My NEW Montessori Classroom

it's finally here:

Montessori at Home

THE BACK-TO-SCHOOL EDITION

Ella on her first day of "official" homeschooling: Grade Kindergarten

Since February my life has been absolutely, positively crazy, but if I hear someone, anyone, tell me yet again, "You must be so busy!" or the other constantly-heard phrase, "You've got your hands full!" I think I'll sweetly inform whomever it is that in point of fact I spend most of my time most of my days sitting or laying around and reading. It wouldn't be far from the truth. I'm the nursing mother of two growing boys who refuse to take a bottle. Although I often try to do something else while nursing I've discovered that either my activities distract them from nursing or whatever I'm doing is so shoddy I have to redo it later.

And yet, in the midst of this I've been spending much of my non-nursing time getting ready for school. I've done a lot of paperwork, organising month-by-month and then week-by-week what I want to cover. I've also had to move our classroom from the church across the street into our home. This was not a small matter as our home is rather small, our family has just become much larger, and the "spare" room had to become a nursery. But with a wonder of a friend (Thanks, Sherri! You were a whirlwind of activity. I don't know where you get the energy!) and the sacrifice of a dining room (as our kitchen is galley-style the dining room table is our only table) we have created a new classroom.

The shelves (as seen above) lack something in aesthetic value, but are extremely practical. The main portion of shelves was my own bookshelf from my childhood. All the added bits and pieces are from a decrepit, dismantled desk transformed by Sherri. So, with no cost to me, I ended up with extensive shelving!

A glance ahead, three of the shelves up close:

Math Materials

Language Arts Materials

Sensorial Materials

Some of the materials and their uses I have written about in previous blogs. Items which are new I will be covering in the near future. Plus, I will very soon have completed part two of the Montessori Mathematic Bead Material. It has been some time in the making... In more ways than one! For some reason I got a bit off track around February. Can't figure out why...

Also in the works: Montessori and Montessori-type activities for infants. This post could also be termed "Keeping two boys occupied while trying to educate their sister." It's just going to get more exciting from here on in!

Are my hands full? Am I busy? Maybe just a wee bit, but my quiver is full of blessings, so I don't mind!