Simple Name Practice

This is so simple!! You can cut out some pieces of paper (almost like the shape of the letters of the name you will use) or card stock. I added some green lines (keeping it nice and neat) at the bottom of each letter and told my child to pretend the letters are sitting on grass (to help prevent upside down letters)! This is great little puzzle to help your toddler to recognize and spell his/her name.

About Maria Montessori- A Tidbit of History! (#1)

• Dr. Maria Montessori founded her first “Casa Dei Bambini” in Rome, Italy in January 1907. 
• She applied the diligent observational skills and ceaseless quest for truth that she had learned in her scientific training to her interest in children.
•  Dr. Montessori traveled the globe, studying children of all cultures and social strata and developed a universal education, today known as the Montessori Method.
  

Rounding to nearest Hundred

To help my child learn the concept of rounding to the nearest hundred I used two sentence paper strips to make a number line from 100-900. I cut out 2 x 2" squares of card stock and wrote on some random numbers. We made a little game out of finding which 2 hundreds the given numbers were in between, laying the given number on the number line. Then I marked off the "middles"...150, 250, 350 in red...explaining that if the tens place of the given number is 5 or above then you round up to the next hundred. For example 252 would be rounded up to 300 since the tens place is a 5 or above. I presented this to my daughter by placing the numbers under the correct answer.

Homemade Montessori Counting Beads

Instead of using the very expensive traditional Montessori gold beads/rods, I decided to make my own beads using natural wooden beads on natural hemp string. I have only gotten as far as beads for 1-10 as seen in the photo. You can find supplies at your local craft store. I tried to tie the knots as close as I could to the beads on each end just so that when you line them up that it is a very clear pattern that the next number is one bead larger, etc. This time I lined them up to look like a Christmas tree for the holiday season.