I am so excited!!! I could feel it coming, Lemur was ready to start doing some Montessori Work. My work schedule has changed a little bit and I'm having to work while the kids are awake right now... and that has NOT been going very well. I decided to make a Montessori Shelf, Zookeeper style, to keep Lemur busy while I was working. Most of the "work" I made for Lemur, I found around the house. We did make a trip to the $$ Store and got some trays, baskets, and a few things like beads, rocks, pom-poms and some small spoons and scoops. I set everything up and introduced the work to Lemur one at a time. At first I only had 4 "works" on the shelf. Sometimes too many choices are overwhelming to small children and I wanted this to be exciting, fun, and just a WOW experience for Lemur. AND IT WAS! And it has been, and it still is! SO: If you want to make a Montessori Shelf, _________(insert your name) style, here are some ideas.
1. Choose a shelf that is your childs size. I found a shelf at the thrift store that was really cute, clean, nice... and 8 feet tall. Lemur may have been able to reach the bottom 2 shelves. So that didn't work. If you can't find a shelf, cinder blocks and boards would work great. I remember my mom painted cinder blocks yellow and painted the wood white, I think, and it made for a very cheery shelf.
2. Collect baskets, trays and containers to put the work on. It helps contain the work and makes it easy for the young child to carry to his work place. Montessori liked to use natural material: Bowls made out of wood, wooden trays, baskets made out of reeds, wooden spoons... I went for some natural material that I had around the house, but I also went for inexpensive plastic baskets, trays and metal pans. Use what ever works best for you.
3. Choose work to put out for your child. Most of the "work" that I set out for Lemur I had around the house, and I bet you will too: Mr. Potato Head, puzzles, stacking blocks, necklace beads, interlocking blocks etc. There is magic in the presentation, I tell ya. Toys that have been laying around your childs bedroom for months, things that have gone unnoticed in the bottom of the toy box, and sets that are scattered throughout the house, suddenly hold a magical appeal when presented to the child in a flashy basket, on a tray, or in crystal clear bowls, along with a funny looking child-sized ladle.
4. Present the work to your child. This is REALLY where the magic happens. I was so excited to show Lemur his Montessori work, but I knew that timing was everything. I couldn't do it when the other 6 or 7 kids were around. I couldn't do it right before his naptime, I couldn't do it before everything was ready, AND I didn't want him to watch me put it together, or he would get into the work and not do it "the right way." SO: I worked on the shelf for a few days while Lemur was napping. I got the 4 works set out that I wanted to show him first, THEN, we were ready. I had kept the shelf covered with a sheet, and surprisingly, he didn't get into it. I took him over to the shelf, and in an almost whisper-suspenseful voice I said, "come here, I want to show you something." We walked over to the shelf and I took the sheet off and said, "wowwwww." He looked and said, "wowwwww." Then I told him, in that same quiet voice, "this is your work! Watch." I took a tray and went over to his little table. He followed me and sat down. Without saying anything, I showed him how to do the work - it was a spooning transferring work. I did a few times, then handed him the spoon. He did it just like I had, and I said, "wowwwww." He did it some more with a super excited look on his face. When I could tell he was done, I said, "always put your work away when you are done, " then I carried the tray over to the shelf and put it back where it came from. "Do you want to choose a work now?" I asked. He nodded and, just like I had done, chose a tray and took it over to his little table. I backed off and just watched him, directing when he needed it, letting him explore when he didn't. He rememberd to put his work away when he was done, and chose another work without me saying anything. The first few days I was close by to watch him and "train" him. I added more work until the shelf was full. Some of the work doesn't need explaining. What I did have to work on was doing one work at a time, keeping his work on his work space, and putting the work away before he chose another work.
5. Know when to stop. I only let Lemur work when I am working now. I want to keep the element of WOW in this, and keep him excited about it. If it is "open" all the time, the newness will wear off.
Here are some examples of work Lemur has done in the past week.
Wooden puzzles are awesome. Be careful not to get ones that are too hard for your childs age. This one was a bit too challenging so I put it away and got a more simple one out.
This was just an odd container I found, and ice cube tray, and some pretty rocks we got at the dollar store. The purpose: Fine motor skills, concentration, and naming colors. I always have Lemur put the work back the way he found it, so the next time he chooses it, it will be ready to go again.
Small glass bowl, (if it breaks, oh well), salad tongs, paint pallet. Use the tongs to transfer the pom poms to each little spot on the pallet. Purpose: Fine motor, left to right movement (pre-reading), color identification.
Plastic bowl, metal tray, magnets. It's just fun to play with magnets!! These happen to be sea creatures. Any magnet will work.
Mr. Potato Head. Just for fun and creativity!
Wooden bowl, metal tray, glass bowl, pretty rocks. Purpose: Transferring work, left-to-right movement; pre-reading, concentration. There is something about pretty rocks that 2-year-olds love, and we're not saying "no, no, no!" this time. Sometimes Lemur uses his hands, and that's okay too. The rocks are a good sensorial exercise, they are hard, smooth and cool.
Blocks. I have already modified this for Lemur, but he liked this too. He just put the blocks in the container... and of course rattled and shook them. Now I have the shapes cyllinder - you know, the one with a square, circle and triangle and you put them in the lid with the shapes cut out of the top? Yeah, that one, he likes it too, and it's a good challenge for him.
When we are done with work time, the shelf is closed. Lemur has tried to get into it a few times (and so have the other kids) but I'm just firm about it and tell him (and the other kids) that they can do work ________ (whenever that may be).
SO: There are some ideas for you. I will try and take pictures of the work I put out for Lemur so you can have more ideas. Mostly, just start looking around for odds and ends that you could turn into "work" for your child. Collect sets of toys that you bought and forgot about and have pieces strewn about the house. Think of things - whatever your childs interests are and abilities are - and come up with your own creative ideas... and then share them with me! I will eventually put out things like crayons, paper, markers etc. I'm trying to figure out a creative way to present them because they are all around him during the day. I've got to reach back into my clouded memory to my Montessori Days of teaching 2 and 3-year-olds and try and remember what we did. Have fun, be creative, be firm, be consistent.
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