The Montessori Mommy - Bringing Montessori Home

Learning with Games

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There are so many ways families choose to homeschool their children. Often, parents settle on a mixture of things that work best for their family. Today, I’m going to talk about a method I don’t hear much of, though I believe it is worth it: Game schooling!

What is “game schooling”?

Exactly what it sounds like! Learning through playing games, typically board game style games. Many of us are familiar with the classic board games and may even have a regular family game night! Games are loads of fun and there is a game for everyone out there. Some games incorporate a lot of reading, others require different types of math skills. Other games explore different science, nature, or cultural themes. When families decide to incorporate games into their child’s homeschool experience, they consider the educational topics they want to cover and find games that help children practice these skills. Below, I have compiled a collection of games I use, as well as games recommended to me. Jump to Math games, Language Arts Games, or Science games!

Math Games

A classic game from my own childhood, and that my own kids enjoy, is The Allowance Game. Players move around the board, collecting allowance, spending money, saving money, and maybe even owning a lemonade stand. Players learn how much coins are worth, how to add money, and how to make change.

To help kids learn their fractions, Fracto is a fun and easy game. With multiple ways to play, your kids are more likely to want to keep playing– and keep practicing their fractions!

So, we have not actually played this game, but it has been on my wishlist for a while now! Target is a game where players need to reach their target by using addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. With so many options, it is a suitable game for multiple age groups.

Another favorite math game: Tiny Polka Dot. This game has been great because it is not one single game. There are over a dozen games to play for kids ranging from three to eight+. All the games use the included number cards, some of which have numerals and others which use dots and blocks.

Finally, recommended to me by another family, is Real World Math: Unexpected Events. This is a math game for older kids that helps them practice their math skills applied to personal finances, similar to the real world.

Language Arts Games

One of my favorite games growing up- and that I’ve shared with my kids- was Boggle, Jr. This is a fun way to practice letter matching and spelling. Boggle, Jr has a set of cards with words on the bottom. Depending on the child’s ability, they can either match the word or practice spelling the word with the letter cubes. For older kids, Boggle can be a lot of fun, too! Boggle is a simple word search game that can be played independently or with a partner.

Learning parts of speech has been described as boring to many people I’ve spoken with over the years. How do you make parts of speech fun? With Silly Sentences! Kids love making silly sentences with this game. Children use color coded puzzle pieces to build sentences as silly (or tame) as they please.

There are so many games where reading is an important part of the game, but one of our favorites is Apples to Apples, Junior edition. Designed with kids 9 and up in mind, children practice reading, make comparisons, and build their vocabulary. We have a lot of laughs playing both the “junior” and the “classic” editions of the game.

Of course, no language arts game would be complete without mentioning the classic game, Scrabble. If you are unfamiliar, this is a fun crossword style game where players build words to earn points. Children can practice spelling, learn new vocabulary, and practice using a dictionary.

Science Games

I’m sure many of you have built a marble run before, but maybe not one like this! Gravitrax is like no other marble run I’ve seen. Like others, gravity is a big component of this marble run. But with this, children also get to experiment with things like magnetism. Plus, there are some really interesting expansion sets you can get – such as a trampoline! The link below will bring you to a smaller starter set, but there are larger ones as well as many expansion sets to explore!

Are your kids interested in engineering? Or maybe you want a fun way to teach simple machines to your kids. This kit is a lot of fun because it comes with materials and instructions to build simple machines (things such as inclined plane, levers, screws, etc). After your child builds a simple machine, he/she can play with them to see how they work!

A final option is the Botley 2.0 Robot. My oldest is interested in robotics and this little robot was a fun way to let her explore robotics and coding. Botley comes with a booklet that explains how the programming works, has suggested activities, and your child set up his/her own programs. I think this is a great first step into learning how programming works.

Geography

Ticket to Ride is a family favorite; I actually got it as a gift for my husband and we all fell in love with it! We have the original version, in which players seek to build train routes across the US and some Canadian cities. There are other versions that take place in other areas of the world.

Have you ever heard of Continent Race? While we haven’t played this yet, it was a game recommended to me by followers. This is a game designed to teach children world geography and flags. My favorite part though, is that this game was designed by a six-year-old!

