tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91817780424821891712024-03-07T18:42:32.909-05:00SimplysewnA little journal of simple living.Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08251449629838243299noreply@blogger.comBlogger645125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-62152519150703480912018-01-14T08:00:00.000-05:002018-01-14T08:00:03.243-05:00Reviewing and Planning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibzsVbQk-CxMYh2l9z6U8jngFtu4rhCUVioSPalpVAy9-NVId1n9DflHBqapg0vDGu3posjeTDYQUop2fSL8bxItHURXBQo7qp-JDVQlx-9mj17sNE7pHU5YGa-ERNTvWZAjQ6VtUx6fQ/s1600/IMG_3590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibzsVbQk-CxMYh2l9z6U8jngFtu4rhCUVioSPalpVAy9-NVId1n9DflHBqapg0vDGu3posjeTDYQUop2fSL8bxItHURXBQo7qp-JDVQlx-9mj17sNE7pHU5YGa-ERNTvWZAjQ6VtUx6fQ/s640/IMG_3590.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here I am again, blogging on Saturday morning. I've realized that I've made a lot of promises to myself this year. More than is probably good for me but I'm plodding along. I find in teaching and in life it is good to review the past and use that information to help plan for the future. I try not to have too many regrets or to allow myself to have negative feelings about things I think I've done poorly or wrongly. Instead I choose to look closely at what happened and try to figure out why and how to change for the future. Certainly there are many things I wish I could go back and redo and change but since I don't have a time machine I can't do that and obsessing on the past will do nothing to help my future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So in looking at the week in review I'll use that information to plan for the upcoming week. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1. <i><b>Food and exercise</b></i>. I've done a good job keeping to my food goals this week. I didn't get to the gym too much but I did go twice which is more than I can say for the last few months. I gave up coffee for 5 days. I have had a lot of trouble with my sleep for some reason (waking in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep) so I'm feeling totally exhausted in the morning. Today I decided that it wasn't the right time to forgo coffee. I'm on my second cup and it's soooooooo delicious! The key here is to not allow this one broken resolution to be a slippery slope into breaking the others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2. <i style="font-weight: bold;">Drawing. </i>I haven't sat down to draw since last weekend. I need to find a little time this weekend and at least once or twice a week to draw. I'm still adjusting to my new schedule and I've tweaked my cooking schedule starting this week so I haven't gotten in a groove yet. Hopefully I can spend a little time in between jobs working on this goal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3. <i style="font-weight: bold;">Meal Planning. </i>I made a rough plan of dinners for the month. This was very helpful. I need to review the plan, look at the recipes and shop for what I need. Mike and I are going to take a trip to a local grocery store that I discovered sells grass fed beef from a local farm. I'm always on the lookout for places to purchase grass fed food and to see how the prices compare. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">4. <i style="font-weight: bold;">Quilting. </i>Yes.....Mike's cousin (who is MUCH younger than he is) is having her first baby and so I will make a baby quilt for her. After a lot of time not wanting to sew, I've been feeling the desire again lately. I'm not sure why. So I've picked a pattern and need to go to the fabric store to pick up the supplies. The shower is in February so I have a little time to work on it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">5. <i style="font-weight: bold;">School</i>. I don't really have too much to worry about this weekend for school. I've organized the room so that I don't have to change out the shelves too often. I do need to continue working on some lessons but they aren't pressing. I'm working on academics with the children individually or in small groups to try to get them acclimated to being more independent with their work. Unfortunately, the play areas pull them in large groups and make the classroom very loud. There isn't anything I can really do about this so I'm just trying to separate children who are misbehaving and are having trouble concentrating. That has been helping. I have to remember that it may take awhile to accomplish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">6. <i><b>Reading</b></i>. I've been working slowly through 'Positive Discipline for Preschoolers' which is a very good book. I'm just reading a chapter a day or so. I've also picked up 'My life in France' by Julia Child. The book chronicles her life with her husband while they lived in France which is also where she learned to cook. It is very interesting. I've got so many books that I'd like to read but I often fall asleep while reading so it's difficult to read too much at once!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">7. Connecting. </i>I've been feeling very disconnected from other people lately. I used to feel so connected at church but have really lost most of the friends I had as a younger mother. It really makes me quite sad. The only place where I have people saying they miss me is in the choir. I'm thinking that perhaps I should rejoin to see if that makes me feel more involved. I'm also thinking about taking a yoga class. I've been having a lot of trouble with my back and I think that Yoga might help with it as well as be an exercise I enjoy more than weight training or using the tread mill. It might also be a place to meet new people. The two issues are money and time with that one so I'm just exploring options. I'm also meeting a friend this morning for coffee. She's been the one consistent friend in my life and I'm glad we can connect every few months.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Well....that's a lot! Luckily I have off school on Monday. It gives me a little more time to organize myself and check off a few things from the list. I guess I'd better get cracking....it's almost 8 a.m.</span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08251449629838243299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-1090748894188014212018-01-06T07:44:00.001-05:002018-01-06T07:44:12.579-05:00Another New Year<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's 2018. I can remember being a school child and thinking how old I would be when it was the year 2000 and 2020, etc. The thought that I would be alive in the year 2020 seemed amazing to me. For some reason, the turn of the century seemed like such a futuristic idea. Certainly there would be flying cars by then! Well, here we are in 2018. Life is certainly different than when I was a school girl and yet in many ways it is still the same. We move ahead one day at a time and eventually our life unfolds. It is in the minutes and hours and days that we build ourselves and the world around us. Yet it is so easy to miss each of these little moments. