August Trays & Shelves

We moved to a little country city just a few minutes outside of Nashville, TN! Here school started August 5! I've had very little time for getting ready for school between moving, packing, and all the stuff you gotta do when moving to another state. However, we started! No choice in the matter do to homeschooling laws around these parts! ;)

So here are our trays & shelves in our very own homeschooling room (pics. to come when it is actually complete):

Chris ( age 6/First Grade):

Superminds - will be changing pattern every so often

Sketch Book - we have not incorporated any drawing, sketching, art time. We do have a weekly art picture study but until we work in hands on art this will do. He seems to look forward to his sketch time and gets into it. One side is regular oil pastels and the other side is chalk pastels. I bought them both on clearance at Jo-Ann's for $1.97/each!

Bought this at Border's with 50% off coupon! Chris loves it and has only used it once a day for a week and has learned how to tie shoes from it!

~ his shelf at a glance ~

Zack (age 4/ preschool):

Math ~ there are numbers 1 - 6 in the card pile.

He sorts them out and then matches a bean to

each picture.

Fine Motor ~ cutting. He still struggles with just this basic cut.

So I bought him scissors like these to help as his little hand muscles develop.

They have made a big difference!!

A part of his shelf that's not trays :)

~~ beads/lacing, puzzle, & card sorting ~~

~ his shelf at a glance ~

I really, really can't rave enough about trays and shelves!!! The boys absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!!! In addition, I've seen much improvement in the boy's various skills!

** 2011 - 2012 Curriculum **

I'm so excited for this years curriculum! I've had lots of time to look over (&over) tons of resources and have spent some time thinking & praying. I'm so thankful for all the resources available and the work that is made ready for me!

Chris ~ Grade 1: I basically followed the CM Curriculum Guide (i seriously love that site btw) while changing up some things.

• He will have 3 Montessori based trays.
• Math - Math U See Alpha
• Copywork - A Reason for Handwriting
• Science - 106 Days of Creation Study
• Personal Development - Learning to Get Along Series I'm so excited about this find!! ~ incorporating Laying Down the Rails
• History, Geography, Reading, Read A Louds, Bible - Core B with Grade 3 Readers
• Poetry - Montessori Style Poem of the Month
• Nature Study - I Love Dirt!
• Picture Study - We have 3 Come Look With Me books that we will be working through the year
• Art - Drawing With Children. I also have lots of left over art supplies we didn't use this past year due to home circumstances that I will be delighted to use with them this year!

It's a lot and that's why I left out quite a few subjects suggested on CM. We had such a lackadaisical curriculum last year that I didn't want to throw us in shock and accomplish nothing! The Poetry, Nature Study, and Picture Study will be weekly. The Science is 3 days a week.

I still have quite a few ideas spinning around in me head and I'm trying to figure out if they will work or not!

Zack ~ Preschool:

• 6 Montessori based Trays
• Raising Rock Stars Preschool - we will being joining to have access to the power points as well
• Reading Time each day
• Joining Chris for Poetry, Nature Study, and Art
• His own Personal Development program using the same resources I'm using with Chris

Nate ~ Toddler: ohhhhh how I don't like the thought that he will be a toddler during this school year! He's still a baby in my head so squishy, juicy, and lovey! And I know he still will be all those things, I just really like the idea of him being a baby cake!

• Some form of Tot School mixed with some CM & Montessori applications

I'm working on a schedule and trying to figure out how we can work everything with as much ease, comfort, and fun as possible.

November Trays

Silver Polishing: practical living skills, eye-hand coordination, fine motor control, and development of concentration (both)


Sewing Cards: eye-hand coordination, fine motor control, and development of concentration (both)

Folding Napkins: pincer grasp, precise movement, development of concentration. I'm starting them out with washcloths then working up to napkins. (both)

Matching Cards: visual discrimination (Zack)

Song Play: The Wheels on the Bus (Zack)

September Trays

I wasn't able to make October Trays and didn't get to post on September Trays so now I am. I'm working and deciding on what will be our November Trays and excited about it! So many choices. :)

Scents: (Chris) I had frankincense, lavender, lemon, and peppermint. The little cards have a picture of the herb or whatever on it along with the name. We covered up the labels later and also did it blindfolded.

Foundational Value: Olfactory Discrimination; Development of Concentration,

Quick Identification

Tongs: (both)

Foundational Value: Eye-Hand Coordination;Development of Concentration; Gross Motor Coordination

Stacking Cubes: (Zack)

Foundational Value: Cognitive and Fine Motor Skills

Matching & Sorting Cards: (Zack)

Foundational Value: Visual Discrimination; Development of Concentration

Stickers: (Zack)

Foundational Value: Eye-Hand Coordination; Pincer Grasp

Workbook: (Chris) I wouldn't usually put a workbook on a tray but since we were not doing the curriculum for the month I gave Chris two workbooks that he did a page a day. He loves workbooks and even though he did have to complete them he did.

Reading

Transferring: (Zack)

Foundational Value: Practical Living Skills; Eye-Hand Coordination

Eyedropper: (both)

Foundational Value: Practical Living Skills; Eye-Hand Coordination; Development of Concentration; Fine Motor Control

Workbook: (Chris)

Math

I needed the tray break in order to get back on track after everything. I love making trays though and am considering some new ideas from some Montessori books I'm looking at! It feels good to feel back! :)

August Trays

Well our trays last month went great. The boys love them and I'm pretty sure it is their favorite part of "school". I think one month is perfect and taking time to extend what needs to be extending. I found that the trays they struggled with they were doing perfect by the end of the last week and had a few days to practice it doing it well.