What games would you add?

This is just a handful of games that exist. What are your favorite games? Let me know in the comments!

Montessori Aligned Toys

A quick search for “Montessori toys” will lead you to a plethora of children’s toys. Many of these have reviews explaining why this lovely toy is not a Montessori toy. Typically, these reviews are not wrong! One of the biggest conflicts I’ve noticed is open-ended toys being labeled “Montessori” when Montessori materials are typically designed to be closed-ended.

Why is Montessori closed-ended?

When Maria Montessori designed materials for her classrooms, she worked hard to create something that isolated the topic for the child. While many materials have multiple ways to present lessons, there is still a prescribed method of using the material and educational goal. Color tablets teach children color recognition. Moveable alphabet helps children spell. The tower of cubs (also known as the pink tower) helps children explore size differentiation.

Maria Montessori saw the value of play and incorporated it into her classrooms. She also saw how much children enjoyed doing meaningful work. I think a great example is a toy kitchen. Many children will spend hours copying their parents and pretending to pour, measure, stir, and slice in a play kitchen. But when given the opportunity to pour real water, slice a real cucumber, or bake a real cake, children are often far more interested. It may not be play the way adults think of playing, but the child is having fun and learning.

Why we used open-ended toys

When it comes to bringing toys into my home, I much prefer open-ended toys over closed-ended. Why? Because free play is separate from our school. While the line is often blurred with homeschooling,

Name Bubbles – Great for Back to School

**This is an affiliate post.**

It’s that time of year again! Many families are heading back to school (whatever that may mean for your family). Back to school might mean heading into a school building, organized homeschool groups, or more educational, family outings.

Whatever the case may be, children seem adept at misplacing belongings! The solution I have found to this issue is Name Bubbles. I’ve tried several types of name stickers over the years, as a teacher and a parent, and these are my favorite!

Why Name Bubbles?

My favorite thing about name bubbles is that they last! Other labels I’ve tried either fade away or peel off. Even my oldest Name Bubbles stickers look new- after being on items like backpacks that get beat up, after going through the dishwasher, or going through a washer and dryer. Seriously, they look like I placed the sticker yesterday. When you’re looking to make sure your kids’ (or your!) belongings are properly labeled, this is probably the more important feature.

I also love how customizable the stickers are. Name Bubbles offers different shapes, sizes, and designs. Most of these are available in multiple colors and multiple fonts. My kids like this, too, since they’ve gotten to customize their own stickers.

A Solution for Anything

Name Bubbles offers different types of clothing labels as well as everyday labels, contact information labels, medical labels, write on labels, and even stickers! And really, they’re not just for kids. Because they are so customizable, I have stickers I am not embarrassed to put on my own belongings.

A great option for many families is Value Packs. While the everyday labels may be enough for some situations, I highly recommend a Value Pack. Name Bubbles offers many different types of value packs, each with its own set of labels. The Custom School Labels pack, for example, comes with clothing labels, shoe labels, and everyday labels in a variety of sizes.

Lost Items

My children have definitely misplaced items, like many children. However, we have not actually lost any of the belongings with the Name Bubbles sticker on them. While I assume there is no actual magic working with these stickers, I am sure it has been helpful to the people finding these items to see a name clearly printed on a bright sticker.

Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi on Pexels.com

green and gray scissors — Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi on Pexels.com

Montessori Services & For Small Hands – Review

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One of my absolute favorite home Montessori businesses is Montessori Services. As a Montessori teacher, there were so many supplies we would purchase through Montessori Services or For Small Hands to use in our classrooms. While Montessori Services specializes in items for Montessori classrooms, For Small Hands caters to supplies and toys for the home.

Cooking

For Small Hands offers everything you need to help your child be an independent chef at home! In the cooking section, tools are organized into preparing food, baking, serving, snack and lunch, and books. Within each section, you will find items appropriate for different age groups, from toddler to elementary.

Some of my favorites are this wavy chopper, bamboo cutting board, juice pitcher, and sturdy juice glasses. If I were to only buy four items from For Small Hands, these would be it! The chopper and cutting board are perfectly sized “for small hands” and are the perfect intro to basic chopping and food prep.