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInVSd7MBrli-JL-OqYidXBARxZ5eB08VxdGzqRQ6zCitqxOBIoh-WT6hwg6-mM9730qkM378Rn1pVmXWYb69f3bgHdp7wYyVauSTSG5fS5wtVGhXuUSPYiGcn626aJwdP3qe6vxdj50k/s1600/IMG_3787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInVSd7MBrli-JL-OqYidXBARxZ5eB08VxdGzqRQ6zCitqxOBIoh-WT6hwg6-mM9730qkM378Rn1pVmXWYb69f3bgHdp7wYyVauSTSG5fS5wtVGhXuUSPYiGcn626aJwdP3qe6vxdj50k/s640/IMG_3787.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canadian Goose I photographed in the late fall. I love looking at the details of feather and flight.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've been thinking a lot about this upcoming year and things I want to change, things I want to keep the same. I've missed my blog but find I don't have the same urge to write that I did in years past. So I'm going to try to post once a week this year. Mostly to have a little snapshot of my life to look back on in future years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As with any new year, I've made a few resolutions. I'm terrifically terrible at following through on my resolutions but that never stops me from making them. So here are a few things I'm working on in 2018:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My health - eating healthy and naturally, limiting alcohol intake and getting regular exercise</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Art - I'm trying to learn to draw by using the book 'Drawing with Children' by Mona Brooks. I used it when I homeschooled my boys and think it is a great start for anyone with no ability to draw (me!).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Finishing books I've started - I have quite a few books that I've read a little of but never finished (mostly because there was a new book to start). Currently I'm reading 'Positive Discipline for Preschoolers' which I picked up a year ago because of a difficult student in my classroom. It is really a wonderful book for anyone with preschoolers in their lives.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The garden - I've been working on our backyard garden for years and want to really spend some time this year making it more beautiful and less weedy!!!</span></li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbJl4GOXjnNphTHMcd1vPNtGdxSV1FV8c7FUlsBk3bIbSuSPkoWdOBCsjDT97eHbeUWyZ2cNMamvLohAGkXnG7BVg7ep_EnCKNvCTDd6diFOhxwmLJwEaXY8W2nzHwu880h8mjM8_3Rs/s1600/18953607_1694698833877849_2749286345632732491_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbJl4GOXjnNphTHMcd1vPNtGdxSV1FV8c7FUlsBk3bIbSuSPkoWdOBCsjDT97eHbeUWyZ2cNMamvLohAGkXnG7BVg7ep_EnCKNvCTDd6diFOhxwmLJwEaXY8W2nzHwu880h8mjM8_3Rs/s640/18953607_1694698833877849_2749286345632732491_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The backyard garden in June 2017</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I hope to share my progress here this year. Hope being the operative word. I think I can manage once a week and if not that, at least once a month. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have to admit part of my need for blogging has to do with feeling very unhappy and unsettled this year. I had such a wonderful year last year opening my own school and working every day with my husband. Due to a lot of factors, we closed the school and I moved to working in a typical PreK classroom in a larger school. I'm grateful for the experience because it has taught me quite a few things about myself and my educational philosophy. Mostly it made me realize how much I miss teaching in a Montessori school. I've decided definitely to go back to Montessori next year, even if that means just subbing to get my foot in the door. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I recently changed my hours at school also. I now work just the hours for which I was initially contracted (7:30-11:30) instead of staying over lunch till 1:00. That last hour and a half was just pure torture for me. I was so unhappy for the last few months that I wracked my brain to determine how I could make life more enjoyable. I also work a second job as a cook at a community drop in program for people with mental health issues. I really enjoy it and knew I didn't want to stop working there. I finally realized that going back to my initial school hours was necessary for my own mental health. So starting last week I changed my hours and I already feel so much better about school. Now I have a little time between jobs (both are close to home so the travel is negligible) and I need to make that time productive, too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This post is longer than I was intending but I guess it gets the blog up to date. I'm working toward making 2018 positive and productive. I'm also working on being patient with myself and remembering that even if I fall back to my old ways one day, I can pick up and start anew the next day. One day, one hour, one minute at a time. </span></div>
Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08251449629838243299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-22901981750453975522017-10-19T21:29:00.000-04:002017-10-19T21:29:07.883-04:00Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQs-vlGvZBW6p1FXVnY5ZBYNOMlspCSLnGdlnN7wOtMCOwj0SCF3ebsLZuObI06KGzzr-is2DS_fVxl9wp0q3TQ3MuRPxCNGutpLc2WnYZ712-_vvyFPpcEOSFtBZbjGwn4zUew5zSp8/s1600/IMG_0388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQs-vlGvZBW6p1FXVnY5ZBYNOMlspCSLnGdlnN7wOtMCOwj0SCF3ebsLZuObI06KGzzr-is2DS_fVxl9wp0q3TQ3MuRPxCNGutpLc2WnYZ712-_vvyFPpcEOSFtBZbjGwn4zUew5zSp8/s640/IMG_0388.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I started this blog January, 2007. That's more then 10 years ago. Wow. Back then blogging was a somewhat new and novel idea. I remember reading all my favorite blogs every day. There were so many of them. Now blogging is somewhat out of style. Now there is Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and so much more that I can't keep up with. I miss the blog, to be honest. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am a very visual person and NOT a verbal or auditory person but there is something about the WORDS that go along with a blog post that is missing form these other forums. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In 2007 my boys were 10 and 11. Now they are grown men - 20 and 21. In 2007 we lived in a larger house with less yard, now we live in a small house with a larger yard (well, garden). In 2007 I was a stay at home mom and homeschooled my boys. Now I am working two jobs - one as a preK teacher, one as a cook. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The journey to this place has been interesting to say the least. Much of it is here, on this blog, in bits and pieces. I know the journey is not nearly finished. I feel like my life is a little like the dandelion flower and seeds you see above. As I grow, my life (seeds) spread far and wide and bring me in contact with a wide variety of people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Some of these people are put into my life to help me grow and to challenge me. Some are for me to help - especially the little children I work with daily. Although I prefer these seeds to flow where I want, they do not. They fly in the wind and land far and wide. