I was thrilled to make Circle of Moms’ Top 25 Homeschooling Blogs for 2011 and Top 25 Homeschooling Moms for 2012! I discovered yesterday that Living Montessori Now was nominated again! Thanks so much to the person who nominated me for Top 25 Homeschooling Moms 2013!

This was our Montessori homeschool classroom when Will was 6 1/2 and Christina was 1 1/2. The tables, chairs, shelves, and materials were from the Montessori preschool I had owned previously, compressed into a smaller room.

I really appreciate the extra publicity to help introduce more homeschoolers to Montessori techniques and principles and to have the chance to encourage more parents who are thinking of or are already homeschooling their children. I love telling other parents that homeschooling really does work.

I homeschooled my children through high school, and they now have bachelor’s degrees. They both had straight A’s and wonderful university experiences. And my adult children still have a love of learning … thanks especially to Montessori education, unit studies, and a relaxed style of homeschooling. They also have successful careers, happy marriages, happy family relationships, and plenty of friends. Homeschooled children do grow up to be amazing adults! If you’re wondering, here’s a bit more about my family.

If you’re a homeschooler or considering homeschooling, here are some of my homeschooling posts you might find helpful:

• Top 5 Homeschool Lessons My Children Taught Me
• Top 10 Montessori Principles for Natural Learning
• How to Start Using Montessori at Home
• How to Set Up a Montessori Preschool Classroom at Home
• How to Set Up a Montessori Homeschool Classroom
• Should You Use Unit Studies? (includes a list of my unit-studies posts)
• How to Be a Relaxed Homeschooler
• The Overwhelmed Mom’s Guide to Montessori Homeschooling

You can find many of my homeschooling posts here: Homeschool Resources.

You can find many of my Montessori posts here: Montessori Resources.

Voting for the Top 25 Homeschooling Moms will go through June 13 at 4:00pm PST. You can vote once each day. You just need to scroll down to the blog you want to vote for and click on the pink heart voting circle. Once your vote is counted, the circle will go gray until you’re eligible to vote again the next day. Once the voting circle is pink, you can vote again.

I would LOVE your vote. If you vote for me, thank you SO MUCH! I really appreciate your encouragement for the work I do. And you can vote for more than one blog each day. There are many great homeschooling blogs.

Whether or not you homeschool your children, thanks so much for supporting homeschoolers!

Along with practical life activities, sensorial activities are some of the most important activities for young children.

I have a post with lots of sensorial resources: Montessori Sensorial Activities. I also like videos that show Montessori sensorial demonstrations and activities in action. See Free Montessori Video Lessons Online for links to a number of video resources.

In the free Montessori video lessons post, I featured My Works Montessori, which has a video called “Montessori – What is Sensorial?” (as well as a number of other sensorial videos).

Click here to view the embedded video.

Check out all the sensorial videos at My Works Montessori for some great presentations of Montessori sensorial activities at home.

Info Montessori also has videos demonstrating a number of curriculum areas, including sensorial presentations.

Here’s one of the Info Montessori videos showing the Three Period Lesson to introduce the language for color tablets:

Click here to view the embedded video.

You’ll find links to many more Montessori sensorial videos at the Livable Learning Online Montessori Video Library.

Have you been working on sensorial presentations lately?

Living Montessori Now was nominated for Top 25 Homeschooling Moms at Circle of Moms! You may vote once daily through June 13. If you like what I offer, please vote for Living Montessori Now … I really appreciate your votes! (You may vote for more than one blog each day.) Vote For Living Montessori Now here. Thanks so much!

Background Photo at top of post by Cathy Yeulet.

If this is your first time visiting Living Montessori Now, welcome! If you haven’t already, please join us on our Living Montessori Now Facebook page where you’ll find a Free Printable of the Day and lots of inspiration and ideas for parenting and teaching! And be sure to follow me on Pinterest, where I share lots of themed and seasonal activities as well as Montessori activities and ideas.

Linked to Tuesday Tots, Tactile Tuesday, The Mommy Club Resources and Solutions at Milk and Cuddles and Crystal & Co., Hearts for Home Blog Hop, The Weekly Kid’s Co-op, Virtual Montessori Sharing Fair, Learn & Link,  TGIF Linky Party, Preschool Corner, Sharing Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Share It Saturday, Show-and-Share Saturday, The Sunday Showcase, Link & Learn, and Afterschool Express.

My kids are adults already, and I’m still in love with Goodnight Moon. Now I’m looking forward to the joy of reading Goodnight Moon to my future grandkids!

