Who’s ready for some Cinco de Mayo learning fun? We visited Mexico with the whole family last month and collected some fun items to make a shelf. Along with a festive freebie for you! So take a look at this and enjoy!

Here’s the line up…

• Pouring rice work
• Rookie Cinco de Mayo Book by Mary Wade
• Cinco de Mayo by Emma Berne
• Maracas
• My First Book Mexico by Penelope Palette
• Number Clip Cards Freebie Printable!
• Counting Finger Puppets
• Let’s Look at Mexico Book
• Papel picado cutting work 

 

 

 

Shelf Work

Shelf work is important…..it’s a part of a Montessori environment for sure, but understanding how to draw a child into being interested in shelf work is part of understanding the Montessori Method. 

Sometimes shelf work isn’t interesting to a child because he/she just might not be INTERESTED in it. This is where observation plays an important role. 

Observe

Step back and watch what your child gravitates to during your normal day. Where do his/her interests lie at the moment? This will help you determine whether the work you prepared is appropriate. Are they collecting rocks, showing interest in counting, wanting to be with you in the kitchen, singing a lot, and the list could go on and on. But pay attention so you can begin to formulate ideas of what might be of interest to them on their shelf.

What do you Notice?

Sometimes the work is too difficult or too easy or maybe your child still needs to work on larger gross motor skills in order to develop more concentration. 

But a lot of times, a child doesn’t show interest in something because he/she needs help honing in on what is prepared. It is so important to make sure they see what is on their shelves. So here are 3 things that you will want to consider when you want to bring your child’s attention to what you have prepared.

Try This!

 

01. Give a Lesson! Have you shown your child how to use the materials that you have prepared? If not, go back and do it. Show them how something works, how to lay it out and key things that might be important to share with them. You might bring their attention to the color, the shape, the texture, etc. Remember to show more than talk and allow them to draw any conclusions from the material themselves.  You can find more about “The Lesson” in an upcoming post.

02. Invite your child to the Work! Invite your child to have a lesson on the work. “Can I show something on the shelf?” or “Would you like to learn more about this?” You can also give a silent invitation.  Simply pull a work off the shelf and put it on a floor mat or on a low table where they will see it when they walk in.  There is no need to point it out when you do this just watch and see if that draws them to the work.

03. Work with the material yourself? When we work with the material ourselves while your child is watching, it will show your interest in what you have prepared.  Again, no need to say anything to your child. This isn’t a lesson per se. It is more of an attention grabber. Choose a work and bring it to the floor or table and begin working with it yourself. When or if your child draws himself or herself closer, gently ask if they would like a turn. At this point you can stay next to your child or slowly back away allowing space for your child if that is what is needed. Or maybe they want you to stay near because they want to do it with you. Either and both are perfectly OK!

 

Try these things and let us know if any of the ideas worked. And if not, we can help you sort that out as well!

 

   

The Lesson

A large part of a Montessori environment revolves around “The Lesson”. Giving lessons whether verbally or silently becomes the foundation for hands-on independent learning in a Montessori home or school environment.  You truly cannot have success in your Montessori home without it.

Maria Montessori said, “We must help the child to act for himself, will for himself, think for himself; this is the art of those who aspire to serve the spirit.”

But how do we help with this?

Allowing for Independence

Montessori’s whole purpose in developing her method of education was to help each individual child discover a joy of learning. This joy comes through independence. Independent learning is best facilitated through lesson presentations which concludes with opportunities for child led exploration.

By presenting lessons, we help to facilitate independence in young children allowing for opportunities that spark curiosity and development in their academic and social learning. This becomes the joyful work of the child. 

Why are Lessons Important?

Many times we give lessons for safety reasons. Sometimes we give lessons so children know how to perform a routine, some lessons are about our place here on the earth and others might be more academic in nature. 

All lessons begin with an invitation and are delivered with enthusiasm, attention to detail and respect. By following this pattern, we hope to draw a child in so that they may begin to look for the parts of the lesson that resonate with them.

Formal and informal lessons are given in a Montessori home or school to guide a child in foundational learning. They are designed to arouse excitement. The enthusiasm that we have for new lessons often leads to curiosity, as a child works with a material, idea or routine over and over again.

We know children will gain their own knowledge drawing their own conclusions from materials and works we or others share with them. But first, we must show them the steps for completing the work. This doesn’t mean that they cannot use the material in other creative ways, but by showing how to use a material, children are given and interest point as well as a starting point. 

