Ben’s Booklist: Brown Bear, Brown Bear

 

I’ve been trying to get myself and Ben to the library about once a week lately. We are so blessed to have one absurdly close to our house, and I’m attempting to get in the routine of going weekly so that it will be an established habit when indoor activities are necessary this winter… plus it’s free… and it’s good to read.

Anyway, we’ve been checking out about 3 books at a time, one of which I base some activities on for the week for when he is “doing his work” in the morning. At first, the concept of having to bring the books back to the library was difficult, but he’s gotten the hang of it (I make a really big deal about putting the books in the library chute… it’s actually a little embarrassing but you gotta do what you gotta do).

Last week, we had Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin

 

Cognitive Skills: color recognition and pairing two non-identical objects

Ben loved this one, and I loved that he loved it. It’s low on the obnoxious scale, and if you’re not creeped out by the mother towards the end, it’s a great intro to picture books for toddlers, especially if they like animals.

 

We did two activities with this one, a coloring book and a matching game. Both printables are free (yay!) and available here thanks to Carisa at 1+1+1=1. You should also note that there are tons of other activities and printables for this book, but I stuck with the two simplest ones that I knew Ben could complete by himself while still being a little challenging.

 

 

The coloring book was a big hit, and I’m kind of ashamed to say that I was shocked when we got every color right without prompting. I shouldn’t have been surprised because he is really into colors right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then there was the white dog…

 

When Ben finished all of the pages, he was so proud! He insisted on bringing it to his grandmother’s house to show her.

 

 

 

 

The matching game was also great for us. Up until now, he’s been playing a regular matching game (with pieces from a memory card game). Those are obviously cards with two identical images, so this was a great step into pairing two non-identical objects together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was also the “work” that I left on the shelf for him, and he came back to it a number of times throughout the week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that’s that! We were at the library again this morning, so I have a whole new group to work with. I’m going to keep posting our “preschool” books under Ben’s Booklist in the Montessori at Home section, so be sure to check back in!

Our Intro to Montessori and DIY Place Setting Mat

 

I’ve often beat myself up about not having a super specific focus for this here blog, but here’s the thing:

I don’t have just one specific focus in life.

And since this is really about things that we do and mostly things I make in my life, there is bound to be a huge variety of topics. Not just that, but as our family life evolves, so too will my posts and the projects I share within them.

Which brings me to Ben’s preschooling.

He is two and half. We’re not quite ready for “real” preschool (he nor I), but anyone who has had a two year old knows that this time can’t be taken for granted. He’s a sponge, I tell you. He is learning to explore and do things by himself, and without trying to sound too much like the overly-mushy mom, it’s really fun to witness.

While I’ve adopted more of a Montessori method for awhile now in how his learning toys and play space have been organized as well as how we treat our belongings and our approach to toys and learning in general,

with the start of this “school year”, we are taking on a more specific Montessori approach.

If you want more information about the Montessori method, there are plenty of great resources and explanations out there. I’m not going to tackle that here. At least not yet. What I will say is that Ben and I are learning as we go. We’re taking on new “works” as they seem to fit with our life (right now, he is obsessed with dry pouring, and we’ve just introduced transferring with tongs which he seems to really enjoy as well). I am amazed every time I introduce a new work to him. He often needs no explanation which is part of the beauty of Montessori. Every work has a built in control, so learning comes very naturally.

 

And now for the DIY bit…

 

Montessori works can be really expensive (and sometimes confusing)… for me anyway, and I really don’t think I’m the only one. Luckily I’ve been able to find many ways to put materials together from things I have around the house, purchases from the dollar store, or simply by making them myself. So I’ll be sharing them with you all as we go in the hopes that you can benefit from our successes and failures.

The first thing I wanted to share is

Ben’s Place Setting Mat

 

 

 

 

I’m starting simple and with materials many of you no doubt have around your house

Construction paper, glue, a pen, and laminate material or clear contact paper (optional but suggested)

 

 

 

 

There is no need for step by step directions here. I used Ben’s plate, cup, and flatware as a template,

cut them out of colored paper

labeled them

and glued them on in their appropriate places.

 

 

 

I have a laminating machine which I LOVE but this was too big to fit through, so I just used clear contact paper so it will wipe clean. Then I put all of the materials in a separate bin and put the mat and bin on his shelves. No lie, when he found them in the morning, he didn’t even wait for an explanation. He just saw something new and dove right in, immediately putting everything in its place and then told me, “I did it! Bweak-fas?”

 

 

 

 

 

You can buy these pretty cheap from the store, or really beautiful cloth ones on Etsy, but all in all this cost me under a dollar, and I didn’t have to leave me house. Craft hoarding for the win!

 

 

So that’s all for now. Keep checking back in for more DIY Montessori ideas!