Celestial Almanack

The latest Celestial Almanack for astronomy studies is available!

We LOVE these things - and they go great with a Montessori education, unschooling, classical - or pretty much anyone! Including us adults ;) This is what Montessori astronomy is about :)

Written by a homeschool father; packed with gads of information on various age levels and understandings - check out the free preview over here.

NOTE: Affiliate links included in this post. This does not mean I'll get anything even if you make a purchase; it just means I might :) It all depends on credits you use, if you allow cookies, etc. :)

Beautiful Materials

When I started our little co-op last year, I did not have the metal fraction insets. We had some plastic fraction circles (each number with a different color; and not all numbers represented) and these: 

Made and cut before I made the connection that the UNIT is being divided into fractions;
HINT: USE RED CARDSTOCK!

This work is meant for the elementary children to do lots and lots of fraction operations. The primary children, if they get to fractions, will only work with the metal pieces - using them for making designs, discovering equivalencies, and very simply operations. We just never had them in our home environment - it would have been better if we did; but we made do with the plastic pieces (at least we had *something* hard/stiff - I found the fractions to be necessary, just not the most readily affordable). 

Now, several months ago, I purchase the metal insets used. There is one piece missing, I am ordering from a company that is taking their time getting it to me. I might just cut it out of wood for now and paint it!

The children came in to the co-op as usual; I said *NOTHING* about the new material - which is kind of in a back corner. 

Within 45 seconds, there was a group of children sitting around admiring them, picking them up very so carefully, seeing if they could put them in another place. They were in AWE. These were elementary children - not the primary kids! 

Here is what they saw on a low box on the floor: 

Used for both primary and elementary; design work AND fractions

Since then, they have also discovered these: 

Elementary Fraction Skittles

Now, I've not formally presented this material to anyone but my own son yet; but the elementary children have already "matched" them with the fractions and given them their "proper family names" of whole, family of halves, family of thirds, family of fourths and quarters (that is the phrase they chose to use!). 

Without even a presentation, the children were DRAWN to these materials. Which makes the presentations that much more meaningful. 

They beg to receive a presentation on an intriguing material - sometimes I feel like my presentation is only going to be a let-down, especially if we have to wait for several weeks, but it never once has been a let-down! 

All of these materials have been more than worthy purchases or investments of time. And I am so happy to share them with my co-op children; not just my own child :) 

Orchestra Studies - Montessori Style

My son recently discovered a deep appreciation for orchestral music. And I was surprised. I couldn't even figure out why I was surprised, which was more surprising!

I know, that sounds psychotic.

Then we re-discovered this treasure, tucked away behind our little-used tv in the game cabinet (it's an entertainment cabinet, but we store games in it, along with a small tv/vcr combo, CD player, CDs, videos/DVDs (few), tapes (yes! tapes!) and some building blocks):

And the pieces of my surprise-mystery fell together..... 

I have played the clarinet since I was 11. Self-taught, after years of self-teaching piano and organ; then a year of cornet in the school band. I was 1st chair most of the way through middle and high school; and played in a community band for a short time in college. 

I have memories of my son at about 8 months old INSISTING on putting his little fist into the bell of the clarinet every time I'd play. It was so adorable how focused he was on feeling that sound, but at one point he bumped things just right that the reed actually cut my lip and it was too swollen to play for many days. He would touch the sore spot gently and say, "Owie." And kiss it :) 

We've always sung songs - with our daycare children and friends; in the parish atrium; at our prayer table; at church; in the car. 

As an infant, my son would fuss in the car until I started singing; he was fine as long as he could hear me sing. Not talking; just singing!

But songs with words do not build an appreciation for the orchestra. 

We did listen to jazz and classical in his youngest years but somehow music got away from us and we just didn't listen to much music at all (except in the above listed places - we just didn't have time for radio or CDs - strange as that sounds). 

We DID have the movie Milo and Otis and there is some fantastic music in there! 

At around age 4, we picked up the book above - it is listed in a few Montessori catalogs and they had it at the Montessori school he attended at age 3. 

The inside images are works of art; there are questions and suggested things for which to listen within the corresponding music selections. He LOVED it. But again, time got away from us, the book slipped into oblivion and life moved on. 

