eee-hee-hee-hee-heeeee!!!!!

the pumpkins and the witch

5 little pumpkins sitting on a fence,
a witch came flying by!
eee-hee-hee-hee-heeee!
I'll take you and make some pumpkin pie!

(then there were, 4, 3, 2, 1, etc...)

0 pumpkins sitting on a fence,
a witch came flying by!
eee-hee-hee-hee-heeee!
eating pumpkin pie!

I got the wonderful idea to use manipulatives during my circle time fingerplays from Laura at My Montessori Journey! For the pumpkins and the witch, I cut shapes out of felt and then hot-glued them to a piece cardboard. The witch's hair is yellow mohair, and her broom is a shish-kebab stick with white yarn hot-glued to one end. Next, I hot-glued round magnets to the back of each piece. The black background that the magnets stick to is just a metal tray from a toaster oven - I don't think it had been used for cooking, so it was a good find!



The children already know this particular fingerplay by heart, so they were really excited about the manipulatives. It was like one of their favorite Halloween stories had finally come to life - a total concrete experience. They counted the pumpkins like they had never counted them before! :) Thanks, Laura!

Montessori the Grate

I'm not sure if grating lessons are typically part of the Montessori curriculum, but they are a HIT at my school. The children literally beg us teachers to present these lessons, and they get lots of use during every work period. I love grating lessons because they require organization and problem solving, and they combine many of the skills acquired from the beginning practical life lessons. The children love them because they are exciting, and they provide a tangible product. :)

Bread Grating

Materials:

• stale bread (place slices of bread on a cookie pan in a warm oven for a couple hours)
• grater with a bottom for catching crumbs
  
• spoon
• bag for crumbs
• brush and pan for "crumbing" table and chair

The child grates bread across the grater, and when he's satisfied with the amount of crumbs in the container, he spoons them into a bag. The stale bread makes a really great sound against the grater, and crumbs fly EVERYWHERE! But, stay calm... the second part of this lesson involves lots of thorough sweeping. I mean, we get down on our hands and knees and peer around for stray crumbs. :) Before, we go on a sweep-a-thon, it's really important to decide what the child is going to use the crumbs for - that way, he'll have something to look forward to after all the hard work. Feeding them to the birds and saving them to put on a salad (or mom's salad) are favorite choices in our classroom.

Soap Grating

Materials:

• large bowl
• large pitcher
• upright grater
• soap on dish (plain Ivory works well, but it has to be dried out)
• eggbeater
• scrub brush
• drying cloth

The child first grates soap into the bottom of the bowl. Then, she fills the pitcher with warm water. Half the warm water will be used for making soap suds, the other half will be saved for the clean-up. The child then uses the eggbeater to whip the soap into suds. With the right amount of soap, warm water, and determination, a child can make an astounding amount of bubbles. When the child is satisfied that her water is sudsy enough, she pours it into the tub we use to wash our snack dishes. The rest of the lesson involves cleaning up. The child pours fresh water into the bowl and uses the scrub brush to wash the grater, the eggbeater, the soap dish, and the ring around the bowl.

Bread grating and soap grating are always out on the practical life shelves, but, seasonally, we also grate crayons, cinnamon, carrots, etc. Actually, a lemon or lime zesting lesson sounds fun, doesn't it? Happy grating!

ski day #1

hiked to pierre's knob @ bridger bowl

I've decided to keep track of all my ski days this season on Itty Bitty Love!

october... quite possibly the new january

a halloween paper story...

Once upon a time, there was little witch who lived along the banks of Sourdough Creek (the creek near our school). She was so tiny, she was actually shorter than my pinkie finger. The little witch spent the whole summer hiking along the trail, swimming in the creek, and camping under the stars. Life was grand for the little witch, but then the days started to grow shorter... and the summer began to turn into fall. One morning, the little witch woke up, quite uncomfortably, to frost on the tip of her hat and a very cold wind blowing down from the mountains. She struggled through the wind and blowing leaves, searching disparately for a place to snuggle up and keep warm.

Whoosh! An orange piece of paper came swirling from the sky and landed in front of the little witch. She started to walk around it, when suddenly she got an idea... Maybe I can use this piece of paper to build myself a house!

The little witch quickly got to work, and folded the piece of paper in half. Hmmm... this looks right, but the top of my house is missing something... I know! A roof!

The little witch cut the corners of the paper off to make a roof. There! Much better! She went around to the front of her new house and tried to walk inside. Oops! This house is missing something... I know! A door!
The little witch cut a door out of one side of the house. She even gave it a little point, so her hat would fit through. Much better! She walked inside her new house. Oh my! It's so dark in here! I can't see anything... I know! I need a window!
The little witch quickly cut a window out of the other side of her house. Much better! The little witch felt very warm and cozy in her new house. She went to her window to watch the storm outside. Oh, it's windy out there! Wait! Who's that? Why, I think it's my friend, Ladybug!

The little witch hurried outside to invite her friend in. Together, they cut a little door just for Ladybug to use. They spent the whole winter warm and safe in their house, happily sipping hot cocoa and playing checkers. Do you know what their house really was?

It was a jack-o-lantern! The End. :)