Toddler Language Shelf (FREE Alphabet Reading Booklet)

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This month in 12 Months of Montessori Series I am featuring Vito’s language shelf.  I didn’t have this opportunity with Mavi.  During his time, I was not prepared and most of all most of these resources are not available.  So I decided that if I ever I will have a second child, I want to be a bit organized with our homeschool process. 

As you all know, Vito has been showing so much progress in his fine and gross motor skills.  Not to mention that he is everywhere in the house, trying to emulate our actions, communicates with us  using his own language and communicates verbally (as if he understands what he’s saying).  This  language shelf that I assembled for him will feed his “sensitive years”, his interest in communicating and in the area of language. 

Here are some tips and ideas on how to start your own language shelf.

Book/s Basket

Read books to your kids.

We read endlessly.   We may not do Montessori works all the time, but we are religious in reading books. 

What books do I need to buy?  Board books is perfect for little ones who love to mouth objects.  I started with picture books for both boys. I got these from Book Depository and they were the same books I used with Mavi.  Read my review here.   Picture books are good for object recognition, especially if you read these books to your kids everyday.  You don’t have to read everything.  One at a time… baby steps as they say.

When Vito was still a baby, we do one book in the morning and one at night.  Now that his attention span is longer, we read 3 books during daytime and 1 at night.  I put the books in this wooden box and place it on the shelf.  As you can see, little Vito can’t wait to get his books while Mommy do some photo-ops.  Can you guess what' he wanted to read here?

Look for books that have bright colours and large pictures like this My First Numbers/ Colours and learn book series. These are good books for introducing colours and counting.   Oh and yes, as much as possible use books that use realistic pictures! These are for younger ones of course. Study shows that 18 months old toddlers learn more in coloured photos than in coloured drawings.

For younger kids that might show no interest, try books that have manipulatives to get their attention. Life the flip flap books of Spot series (Amazon or Book Depository).  Vito loves these two! Or those that create sounds like Mr Brown Can Moo, Vito enjoys hearing me make sounds as well. So he keeps on pointing to the pages so I will make a sound.And once reading becomes a habit in your home, try reading books that tell beautiful stories (short stories)  and with less text per page, with bright colourful images.  Point to the text as you read and point to pictures, so they’ll associate it with one another.  These are Vito’s favourites so far.

Vito’s favourite books (in the picture):

• That’s not my tractor
• That’s not my frog
• Counting Kisses
• Mr. Brown Can Moo
• Goodnight Moon
• Brown Bear What Do You See?

Colour Basket

These are the contents of our colour basket.  We do one colour basket per week, and rotate. You don’t need toys to have these.  Think of socks, plastic container, shirts, books, handkerchief, plastic bowls, spoon and fork etc. By looking around your house you will be surprised of what you can assemble!

Am not really sure about including this here because in Montessori, colour is usually in Sensorial.  But in our home and in my approach here, I used it as of the moment for language.  I want Vito to learn his shapes and colours ASAP.  This is the reason why I included a colour basket in our language as we use this basket almost every day during play time.

My aim here is to reinforce the names of the colours and for Vito to recognize them.  What I do here is I would place it in the floor for us to play around and explore.  I will pick one object, describe it by saying “red feather”. I will pass it to him so he can touch and feel it (or play with it if he wishes). We’ve worked with red, yellow, blue and green so far.  I have no plans of introducing orange and purple yet.  Just like the books, we rotate this basket.

I will quote this from Montessori from the Start “…repetition is the key to the learning process at all ages.  Rotation, not substitution, is the answer to the process of habituation to objects. ”  It goes to say that you don’t need to buy “more” objects (substitution) but rather rotate the resources that you have.

Letter Sound Basket for the Week

This has been a popular approach, introducing letter sounds using objects. I introduced this to Mavi when he was 2 years old but at that time he already knows all about the letters and the sounds.  My aim during his time was to use the objects in learning how to read.