Last week was Children’s Book Week, and I published a few Montessori-inspired Goodnight Moon activities in my Montessori-Inspired Literature-Based Activities for Preschoolers. In honor of Goodnight Moon author Margaret Wise Brown‘s birthday on May 23, I want to share more Goodnight Moon resources.

Today, I’m sharing links to Goodnight Moon free printables and activities from around the blogosphere. Even though not all the printables and activities in this post are Montessori activities, many of them would fit well in a Montessori-inspired Goodnight Moon unit.

Free Goodnight Moon Printables and Resources

Happy Birthday Margaret Wise Brown – May 23 from Happy Birthday Author

Goodnight Moon Narrated by Susan Sarandon

Click here to view the embedded video.

Goodnight Moon Printables from Harper Collins Children’s

 Goodnight Moon Printables from Homeschool Creations

Goodnight Moon Lapbook and Printables by Robin Eiedrichs and Ami at Homeschool Share

Goodnight Moon Activities

Goodnight Moon Unit from Homeschool Creations

Goodnight Peep Diorama (Photo from Pink and Green Mama)

Goodnight Peep Diorama (WOW! AMAZING! – I don’t have enough artistic talent to do this, but ideas from it could be adapted for a sensory tub or other hands-on activities) from Pink and Green Mama

Squish Bag Tracing (Photo from Twodaloo)

Goodnight Moon Vocabulary Activity, Goodnight Moon Light Box Activities (photo) and 5 Goodnight Moon Activities for Toddlers from Twodaloo

Goodnight Moon Sensory Bin (Photo by Julie at The Adventures of Bear)

BFIAR – Goodnight Moon from The Adventures of Bear

Goodnight Moon {Before FIAR} from Delightful Learning

Goodnight Moon from Waddlee-ah-chaa

Goodnight Moon from Hubbards Cupboard

Goodnight Moon Book and Picture Matching (Photo from The Pinay Homeschooler)

Before FIAR: Goodnight Moon from The Pinay Homeschooler

Goodnight Moon Storybook Bath (Photo from Growing a Jeweled Rose)

Goodnight Moon Sensory Bin and Goodnight Moon Storybook Bath (Photo) from Growing a Jeweled Rose

“Lapbook – Goodnight Moon” from Bristle Ridge Academy

Click here to view the embedded video.

Goodnight Moon Lapbook from One Little, Two Little

Goodnight Moon (Before Five in a Row) from Dove’s Rest

Goodnight Moon from My Four Ps

Our Goodnight Moon Lessons and Lapbook from 3G = Growing Godly Girlz

Goodnight Moon Lapbook and Puzzle from A Quiet Simple Life

Finding Words in the Hey Diddle, Diddle Rhyme (Photo from The Preschool Experiment)

Tot Trays: Goodnight Moon from The Preschool Experiment

Goodnight Moon Tot Bag from Living Worldsapart

Goodnight Moon Activities by Richele McFarlin at Families

Goodnight Moon Teaching Ideas by Janelle Cox at Bright Hub Education

Educational Activities for Goodnight Moon by Joan Collins at Helium

Goodnight Moon Unit from Nursery Rhymes and Fun Times

Tot School: Good Night Moon from Peanuts Are Evil

Goodnight Moon Activities from the SEEDS Network

Montessori-Inspired Moon Unit (my roundup post with many activities that would work especially well for a moon unit for older children while younger children have a Goodnight Moon unit)

Goodnight Moon and Other Moon Ideas from Mrs. Russell’s Class

Mm is for Moon by Maureen from Spell Outloud at Totally Tots

Moon from Preschool Alphabet

Have fun, and happy birthday, Margaret Wise Brown!

Living Montessori Now was nominated for Top 25 Homeschooling Moms at Circle of Moms! You may vote once daily through June 13. If you like what I offer, please vote for Living Montessori Now … I really appreciate your votes! (You may vote for more than one blog each day.) Vote For Living Montessori Now here. Thanks so much!

If this is your first time visiting Living Montessori Now, welcome! If you haven’t already, please join us on our Living Montessori Now Facebook page where you’ll find a Free Printable of the Day and lots of inspiration and ideas for parenting and teaching!

