10/19/2007

What Does Georgia Do All Day?

Other than make the teaching staff crazy, what does Georgia do in a day?

The joy of Montessori (when Georgia chooses to participate appropriately and not bite, scream, run, or spit on the floor). The funniest part about it is the teachers always preface their comments with "Georgia is so cute! I just love her. Guess what she did today?"

The toddler room is so quiet. Notice the kids wear slippers. Everyone whispers because when these kids get to "work", they love to concentrate on the task-at-hand.

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This is Clothes Washing. The kids get the water, the towells, etc. to wash, soap, scrub and rinse, and clothespin the freshly cleaned item to a drying rack. Another "work" is to fold the cleaned, dryed items. I'm not an expert in this stuff, it's the "real Montessori" stuff. But it sure helps with practical life, dexterity, focus, and cleanliness at home!

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This is an intricate work that I think helps with dexterity mostly. Notice the items are placed left to right? 99% of the Montessori works are done like this to help order the brain for reading. The only time I've seen it different is with my older kids, when they are past reading age. Also notice the sponge. Maria Montessori was really big on having the kids do ALL the work. That means getting it out properly, using it properly, and returning it neatly and orderly.


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Every kid has to paint. It's a rule. They also learn color mixing with a separate "work". Once again, they have a lesson on it and learn how to clean up when they're finished with their masterpiece.

Isaac, BoY gEniUs!

Uncle Jerm


Although she may not always remember his name, Georgia loves Uncle Jerm (or is it Jerrett?)


And thanks to Uncle Jerm and Joe, we now have this in our basement. You thought it was finished didn't you. We tend not to mention this. Hopefully it will be completed in a timely manner, yeah right. But you gotta stay positive.

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GeNiuS

Liv thinks her name starts with "l"

It's absolutely incredible to me that in 5 months Olivia can spell and write in cursive (better than her father)! If I didn't see it every day I would never believe it. I have a 4 year old in my class who spells on a 3rd grade level.

The program we do is "writing into reading". They learn the 71 phonograms in the english language and use them to write words every day. Pretty soon, when they see words they can decipher the phonograms and "un-glue" the sounds to read. It works!


Isaac's teachers never cease to be amazed. This kid adores school and everything about learning. He's sucking all the info out of the room when I'm practicing with Liv. See what he can already do?!
Today at dinner he said, "Mama, I can write 'top', t (the sound, not the letter, that's how they learn phonograms), 'aah, oh, oo, ahh' (that's "0" in phonogram speak), 'p'. Then when I looked at him, astounded, "and I didn't hear my teacher say it, we don't spell."
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10/03/2007

SoCcEr StArS!


Check out the poses?!

The Smurf CheerLeaDerS!

Pele' Stand Back!


It doesn't look like it, but Isaac IS the team
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