For snack and meal times, I find the juice pitcher and juice glasses to be essential items. These items are made of glass, which does mean they are breakable. However, I have found the glass to be very sturdy and both the pitcher and glasses have survived small tumbles! Additionally, I prefer glass and ceramic (breakable) over metal and plastic because children really do learn to be more careful.

Cleaning

While I will not get into the many benefits of children doing chores in this post, will give you a link to find exactly what you need to help your child do a little housework! For Small Hands has a great section for cleaning tools for your child. While there are many options, I will highlight my three favorite cleaning tools my own children use:

A traditional corn broom. I prefer corn brooms over other types of brooms, so this looks most similar to our adult sized broom. These brooms can be used indoors or out, so they are great when my kids need to sweep the porch as well!

A compact brush and dustpan. I love this brush and dustpan set! The handle fits nicely in a child’s hands and it is just the right size for sweeping up small messes. Additionally, I have found the handle on the size of the brush is easier for children to use than the handle on top of the brush (such as this: Whisk broom and dust pan).

Finally, a window washing kit. I don’t know about your children, but mine love to wash windows! Sometimes I think their hand prints are intentional, just so they can wash the windows again. This set comes with everything your child needs to make windows sparkling clean: a spray bottle, cleaning cloths, a squeegee, and a handy caddy to carry it all in. Properly used, your child will not need any more than water in the squirt bottle to clean windows!

Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA on Pexels.com

Toys!

Of course, children have toys. While I try to limit the amount of toys that enter our home and be intentional with what toys we do have, it can be hard to prevent a doting relative from generously giving children toys. I try to be proactive and let family members know how much I appreciate their kindness, and then steer them in a direction everyone can be happy with.

For Small Hands has many, many toys and activities to choose from! Everything offered has some kind of educational benefit, is a quality item, and sure to be enjoyed by your child. There are simple stacking and sorting activities for toddlers, constructing activities for elementary students, gross motor activities for children of all ages, and everything in between.

As a bonus, I have found that grandparents have been impressed with the options for toys and games available at For Small Hands, as they offer activities that are both lots of fun and educational.

Final Notes

I have only great things to say about this company. The selection of items is wonderful; it seems no matter what home Montessori items I need I can find it here! They have great items for practical life activities, books, arts and crafts, and games. While they don’t supply many traditional Montessori materials, they do have support materials, such as phonetic objects. Customer service has also been great. Luckily I have only had one issue, and they reached out immediately to keep me updated and make sure I was satisfied.

What about you? What has been your favorite find (or finds!) at For Small Hands?

Mealtimes with Small Fries, Montesori Style

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Something I love in Montessori classrooms is how “real” snacks and meals are for children. Young children- even toddlers!- are setting tables, sitting at the table, and eating nicely. In some schools, a community meal is even shared and passed along the table. Watching a 2-year-old politely ask for the milk pitcher is precious.

The Benefits of Shared Meals

While I understand the challenges of sharing a meal as a family, it is something we strive for. When everyone is sitting at the table together, one of the first things a child can learn is table manners. Children see how to sit at the table, how to use utensils, and hold polite conversations. The expectations I have of my children vary with developmental ability, but we are always modeling the behaviors we want to see at the table.

In our house, breakfast and lunch is left up to individual choice. Dinner, though, we share the meal. When my children were very young, I prepared the meal, served it on plates, and put the plates on the table. This worked well for us most of the time, but I have since changed to putting serving platters and bowls right on the table.

Setting the Table

To start, each child should have a placemat. There are many placemats available for Montessori homes. These in particular are silicone, so they will hold up a long time and can even go in the dishwasher. Look for a placemat that has outlines for dishes, silverware, and the napkin.

Serving bowls! I love my matching set of serving bowls. It makes it easy for me to grab exactly what I’m looking for every night. For some families, it might make more sense to use a food storage container for easy clean up, but love how nice these white bowls look on the table.

Like many Montessori teachers, I prefer breakable dishware. This often comes as a shock to parents, as we have been conditioned to believe we need durable, plastic dishware. Observations in schools and at home has led me to believe this only causes children to be more careless. After all, if you know it won’t break, why bother being careful? Breakable dishes, however, need to be treated with care and children often take that responsibility seriously. While breaks do happen occasionally, I have found that there are fewer drops and spills overall. That said, when there is a break, I ask them to let an adult clean up the mess.