Linked to Tuesday Tots, The Mommy Club Resources and Solutions at Milk and Cuddles and Crystal & Co., The Weekly Kid’s Co-op, Ultimate Mom Resources, Hearts for Home Blog Hop, Virtual Montessori Sharing Fair, Learn & Link, TGIF Linky Party, Preschool Corner, Sharing Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Share It Saturday, Show-and-Share Saturday, The Sunday Showcase, Link & Learn, Afterschool Express. and Discover and Explore Flower Linky

Spring is a great time for a pond unit. May is an especially good time for turtle activities since World Turtle Day is May 23. Today, I want to share some Montessori-inspired turtle and tortoise printables and activities from around the blogosphere.

Note: This post contains Montessori Helper affiliate links at no cost to you.

Montessori-Inspired Turtle and Tortoise Printables

Free Turtle Cards from Montessori Materials

Free Life Cycle of a Sea Turtle by Montessori Motivation at Teachers Pay Teachers

Free Sea Turtle Species Three Part Cards (and Sea Turtle Mini Unit) from Carrots Are Orange

Free Turtle Puzzle (Anatomy Puzzle Outlines) from Montessori N’ Such (turtle puzzle example at The Little List)

Free Snappy the Syllable Turtle Game (with art/practical life snapping turtle) from Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational

Turtle Day Materials from Montessori Helper

Parts of a Turtle Cards for $0.10 for a limited time (in honor of World Turtle Day) from Montessori Helper (or get premium unlimited membership of all Montessori Helper materials for $69) Note: The Parts of a Turtle Card link takes you to a page that also has a giveaway for a $99 premium unlimited membership at Montessori Helper – giveaway ends May 25!

Turtle Printables available for purchase from Montessori Print Shop

Montessori-Inspired Turtle and Tortoise Activities

Montessori-Inspired Pond Unit (my roundup post, which contains some turtle activities)

Montessori-Inspired Activities for the Tortoise and the Hare

Turtle Work from A Lakes Region Montessori

Pond Sensory Tub (Photo from Counting Coconuts)

Pond Sensory Tub from Counting Coconuts

Turtle Sensory Table from PreKinders

Sea Turtle Scrubbing in Ocean Life Unit at Inspired Montessori and Arts at Dundee Montessori

Egg Carton Turtle Craft (Photo from Train Up a Child)

Turtle Posts (Photo from Egg Carton Turtle Craft) from Train Up a Child

Playdough Pond, Egg Carton Turtles, and Foam Patterning Block Turtle from Sorting Sprinkles

Paper Bowl Turtle Art from Montessori Design

Collaging a Turtle Shell (Photo from The Work Plan)

Collaging a Turtle Shell (Photo from The Work Plan)

Dot Art Buttons Turtle from Glittering Muffins

Turtle Art from Montessori Mom

DIY Native American Turtle Rattle from Montessori Tidbits

Apple and Grape Turtles from Our Little Monkeys

Turtle Puzzle Activity (Photo from Homeschool Mo)

Montessori-Inspired Reptile Unit for Preschoolers from Homeschool Mo

Turtle from What DID We Do All Day?

Turtle Transfer (Photo by Julie at The Adventures of Bear)

Tortoise and T is for Turtle (photo) from The Adventures of Bear

Snapping Turtle Math (Photo from The Preschool Experiment)

Snapping Turtle Math from The Preschool Experiment

Froggy and Turtle Frenzy from School Time Snippets

A Montesori Approach to Turtle Geometry from TJLeone.com

Have fun with World Turtle Day!

Montessori Monday Link-Up

If you have some Montessori activity trays/lessons to share, please link up below. It’s fine to link up a post from your archives – and you may link up anytime during the week! Your post may be any Montessori-inspired activity or idea. It doesn’t need to be related to my Montessori Monday post.

Link up your exact post URL so that we can find your activity if we return to the linky at a later date (which I often do when I’m looking for activities for a roundup post). I publish the Montessori Monday post and linky at 6:00 a.m. EST each Monday and keep the linky open throughout the week.

Please place the Montessori Monday button (using the code from the right sidebar) in your post or put a link back to this post. Let’s use Montessori Monday to gain inspiration/ideas and to encourage each other! If you would leave an encouraging comment on the post linked up ahead of you (along with any other posts you’re drawn to), that would be awesome! Thanks for participating!

Notes:

For community discussions, please join us at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page, We Teach Montessori Group, and/or Google+ Montessori Community.

If you have a giveaway on your blog, please add it to my Family-Friendly Giveaway Linky Page! If you enjoy entering giveaways, you’ll always find some great giveaways there.

Also, if you’ve ever been linked to in one of my roundup posts, please feel free to grab the “Featured on” badge.