I’ve been introducing Vito to the alphabets since the beginning of the month through books, wall poster and singing the Alphabet Song.  He loves pointing at the letters as I sing them.  I prepared this basket so we can explore the letter, and its sound using the objects. Since Vito is only 16 months, I only have 3 objects for each letter and a booklet.  This is a letter sound booklet which has realistic pictures and a label.  This is similar to the booklet by Itsy Bitsy Books, but I wanted to use real pictures so I made one for myself.  Now if you are interested with my file, you can download it for FREE here.  On how to assemble the booklet… follow the instructions here. 

So what’s in the basket?

A – apple, alligator (Schleich), ambulance

B – banana, book, block

C – cow, carrot, car

Now what about small letter? I wanted to use small letters but I can’t find a foam letter that’s sturdy.  I used bath foam letters from Munchkins.  These were Mavi’s.  When Vito is old enough, I can add up all our objects here and add small and big letters (Melissa and Doug).

I know some of you are not able to assemble these because of limitations (in resources, space). Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have enough “materials” at home.  Look around your house, and you will be surprised that you have more than enough to present with your kids. Reason why I used fruits and vegetables because this is what Vito usually eats and encounter everyday.   All you needed actually is the principle behind it.  Teach through play, use objects around your house for your kids to explore, and read books!  Try thrift shops for books if library is not available, or Amazon, or Book Depository (lesser price and they ship for free!)

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This post is part of the 12 Months of Montessori Learning which is hosted by Natural Beach Living and The Natural Homeschool.

 

Natural Beach Living ~ The Natural Homeschool ~ Living Montessori Now

The Kavanaugh Report ~ Mama's Happy Hive ~ Study at Home Mama ~ Child Led Life

Every Star Is Different ~ Grace and Green Pastures ~ The Pinay Homeschooler

Animal Habitats

                                                                                 

or get it at Scribd.

I created this file for our geography and animal studies at home.   We use this to study the different biomes (habitat) of the world and the animals that thrive on it. This printable is suitable for SORTING ACTIVITIES as well. The pictures I provided are big and clear enough for classroom discussion or for personal private use.

This file contains the following:

• 6 pictures of habitat (desert, temperate deciduous forest, grassland, tundra, taiga, rainforest)
• 60 picture cards of animals (10 animals for each habitat)
• The picture cards measure 3 3/4 by 3 1/4
• Definition card for each habitat.
• The definition cards measure 6 x 3 1/4
• Map for each habitat. The maps measure 7 1/2 by 4 1/4.

More printables in my PDF Shop at Selly and Scribd.

MEGA Collection of BOTANY Unit Studies

Finally, I compiled all our botany lessons in one post. It’s easier to make it as a reference in the future and to you dear readers as well! These are the activities we have done for the past years, when Mavi was still in preschool.  I hope you find all of these helpful in your own homeschool journey.  Just click any of the links below, to direct you to the specific post.

(In no specific order)

• Learning about flowers. This is THE FIRST TIME we dissected a flower and Mavi had a fabulous time learning about the parts!
• The Tree. Our FIRST LESSON ON TREES and comes with a DIY tree felt puzzle
• Parts of a plant. Mavi was only 2 years old here when we study the different parts of a plant using nomenclature cards.  Was he bored? No!! He had fun looking for the different parts in grandma’s garden.
• Fruits and Vegetables Unit
• The Bean Seed. Identify the parts of a bean seed and observed how they sprout.
• The Plant. Mavi was attending Montessori preschool and brought home his plants.  We review the parts of a plant using a real  one at home. 
• Looking into Trees and Leaves.  We matched leaf shapes, create trees in different seasons and identify the parts of the leaf/tree.
• The Plant Life Cycle (Photosynthesis).  We did a little experiment on how water travels through the plants.
• Tree Shapes. Yes! Trees have different form and shapes.  We worked on this outdoors and identified the shapes of the trees in our yard. How fun!
• The Poinsettia.  Seasonal lesson, especially during Christmas.
• Leaf Shapes.  Montessori-inspired activities. We collected leaves in the park and matched our collection to the leaf shapes nomenclature card.
• Inside of a fruit.  Making fruit prints!
• Life Cycle of an Apple.  Lots of crafting!
• All about flowers [1] and [2].  We usually study flowers in springtime.  Here we looked into the different parts by dissecting a flower, collected flowers in the yard and used it as a paint brush.. and more outdoor flower observation.
• Flower DIY foam puzzle.
• Parts of an apple and tomato.  Yes, we dissected these!

