Following Big Brother

Following Big Brother

by | Mar 22, 2022 | Homeschool, Parenting, Parenting Toddlers, Toddler, Toddler Activities, Toddler Environment

Younger siblings tend to want to do whatever they see their older siblings doing. Little Miss is no different in this respect. Everything she sees her big brother doing or enjoying she immediately wants a turn. It has been forcing me to be extra creative in our school planning. Mr. Man has been doing plenty of work recently that is well beyond the scope of his twenty one month old sister. He is cooking, sewing, and cutting with scissors. He is working with materials for multiplication and division and exploring fractions. Little Miss is still working on one to one correspondence and transferring. She is by no means ready for that world of work. This puts me in a bit of a pickle. I do not tend to tell my children they cannot do something because of their age, that is too discouraging. I also do not like for them to explore materials that I know are too challenging and will lead to frustration and again, discouragement. So instead I have been observing what she seems interested in trying and figuring out ways to tweak the activities for her. One activity that she has been fascinated by is cutting with scissors. Mr. Man has been using papers with patterns to work on his scissoring skills and gluing his work in a notebook so that he can see his progress. Little Miss wanted a turn, and her own book but she does not at all have the fine motor skills required for traditional scissors. I decided to provide her with a pair of loop scissors and switched out the paper for cardstock. The cardstock is less floppy which mean she can generally get a snip in no matter how she holds it. I also cut the cardstock in to strips about half the width of the scissor blade so that I could be sure that most snips would successfully cut off a piece of cardstock. The children have been working on their scissoring every day the past week and they are both incredibly proud of their work.

Another recently coveted material has been the math beads. I understand the appeal, they are a beautiful material and her big brother gets so much joy from them. I adjusted a few of the materials for her to use. These are not appropriate adjustments in a Montessori classroom, but in our Montessori homeschool I think they serve us just fine. For the golden beads I created a new presentation for her to just arrange the beads from smallest to biggest on a mat. She is very capable of this activity and it looks similar enough to what her brother is doing that she doesn’t seem too bothered that I have left the number cards out of her reach. With the multiplication and division boards I likewise removed the numbered parts ( the tiles and equation cards) and left her with just the boards and beads. She uses them as a fine motor activity placing the beads in the holes. Lastly we have our colored beads from 1-9 which we have been using as a color sorting activity. With these alternate lessons I taught Little Miss I can leave all these materials on the shelf and know that both my children are benefitting and enjoying the materials. When I begin to see hints that Little Miss is ready to use these materials in the way for which they were designed I plan to put them away for a few months. I suspect we have a few years until that time comes which gives Mr. Man time to finish with the materials. After they have been put in storage for some time I will pull them out and reintroduce them to Little Miss using the intended presentation. I still have quite a few other materials to tweak in the next little while but I enjoy the challenge, and my children enjoy the benefits. 

Hacking Hydration

Hacking Hydration

by | Mar 22, 2022 | Parenting, Parenting Hacks, Parenting preschoolers, Parenting Toddlers

Sometimes there are inevitable battles that must be fought with young children. Try as we might to avoid power struggles, to prepare our environment for them, and to cultivate cooperation there are some issues that must be solved through less pleasant means. These are often health and hygiene related. Kids do not generally like to brush their teeth, or wash their hair but as the caregiver we must ensure that our children are taken care of. Teeth must be brushed, and hair must occasionally at least, be washed. Today I want to share a few hacks for a similar conflict I have faced many times with children- keeping them hydrated. It can be worrisome watching young children choose not to drink any water time and time again. Sometimes it is even more concerning if you are trying to have them drink a medicine or a supplement that you know will help them with a health concern like restoralax or pediasure. There are many routes you can go that are unpleasant all around like constant reminders, threats, punishments and force feeding while reassuring yourself that it is for their benefit- but I think that one of my hacks for getting children hydrated may serve you much better!