Have you added the Montessori Monday button or a text link? Please be sure you’ve done one or the other so that others can find the link-up, too! Thank you!

Living Montessori Now was nominated for Top 25 Homeschooling Moms at Circle of Moms! You may vote once daily through June 13. If you like what I offer, please vote for Living Montessori Now … I really appreciate your votes! (You may vote for more than one blog each day.) Vote For Living Montessori Now here. Thanks so much!

If this is your first time visiting Living Montessori Now, welcome! If you haven’t already, please join us on our Living Montessori Now Facebook page where you’ll find a Free Printable of the Day and lots of inspiration and ideas for parenting and teaching!

Linked to Tuesday Tots, Tactile Tuesday, The Mommy Club Resources and Solutions at Milk and Cuddles and Crystal & Co., The Weekly Kid’s Co-op, Ultimate Mom Resources, Hearts for Home Blog Hop, Virtual Montessori Sharing Fair, Learn & Link, TGIF Linky Party, Preschool Corner, Sharing Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Share It Saturday, Show-and-Share Saturday, The Sunday Showcase, Link & Learn, and Afterschool Express

 

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It’s the 15th of the month, and I have a new post at PreK + K Sharing … perfect for May! Today, I’m sharing the links to free printables I’ve used to create Montessori-inspired flower math activities for preschoolers through first graders.

I show how I used the printables to prepare the Montessori-inspired activities. I also have links to other posts with additional ideas and presentations.

Free Printables Used in the Pictured Flower Math Activities for Preschoolers-Grade 1

• Flower Unit from 2 Teaching Mommies
• Leaves on the Flower Stem Counting from Mr Printables
• Flower Unit {K Extension} from 2 Teaching Mommies
• Grid Work Tulip from Making Learning Fun
• Spring Pack Update from 3 Dinosaurs
• Place Value Flower Pots by Sarah Ridley at Teachers Pay Teachers

Free Flower Printables for Preschoolers-Grade 1

• Mini Flower Pack from 3 Dinosaurs
• Plant Your Tulips with Number Recognition from Mama Miss
• Easel Art: Flower from 2 Teaching Mommies
• Flower Count and Color Books from 2 Teaching Mommies
• Flower  Block Pattern Mats from PreKinders
• Flower Playdough Mat from Learn with Play at Home
• Flower Matching Cards and Parts of a Flower from The Helpful Garden
• Flower Printables from Making Learning Fun
• Spring Tulips Count and Clip Cards from The Measured Mom
• Flower Printables from Tired, Need Sleep
• The Runaway Bunny Printables (with a crocus) from Homeschool Creations
• Garden Printable Pack (with parts of a flower printable) from Homeschool Creations
• Crafty Paper Flower Bouquet for Kids {+ Free  Printable Template} from Family Your Way
• Spring Flower Matching Game from Inner Child Fun
• Flower Part Chart Printable from WordPlayhouse
• Free Flower Printables from Teachers Pay Teachers
• Free Flower Printables from Teachers Notebook
• Origami Flower Printables from Origami Fun

Please join me at PreK + K Sharing for ideas on how to use the free printables to create Montessori-Inspired flower math activities: Montessori-Inspired Flower Math Activities.

Living Montessori Now was nominated for Top 25 Homeschooling Moms at Circle of Moms! You may vote once daily through June 13. If you like what I offer, please vote for Living Montessori Now … I really appreciate your votes! (You may vote for more than one blog each day.) Vote For Living Montessori Now here. Thanks so much!

If this is your first time visiting Living Montessori Now, welcome! If you haven’t already, please join us on our Living Montessori Now Facebook page where you’ll find a Free Printable of the Day and lots of inspiration and ideas for parenting and teaching!

Linked to Tuesday Tots, The Mommy Club Resources and Solutions at Milk and Cuddles and Crystal & Co., The Weekly Kid’s Co-op, Ultimate Mom Resources, Hearts for Home Blog Hop, Virtual Montessori Sharing Fair, Learn & Link, TGIF Linky Party, Preschool Corner, Sharing Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Share It Saturday, Show-and-Share Saturday, The Sunday Showcase, Link & Learn, Afterschool Express. and Discover and Explore Flower Linky

Buggy Works on the Pre-Literacy Shelf (Photo from Trillium Montessori)

Trillium Montessori is one of our Montessori Monday participants and gives lots of wonderful ideas and inspiration through both the Trillium Montessori blog and videos. (Photo from Learning about Bugs.)