 

You can also visit my Pinterest board for more ideas!

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Toddler Beginnings 06

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Aside from endlessly reading books, I added farm animal basket for him to explore as he is showing interest on them now (he just used to mouth them!).  You can get these animals from Amazon, Schleich, Symths Toys or Safari Toob.  Mine was from Amazon UK .  The picture book (Baby’s First) on the other hand was from Book Depository, and again you can get them from Amazon.  I love that these animals are big!  They are easily to grasp and play with.

I’ve seen these animals at Marks and Spencers as well, and you can get them from Hamley’s too.

                    

  I am making use of our Learning Resources Critters Counters from Amazon.  Since Vito loves putting small objects into small spaces, this is what I put up.  Oh don’t worry, that empty tub of Pringles is mine!

See how I placed the tub in the floor and the counters on the table? That’s for Vito to bend, good practice for gross motor skills ey?

                       

Oh those tiny fingers!  He would complain whenever the counter will not fit.  Oh, they do fit sweetheart, you just have to push it a little bit harder LOL.  I’m showing him how to push it more… though at times he still couldn’t get the idea.

Scribbling, we do this mostly in the afternoon when I’m sitting down resting.  I got him this My First Crayola Jumbo Pens from Amazon. 

And this, Melissa and Doug jumbo puzzle from Amazon again (don’t well love Amazon).  He loves taking away all the animal pieces, and putting them in the basket LOL.

Oh yes, don’t forget to check our St. Patricks’ Day activities! 

No formal musical instruments here.  Just more on singing songs, dancing and making music with our body!

We were blessed with a beautiful weather last Sunday.  And you know me, I don’t love staying at home when Mr. Sun is out. So here we are… even if it is still a little bit cold. 

More tot series here!

Introducing Picture Graphs

One of the most important topics which I find very useful when I was in the university and as a professional for some time was picture graphs.  As an engineer, we always looked at statistics, comparing data and interpret them to come up with a solution to a problem.

Now, this is where our picture graph lesson comes in. I introduced this to Mavi because of my experience, and of how useful this in real life.

There are a lot of ways to come up with data collection activities and interpreting the output using picture graphs.  Here I will show you how we did it at home in two ways.

Roll a Dice

Roll the dice a number of times (depends on you) and record the how many instances the number appears.  Discuss the graph to your child.

Link Cubes in a Bag

I placed the equal number of link cubes in the bag, Mavi and I have to pick up a cube one at a time.  We then have to put an X or mark the chart when a certain colour appears.

In each activity, try to describe your graph and ask questions like:

1. Which link cube did you pick the most?
2. Which link cube did you pick the least?

Another suggestion is that, you can create a WEATHER CHART.  Let your child record the weather, if it’s sunny, rainy or cloudy.  We were supposed to do this, but you know in Ireland… it is always RAINING… so this idea will not actually work for us :D

So there you go!  This is a very very easy activity to prepare. Use anything that you see in the kitchen, no need for printables… just create the chart in a piece of paper and that’s it!  Enjoy the activity and goodluck!

More math ideas from my Pinterest board!

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Hands-on Learning: Rocks and Minerals (FREE Cards)

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Oh here we are again, my son’s favourite topic: rocks! Last year we worked on identifying the types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.  This year, I added minerals to our studies, to advance our studies in the Rock Cycle.
This years’ objectives for  Rocky Cycle study:

1. Review the classification of rocks
2. Identify the characteristics of rocks
3. Identify the characteristics of minerals
4. Difference between rocks and minerals
5. Products of rocks and minerals

Materials used:

• Igneous rock collection
• Metamorphic rock collection
• Sedimentary rock collection (I don’t have this)
• Minerals collection.  I purchased the mineral collection from Learning Resources when it was on sale in Amazon last year. 
• Digital microscope (optional)
• Rock and Fossil Hunter Book  A really good book that provides a table of rocks and minerals, with lots of experiments and activities.