Most are taken from the book Mommy, Teach Me! by Barbara Curtis. You can find the link to this book at the top right under "Our Curriculum".

Beading:

Clothespins:

In case you were wondering what they do with them ;)

Foundational Value: eye-hand coordination; development of concentration; gross motor coordination;

Lesson Craft: This changes three times a week and coordinates with the subject of the week.

File Folder: This changes weekly and they love their file folders. File Folder Fun!
Funnels:

Foundational Value: eye-hand coordination; development of concentration; gross and fine motor control; early work in capacity and measurement

Wringing Sponge:

Foundational Value: practical living skills; eye-hand coordination; development of concentration; strengthening of hand muscles

The boys were so excited this morning about their new trays. They spent about a hour and a half wanting to do the trays over and over. I've enjoyed watching the development in them that I know is linked to the trays and look forward to new developments this month.

July Tray Extensions

After two weeks of our trays I got a better feel for where the boys are at. I do still want to stay w/the same activity monthly but I wanted to adjust them to their level. In Mommy, Teach Me! there are extensions for all the trays. I picked the ones that Chris (5yo) could do in one minute and added to them. So here's how I changed them:

Sorting: Stayed the same for Zack because he will only complete the tray correctly if your reminding him. ("what color is that button?" "where should that color go?", etc) For Chris I added two more colors and tweezers.


Spooning: Here is the original tray. For Chris I changed his measuring cup to a spoon. Zack's stayed the same because he still doesn't complete this activity. He does it correctly though.

Scissors: Zack (3yo) has amazing gross motor skills well developed for his age however, his fine motor skills are not as developed. The suggested cut out strip for his age is a 2"x8". He could not do this. It's been two weeks with no improvement whatsoever. So I cut his strips into 1"x4" and today was the first day he was able to successfully complete his scissor tray and he was so happy about it! His strips will stay like this until he's developed those muscles and ready for the 2x8.

Chris (5yo) is the opposite - amazing fine motor and not developed gross motor. Just to give you an idea at 4 he completed a first grade level scissor workbook but still has a hard time riding a bike, hopping, skipping, etc. Needless to say, cutting the strips got boring quick. I changed out the textures w/bubble wrap, tissue, etc. Still he was ready to move on. I came up w/the idea of relating his scissor activity to MFW theme for that week. This week it is the sun. I plan on varying this like tomorrow he will have yellow and orange construction paper to cut into tiny pieces and make a sun mosaic, Wednesday he'll paint the sun, etc.

File Folders: The boys love their file folders and I change these weekly if they have mastered them well by the end of the week.

Basting: Well I was way off on the basting activity. This was hard for both of them. As I read the directions on basting more carefully I realized I had set the tray up wrong! Hey what can I say I'm a tray beginner ;) So after some evaluation I gave them both bigger bowls and FYI: do not buy the sponges you see in the first basting tray pic! They are from the dollar tree and do not work for soaking up water! I suggest the o-cel-o brand I bought at Wal-Mart for $2.78/6. For the basting activity you can cut one in half for two trays so I still have 5 left for whatever. These babies work the way sponges are supposed to.

Rice Pouring: This tray stayed the same for both boys.

An Awesome Tray Thing: Before we started our trays our 3yo spoke mainly one words and a handful of 2 - 3 word phrases. About 1 1/2 weeks into school (which for him is only the trays and art) he started speaking in sentences almost all the time! His vocabulary has expanded greatly for the short time as well. I'm not 100% sure if it's related to the trays or not but I can say that that is the only change in his day.

July Trays

In Mommy, Teach Me! Barbara Curtis talks about many wonderful things. One of them is the Montessori Trays. Due to space, money, and lack of experience for us all in this we are starting w/six trays and changing out the activity monthly. ( FYI: Barbara Curtis recommends 3 weeks) All of these can be found in Chapter 4 Small Beginnings Exercises (execpt FileFolder):

Scissors:

Foundational Value - Practical Living Skills, Eye-hand Coordination,

Developemnt of Concentration

File Folder:

These will change out weekly as long as they have mastered it.

File Folder Fun <-- Check it out!

Rice Pouring:

Foundational Value - Practical Living Skills, Eye-hand Coordination, Developement of Concentration, Perparation for Reading (left to right)

Basting:

Foundational Value - Practical Living Skills, Eye-hand Coordination, Development of Concentration, Strengthening of Hand Muscles, Preparation for Reading

Spooning:

Foundational Value: Practical Living Skills, Eye-hand Coordination, Development of Concentration, Preparation for Reading, Pincer Grasp

Sorting:

Foundational Value - Eye-hand Coordination, Pincer Grasp, Development of Concentration, Development of Visual Discrimination

The boys are loving their trays! It is really nice and fun for them to do these as the start of the school day. Right now it takes us 1 hour to go through all six trays. The only "problem" I'm seeing is that with having only one table they tend to pay attention to each other. If the other is done with a tray the other wants to be done and go on to what the other is doing. I tried my best to encourage them to not pay attention to the other and concentrate on what they were doing and it went better this morning. I'm so glad I came across this book and look forward to reviewing it and applying more that's in it!