You’ll find curriculum ideas as well as the inspiration of seeing Montessori in action in the Trillium Montessori videos on Vimeo.

The blog post about April in Action tells about the background song “La Mariposa” (The Butterfly) that’s used in a favorite group time activity. Here’s a Trillium Montessori video with “La Mariposa” as the background song.

“Morning Class April 2013″

Click here to view the embedded video.

Trillium Montessori also gives lots of inspiration in the Trillium Montessori channel on YouTube.

Here’s an example of one of Trillium Montessori’s YouTube videos. I love that it shows the spontaneous working together and encouragement that’s often seen  in a Montessori classroom (which can happen in a Montessori homeschool as well).

“Working Together”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Have fun exploring the Trillium Montessori videos! If you’d like more ideas and inspiration from Montessori schools, be sure to check out the Montessori Schools – Ideas and Inspiration Category.

If this is your first time visiting Living Montessori Now, welcome! If you haven’t already, please join us on our Living Montessori Now Facebook page where you’ll find a Free Printable of the Day and lots of inspiration and ideas for parenting and teaching!

Literature-based unit studies often fit well with Montessori education. Related hands-on activities are great extensions to  sharing books with children. May 13-19 is Children’s Book Week, which is a perfect time to add a literature-based unit study or mini unit.

Today, I’d like to share some ideas for Montessori-inspired, literature based activities for preschoolers from around the blogosphere.

BFIAR Activities and Resources

BFIAR activities are based on the book Before Five in a Row: A Treasury of Creative Ideas to Inspire Learning Readiness. Topics are geared toward ages 2-4 and based on a book of the week (a book read five days in a row).

A number of Montessori-inspired homeschoolers have used BFIAR to create hands-on activity trays focused on the recommended books. Here are some resources to help you create your own Montessori-inspired BFIAR units.

Printable Before Five in a Row and Five in a Row Book Lists from In Lieu of Preschool (In Lieu of Preschool also has a number of BFIAR posts.)

BFIAR posts and FIAR link-up at Delightful Learning.

Literature-Based Printables from Homeschool Creations

Literature Units from Homeschool Share (including activities for titles in the FIAR series)

Goodnight Moon Sensory Bin (Photo from Growing a Jeweled Rose)

Goodnight Moon Sensory Bin from Growing a Jeweled Rose

Goodnight Moon Red Balloon with Tongs (Photo by Julie from The Adventures of Bear)

Five in a Row posts (BFIAR posts and more advanced FIAR posts) from The Adventures of Bear (Photo from BFIAR – Goodnight Moon)

Going on a Bear Hunt Activity (Photo from Rockabye Butterfly)

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Activities (Photo from Bear Activities and Stories) from Rockabye Butterfly

Teddy Grahams Numbers and Counters (Photo from Chasing Cheerios)

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (BFIAR) from Chasing Cheerios

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Sensory Tub from Janne’s Jabberwocky

BFIAR-ish (Montessori-inspired unit studies using BFIAR books and a few others) from Wildflower Ramblings

BFIAR posts from Angelic Scalliwags

BFIAR posts from Our Country Road

BFIAR posts from School Time Snippets

General Montessori-Inspired Literature-Based Activities

JDaniel4′s Mom has a weekly post called Read. Explore.Learn, which often features Montessori-inspired activities based on books. There’s also a linky that contains literature-based activities as well.

I have a post with Montessori-Inspired Activities for the Tortoise and the Hare.

I also have a post with Montessori-Inspired Ideas for Enjoying Books with Your Child or Students.

Pinterest Boards with Literature-Based Activities

I have a Literature-Based Activities Pinterest board with lots of ideas. I also have literature-based activities on my other themed Pinterest boards (along with activities that would work well with specific books).

Montessori Monday Link-Up

If you have some Montessori activity trays/lessons to share, please link up below. It’s fine to link up a post from your archives – and you may link up anytime during the week! Your post may be any Montessori-inspired activity or idea. It doesn’t need to be related to my Montessori Monday post.

Link up your exact post URL so that we can find your activity if we return to the linky at a later date (which I often do when I’m looking for activities for a roundup post). I publish the Montessori Monday post and linky at 6:00 a.m. EST each Monday and keep the linky open throughout the week.

Please place the Montessori Monday button (using the code from the right sidebar) in your post or put a link back to this post. Let’s use Montessori Monday to gain inspiration/ideas and to encourage each other! If you would leave an encouraging comment on the post linked up ahead of you (along with any other posts you’re drawn to), that would be awesome! Thanks for participating!

