Having a 4-year-old and a 2. 5 year old poses challenges given their different developmental stages. I try to choose activities that lend to a range of skills but am also prepared to occupy my little guy while my older son works on an activity requiring more concentration.
I am focused on Practical Life for my 2.5-year-old and Language for my 4-year-old. I will add Sensorial quickly over the next month, plus some math, geography, and life sciences.
August Montessori Shelves
Seed Transferring
Simple hand transfer for my 2.5-year-old. He also likes to pour from one bowl to the other. My older son spoons or uses tweezers for added fine motor development.
Bead Sorting
My younger son enjoys simply transferring with his hands but notices the difference between the white and brown beads. So I introduced sorting today. Sorting is pretty simple for my 4-year-old, so I add some fine motor work with tongs or tweezers to make it more interesting.
Using a blindfold is fun, too, especially with the great sound the beads make as they land in the ceramic bowl.
Marble Painting
Lay out a tray lined with poster board. Add a few bits of paint and place a marble (or small ball) in the middle. Please encourage your child to pick up the tray and move it in all directions to watch how the marble (or ball) moves on the tray in and out of the paint.
Word Families Made from Recycled File Folders
My 4-year-old is ripe for language work. For the most part, he is intimidated by reading with me. He flinches at not knowing the word and rushes to “guess” the word rather than slowly sound it out. So I have to take a more subtle approach. For example, when reading together at rest time, I will try to sound out “the,” and we’ll laugh because it sounds pretty silly. So I can introduce “sight” or “puzzle” words in this manner.
There are some words we can’t sound out that we must learn to recognize as we read. These word family strips are another example. I left the basket out and waited for him to discover it. He subsequently asked me about it and whizzed through the word families, asking for more.
Thanks for reading! What new work is on your shelves?
Marnie