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And so must I....fly.....far and wide.....and flower where I am planted.</span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08251449629838243299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-32566546417883890202017-05-06T10:41:00.000-04:002017-05-06T10:41:41.671-04:00Italian Meatballs with Oven Roasted Broccoli and Tomato Coconut Sauce<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZyCC50HlYlFucwlsPxq4UzxYCZT45Cb4WEiwb4LMar1EP-yZmtcqsLaiW64x0G1bFJlEXK8WHWB3R_gshUGVwVZADZB_NcpOaIt_V4tBcCUEBrdAXUPz4i2YOtUf9c6mjkx5dfx5kgc/s1600/IMG_0413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZyCC50HlYlFucwlsPxq4UzxYCZT45Cb4WEiwb4LMar1EP-yZmtcqsLaiW64x0G1bFJlEXK8WHWB3R_gshUGVwVZADZB_NcpOaIt_V4tBcCUEBrdAXUPz4i2YOtUf9c6mjkx5dfx5kgc/s640/IMG_0413.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's day 6 of my 21 day Primal challenge. One thing I know about myself is that I need to make my food interesting and varied or there's no way I'll stay the course. I also really enjoy cooking and don't mind spending a lot of time in the kitchen. A few days ago I made the delicious meal you see above. I wanted to get the recipe down so I wouldn't forget about it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I should say that this isn't a real recipe but just me throwing some things together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Italian Meatballs with Tomato Coconut Sauce</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 lb pasture raised ground pork</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 lb pasture raised ground beef</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/2 onion minced as fine as you can get it</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 cloves garlic minced fine</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 TBSPish Italian Seasoning</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">salt and pepper to taste</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">fat of choice</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 can coconut milk</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 large fresh tomato peeled and chopped</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">fresh sage, julienned</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 cloves garlic sliced </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To make the meatballs, put first 6 ingredients into a bowl and smoosh together with your hands until everything is mixed well. Roll into your desired size meatballs. I like mine on the smaller size so they cook faster and you can eat more of them! You can cook these either by baking them or frying them in oil or bacon fat. Bacon fat makes them a little bit yummier.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While you are cooking the meatballs, heat your fat of choice in a skillet and saute' the garlic slices for a few minutes. Add in the chopped tomato and saute' until the tomato turns into pulp and the juices are mostly evaporated. Add in the coconut milk and bring to a low boil. Continue cooking until the sauce reduces to your preferred state. Add the sage and cook for one or two minutes more. Salt and pepper to taste.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Serve the sauce over the meatballs and roasted broccoli (recipe to follow).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Roasted Broccoli</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 head broccoli cut into florets</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">olive oil </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">salt and pepper to taste</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Heat oven to 400F. Spread broccoli florets evenly on rimmed baking sheet. drizzle with oil and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until starting to brown on the top. I actually didn't time how long this took but I'm thinking around 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your florets. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I hope you enjoy! I know we did. Next time I will make more broccoli but I just used what I had in the fridge for this recipe. If you've never had oven roasted broccoli you are in for a treat!</span></div>
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Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08251449629838243299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-56532892041297687312017-05-03T13:06:00.000-04:002017-05-03T13:06:53.935-04:00Having Fun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's day four of my 21 day Primal Challenge. One of the <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-primal-blueprint/">Primal rules</a> that I think is so wonderful is <b><i>play</i></b>. I love this idea! So last night I went with a group of friends country line dancing! We were all novices and went on 'beginner night.' It was so much fun. It was also challenging (more to my brain than my body). We also met some of the nicest people ever. Everyone was really encouraging and helpful and friendly. I can't remember the last time I was in that kind of environment. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It made me think about how I act around people I don't know very well and how I can be more encouraging and inclusive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So, by taking the rule of play seriously, I not only got some exercise, had some great socialization with some friends but also was able to take a little look inside myself for some (hopefully) positive changes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Next up for fun I'm thinking of rock climbing!</span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08251449629838243299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-62087942153048948492017-05-01T16:22:00.000-04:002017-05-01T16:22:18.609-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Monday. The start of a new week and day 1 of my 21 day Primal Blueprint challenge. My day started with a disappointment that may lead to another change in my life. I don't really want to delve into it but it's made me take a good look at where I'm going and what I'm doing. It's a step back and peer closer kind of thing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of the <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-primal-blueprint/">Primal rules of living</a> is to move around a lot at a slow pace. What that means for me is taking long walks, bike rides and hiking. These are exercises that I've always loved. So today, while I was needing to spend a lot of time in deep thought, taking a long walk was the perfect opportunity to do just that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How will this situation all work out? Who knows. There's a lot to think about. In the end it will all be fine and will certainly give me an opportunity to grow in one way or another.