Notes:

For community discussions, please join us at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page, We Teach Montessori Group, and/or Google+ Montessori Community.

If you have a giveaway on your blog, please add it to my Family-Friendly Giveaway Linky Page! If you enjoy entering giveaways, you’ll always find some great giveaways there.

Also, if you’ve ever been linked to in one of my roundup posts, please feel free to grab the “Featured on” badge.

Have you added the Montessori Monday button or a text link? Please be sure you’ve done one or the other so that others can find the link-up, too! Thank you!

If this is your first time visiting Living Montessori Now, welcome! If you haven’t already, please join us on our Living Montessori Now Facebook page where you’ll find a Free Printable of the Day and lots of inspiration and ideas for parenting and teaching!

 

Linked to Tuesday Tots, Tactile Tuesday, The Mommy Club Resources and Solutions at Milk and Cuddles and Crystal & Co., The Weekly Kid’s Co-op, Ultimate Mom Resources, Hearts for Home Blog Hop, Virtual Montessori Sharing Fair, Learn & Link, TGIF Linky Party, Preschool Corner, Sharing Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Share It Saturday, Show-and-Share Saturday, The Sunday Showcase, Link & Learn, and Afterschool Express

 

Practical life activities are probably the most important activities in Montessori education because they help children develop qualities that will help in almost every area of life. Those qualities are order, concentration, coordination, and independence.

I have a post with lots of practical life resources: Montessori Practical Life Activities. Videos are also especially helpful because they show practical life demonstrations and activities in action. I have a post with Free Montessori Video Lessons Online.

In the free Montessori video lessons post, I featured My Works Montessori, which has a video called “What Is Practical Life?”

Click here to view the embedded video.

My Works Montessori also has a series of helpful practical life videos.

Since I published a post on Montessori-Inspired Flower Activities this week, I’ll share a Montessori practical life flower activity from My Works Montessori: Flower Watering.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Info Montessori has videos demonstrating a number of curriculum areas, including clear, simple demonstrations of practical life activities as well.

You’ll find links to more Montessori practical life videos at the Livable Learning Online Montessori Video Library.

Have fun watching your child or students gain some amazing skills as you focus on practical life activities in your home or classroom!

Background Photo at top of post by M. G. Mooij.

If this is your first time visiting Living Montessori Now, welcome! If you haven’t already, please join us on our Living Montessori Now Facebook page where you’ll find a Free Printable of the Day and lots of inspiration and ideas for parenting and teaching!

Linked to Tuesday Tots, Tactile Tuesday, The Mommy Club Resources and Solutions at Milk and Cuddles and Crystal & Co., Hearts for Home Blog Hop, The Weekly Kid’s Co-op, Virtual Montessori Sharing Fair, Learn & Link,  TGIF Linky Party, Preschool Corner, Sharing Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Share It Saturday, Show-and-Share Saturday, The Sunday Showcase, Link & Learn, and Afterschool Express.

May is a perfect time for kids to show appreciation to very special people … both mothers and teachers. For homeschoolers, that can be the same person. Even if you don’t homeschool, gifts that are recommended for kids to make for teachers often work well for mothers and vice versa.

In the United States, Teacher Appreciation Day is the Tuesday during Teacher Appreciation Week, which is the first full week of May. Mother’s Day is the second Sunday in May. I think teacher appreciation gifts are especially appropriate any time from Teacher Appreciation Day to the end of the school year.

Montessori-Inspired Mother’s Day Gifts

I have roundup posts with Montessori-Inspired Mother’s Day ideas from 2011 and 2012.

Simple Montessori-Inspired Card-Making Tray

You could have a simple card-making tray available in a closed cabinet in your child’s room or in a lower kitchen cabinet whether or not you have a homeschool. It’s nice if the cabinet has a door that closes so your child can feel the creation of cards is a special surprise.

I always had colored construction paper or typing paper, markers, and stickers available for card-making projects. My children liked to make cards for holidays like Mother’s Day, but they also made cards spontaneously at other times – for example, if they wanted to say thank you or to apologize for something.

I also recommend keeping a box of 5¾” by 8¾” greeting-card envelopes available for projects like this. The envelopes can be purchased at any office-supply store and give your child an easy, professional-looking way to finish the card. My children have made their own envelopes before as well, although purchased envelopes can still be personalized with markers, stickers, etc.