I like the Corelle brand of dishware in my own home. It is fairly sturdy and holds up to everyday bumps. These white plates and these white bowls are a perfect size for young children and will complement most dishware you have for the adults in the house.

Drinkware

Expecting a 3-year-old to pour a glass of milk from a gallon jug is setting the child up for failure. Instead, I keep small, glass pitchers on hand for the children. During meal times, I can put these on the table for the children to use. At other times, they are kept on a low shelf in the fridge. This small, glass pitcher from For Small Hands (not an affiliate link) is one of my favorites! Here you will find a similar pitcher from Amazon.

For drinking glasses, I look for glasses with a heavy base. This makes them more stable when a child is pouring and drinking. The ideal size for a preschool child and older, in my opinion, is a “juice glass”. These are often around 5 or 6 ounces. These Libbey Heavy Base Juice Glasses are perfect. I use them myself frequently!

What Do Children Need for Cooking?

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I have tried so many different cooking tools with children over the years. There are some I have come to love. Others… not so much. Here you’ll find a collection of my favorite kitchen tools and utensils for children.

Shelving

If your kitchen has the space for it, I highly recommend a dedicated shelf or cart for your child! A small kitchen island can be a great tool for children, as it can contain all of their own kitchen tools as well as provide their own space to work. I prefer open shelving for children, over closed cabinets, because it helps children see what they need better. This 20″ x 40″ island is counter height, so a child will still need a stool to reach, but it would make a fantastic kitchen are that can grow with your children.

A smaller alternative is a metal, rolling cart. Most of these have enough room for everything a child will need to cook with, plus they can be wheeled wherever it’s needed- or tucked out of the way as necessary.

A Tower

One of the most important things when letting children help in the kitchen is making sure they can easily reach things. Ideally, children should be working at a counter that is their height. In most Montessori schools, you will find a food prep station at just the right height for the children in the room. Of course, this is not often a reasonable alteration families can do in their home. Instead, step stools and “learning towers” can be a big help for our littlest helpers.

My favorite is the IKEA Bekvam (not affiliate). I used this as-is with my children. I was a little nervous at first since it is a little higher than I was comfortable, but my children have exhibited great care and now that my oldest is almost 7, it’s just a handy step stool for her. Additionally, I’m never far from my kids when they use this. Still, there are some great tutorials for turning the BEKVAM step stool into a learning tower! (If there is no IKEA in your area, here is an Amazon link)

I have used the Little Partners Kids Learning Tower in other family’s homes and I highly recommend it. It is sturdy, has four sides for safety, and has an adjustable height. I love the size; it is larger than some others, so it may not fit in every kitchen, but it can be helpful for a young chef.

Food Prep Tools

A top held wavy chopper is my favorite chopping tool. Because the handle is on the top, I don’t worry about children accidentally grabbing a sharp blade instead of a handle.

A cutting board is essential for food prep! This small cutting board is non-slip and comes in a variety of colors. It is just the right size for most of my kids’ food prep activities. I also love that it is dishwasher safe! If you are looking for a more natural alternative, such as a bamboo cutting board, I recommend this. It is a good size and looks beautiful.

Liquid measuring cups are another essential kitchen tool. I use the Pyrex set of 3 measuring cups for both myself and my children! My only complaint is that eventually, the ink washes off in the dishwasher. However, they are sturdy and easy for the children to handle! I like having a variety of sizes to better accommodate our needs as well as so different liquids don’t get mixed.

Finally, mixing bowls, measuring spoons, and measuring cups are essential. I prefer to use metal for these kitchen tools. Metal bowls are more lightweight compared to stone or glass bowls. This makes them easier for young children to handle, especially once they are filled with delicious food! Metal measuring cups and spoons, I have found, hold up best to use long term. I found this set on Amazon that offers all this and a little extra! You will also get a whisk, spatula, spreader, and lids.