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So for now, I'll just keep on thinking and finding more ways to move around a lot....slowly. Gardening anyone?</span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08251449629838243299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-21432891674139363032017-04-30T17:06:00.000-04:002017-04-30T17:06:40.051-04:00Blogging....again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I used to be such an avid blogger. I think social media has ruined the blog. So many wonderful blogs that used to inspire me have fallen by the wayside. They are replaced by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the like. Yet, I find something is missing from these platforms. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">*sigh*</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There's no going back. So why am I posting now? For many months I've thought to myself, "You should blog again." Yet I just couldn't seem to sit and do it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Perhaps it's because I've been blogging on Sundays for my <a href="http://historicstmaryscgs.blogspot.com/">Catechesis of the Good Shepherd </a>program and posting on my s<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Holy-Spirit-Montessori-403802706372492/">chool Facebook page</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well, I've decided to dedicate the next three weeks to blogging agin. I've also dedicated the next 21 days to renewing my health, fitness and energy level. It's hard to believe that I'm 47 years old. I'm very happy with my life. Mike and I have lived very intentionally for the last 25 years. By not worrying about the 'ways of the world' we have been able to do the work we feel passionately about: music and education. Our children are grown and pursuing their own passions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, what we have not been so intentional about is caring for our health and fitness. Slowly over time we have come to understand that we need to eat in a way that is very counter to the "conventional wisdom" of our age. This is easier said than done. As I've aged, I've found it harder to maintain a healthy weight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So....in order to get ourselves into the habit of eating and exercising we are devoting the next 21 days to the <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/">Primal Blueprint</a>. I'm not going to say much about this now but will be blogging about our journey for the next three weeks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have decided to blog again to help myself. I've always blogged as a personal journal of sorts. I'm hoping by returning to this form of self reflection I can help myself stay the course and also have a record of the journey.</span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08251449629838243299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-39917275778259376242016-11-27T17:48:00.002-05:002016-11-27T17:48:27.168-05:00Advent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,</i></div>
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<i>and from his roots a bud shall blossom.</i></div>
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<i> The spirit of the L<small style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, times; font-size: 78% !important; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ORD</small> shall rest upon him:</i></div>
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<i>a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,</i></div>
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<i>A spirit of counsel and of strength,</i></div>
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<i>a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the L<small style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, times; font-size: 78% !important; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ORD.</small></i></div>
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Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08251449629838243299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-10640619361556098372016-10-29T12:47:00.001-04:002016-10-29T12:47:56.854-04:00The Autumn Garden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have always loved the springtime and the new shoots appearing after the long, dark winter. Autumn to me was always joyous because of the relief in temperature from the hot days of August and September. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This year, I am enjoying the autumn garden for an entirely different reason. One that I'm amazed I never thought much about before and one that is completely thrilling to me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We had our first frost this past week and it killed the last of my vegetable garden. I've been harvesting a late crop of green beans and my oxheart tomatoes. Alas, they are no more. To be honest, I was ready for them to go. My freezer is full of both tomatoes, spaghetti sauce and frozen green beans. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today I spent the morning pulling out all the dead plants from the garden. What I love is seeing all the ways nature prepares for the spring, 6 months ahead of time. I also love to see the little things that are hidden away under the plants that tend to take over. When I cut things back, I find the small green things still growing. Looking at the different ways seeds disperse is also completely amazing to me. I have been teaching these lessons at school with my 3-6 year olds and making them hands on by blowing tissue paper, throwing paper helicopters and shooting beans from plastic cups and balloon bits. We are all having tons of fun while learning about the amazing way God keeps life going on our precious planet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The way plants keep their offspring going amazes me and makes me want to keep the weeds that I used to throw out. If you drive by my house next year you might think we aren't taking care of things but I'm really thinking by letting nature take over a bit we are really helping out: the birds, the animals, the plants, the soil.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So, my challenge to you: go outside, take a walk and see the autumn garden.....death in preparation for the life to come in spring.</span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08251449629838243299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-91738206236934590492016-10-11T19:30:00.000-04:002016-10-11T19:30:52.520-04:00Naturecise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was another beautiful sunny day, today. I wanted to get out for a walk and decided I would go for a hike. For a long time I've wanted to explore all of the Lancaster County Conservancy preserves. In fact it was just over <a href="http://simplysewn.