Turning Mother’s Day Crafts (or Teacher Appreciation Crafts) into Montessori-Oriented Activities

• Use a tray for the activity.
• Think about the practical-life skills of the activity. If your child is working with a tool such as a stapler or scissors, it’s best if your child has had experience working with the tool previously.
• Place all the materials needed for the activity on the tray (unless certain materials, such as crayons or markers for an activity, are always in a central place near the tray).
• Arrange the materials as attractively as possible and in left-to-right order wherever possible. Materials on trays and shelves in Montessori education are placed in left-to-right order as an indirect preparation for reading and writing.
• Show your child how to use the activity, focusing on points of interest. Use the Montessori technique of analysis of movement, or breaking the movements down into clear steps, when demonstrating a skill. Individualize your demonstration according to your child’s age and ability. For an older child, you could even leave written instructions.
• For many crafts, you can just show the beginning of the activity. It’s often best to avoid leaving a model so that your child doesn’t try to copy your example but feels comfortable with his or her own creation. Your child can ask you for help if he or she has difficulty with a step of the activity.
• Store the tray on a low shelf, so your child can independently choose to work with the activity.
• Allow your child to use the activity as often as your child wants, making sure your child cleans up the activity and returns the tray to the shelf after finishing.
• In a Montessori classroom, one child uses an activity at a time unless he or she invites another child to do the activity at the same time. That allows children to develop concentration by working on an activity without interruption and teaches them to take turns. When I had a Montessori school, a new art activity often had a number of children working together, so it typically was a social experience anyway.

Kids’ Mother’s Day Activities Pinterest Board

You’ll find links here to all sorts of Mother’s Day activities, and many of them will work for Teacher Appreciation gifts as well.

Teacher Appreciation Pinterest Board

You’ll find links here to lots of Teacher Appreciation gifts, and some of them can also work for Mother’s Day gifts.

Have a wonderful Teacher’s Appreciation Day/Month and a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Background Photo at top of post by costasz.

If this is your first time visiting Living Montessori Now, welcome! If you haven’t already, please join us on our Living Montessori Now Facebook page where you’ll find a Free Printable of the Day and lots of inspiration and ideas for parenting and teaching!

Linked to Tuesday Tots, Tactile Tuesday, The Mommy Club Resources and Solutions at Milk and Cuddles and Crystal & Co., Hearts for Home Blog Hop, The Weekly Kid’s Co-op, Learn & Link,  TGIF Linky Party, Preschool Corner, Sharing Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Share It Saturday, Show-and-Share Saturday, The Sunday Showcase, Link & Learn, and Afterschool Express.

Who can help but enjoy springtime flowers?! “April showers bring May flowers.” What a fun thought. And U.S. Mother’s Day during May brings even more thoughts of flowers. While flower activities are great any time during the spring or summer, May does seem like a natural time to focus on flowers.

Here are some Montessori-inspired printables and activities featuring flowers. I’ll share the links to my previous posts with flower activities. This post will feature flower activities published since last May (except for flower arranging, which wasn’t a focus of my gardening roundup).

Montessori-Inspired Flower Printables

Free Montessori Botany Materials for a Gardening Unit (my roundup post with lots of free printables)

Activity of the Week – Free Friendship Flower Activities

Free Mini Flower Pack from 3 Dinosaurs

Free Flower Matching Cards and Parts of a Flower from The Helpful Garden

Free Flower Printables from Tired, Need Sleep

Free Montessori Nomenclature – Parts of a Flower by NJ at Teachers Pay Teachers

Flower Materials Available for Purchase from Montessori Print Shop

Flower Printables available for purchase from Montessori for Everyone

Montessori-Inspired Flower Activities

F is for Flower Activity

F is for Flower Activity and Water the Flower Activity (from my “Montessori-Inspired April Showers” post)

Montessori-Inspired Spring Playdough Activities

Montessori-Inspired Spring Playdough Activities (my roundup post, which contains a number of flower playdough activities)

Montessori-Inspired Botany/Gardening Activities (my roundup post from last year that contains lots of flower activities)

Fruit Flower (Design by Tom Parkin and Christina Chitwood-Parkin)

Fruit Flower (from my “Montessori-Inspired Food Art” post)

Free Flower Printables and Montessori-Inspired Flower Math Activities (my post at Living Montessori Now with links to printables and Montessori-inspired activities at PreK + K Sharing)

Egg Carton Garden from Harvesting Kale

Montessori-Inspired Flower Study Unit (Photo from Montessori MOMents)