This is how we worked on each rock.  I created learning cards for each collection, the links are at the end of this post.
  Comparing rocks and minerals
Comparing Pyrite (fools’ gold and real gold)
Colours of minerals.  Trying to draw and identify the colours of each minerals.


Rocks vs Minerals.  Combined a few igneous, metamorphic and minerals then have Mavi sort them according to:  minerals, rocks and “not sure”.  Mavi had so much fun here!
  Looking closely.  We used our digital microscope (husband provided this) to have a closer look for our rocks, to check for some crystal formations :)

Metamorphic

 Igneous

 Minerals

FREE printable files:

• Igneous Rocks
• Metamorphic Rocks

You can also purchase an entire pack of rock materials (I suggest this!).  If you have a budget, it's better to get them all at once so you can pull out a prolific rock study.  And of these two would be perfect!

• Rock and Fossil Collection
• Earth Science Collection

St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Tiny Tots

I am not really a fan of seasonal themed activities. Why? Well for a busy Mom like me, it is sooo difficult to prepare and assemble.  The fact that we live far far away from the city, our resources is quite limited. It is sooo hard to find materials that fits well on a specific theme (and I have no time to look for them either!).  Plus the fact that well, these stuff still cost a lot and space is my biggest problem here. Not enough storage for the materials! 

But… we all have to agree that it is fun to do it with your little kids.  It’s cute and fun! And the kids will have that feel of the occasion.  That’s why, because this month we are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day here in Ireland,  I am trying it out this seasonal themed activities with Vito!  Yes, I’m testing the water and see if I can pull off a seasonal themed activities and let’s see were this will lead me.  We’re not doing a bunch right, we’re only trying those that are easy to prepare and feasible for us.

Scooping giant pompoms 

                

Vito has been showing signs that he’s ready.  He always wanted to feed himself so I’m giving him lots of scooping activities so he can practice.

Materials:  giant pompoms (or berries or baby potatoes), plastic scoop from oatmeal box, plastic bowls

Recognizing the rainbow colours

 

We’ve looking at colours since last year and though we may have one colour per month, it won’t hurt to checkout different colours at the same time. Here I was talking to Vito all about the rainbow its colours.  We use my Learning Resources Critters Counters which I got from an Amazon Sale last year.  I was pretty happy that they have all the 6 colours of rainbow!

                   

Materials:  colour cards (from flash cards, cardstock, art paper) and counters (or erasers/rubbers, pompoms, toy beads etc)

 Language and Vocabulary

 

So you might think that it’s too early for your little ones to understand all of these?  You might be mistaken! They actually absorb all the little things you show them!  Currently, there’s a lot of displays of leprechauns, rainbows, shamrock etc at the stores and malls. Vito sees all of these whenever we’re outdoors.  So what I did here was provide some beautiful cards with a clear readable font for infants (I used Sassoon Infant Std, standard font used here in UK and Ireland) and added tangible objects so I can show and explain to him what he is seeing everywhere.

Materials:  St. Patrick’s vocabulary cards (downloadable from this post, follow link at the end of this post), matching objects

Gold Counting Activity and Number Recognition

I made counting cards as well and used some play gold coins for this.  Since the starting of the year, I’ve been introducing Vito to counting by counting his fingers, his toes, the buttons we’re playing, the blocks and anything at all. So here, I introduced counting with the symbol.  Again, there’s no such thing as too early or too late.

Materials: counting cards (downloadable from this post, follow link at the end of this post),

Mess Free Shamrock Painting

Materials: sealable plastic bag, printed shamrock (you can get the outline in the web), orange and green non-toxic tempera paints

Put everything in the plastic bag… and let the fun begin!

Vito’s shamrock masterpiece (after he basically torture the plastic!)

And there goes our activities for St Patrick’s Day!  Even if these are all for Vito, big brother loved doing all of these as well! How cool isn’t it?

Now for your freebie, download your FREE COPY OF ST. PATRICK’S DAY printable, the TINY TOTS EDITION here!

More toddler activities can be found here in my Pinterest Board: Follow Pinay Homeschooler's board Pinay Homeschooler on Pinterest.