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-nature-preserve-challenge.html">two years ago that I blogged about another Conservancy hike </a>and challenged myself to try to get to them all. I'm not much closer to that goal now than I was two years ago but it's still part of the bucket list.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today I determined to go to Reed Run Nature Preserve. It is toward the southern end of Lancaster County so it was a little bit of a drive but a beautiful one. Once I got to the site I realized I had been there before with Mike and the boys. The hike is a loop which you would think would be very easy to follow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Oh no, think again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The trail is marked with blue tree markers which are very visible (once you see them). The trail, however is VERY overgrown. I was very glad to be wearing long sleeves, long pants and my hiking boots. It was great fun trying to follow the trail, crossing the stream a few times, and generally NOT following the loop. I didn't get to see the overlook since I ended up going back and forth on the eastern side of the loop and the overlook is on the western side. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All in all it was a really good hike. I felt a little bit like an explorer (ok, a pathetic explorer) and used my amazing sense of direction (the sun rises in the east and goes down in the west) to make sure I was headed back in the right direction. It really was challenging to find the trail at times both in the woods and on the edge of the woods. It was also a really good little workout without being overwhelmingly steep.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you want to try this hike (let me know if you get the whole way around!) be sure to wear bright clothing since hunting is allowed in this preserve. I also recommend sturdy shoes, jeans and long sleeves. Oh, and a GPS might come in handy.</span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08251449629838243299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-63910164740317678582016-10-08T10:48:00.002-04:002016-10-08T10:48:29.034-04:00Autumn Nature Walk<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It has been a beautiful week here in Lancaster, PA. Yesterday afternoon after I finished cleaning the classroom and writing up my notes for the day I felt the draw of nature. I wanted to take a hike because I craved solitude and wanted to take some photos. It was a little late to drive to one of the hikes I enjoy so I decided to go to a nearby community park that is large and has some lovely natural areas. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I just learned about Michaelmas Daisies and was excited to see so many of them blooming. They are really asters that bloom around Michaelmas which was at the end of September. I've always loved daisies (my wedding bouquet was made from them) in every form and so loved seeing all the butterflies and bees enjoying them, too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today's weather isn't going to be so lovely so I've set myself the task of cleaning the sunroom and exchanging the screens for the windows. I've been doing some purging lately (this week I went through my recipe folders. Yikes! What a lot of printouts I had.) and may continue that some more this weekend. I am always surprised at how much I accumulate that is unnecessary and never used. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The garden also needs cleaned up for the fall. I still have green beans growing and should be able to harvest them soon. Every year I tell myself I will plant bulbs and every year I don't do it. Maybe this will be my year! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I hope you have a lovely weekend. Take time to enjoy something about nature, tidy that area you've been complaining about and spend some quality time with those you love.</span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08251449629838243299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-71657819779510873012016-06-09T17:36:00.001-04:002016-06-09T17:36:20.660-04:00Frugal Friday<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's June and I've been done with school for about a week. Nolan graduated from Lancaster Catholic and the Lancaster Career and Technology Center. The parties are over. I deep cleaned the kitchen floor. The new school I'm starting (more on this later) is set up and the paperwork sent to the state. What does all this mean? I'm a little bored. So yesterday it occurred to me that I used to love to blog. I think one of the reasons I stopped blogging was that I no longer had the time to do it. Well, this new found boredom has given me time to blog again! So I went back to my blog and found this post that never got posted. I think it's a good one so I'm sharing it with you today. It is over a year old but still relevant. Enjoy this one and look for more this summer.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bIdAIpqsoc5mBqkbzfLqeLN9YMwBjidMAC33ZXIRjDE_9QSg2fwlYrn2_37-3OWvJMzG4-OqArJ2cfemLCuHMO_C0m9FFc9hemn1LuLObX96Ky29flup4eUoNJx3-rs-PA8LTsO6-YI/s1600/IMG_7115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bIdAIpqsoc5mBqkbzfLqeLN9YMwBjidMAC33ZXIRjDE_9QSg2fwlYrn2_37-3OWvJMzG4-OqArJ2cfemLCuHMO_C0m9FFc9hemn1LuLObX96Ky29flup4eUoNJx3-rs-PA8LTsO6-YI/s640/IMG_7115.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We're still eating the sauce we made from these tomatoes.</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here it is (from 2015. And, no, it's not Friday. Please don't expect me to post a Frugal Friday post each week this summer. This was the 2015 me, not the new and improved 2016 me who knows better.):</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is the first in what I hope will be a weekly Friday posting. <i>Hope</i> being the operative word here.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I've been contemplating voluntary poverty for the last few weeks. I'm not going to get into that topic right now because it would require more time than I want to give to my computer at the moment. We all know that there are people who live in terrible poverty all over the world, including the town you live in. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm prone to a guilty conscience and so I have to be careful about my motives. I don't want to do something because it seems romantic at the time but is unsustainable.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What I have felt convicted about for a long time is to live more simply. To honor the beauty of the natural world that has been entrusted to us by our creator. What does this mean exactly?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Well, first off: waste not.