Learning at Home {Vol.2}
After writing my previous post about learning at home, I’ve been meaning to follow up with a post about some specific activities that I’ve been doing with Eva over the past month.
Many of these activities have been inspired by the Montessori method of learning. And although, I believe in many of the principles, I also don’t believe in following their pedagogy blindly or completely. However, one of the element of Montessori that I particularly agree with is the concept of “sensitive periods”.
It is believed that children go through stages of intellectual interest and curiosity in which they become intrigued with particular elements of their environment. And it is at these stages that given the right resources, exposer and stimulation, children are able to learn almost unknowingly. For example at the moment Eva is particularly intrigued with language, small objects (developing fine motor skills) and senses (sensory refinement).
1. Practical Life
- Care of the Environment (Gardening & Watering)
More and more we have noticed that Eva enjoys imitating us and “helping” in household activities such as sweeping or putting way dishes (i.e. reorganising the cupboards). With that in mind I came up with the idea of Eva having her own little herb garden to “look after” and water each day. She definitely understands and responds to the routine of filling up her pink watering can and then gleefully watering the plants and of course the deck.
Resources: Pot, Potty mix, herb seedlings, watering can
- Control of Movement (Sorting Colours)
Using a divided serving tray she is able to sort and match colours. Eva adores these glittered pom-poms I bought from the craft section in Target and will actively seek them out from the cupboard.
Resources: Coloured glitter pom-poms, divided serving tray.
- Control of Movement (Sorting Colours)
Another variation of this activity is to use flashcards and individual tupperware containers. I try not to introduce too many colours at the one time, otherwise Eva becomes overwhelmed and isn’t able to concentrate.
Resources: Mr Printable’s Colour Flashcards, three or four matching coloured felt pom-poms, storage/tupperware containers.
2. Language
- Introducing Letter Recognition (Painting)
Over the past couple of weeks I have begun introducing the alphabet to Eva one letter at a time. Inspired by Totally Tots’ Crafty ABCs, we have started a scrap book filled with clipart images and Kidz Club Flash Cards to match each letter of the alphabet. At the moment we are up to the letter D and I have to say that I’m surprised at how well Eva has responded.
At first I wasn’t sure whether or not she would be able to grasp the concept, but already she can recognise “A”, “B”, “C” and most of the vocabulary associated. She will also (unprompted) look through her scrap book and will point out the various letters and images.
- Matching (Reading with Props)
I’ve already written many times about Eva’s love for books and thus it was only a natural progression to start introducing props. Sometimes we use the props while reading through the book, but often we lay them out of the coffee table and Eva will excitedly reveal the animals from underneath the covers as I recite the story.
Resources: Kidz Club “Dear Zoo” Story Props, Dear Zoo
- Matching (Object to Picture)
Eva has always been intrigued by flashcards and books with real life images such as First 100 Words, My Big Animal Book and My First Touch and Feel Picture Cards. And as much as I think these books are less than ascetically pleasing, Eva loves them.
For this activity I used pictures of various fruit and vegetables for Eva to match with the real foods. The first time I did this activity it didn’t last long before Eva became distracted by the banana and began to eat it!
Resources: Mr Printable’s Fruit and Vegetables Vocabulary Flashcards, various fruits and vegetables to match the picture cards.
- Matching (Picture to Picture)
Another matching activity; however, this is more like a puzzle in which Eva matches the correct animals together. At the moment she is particularly fascinated by animals and will excitedly match the picture cards and imitate the noises and actions she knows.
Resources: Picture Matching Word Cards: Animals. There are also a number of other free printable cards created by Canon — Picture Matching Word Cards: Vegetables and Fruits, Silhouette Cards: Vegetables and Fruits.
3. Art & Sensory
- Painting
Eva is now at the age that, with a watchful eye, I can let her paint freely. Even though we have an easel, I don’t trust Eva not to roam through the house, paintbrush in hand! Thus for this age group I would recommend using a high chair.
Resources: Finger paint, Ikea Mala drawing paper, Ikea Mala paint storage, foam paint brushes, two separate tubs of water, an old towel and face washer, Newspaper.
- Introducing Colour Recognition using Various Sensory Objects
This activity is just as much about sorting and matching the coloured objects as it is about exploring the various textures.
Resources: Tray, various coloured toys (I used Fisher-Price stacking rings, KID O nesting cups, coloured balloons filled with various textures (rice, cous cous, pasta), plastic Easter eggs, Wonderworld Rainbow Sound Blocks, Under the Nile stuffed Fruit and Veggies, coloured pegs/clothes pins)
5. Maths
- Introducing number recognition (Sorting and Counting Material)
At this age Eva’s ability to concentrate is limited to the numbers 1-4. Using small felt pom-poms she is able to match each number with a “token”.
Resources:Mr Printable’s Ladybug Number Flashcards, felt pom poms, a storage container.
I do want to note that some of these activities Eva finds more engaging than others. I actively try to encourage her to complete each tasks and thus most of the activities are only meant to last a couple of minutes and if Eva is interested we will do it again. I never push Eva or “drill” her. The purpose of me creating these resources and introducing these activities is to simply provide her with the opportunities to learn.
* Please excuse the quality of some of these pictures as they were mostly taken inside at different times of the day and not in the best lighting conditions.