Lessons for Everything

There is no end to when and where you can give lessons. Here is a brief list:

 
• Practical Life Work: These include any and all things that are part of daily family life. ie, folding laundry, cooking/baking, putting toys away, yard work, table setting, self care, etc. 

 

• Shelf Work: Depending on the age of your child this could look like open ended toys or more academics such as language, math, social science or thematic activities.

 

• Grace and Courtesy: Manners, grace and love that we give to each other through genuinely embracing gratitude and service. This would also include any kind of daily family rules, routines and boundaries especially when related to safety. Practice Grace and Courtesy in your home daily. So much of this type of learning comes through example and are some of the most valuable lessons we can give our child.

 

How to Give a Lesson

In our school, we give more formal lessons but in your home a mix of formal and informal lessons works best. You can use these guidelines when preparing and giving lessons.

Lesson Guidelines:

Guide Gently

Remember to guide gently when giving lessons. Don’t force a lesson. Wait for a child to show interest. If your child seems uninterested in a particular lesson, try something else and come back to that material at a later time.

Honor Interests

Lessons generally work really well when your child has shown an interest in something but you can also create an interest point for your child by how you present something. Choosing things to prepare and present works really well when it is based on observations that you have made of your child surrounding their interests, needs and ability at the time.

Be Proactive

Giving lessons before a child explores with a material or before they have crossed a boundary is much better than trying to correct a child in the middle of what they are doing.  In other words, be proactive with lessons. When you want to teach a child how to safely walk across a street, do it before you cross the street and he/she does it unsafely. That way you can say, “Remember what we talked about before we left home? Let’s try to do it that way.” This keeps more of a neutral field for your child, especially younger children so they don’t get defensive.

Allow for Uninterrupted Practice Time

Don’t interrupt a child’s work unless of course they are doing something dangerous.

Once a lesson has been presented, allow them the time to practice and explore with the material without trying to guide them or show them something they are doing incorrectly.

If you see a child is struggling to use a material, after a substantial time of observing, you can gently ask if they would like help or you can ask if they would like another lesson. But sometimes just simply take note to show them that work again another time.

Sit Where?

When giving shelf lessons to a child, always sit on their dominant side. Ask them to watch as you present the steps of the lesson. Restore the work and invite your child to have a turn.

Complete the Cycle

Once your child has finished a work, have them return it to the shelf or clean up. We call this restoring the work.

If your child doesn’t want to clean up, remember to teach this as a boundary with consistency, love and kindness.

If your child refuses to clean up, simply say, “Would you like me to help you?” this will usually get them moving towards you as you do it together. But if they still refuse, very casually say, “I’ll do it this time and maybe next time you’ll want to do it yourself.” We like to use this technique for a few reasons but mainly it signals to a child that you are not trying to control them. It is important to allow them to make choices and to be able to stay neutral even when your child isn’t doing exactly what you would like.

These simple words and actions will take them out of fight or flight mode and will put them in a place of trust.  They begin to learn they can trust you with their big feelings and it magically makes them more cooperative.

 

As a final thought, keep in mind that the “Lesson” is designed to allow a parent or teacher opportunities to inspire a child so that they begin to become critical thinkers, compassionate citizens, independent learners and joyful participants. We hope you find joy in the journey as well. It truly is a beautiful thing!

 

We are Digging Dinosaurs this month in our Toddler Homeschool Class! Come and take a look at what we have been doing!

 

As you can see, our toddler shelves are full of Dinosaurs! Little E can’t get enough of “dinosaur 🥚🥚” and honestly all things DiNoSaUrS. 😂 Because of his sensitive period for this area, he is spending lots of time during the morning completing activities not only on our shelves but also outside of our shelf work. These are things that we prepare ahead of time and bring out in a more controlled setting or they are field trips to help enhance what we are learning about at homeschool. Here are some of the things we are doing:

🥚We dig for dinosaurs buried in playdough, Plaster of Paris and ice.

🦕We free dinosaurs hidden inside baking soda eggs.

🦖We visit our local Dinosaur Museum as often as we can.

 

While little L is having fun too, her focus has definitely been more on the shelf work. Puzzles are her jam (you can find some simple dinosaur puzzles and other dinosaur printables on our Etsy shop) She also loves object to picture matching! It is a choice she will make over and over again right now.

 

Aunt Holland took pictures of our large dinosaur figurines for us.  We printed them out, laminated them and made these fun matching cards. We leave these on our shelf for independent work. This is the beauty of Montessori……we can find ways to reach varied interests at any given time.

However a child desires to work and absorb information is absolutely ok!!! Whatever your child’s interests are right now, we encourage you to gather together a few works that support them as they learn new and exciting things!