellent prints

Our first attempt at using glue stick to stick paper shapes. He found the sticky glue intriguing.

He was much too silly and full of amoxocillin stimulant to focus on this activity. Dumping the container of shapes become more interesting, so we'll try again soon!

I created a new sticky art wall yesterday, using shapes with decorative paper from my old scrapbooking supplies. Ty was thrilled and got right to work! I have a feeling this type of activity will be a fixture in our home for quite a while. If you missed my first blog about this activity, here's the link: http://jen-peacefulparenting.blogspot.com/2010/12/getting-creative-with-contact-paper.html

I have several new art activities that I'm excited to let Tyler try in the next few weeks. We'll see how they go! In the meantime, I'd love to hear what art endeavors you and your little ones have been excited about. I'm always looking for new ideas! 

While I love all of my Monet's and photography that decorate much of our house, to me, there's nothing like my child's artwork all over the walls to make our home feel cozy and full of love!