  1. If you frequent a particular coffee shop often then ask them for a few extra cups to keep on hand. When your children are not drinking enough you can offer them their drink in a coffee cup ( or a Frappuccino cup). Children love to share in adult activities and will usually drink up. Make sure to make or buy yourself a drink as well so that it feels like an activity your are doing together.
  2. So many things can become a popsicle. Yogurt, water, flavored water, juice, smoothies with hidden vegetables, I could go on. Many kids will happily eat a popsicle especially on a hot day. Take this to another level by offering them the popsicle in the bath. No mess, and they are less likely to get distracted and forget to eat the popsicle. It is extremely relaxing for the child to experience the warmth of the bath and the cold of the popsicle and will often have a positive impact on their mood. You get to relax and watch them sit in one place for a while. They may even drink some bath water while they are at it.
  3. Make slushies or snow cones. Blend or crush up some ice and add a juice or syrup flavor to the ice. Eat with a spoon or drink it with a straw. Either way it makes it so much more fun for kids than plain old water.
  4. Make a fruit salad. We can find a lot of hydration in juicy fruits like melons, mangos, and oranges. Sometimes it is a much easier way hydrate children. Throw some whipped cream and sprinkles on top to make it extra appealing.
  5. Have a tea party. We do this regularly and dress up, set up a fancy table, and enjoy some kid safe teas. Children love to feel grown up drinking from tea cups and it really is a fun bonding time.
  6. Make fruit juice together. Children enjoy being a part of the process and will often drink more of something that they have had a hand in making. Lemonade and orange juice are both a lot of fun to make together. (Secret bonus hack- Throw the leftover citrus fruit peels in a pot of water with some cinnamon and vanilla extract to make a delicious smelling simmer pot).
  7. Make a child friendly sangria- carbonated water, juice, fruit and ice. It looks fancy, it tastes sweet and kids love it!
  8. Make soup together for a meal. It will be nutritious, hydrating and delicious.
  9. Make it an activity. I often leave a pitcher of water in my children’s kitchen alongside some cups. It is a subtle reminder and an invitation to practice pouring. Change up the cups and pitchers to different sizes and styles. Leave straws out, or stir sticks. leave out tiny spoons- as aggravating as it may be for some adults, many kids love to drink from a spoon.
  10. My last suggestion is more of a tip than a hack. Model drinking what you want your children to drink. If they never see you drinking water then they will be much less likely to drink it themselves. Also model getting drinks for one another. If they see you often offering to get a drink for your significant other or guests then perhaps they will feel honored and included when the next time you go to get yourself a drink you ask them if they would like one too.

I hope one of these hacks or tips will be helpful for you and your little ones!

A Fishy Arrangement

A Fishy Arrangement

by | Mar 21, 2022 | Parenting, Parenting preschoolers, Preschool, Preschool Environment, Science Activities

Now that Mr. Man is four he has been seeking ways to take on more responsibility around our home. He is seeing himself as a capable contributor and wants to have his own to do lists and chores most days. I even had the opportunity to hear him say, “I’ve got dinner tonight mom!”, and he did! He has prepared our dinners (with guidance and support) a few times now. He sees these new capabilities as evidence that he is getting older and more responsible and used them in his reasoning for why he is ready for his own pet. We have three birds in our family but Mr. Man does not see them as his pets, and they make him too nervous to interact with in a meaningful way. Our Green Cheek Conure is still very nippy and unpredictable so while Mr. Man would love to help care for her, and train her, he is very nervous. Over the course of a few weeks we entertained different imaginings of the pets he could have. He considered dogs but he was concerned they would scare him when they bark. He mentioned maybe a lizard but he quickly changed his mind when we looked up what they would eat. He was very excited about the idea of a hamster and we imagined for a while what that would be like. He realized while we thought about it that he wouldn’t want to hold the hamster, and he didn’t really want to care for it either. He really just wanted to build it mazes and watch it solve them. We agreed that a hamster probably would not be a great fit. One evening I was at a pet store on my own and I saw a beautiful Betta fish. I decided to surprise him with a pet that I knew he would be capable of fully providing for (although with the knowledge that it was still my responsibility). When we got home Mr. Man was thrilled to set up the aquarium for his new pet Fishy the betta. We did it together, cleaning the gravel, setting up the décor and plants, assembling the filter. When the tank was finished cycling and at an appropriate temperature he very carefully released his new friend into his tank. We decided to keep the tank in the living space to ensure Fishy received supervised care. For now Mr. Man is very happy checking the temperature of the water and feeding Fishy daily, and in a week or so I will introduce him to the other big fish care task of a water change. I have always enjoyed keeping Betta fish and I am enjoying watching Mr. Man care for and observe his fish. We will likely extend this experience into a research activity about Bettas. There are so many options- we could look into what foods they can eat as a supplement to their diet. We could learn about their origins and how they live in the wild. We could jump into a unit study on fish and underwater life in general. It will depend on where the most interest lies! 