For the last 3 years, we have been using Level 1 of the music program Our Musical Year - a resource that sadly seems to be out of print :( I am relieved that we purchased level 2 already. It is set up monthly, and has two CDs - one is the background music for each song, just one verse, played slowly; for the child to learn the tune and sing the song to; the second CD has enough repetitions for all verses and is normal tempo. The idea is for the child to learn to SING, not just to match someone else's singing. We pick a new song to learn each month; most months ;) 

Last school year, he spent fall semester in the church choir. He didn't want to do it, but I want him to have basic skills in a variety of areas, while he is still in elementary (this will pay off in adolescent years - more in another post). He ended up LOVING it; and sang for Christmas morning Mass. And asked if he could do another semester - so he did preparations for Easter. He ended up not singing Easter Mass because he became dizzy during rehearsal beforehand. Now, his singing voice just isn't there yet, so it's not that he's not allowed to be in choir again, but the choir director suggests waiting a couple of years.... ;) During this choir time, I would play the clarinet for him to hear the pitches. 

This only fueled his love for music further. 

Last November, we visited a music store recently when we visited family; he was able to play a couple of guitars and try out some drums while there, thanks to the very friendly and helpful staff. And he was exposed to all sorts of new instruments and sort through music books to find Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Little did he know I was there to price the lesson books for learning piano. Grandma ordered his new keyboard during our visit as a Christmas present, but we've not yet been back for "Christmas" - so he'll have a surprise next month when we go back!

By the time we got home, he had decided that he would like to learn the recorder (we have 2 of them from a college music class I took, along with a "teach yourself how to play recorder" book). He's ok at it - but he loves it and that is what matters. 

Right about this time, I set out some items I'd ordered a while back from a homeschool swap group: The Song of the Unicorn and the Story of the Orchestra. 

  

He was SOLD. The CD was a great combination of story (narration) and song (almost all instrumental). 

The orchestra book goes into each instrument, highlighting a song with that particular instrument in solo, as well as highlighting individual composers from different times, with just enough information for all children to learn (providing those Montessori keys) with enough left for exploration for those interested children. 

This is where I became so surprised. But should I have been? On the one hand, music has been part of our lives; on the other hand, there has never been a focus on instrumental music. 

He can pick out instrumental sounds I never could have previously; and he recognizes themes across genres. He can tell you the likely composer or at least the style of about half the compositions we hear; and he LOVES to listen to the classical music station in the car. 

Please. Nobody tell my 7 year old son that most kids his age are NOT like this. Fortunately, we spend a LOT of time with mostly homeschoolers - who at least accept each other's differences (most of the kids he spends time with are in the children's choir he was part of last year, if that says anything!). :) 

Yes, there are some primary level nomenclature and classification cards we could use for the orchestra. But he has started on his own charts and diagrams - why mess with perfection? ;)

Keys of the Universe - 1 Month Giveaway

Latest Giveaway for Keys of the Universe at Montessori Nuggets:
http://montessorinuggets.blogspot.com/2012/03/giveaway-post-for-april-1.html

$40 value (so if you're in the 16-month course, it is good for TWO months!)

Metal Insets for Writing

Our original "metal inset" material - actually made out of foam-board:

foam-board; blue pony beads attached with wires strung to the back
racks made by me

These have served us well, but we've received a "gift" of new metal insets and I'll be offering these for sale soon. They could use a touch of an exacto knife for some rough edges that have appeared over the years; and maybe some spots of foam sheets on the back of the blue pieces so they lay flatter (the wire is secured by a small foam sheet piece. I've added little pads here and there but they fall off.

I've had these for 7 years; through well over 50 children: daycare, tutoring, friends of my son's, children of my friends, homeschool.... The memories... not the first Montessori primary material I made, it was certainly the first truly intensive one. I still have some of the foamboard left over from these - I was going to make the geometric cabinet insets, but never did find the time. I finally just made those out of wood, and was able to purchase the cabinet by itself (2 weeks later, I figured out how I could have made the whole cabinet myself too!).

I'll have to see if I can find some of the design work that was done with these.

Just memories....

:)