Last Week of July

DJ has been really enjoying the warm weather this month. We went to the local public wading pool a few days ago and DJ met this little boy and his awesome alligator. It was the perfect ride and DJ attached himself to it for an extended stay.

Grace & Courtesy

Image from: http://simplymontessori.blogspot.com

One of the least photogenic areas of Montessori education is also one of the most important : Grace & Courtesy. While teaching please and thank you is a common aspect of all youth programs, grace & courtesy has a greater meaning to Montessori classrooms. Having lived through both world wars, Dr Montessori was profoundly influenced by the need to establish peace in the world. From her perspective, teaching children to coexist in a respectful manner regardless of culture, race, religion, economic status or any other differences was paramount to ending the need for war.

Out and About

This was a really light week in terms of Montessori activities. DJ has been making a lot of progress with potty training and I'm wondering if that has him preoccupied. We're so excited though to see success in that area.  Still a long way left to go though, but we'll take all the forward momentum we can get.
Maybe there wasn't a lot of "school work" this week, but DJ did his share of gross motor activity. We went to a park on Thursday and DJ had a blast. It had a water feature which is why he's wearing his swimsuit. But it was this rope version of monkey bars that caught his interest. He really wanted to climb to the top like the bigger kids. Some day, little man. Just keep trying.

Bears, Tapirs and Busy Bags!

We visited the zoo again this weekend and it was an amazing day to see the animals. So many of them were in full view, it was a real treat. This is the first time we've made it to the bear exhibit and what a special visit it was! While we were watching, both bears got into the water and swam up to the glass, just inches away from DJ. He was thrilled.

IFIT Montessori Vendor Review

 When I first began researching Montessori materials, I was very interested in any reviews I could find on the various vendors available to purchase from.  The full set of materials are expensive and the "official" suppliers are VERY expensive.  But the "discount" suppliers have been plagued with bad reviews of low quality and poor customer service.  So what is a budget minded homeschooler supposed to do?  Ultimately, I went with price and bought from the cheapest vendor I could find, which in this case was IFIT Montessori Equipment based in Surrey, BC, Canada.  In the end, I am happy with my decision, but I did hesitate to write a review because I did have an unpleasant experience with their customer service in the end.  But last week I learned that, although they refused to fix my complaint, they are fixing the product for any future customers, so I do have to give them some credit for that.  (Note:  This review is very long and detailed, but as I said, this kind of information was gold to me when I was researching so I hope it will be of help to others as well).

Helping Dad

DJ absolutely adores his dad and he also loves being useful. While he is too young to actually mow the lawn, he has decided to help in his own way. Every time my husband mows the lawn, DJ follows him with his tractor saying he's "helping daddy." If you look closely you'll see he's wearing boots and a pair of work gloves "just like dad."

Start Good Work with a Great Breakfast

We started this morning making breakfast. As usual, DJ is a big part of that. Today we made pancakes. First DJ gets the box of mix from the pantry. He uses a 1/2 cup scoop to measure out the mix (with my help to be sure it's full). Then he pours in the water. The mix that we buy is only sweetened with a little honey, so we add half a banana to sweeten it up. In the photo above you can see DJ mashing the banana with a fork.