Since we’re drawing inwards as autumn turns into winter, I’ve refreshed the downstairs work shelves. A is currently at a Montessori nursery 3 days a week, so we have a mix of materials and complementary games on our work shelves. As we begin home educating exclusively next year, we’ll probably incorporate more standard Montessori materials, especially in the math series.
A usually has a language shelf, a math shelf, a science shelf, and a culture shelf which is either music, geography/architecture, or art. We’ve consolidated language and science at the moment to give Birdie a shelf of his own! We also have separate musical instrument shelves in another part of the room, and art shelves in the kitchen. We are starting to create a designated learning space in our dining room, and make more space in the living room for shared toys and gross motor play, but for the time being materials are mostly downstairs and toys are mostly upstairs.
I tend to leave things on shelves for about 3 weeks, except for the movable alphabet which is always accessible. These materials will probably be refreshed more quickly since there are so many exciting things to think about over the winter holidays - I’m already cooking up some culture materials about Egypt and the Middle East to tie in with reading Chanukah and Christmas stories.
Here’s what we have on the downstairs shelves right now:
Movable alphabet and sandpaper letters
A uses these independently every few days and I pull them out about once a day to play different games - I spy, writing out words from cards, putting in his lunch order.
Orchestra instruments book, small instrument models and paper cut outs
We had a friend over recently who is an enthusiastic classical music fan and he re-sparked A’s interest in orchestral instruments. I plan on introducing a music book about The Nutcracker in December - and the winter season is full of orchestral music recordings in our house - so this is a good refresher before we start listening to some new things! We’ve used the paper cut outs for crayon rubbings and matching with the model instruments so far.
Number matching game
We use these for reinforcing the relationship between number and quantity, and also for trying out simple addition. I have an extension game where we build a block tower with the same number of dots as the card. These have been on the shelves for a while but every time I put them away, A finds them and brings them back out.
Anatomy puzzle
A is still really into anatomy so I’ve brought his bodies puzzle back out. He’s not a puzzle-loving kid but he likes to explore the different layers of this one, and normally gets it out with one of his books on anatomy. He has been doing organ matching work at school and I’ve seen a sneak peek of a life size body tracing with stuck-on organs that he’s been working on with a friend.
Silks, Blocks and Baby Materials
I keep a basket of play silks, a felt work mat, wooden work tray and our set of Grimms 1001 Nights blocks beside the work shelves. We often use the blocks as part of math games or as a base for storytelling. I keep a few small animals hidden away on top of our adult bookshelves for storytelling. It drives my sense of order crazy, but we leave the blocks in a heap instead of putting them away in the tray for the same reason as putting puzzles and games away un-done: they are inviting for a child rather than seeming like a ‘finished object’ to be left as is.
Birdie’s main materials at 7 months are his caged bell rattle, interlocking discs, his teething ball, and a few other balls (Montessori puzzle ball, o-ball), a skwish, and some household odds and ends.
He’s just begun sitting independently, so I put together a treasure basket of kitchen objects for him this morning. Birdie is a great observer of the world and spends most of his day strengthening his arms for crawling, discovering things with his mouth, and practicing chewing at his weaning table. Since we don't have low shelves for him yet, l lay a few toys out on the floor each morning and swap them out throughout the day.