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I guess that is my basic definition of frugality. So on this and (I hope) subsequent Fridays I'll post something about being frugal. We all know that when one can make a posting alliterative it has universal appeal. Right???</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, my first Frugal Friday post topic is PATIENCE. "Patience,"you may ask? What does that have to do with being frugal and eliminating waste?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1. <b>Impulse buying</b>. It is so easy, isn't it? Let me give you a current example. Yesterday a friend recommended the book <a href="http://www.bhpublishinggroup.com/books/products.asp?p=9781433672965" target="_blank">7:An experimental mutiny against excess.</a> I was cleaning out my closet and lamenting the number of skirts in there that almost never get worn. My gut instinct after looking at the book was, "Hey, this is right up my alley. I'll buy it right now. I'm just one click away on Amazon!" Fortunately, the angel sitting on my other shoulder reminded me that purchasing a book immediately because I REALLY wanted to read it was just as bad as those 13 skirts sitting in my closet. Worse, actually, because I still had the option of NOT buying it. So, my friend offered to loan me the book when she was finished with it and my dilemma was over. I'll still get to read the book and glean the knowledge written inside while saving some cash and possibly having a moment to chat with a friend during the exchange. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2. <b>Savings. </b>I think we all know the cost of buying on credit or buying more than we have income to sustain. Just take a look at the housing crisis in America. How many people were approved for loans that they could not sustain. My parents taught us that if you want something, save for it first. Chances are you may not even want the item you were saving for once you have the money in hand. Being patient about fixing up the house, upgrading the computer, or even that new pair of shoes pays off in the end.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3. <b>Eat real food and cook it yourself.</b> Yup. Cooking takes time. Cooking real food takes extra time. It takes patience to learn to make something from scratch, to use the oven instead of the microwave. No, dinner isn't usually ready in 10 minutes or less. To be honest, the cost of real food isn't always less than processed. <b style="font-style: italic;">Unless you look at the big picture.</b> Most commercially available foods are subsidized by the government along the path from giant farm to your table. Where do the subsidy monies come from? Yup, taxpayer pocketbooks. How about your health? What is the cost in medicine, doctor visits and hospital stays that are directly linked to the poor quality of food that we eat? High. The cost isn't just in money but in time and quality of life. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">4. <b>You.</b> We are all human. We all have our faults. We all need to strive to improve our lives in some way. Be patient with yourself. Nothing changes overnight except the date on the calendar. Every experience in your life is forming you and often those around you. Waste not. Examen yourself but be patient with yourself. If you find you have blessings then give thanks! If you find you have faults, make a plan. If you have faulted your husband, your children, your friend, your coworker: ask forgiveness. Take the time to improve yourself. Give thanks for the many blessings you have in your life and find one area that you can improve upon. Continue practicing patience with it all.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm sure there are more areas where patience and frugality meet. If you've got an idea, comment or facebook or post! Send me your links. Have a great weekend, everyone.</span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11220243410828889634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-16458244003617080662015-10-04T18:36:00.001-04:002015-10-04T18:36:30.477-04:00Then and Now<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsaSo2AjLx-4iVna7PI5VvnyRBZcDCua0CXGurQ521qo63tn_Q2XhtFOuUbaKH8ZPJNtG9ITS5lwe94s1NKbW-mUtHrefaNy0-SdqoBRuH187HwJA7f1qER8TSAuAjDfHiDS5q63V_mR0/s1600/Scan20008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsaSo2AjLx-4iVna7PI5VvnyRBZcDCua0CXGurQ521qo63tn_Q2XhtFOuUbaKH8ZPJNtG9ITS5lwe94s1NKbW-mUtHrefaNy0-SdqoBRuH187HwJA7f1qER8TSAuAjDfHiDS5q63V_mR0/s320/Scan20008.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nathan as a preschooler</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3SP7k4cBjOX7llKR3FQpkmJXQgRA6yl5Pf7MMuGjH7gaXckBhUA_xJuXnoOVj-Qd3kAj7KhbLzcYX6BYmlbkz4uTwWExIJWPy_2qFIs5oh3oPf8sVNlcZwA2Di0PXrmBp7xPDuyRQMkE/s1600/IMG_6470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3SP7k4cBjOX7llKR3FQpkmJXQgRA6yl5Pf7MMuGjH7gaXckBhUA_xJuXnoOVj-Qd3kAj7KhbLzcYX6BYmlbkz4uTwWExIJWPy_2qFIs5oh3oPf8sVNlcZwA2Di0PXrmBp7xPDuyRQMkE/s400/IMG_6470.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nathan at Graduation</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've been pondering <i>time</i> this weekend. I had some time on Friday night (it was rainy and cold and I was happy to be stuck in the house). I took out my old song notebook and sat down on the piano bench with my guitar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Just the act of taking out my notebook (from 1988), my guitar (built in 1963 and purchased by us in 1995ish) and sitting at my piano (built 1950s or 60s, bought by my parents in 1978) is a study in time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What really got me thinking was looking through my notebook. In there are songs I had written, was trying to write or had been written by other artists of the 1980's and 1990's. It was clear from my lyrics (<i>cringe</i>) that I was longing to find a soulmate; someone to spend my life with. It was also pretty clear that I didn't think I was soulmate material. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I paged through the book and played through songs I haven't thought about for a long time. The songs that I remember best speak of a longing for family, for children. All the things I've had for more than 20 years now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm getting to the point of looking back instead of looking forward.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today I went to see my parents. It is my mom's 76th birthday. My dad is 79. We talked about our children (my brothers and I are their children and my children and nieces and nephews are their grandchildren - obviously). My mom said, "People don't think they need children when they're young. When you really need them is when you are old."