Cookbooks

A cook book is a must have tool for any aspiring chef! Our favorite cook book is The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs: 100+ Recipes that You’ll Love to Cook and Eat . We got this when my younger daughter was 3 and while she can’t read the recipes herself yet, the images are enticing and she loves picking foods out. The recipes are kid-tested and not too complicated.

Things You Already Have

Of course, many families use things they already have for their children! There is absolutely no need to buy the contents of a second kitchen just for your children. The most important thing is not to have “all the things,” but to make sure things are accessible to your child/children. When everything a child might need is in one spot, it is easier for him or her to find exactly what they need. If children have their own set of cooking tools, they will know where to find them without rummaging through all the other cabinets and drawers. Having their own set can also make food prep more enticing and give them a sense of pride and ownership- making them more likely to want to properly clean and take care of their tools!

In my own home, I have one space for all the children’s belongings. Other things we use, such as our mixing bowls, are shared by the family. While they eventually have learned where we keep everything, it was a little more difficult for them.

Surprise! Summer School, Here We Come

I never thought I’d say this, but we’re doing summer school! All at my children’s request. While the year felt successful, my kids enjoyed it, I enjoyed it… I was looking forward to a break. Summers in the sprinkler, swimming, summer hikes and nature walks, and lemonade. I’ve always been a firm believer in letting children have a more relaxed summer.

Then, last week, my oldest said, “Mom, we haven’t done school in a while.”

I reminded her it was summer, yet she was very excited to have a little school time. So, we’re doing summer school. I’ve been less structured with work and expectations. I’m still making sure we take advantage of the summer activities available to us.

My original plans for the summer were having weekly art lessons and science lessons. Summer seemed like a great time to focus on these lessons, especially as we can work on them outdoors. We have been doing video chats with a cousin while we do the activities and it’s been a lot of fun for everyone. And, of course, we’ve been working on reading regularly.

We love to hike, especially in the summer!

Child Led

As far as my own goals for my children and educational requirements, I feel my they have passed and even surpassed what I expected for the end of the year. As I am not worried about their education, I was not interested in pushing for summer school, other than enjoyable yet educational extra activities. As a Montessori teacher though, I also believe it is important to “follow the child.”

So, when they asked for new lessons and to start doing school again, of course I said yes!

School, r e l a x e d

Our normal school day had a fairly strict morning routine and schedule. Typically, we had five days a week and about 3-4 hours a day. I had thorough plans of what lessons to give and what areas of study to encourage. Now that we are apparently doing summer school, I am doing much less planning and being far more flexible in how much time we spend on schoolwork.

One of the activities my daughter was most excited about was a workbook of all things! But, it is truly one of the best workbooks I’ve found. Made by Waseca Biomes, it is a portfolio all about the continent of Europe. Starting in the grasslands of Europe, your child gets to imagine they are traveling throughout Europe and visiting each biome. There are a large variety of activities and topics. The workbook matches up well with the European biome cards for elementary.

We’ve been working on this together. The reading level is above where my daughter is anyway, but so far it has been fun and interesting working together on it!

As my kids work on school activities, I feel both surprised and proud. The love of learning is being instilled in my children – they’re working on things simply because they’re curious and want to learn more. What can be better? My youngest has been especially interested in counting, and we’re counting everything. She’s nearly mastered her 1 to 1 correspondence and has been eyeing the sandpaper numbers.

As we reach the middle of summer, what has surprised you about your children’s summer activities? What has not surprised you?

How to Make Your Own Montessori Pin Map

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The Montessori pin maps are one of my favorite geography materials in an elementary classroom. This material is a wonderful way to engage children in learning world geography. Using an atlas for accuracy, children place pin labels on maps to name countries, major cities, capitals, and major waterways. It is a time-consuming activity. Upon completion, children often feel proud of themselves and the work they have done.

Unfortunately, the cost of adding this material to a homeschooling environment is typically too much. The complete set is around $1,000. For our family, this was certainly unaffordable. After some thought, and browsing the internet for alternatives, I decided to try a Do-It-Yourself project. The cost was quite low, and my older daughter became very interested in the process, which was a bonus!

