Robbie is 38 Months Old
As our first day draws near (Sept. 7th), I'd like to post a bit about our plans for Robbie's final year of Tot School.
Our trays will not really focus on transferring, pouring, etc. He let me know sometime last year that those were simply NOT of interest to him. We are, however, using all of the basic Montessori practical life actions in our day-to-day life. Instead, our trays will merely be extensions of what we're doing together throughout the week. Ideally, he should be able to work on and complete all of these activities independently (after a brief intro from me, of course).
The four basic areas I'd like to focus on with his weekly trays are Science, Math, Fine Motor and Geography.
Science Trays: I'd love to incorporate more nature into our trays. I'd also love to give him some basic physical science-type activities on his trays.
Math Trays: These will simply consist of various manipulative activities (some will be open-ended activies/exploration and some will have a specific goal).
Fine Motor Trays: While Robbie's gross and fine motor skills have always been very, very good for his age (he gets that from his daddy... I can trip over air and drop my own hands), I realize that continuing to focus on his small motor skills will help with the stamina he will need when he truly MUST write for his school work. It will not be all pencil or scissor work, so I'll have to get creative here. I may use some brain teasers since these usually require fine motor accuracy. He also wants to learn to tie his shoes, so that will be included. Independent art and craft activities will also go on these trays.
Geography Trays: To be honest, I'm at a loss on this one. I know that I want to cover the continents, oceans and landforms this year, but I'm still working on ideas.
If you have any links/ideas for things we could do in any of these areas, please feel free to leave a comment.
Overall, I'm excited about our new school year.
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For geography, you could use some of the Montessori ideas.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.infomontessori.com/language/cultural-work-geography.htm
and
http://www.montessorimaterials.org/geo.htm
I don't like all of the montessori geography work. But I do think some is interesting. I can't find the link, but I remember seeing a blog where someone made their own land and water form trays. I thought that was pretty cool.
I have no good suggestions for you but I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
ReplyDeleteI've gotten really excited reading about all your prep and I can't wait to see what you come up with every week once school gets rolling!
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