</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jIUFsMFODBeq7wIfuXwZTgfCOw0FFNPuc3vK-iFz3L7PJQtpNZwBmfupL8lnoktRz-4olFld4F_mNO-TSXfyo2vuqMIfitYr97I0Mk9NDdYEWjosJzet0pKyc8qLC9F6ZJk-L-lrme0/s1600/Scan20010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jIUFsMFODBeq7wIfuXwZTgfCOw0FFNPuc3vK-iFz3L7PJQtpNZwBmfupL8lnoktRz-4olFld4F_mNO-TSXfyo2vuqMIfitYr97I0Mk9NDdYEWjosJzet0pKyc8qLC9F6ZJk-L-lrme0/s320/Scan20010.JPG" width="272" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nolan as a preschooler</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRAtQw7Aw1_mOG-h4aPNa3THSewHmFFqser7Ssk9JtegfwccctZowzXcY2e2pUix7-fB6qsKePcxK5ItR32RXFNfm_flsdIR0ywpIjxz2IonlRX9bkJcITCHXK21TJA-6dnfxOZrI3YpY/s1600/IMG_7129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRAtQw7Aw1_mOG-h4aPNa3THSewHmFFqser7Ssk9JtegfwccctZowzXcY2e2pUix7-fB6qsKePcxK5ItR32RXFNfm_flsdIR0ywpIjxz2IonlRX9bkJcITCHXK21TJA-6dnfxOZrI3YpY/s640/IMG_7129.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nolan as a Senior</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Singing all those old songs and thinking about all those longings I had for a partner and then all the conversations Mike and I had (once I had him as a partner) about our future and our family made me somewhat nostalgic. We are past all of that. Our children are young men embarking on their own futures. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It made me wonder about my now. Is my now the future I had envisioned? Of course we can never envision exactly how life will turn out. There are always bumps (or mountains) in our paths that make us steer in directions we could never envision.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But all in all, I'm happy with the choices we've made. We don't have a large house, a large income, new cars or fancy furniture. What we do have is well adjusted children (young men, really), careers we adore and a place to live that we love.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If I was still writing songs (which I am not), I do wonder what I would write about.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlmAp58MjYvaXOjSTrvOfgEOdQnUsEwqq3sXWK8mBa9SXoNKH5w5Xcywbvu14fodsix-U_PhOdN41iLU1zk-GlrL1OiniBw-EvdQQQRX8_yieVFi5NeVbmXOrHmysToCJ7ka9mHZBp1I0/s1600/11196252_1079779088703163_133494682550248014_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlmAp58MjYvaXOjSTrvOfgEOdQnUsEwqq3sXWK8mBa9SXoNKH5w5Xcywbvu14fodsix-U_PhOdN41iLU1zk-GlrL1OiniBw-EvdQQQRX8_yieVFi5NeVbmXOrHmysToCJ7ka9mHZBp1I0/s400/11196252_1079779088703163_133494682550248014_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike and I when we were first dating</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXTrFGD4ZpuWMKmyvqLZ5szVYeOPsI6C9UMP4caB4Da78X1lsi5E57i8RvkmR9TkMdbQwwHoHpizD9iXJyGmk_lBd7YoYGcutKmkI5pRj_Qpkr7lp6A6dVsJawLXhpvVOCeJ2BaSwHDY/s1600/67250_1647948521176_2358439_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXTrFGD4ZpuWMKmyvqLZ5szVYeOPsI6C9UMP4caB4Da78X1lsi5E57i8RvkmR9TkMdbQwwHoHpizD9iXJyGmk_lBd7YoYGcutKmkI5pRj_Qpkr7lp6A6dVsJawLXhpvVOCeJ2BaSwHDY/s400/67250_1647948521176_2358439_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike and I a few years ago at his sister's wedding</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I still have ambitions and dreams. I am still working to fulfill them. I remember my friend, my priest, Fr. Leo telling me a long time ago, "There is a time in life for everything." How true that is. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I find myself in a time of life of change again. But now I know that change is slow. I enjoy each day in a way I didn't when I was young. I enjoy each moment with my boys. These moments don't come around in the same way they did when they were children. But they still come. My aim is to make sure I embrace them all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08251449629838243299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-7987587994118937132015-08-21T10:50:00.001-04:002015-08-21T10:50:49.980-04:00Montessori Bootcamp Review<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBH-CrGtourQJi-XGLQSxRontlHFkGPG97PKMDLZ9eCom1IdrOwybKJM9wapiTOB_Xug1Z-Oiz9Xvzo1eRl-wHS7yMqfOoc8o9yvTpXYpmwxv6NZ7qjYSTKYZ1V1AHFZ97bUZ9qkAUp8Q/s1600/Montessori+Materials+130.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBH-CrGtourQJi-XGLQSxRontlHFkGPG97PKMDLZ9eCom1IdrOwybKJM9wapiTOB_Xug1Z-Oiz9Xvzo1eRl-wHS7yMqfOoc8o9yvTpXYpmwxv6NZ7qjYSTKYZ1V1AHFZ97bUZ9qkAUp8Q/s640/Montessori+Materials+130.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My classroom set up for the beginning of the school year.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hello everyone! Many of you may have already started school and many are looking forward to starting in a week or so. I can't wait to get back into the swing of things. We had our meet the teacher/camp carnival evening last week and it really made me realize how much I miss my students. This is the first year one of my own children will NOT be returning to school. My eldest graduated in June and has secured a full time job. It is wonderful to see what an amazing young man he has become but also strange to be the mother of an adult. My youngest son returns to his last year of high school. He will be attending a culinary program full time for his senior year. In many ways I think this kind of program is similar to what he might have gotten in a Montessori high school. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I haven't been on the blog for a while but wanted to give a little review of the 21 Day Classroom Setup Bootcamp in which I participated for three weeks this summer. You can find my other blog posts about this 'camp' <a href="http://simplysewn.blogspot.com/2015/07/montessori-bootcamp-teacher-workstation.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://simplysewn.blogspot.com/2015/07/montessori-bootcamp-day-2-when-i-almost.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://simplysewn.blogspot.com/2015/07/montessori-bootcamp-day-3-shelf-mapping.html" target="_blank">here</a>. The bootcamp was created by Seemi Abdullah from <a href="http://trilliummontessori.org/trillium-blog/" target="_blank">Trillium Montessori</a>. Seemi is a great Montessori resource and a wonderful person. I was able to meet her at the American Montessori Society conference in Philadelphia this year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So what did I think about the bootcamp? Wow. I'm not sure how to keep all of my thoughts to one blog post but I will try. The bootcamp encompassed so many aspects of classroom setup it's hard to relay. I have to admit I did not participate everyday nor with all of the assignments. I have a feeling it was that way for most of the participants. I think what I'll report on were the items I found most helpful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First, I did appreciate the organizational component of the course. Sometimes there are things we know are important but aren't as fun as material making or setting up shelves and we relegate them to the end of our list when they need to be at the beginning. Things like the teacher and assistant manual, parent relations plan and record keeping. It was good to get some organization in those areas and clean off my shelf full of papers at the same time!