Materials Needed

It took me a long time to settle on the specific materials I would use and how I wanted the map boards to look. Here is what I finally decided on:

Cork Boards
Unlabeled maps of each continent – There are many free options
Toothpicks
Map Labels – I created them and currently have European labels available in my TpT store.
Colored pens or permanent markers
Atlas (or online maps). We used the Usborne Geography Encyclopedia. The DK Smithsonian Children’s Illustrated Atlas is another great option. I highly recommend purchasing an atlas for homeschool use, as it is a quick and easy resource. I have found children browsing the atlas for pleasure many times and sometimes even learn things they would not have from a simple web search.

Lots of Dots

Since my daughter is interested in studying Europe next, I decided to start with a pin map of Europe first. I opened the atlas to a political map of Europe and got out my printed map. First, I made large red dots approximately where each capital city is located. Since we are using toothpicks for our “pins,” I made sure each dot was larger than a toothpick in diameter. I chose red dots, as many maps use red dots and stars to designate cities.

Next, I made large black dots for placing the name of the countries. I chose to do this after the capitals to make sure I did not place a black dot where a red dot should have been. Once that was completed, I made blue dots on the major bodies of water. If you have a map that lines major rivers, that would be great! I did not have one on hand so I stuck to seas in and around Europe.

Creating the Board

Once I got all those dots filled in (and double-checked to make sure I didn’t miss any!), I glued the paper to one of the cork boards. I placed the paper toward the bottom, so there were a few inches above the map. This way, my kids could place the toothpicks in the cork to be ready before they need them, making it easier to find each name.

While The cork board was set to the side to dry, I printed and cut labels. To help the children sort the different flags, I put a black, red, or blue dot on each flag, front and back. I wrote the name of the country, capital, or water body on the front. On the back, I have a small color image of the continent (e.g. a red image of Europe) and the word country, capital, or water body. I folded in half and glued them onto toothpicks.

After the map was completely dry, I used a toothpick to pock holes in each of the dots on the map. Ideally, each dot was larger than the toothpick, so the color is still visible with the hole. I had to make a couple dots larger, which I felt was important because I wanted the children to be able to match the colored dots on the label to the one on the map.

I keep the pins in a small food storage container when the map is not in use. The pin maps are stored on a shelf, stacked neatly. I may label the front of each map to make it easier to find the one they want, but I have not done that yet.

This was a time-consuming project- probably over an hour for one map, but it was worth it to us. I enjoyed working on it and I liked the involvement of my children. I hope you found this helpful and maybe even inspirational – even if the inspiration was to buy them already made!

Nouns! More than Just a Person, Place, or Thing

As the school year winds down, I have been going over the educational goals for my children and planning for the upcoming year. From years of teaching, I have found from experience it’s best to do this well before summer break begins, while everything is fresh in my head. I look at the thing that did (and didn’t!) work, concepts we will be working on next, and materials we may need.

Which brings me to nouns! We have a lot of grammar material, as I knew I’d need it in the upcoming years. For a bulk of our grammar work, we use traditional Montessori materials. We actually have this grammar card set from Montessori Print Shop. This option is color borders only, but there is another bundle that is solid color, which is closer to traditional Montessori grammar materials; I prefer the borders to save on ink!

All I find lacking in the traditional grammar material set is the noun exploration. There are so many types of nouns! I typically see these learned through additional grammar materials in Montessori classrooms. After the noun work is mastered from the grammar boxes, I move on to further noun work. We explore irregular plurals, masculine and feminine, and more.

Further Noun Work

With help from my older daughter, I came up with sets of cards for different types of nouns. If you need to add it to your collection, you can find it in my Teacher’s Pay Teachers shop.

This material features sets of cards for the following types of nouns:

Irregular Singular and Plural nouns
Common and Proper Nouns
Concrete and Abstract Nouns
Masculine and Feminine Nouns
Plural Noun and Collective Nouns
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
Simple Nouns: Person, Place, Thing
Animals: Animal, male, female, young

All of these materials feature cards to sort into the various categories presented. When applicable, words in each of the categories match one another- something I found lacking in other materials I looked at. For example, when children are practicing common and proper nouns, each common noun has a related proper noun. The common noun, “country,” names a particular country. For the common noun of “city,” a city is named.

I hope this material is useful for your homeschool or classroom experience! If you like it, please leave a review on the product page.

