vegetable taste test

Did you know that when you're eating vegetables, sometimes you're eating leaves?  And stems?!  And flowers?!!!

I'm sure you knew that, and I guess I did, too - I just hadn't really thought of it that way before.  Elise, on the other hand, apparently thinks about it a lot.  A few mornings ago, before she even rolled out of bed, she exclaimed, "Mama!  I eat leaves!!!"  Surprised, I responded, "You do?!"  To which she replied, "Yes, salad!"

Anyway, this early-morning conversation about the parts of plants that we eat inspired this vegetable taste test.  It was so much fun, we actually put it together again to go along with our lunch!  ;)

root - carrot

bulb - scallion

stem - celery

leaves - spinach

flowers - broccoli

fruit - cucumber

seeds - peas

(We didn't have one of these prepared, but for bonus points, eat a tuber - potato!)

Please check back on Friday for a list of our favorite vegetable books!

matching objects to pictures

One of the principles of Montessori education is to move from concrete to abstract.  First, Elise matched objects to objects, now she's matching objects to pictures, and soon she'll be matching pictures to pictures...

'

Why matching?

Matching supports the development of visual discrimination, 

which is an important reading skill.

Matching can also enrich vocabulary,

especially if the items being matched are related.

Matching provides experience in 1-1 correspondence,

which is a critical math skill.

Matching also requires problem solving;

the visual disharmony of mismatched items provides a control of error.

Oh, and there's just something so interesting 

about seeing two items that are exactly the same, right?

Whew!  Ready to match objects to pictures?

Here we go!

^^ "Hey!  I have that!" - matching familiar items to catalog photos ^^

^^ matching Rosie to photos of Australian Cattle Dogs in The Ultimate Dog Book 

- Elise finds this mach a lot! ^^

^^ real-life matching - We bring field guides on all our walks. ^^

^^ matching vintage fake fruit to fruit cards from Montessori Print Shop

 - The fruit was leftover from a Carmen Miranda costume, but real fruit would work, too! ^^

^^ matching familiar items to laminated photos ^^

^^ matching farm animal figurines to Moo ^^

^^ matching North American mammal figurines to postcards ^^

^^ story props - matching percussion instruments to My Family Plays Music ^^

^^ matching rings to their color-coordinated silhouettes 

- I made the cards by tracing each ring on paper and filling in the outlines with colored pencil ^^

^^matching dishes and utensils to a Montessori-inspired placemat

- I made the placemat by tracing Elise's dishes and utensils on construction paper and aluminum foil.  After cutting them out, I glued them to poster board and attached contact paper. ^^

^^ matching miscellaneous items to the silhouettes in Black & White ^^

 ^^ Black & White is an accordion-style book, so after matching the first side, Elise flipped it over and scavenged around the house for items to match the other side! ^^

^^ matching the pieces of a shape puzzle to their color-coordinated outlines ^^

^^ matching cooking utensils to their outlines ^^

^^ Elise found this matching activity on her Language shelf before I had the chance to present it to her, 

but she knew exactly what to do!  :) ^^

Still looking for more matching objects to pictures inspiration???  

• This was one of my favorite diy materials from my teaching days: a matching objects to pictures collage!
• I think this matching objects to pictures idea from Chasing Cheerios is really clever:  Black Bean Bowl of "B" Objects.
• If you are handy with a camera and printer, How we Montessori has a great tutorial for making your own cards:  Matching with more and DIY cards.

matching objects to objects

^^ salt and pepper shakers ^^

"Two!"  Elise continues to delight in discovering pairs.  Everywhere we go she points them out - two dogs in the back of a truck, two crows flying overhead, two shoes on her feet...  Similarly, I've found no shortage of objects for her to match around the house - seriously, I can't stop!  ;)

Here are a few of our favorites:

^^ mittens ^^

^^ objects from nature ^^

^^ buttons ^^

^^ socks ^^

^^ earrings ^^

^^ animals and their babies ^^

three Montessori language games for toddlers

Here are a few simple language games to play 

before introducing the alphabet...

Matching objects supports the development

of visual discrimination.

One of the principles of Montessori education is to move from 

concrete to abstract.

A three-dimensional object is more concrete than a picture,

so Elise is matching objects to other objects right now.

Eventually, she will match objects to pictures,

and finally, pictures to other pictures.

Playing sound games like "I spy"

is a great way to model beginning sound isolation

and build phonemic awareness.

/h/hat, /b/boot, and /f/feather

I spy with my little eye a...

/b/boot

Can you find the /b/boot?

At twenty months old, I refrain from asking Elise

"Which one starts with /b/?" or "What sound does boot begin with?"  

Instead, I try to find as many ways as I can to model 

separating the beginning sounds from words,

with the understanding that Elise will eventually catch on.  

As simple as this may be, Elise adores this game!

Learning the names of a classified group of objects

enriches vocabulary.

I often use a three period lesson to present the names of items to Elise

that she encounters in her daily life or interest her.

These are tableware.

This is a glass.

(first period)

Please hand me the glass.  Thank you!

(second period)

What is this? (pointing to the glass)

(third period)

Since Elise is under two and just beginning to say words,

 I rarely ask her third period questions

- unless I'm absolutely sure she knows the answer.

As you may remember, Elise is already an expert table setter(!),

but it's still useful for her to hear

exact terminology and correct pronunciation.

(Other examples of classified vocabulary we've explored include

pets, farm animals, personal care items, and parts of the face.)

naming the parts of the face

eyes,

ears,

mouth,

and nose...

Elise loves pointing to these features on her face, as-well-as looking for them on the faces of others.  To follow her interest, I put together three simple vocabulary-building activities on her language shelf - aka the bottom shelf of the bookcase in our living room.

felt board face

This is Elise's first time working with a felt board - also, her first time using a favorite classroom material from my teaching days!  ;)  She's not able to put the face together yet, but she loves taking it apart.  We've had lots of fun talking about the parts of the face, and playing little games with the pieces.  

small mirror

Of the three activities, this one is probably Elise's favorite.  We have a larger mirror at her height in our living room, but this one is just right for getting a close-up look at her face.  Elise thinks it's just perfect for giving herself kisses!  We've also been using it in combination with the felt board face.  

books of faces

Neither of these books is actually about the parts of the face, but I really like their realistic portraits of children.  Elise and I have enjoyed looking through them together, talking about the parts of each child's face.  I know there are books out there that focus more on the parts of the face, so if you have any favorites in your home, please share!  

If your toddler is a little older, or you like to plan ahead, here are two great posts full of face and body part activities:

• {Toddler Explorations} Faces - Part 1  (A Life Sustained)

• It's All About Me - For Toddlers  (Sorting Sprinkles)

a bag of red treasures

Have I mentioned lately how much we love treasure baskets?

Now that Elise is a little older, treasure baskets have taken on a new purpose.  In addition to providing sensory experiences, they are also a great way to introduce vocabulary.

Today, Elise explored a bag of red treasures...

I introduced this activity to Elise by showing her the bag of objects and saying,

Elise, this is the red bag.

Everything in this bag is the color red. 

As we took each object out of the bag, I named it:

This is a red feather!
These are red shoes!

This is a red block!

 

After looking through all the treasures in the bag, we went on a search around the house for other red items. 

Although Elise only says a couple of words, her understanding of language never ceases to amaze me!