It’s a Math Problem

It’s a Math Problem

by | Feb 24, 2022 | Homeschool, Math, Math Activities, Math DIYs

I want to set up as complete a Montessori learning environment as I can but sometimes the costs of materials is a little, or a lot out of my budget. There are some activities that I find a little redundant and I skip altogether but generally I attempt a DIY or dollar store version whenever I can. Mr Man (4) is very interested in math lately, he requests that I write out math problems for him to solve multiple times a day. I looked into getting the math problems and solutions boxes from my local Montessori supply store but at $40 per box and four boxes it seemed outrageous to me. So I went to Dollar Tree where I knew they had math flash cards. I bought one box of each- Addition, Subtraction, Division, and Multiplication. What I like about these flash cards is that the answer is on the back so the activities I made could be self correcting. I looked through the cards and removed any problems that had numbers beyond the scope of our current materials and then created some color coded folders for each set. I made a matching notebook with the same colors and blank grid paper inside. Now whenever Mr Man wants to do math he grabs a folder of problems, and his notebook and whatever other tools he needs and can do the activities entirely independently. He takes great pride in being able to do works like these without my help, and I am very pleased with my $4 solution to the $120 problem boxes.

Along the same idea we wanted to start looking into racks and tubes for division, as Mr Man is still pretty new to division we only wanted the very first set and I had received an incomplete set from a closing daycare. I wasn’t quite ready to give Mr Man the complete lesson but he really wanted to use the tubes. Unfortunately since the set was incomplete I wanted to fill in the missing pieces before I introduced it. He was very patient as I looked into the materials and tried to source the missing pieces. I was looking at over $100 again which to me seems a little silly just to teach division. I wandered around Dollarama looking for a solution and came across a set of 16 tubes of glass beads. I had no interest in the beads but the tubes looked like a really similar size to the ones I had at home. I was thrilled to find that they are a perfect match! They fit well in the racks, they hold 10 beads a piece, one on top of another and for 16 tubes I paid $2.50. I went back and grabbed enough to put aside for when we jumped into long division and gave the first set to Mr Man. Another dollar store win, and a material I had intended to skip solved. 

Sibling Dynamics In Homeschooling

Sibling Dynamics In Homeschooling

by | Feb 22, 2022 | Homeschool, Parenting, Preschool, Toddler

Sibling relationships can be tricky to navigate in a Montessori homeschool environment. It is often an impulse for both the older and younger siblings to interrupt one another’s work, to try to help when help is not desired, or to touch materials out of turn. I think it can sometimes be tough for adults to control our impulses while observing the sibling dynamics. We want to protect their focus, we want them to have the opportunity to figure out tough work and persevere. I know that I often want to jump into what I interpret as a budding conflict before big feelings become involved but in doing so I believe we are robbing all children involved of a learning opportunity. Lately I have been trying to remind myself to sit back and observe. Guide if needed, and when invited but for the most part I am trying to trust my children to practice the social skills that we have been building. It has been incredibly rewarding. I have learned that Mr Man (4) can maintain his boundaries verbally fairly well. He knows how to ask for space, how to express that he is not finished with a material and to my surprise he knows how to redirect Little Miss (1) very effectively. I have learned that Little Miss has internalized much of the expectations for the homeschool room. I have seen her put her hands behind her back to observe Mr Man working to avoid the temptation to touch. I have noticed that she is showing more and more the ability to wait her turn. I have also seen that she is less interested lately in the cause and effect reactions that come from bugging Mr Man. I am starting to think it was not about his reactions at all, but perhaps she was looking for my reactions. The less involved in resolving their conflicts I become the less conflict they seem to have and they resolve their conflicts much quicker. I have also started seeing beautiful moments like the one pictured here where Mr Man gives his own lessons to Little Miss with so much patience and grace. I think the biggest take away is that it is their relationship that they are building. I share with them general family values around how to treat people and interact respectfully but beyond that I need to step back and let them build their own unique relationship.