What Should My Kids Do In Summer?!

As the school year is winding down, the anticipation of summer is palpable. Finally, the children don’t need a jacket to play outside, there are flowers growing, and on particularly warm days, a sprinkler is welcome. If the space allows, children may even bring their work outdoors to enjoy the fresh air. It seems everyone is feeling a little happier, a little excited, and ready for summer.

When the school year ends, parents often wonder how to structure the summer. Should they be working on new skills, reviewing old skills, or practicing in a workbook? Should they have a reading log or not worry too much about it? How much time should be allotted for educational activities, free play, and structured actives?

Free Play

Unstructured play is extremely beneficial for children. Wherever children find themselves over the summer- day camp, a summer nanny, or at home- there are often more opportunities for free play than usual. As an educator, I have always encouraged parents to allow this to happen as much as possible, especially when it means outdoor play. Trips to the parks, playgrounds, bike rides, and walks around the neighborhood are often a little easier in summer. A game of catch or soccer with family or friends can be a fun way to spend the afternoon. Aside from the health benefits of outdoor play, children may see their motor skills, confidence, and social skills improve with unstructured, outdoor play.

Traditional Academic Work

During the summer, many schools do not require students to do much traditional academic work. While there are many opportunities for learning during the summer, reading is one area I like to encourage during the summer. For some children, a reading log is a great way to keep track. Other children find it is a helpful reminder to read. For others, it is a visual for their reading accomplishments.

As for other academic needs, I prefer to use every day life and games to practice skills learned. There are many ways, with some suggestions below, families can support both academic and developmental needs of children in the summer without the pressure of a normal school day.

Supporting Academics in Summer

One of the easiest things for me to do as a parent is adding little conversations, tasks, and questions into our day. A child who has been learning about fractions might be interested in helping bake cookies, where he can read and add fractions. A child just learning to count can choose seven strawberries to put into a bowl and one learning to recognize numbers or letters can play a fun game of “I Spy.” For children learning money or decimals, they can help figure out the grocery bill or the tip at a restaurant.

Additionally, there are so many games that are fun and help develop math and language skills. A childhood favorite of mine was the game Parcheesi. Children can practice addition with an emphasis on figuring out doubles. Monopoly is another classic to practice math skills. Scrabble or Boggle are fun games for the family to practice spelling skills. The Uncle Wiggly game is another favorite to practice both reading skills and number work, plus the game play is fairly simple.

Nature Learning

There is so much learning to be done with nature! In addition to playful activities, children also enjoy learning about the natural world around them. An easy activity may be gardening. Whether you have several acres or a sunny window, there is some form of gardening that can work for your home.

An activity I have enjoyed with students is taking the Montessori leaf shape materials and looking for real life examples of leaves. Leaves are easy to find on a hike or walk where we live. Many children love to do leaf rubbings on paper or in a journal of the leaves they found. As an extension, they can label the leaf shape, the type of leave, or also get a bark rubbing from the tree.

My own children love reading non-fiction books about the natural world. When we read things about our local environment, we make a point to look for those things in real life. At my children’s suggestion, we have gone for walk during times when we might be more likely to see deer- and it worked! It was a thrilling experience to stumble upon deer while going on a walk, and something they still talk about often.

The Montessori Silence Game is always a great game to practice our listening skills and becoming more observant. Sometimes while we are out and about in nature, we sit and practice the Silence Game, quietly listening to the sounds of nature. It has helped all of us be more peaceful even when watching nature. We have found a mole, painted turtles, tadpoles, bullfrogs, snakes, salamanders, and a variety of other wildlife simple because we’ve been practicing observations.

Don’t Stress!

At the end of the day, I don’t want to be adding any extra stress to my own life or my children’s lives in the name of education. One of the most important thing for children to do is to play. Play, while fun, also has its own educational benefits and helps children learn and develop even better. Sometimes the perfect summer day for my children is sitting in their playroom playing with dolls. Other days, they’re out in the sprinkler all day. There are many ways to support children’s education, social-emotional development, and motor development beyond the classroom. I try to put most of my focus on simply enjoying summer, following my children’s lead, and exposing them to things that maybe I like a bit more than them- sometimes sparking joy for a new activity.