Montessori-Inspired Preschool Flower Unit from Montessori MOMents

Growing Sunflowers in Recycled Pots from The Cookie Train

Butterflies, Ladybugs, and Flowers from Pasta and Beans from Maro’s Kindergarten

Flowers in Styrofoam: Fine Motor Activity, Simple Pasta Flower Craft, and Planting a Word Garden from Finding the Teachable Moments

Earth Day Scent-sory Bin from The Good Long Road

Earth Day Scent-sory Bin from The Good Long Road

Gardening Sensory Bin (Photo from Growing a Jeweled Rose)

Gardening Sensory Bin from Growing a Jeweled Rose

Flower Sensory Bin (Photo from 3 Dinosaurs)

Flower Sensory Bin from 3 Dinosaurs

Flower Arranging (Photo from Simply Montessori)

Flower arranging from  The Education of Ours, Glue Sky, Info Montessori, Montessori Mama, Simply Montessori, Chasing Cheerios, Kylie at Modern Parents Messy Kids,  Just Montessori, and To the Lesson!

Labeling a Collage of the Parts of a Flower (Photo from To the Lesson!)

Flower Fun and Labeling a Collage of the Parts of a Flower, Pressing Pansies, and Flower Arranging from To the Lesson!

Parts of a Flower (Photo from Making Montessori Ours)

Botany Cabinet Work and Life Cycle of Our Garden from Making Montessori Ours

Color Matching Flower Pot (Photo from The Kavanaugh Report)

Springtime at Tot School from The Kavanaugh Report

Butterfly and Flower Color Matching and Buzzy Bee Pollen Count and Clip from Learning and Growing the Piwi Way

Match the Shape Flowers from School Time Snippets

Pre-Math Activity: Sorting Flowers from Amy’s Cooking Adventures

Nature Bracelets from Montessori Tidbits

Parts of a Flower Activity (Photo from Carrots Are Orange)

Flower Posts from Carrots Are Orange (Photo from Montessori Botany Activity)

Spring for Preschoolers – Part 1 and Spring for Preschoolers – Part 2 from Sorting Sprinkles (unit contains a number of flower activities)

Botany: Trees and Plants from Mixing Playdough

Dissecting a Flower (Photo from Trillium Montessori)

Flower Activities from Trillium Montessori

Daffodil Work from Like Mama ~ Like Daughter

Flower Activities from Just Montessori

Good Poetry for Kids: Daffodils from Montessori Mischief

Have fun with May flowers!

Montessori Monday Link-Up

If you have some Montessori activity trays/lessons to share, please link up below. It’s fine to link up a post from your archives – and you may link up anytime during the week! Your post may be any Montessori-inspired activity or idea. It doesn’t need to be related to my Montessori Monday post.

Link up your exact post URL so that we can find your activity if we return to the linky at a later date (which I often do when I’m looking for activities for a roundup post). I publish the Montessori Monday post and linky at 6:00 a.m. EST each Monday and keep the linky open throughout the week.

Please place the Montessori Monday button (using the code from the right sidebar) in your post or put a link back to this post. Let’s use Montessori Monday to gain inspiration/ideas and to encourage each other! If you would leave an encouraging comment on the post linked up ahead of you (along with any other posts you’re drawn to), that would be awesome! Thanks for participating!

Notes:

For community discussions, please join us at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page, We Teach Montessori Group, and/or Google+ Montessori Community.

If you have a giveaway on your blog, please add it to my Family-Friendly Giveaway Linky Page! If you enjoy entering giveaways, you’ll always find some great giveaways there.

Also, if you’ve ever been linked to in one of my roundup posts, please feel free to grab the “Featured on” badge.

Please share your Montessori-inspired activities and ideas below. And please include the Montessori Monday button or link back in your post or on your site. Thanks so much!

Have you added the Montessori Monday button or a text link? Please be sure you’ve done one or the other so that others can find the link-up, too! Thank you!

If this is your first time visiting Living Montessori Now, welcome! If you haven’t already, please join us on our Living Montessori Now Facebook page where you’ll find a Free Printable of the Day and lots of inspiration and ideas for parenting and teaching!

 

Linked to Tuesday Tots, Tactile Tuesday, The Mommy Club Resources and Solutions at Milk and Cuddles and Crystal & Co., The Weekly Kid’s Co-op, Ultimate Mom Resources, Hearts for Home Blog Hop, Learn & Link, TGIF Linky Party, Preschool Corner, Sharing Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Share It Saturday, Show-and-Share Saturday, The Sunday Showcase, Link & Learn, and Afterschool Express