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The thing I found most helpful was shelf mapping and the floor plan. My co-teacher and I spent a huge amount of time working out the floor plan of the classroom last summer. I took over from another teacher in the middle of the previous year and was not happy with the floor plan (just personal opinion, nothing against the previous teacher). After living with it for a year we remained happy with the setup. Of course, it isn't perfect but it is as perfect as can be with the shelves and tables we have.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Learning how to shelf map was definitely the most rewarding learning I've done in a LONG time. I wrote a blog post about it so I won't go into detail but I thought I'd post some before and after photos to show how I've changed things to make them more in line with the progression of materials and developmental needs of the child. I'm showing only two areas of the classroom: Practical Life and Language. These were the two areas that I changed the most and with which I was most unhappy in years past.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxzJnb3DepOhWI-ZcZ8zfgWtiAK2qAFi2kkRcTi12jZlfr69BxFb-qHvKeh_7gqfyD8Pgcppr2EQ_vRJ7GFWGm8zf7vjOJRBYKNSk5FMSKocnAsRNgD5yA9NoVd41ct0YF9i-gNc3bxE/s1600/Montessori+Materials+147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxzJnb3DepOhWI-ZcZ8zfgWtiAK2qAFi2kkRcTi12jZlfr69BxFb-qHvKeh_7gqfyD8Pgcppr2EQ_vRJ7GFWGm8zf7vjOJRBYKNSk5FMSKocnAsRNgD5yA9NoVd41ct0YF9i-gNc3bxE/s640/Montessori+Materials+147.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practical Life art and sewing before the shelf map.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtkja3ZaN3ecZtwqUHjVQeRvtETtBFUmYo8vsRGGq1kvvQ1kPl7GyqhxLVgFwuWCmWQQpMhBm2mcwBGXLJGNRUL2vjJTpxAK9__geuwhghslfiY2ds0xAZm3yhRW1lojmT-QjPEGmXRg/s1600/IMG_7082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtkja3ZaN3ecZtwqUHjVQeRvtETtBFUmYo8vsRGGq1kvvQ1kPl7GyqhxLVgFwuWCmWQQpMhBm2mcwBGXLJGNRUL2vjJTpxAK9__geuwhghslfiY2ds0xAZm3yhRW1lojmT-QjPEGmXRg/s640/IMG_7082.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practical Life art shelf after the shelf map</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the two photos above you can see how I changed the art shelf. Excuse the fact that the materials are incomplete. I won't have markers, crayons, pencils, etc. until the first week of school. One big change I made in practical life was to add more sewing to my shelves. I also combined my wet and dry fine motor shelf. I have found that there is much less misuse of the sewing materials than the fine motor materials in general and the children love the work and gain so much more concentration from it than most other practical life works. I don't know if this is because of some fault of mine with the pouring, scooping and tonging works (not giving proper lessons, etc.) but I'm giving this new set up a try this year and will reflect on it after we've been using it. The top shelf of art now includes plants and animals to care for.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkGz5hkG-_OApSW1lZSUnbwVNw2uyui_A9C6zA7aD4N4xvPJcHWUVkSdV9LYem9F6qif0NnC7o9pkxkCTEaLwIK6Om3yThkYUYy51OKelOM38rOOZ5sLVhXfsVAKQCO6UPA2SkWp0n39o/s1600/Montessori+Materials+146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkGz5hkG-_OApSW1lZSUnbwVNw2uyui_A9C6zA7aD4N4xvPJcHWUVkSdV9LYem9F6qif0NnC7o9pkxkCTEaLwIK6Om3yThkYUYy51OKelOM38rOOZ5sLVhXfsVAKQCO6UPA2SkWp0n39o/s320/Montessori+Materials+146.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">fine and gross motor wet works before mapping</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxzJnb3DepOhWI-ZcZ8zfgWtiAK2qAFi2kkRcTi12jZlfr69BxFb-qHvKeh_7gqfyD8Pgcppr2EQ_vRJ7GFWGm8zf7vjOJRBYKNSk5FMSKocnAsRNgD5yA9NoVd41ct0YF9i-gNc3bxE/s1600/Montessori+Materials+147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsvA-DCx97WKwvb_6sO6X0GOKvAHQusDUv_mt5dvnmm2rrJmrrhtS6rwfPJ8gQZhgUioXTR4bOeJ-4m7rmftT1SO4JRJhz6-cBVfe4zjp4lTCPCw05TvEQCYP1dSyG1zUKS3JFIkk8ixA/s1600/IMG_7085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsvA-DCx97WKwvb_6sO6X0GOKvAHQusDUv_mt5dvnmm2rrJmrrhtS6rwfPJ8gQZhgUioXTR4bOeJ-4m7rmftT1SO4JRJhz6-cBVfe4zjp4lTCPCw05TvEQCYP1dSyG1zUKS3JFIkk8ixA/s640/IMG_7085.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">care of environment shelf (sewing sequence and wet works) after mapping</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Above you can see how I changed things. By mapping the shelves, I was able to see that I should have things combined more by area (care of environment, art, fine motor, etc.) than I did in the past. I bought the book <a href="http://www.montessoriworksblog.com/2015/03/16/sewing-in-the-montessori-classroom-is-here/" target="_blank">Sewing in the Montessori Classroom</a> by Aimee Fagen and am using her sequence this year on our shelf. I highly recommend this resource. The sewing sequence for the beginning of the year is on the top two shelves and the care of environment wet works (table scrubbing, shell washing, plant care and glasses polishing) are on the bottom shelf.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgir1WtV5YfhcKymdVofhvpzwqE6mV5yt_WziSZFt-6v1Ytj6cBYR7kqO9tAF2F4NHvmJ5SUbnZYM28OFoNPVKxTWF6mPWRlSc6n35SU9CdaSMGzhZc9Uztij90CR0_whxFLgEWChr6T00/s1600/Montessori+Materials+150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgir1WtV5YfhcKymdVofhvpzwqE6mV5yt_WziSZFt-6v1Ytj6cBYR7kqO9tAF2F4NHvmJ5SUbnZYM28OFoNPVKxTWF6mPWRlSc6n35SU9CdaSMGzhZc9Uztij90CR0_whxFLgEWChr6T00/s640/Montessori+Materials+150.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">fine motor shelf before mapping</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY38sfcLCiS-d25Dk3DA1UtGaZlxRbLYlcmikOFLnd7IvGOJJo_2mW_LPThplZvQNgQLmyKVElnHtV6Pee0kY4xj9Jp3aQW-hp8BGcQUPj7ytTtnVbvmJxKIwyaIAyPg7YrdhB0Zspz5I/s1600/IMG_7083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY38sfcLCiS-d25Dk3DA1UtGaZlxRbLYlcmikOFLnd7IvGOJJo_2mW_LPThplZvQNgQLmyKVElnHtV6Pee0kY4xj9Jp3aQW-hp8BGcQUPj7ytTtnVbvmJxKIwyaIAyPg7YrdhB0Zspz5I/s640/IMG_7083.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">fine motor shelf after mapping</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Above is my fine motor shelf before and after. I now have things arranged in this way:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">top shelf - whole hand</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">second shelf - three finger</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">third shelf - wrist, arm</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This arrangement will really help me as I am changing out the shelves each month. I now know exactly what should be where!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4bI-xnYpBjWdU6wQr5sbTDyM1Xq_2slcCU_ptP1xfVpuBudq3-tURRvbxs7RL4DxP8m0EJfhqdFDGmyvf85dTh0KFED2cmTfqrai42aR7pf1odx8GH8aH4H8K6DfQV7yJar81dPQVLi8/s1600/Montessori+Materials+142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4bI-xnYpBjWdU6wQr5sbTDyM1Xq_2slcCU_ptP1xfVpuBudq3-tURRvbxs7RL4DxP8m0EJfhqdFDGmyvf85dTh0KFED2cmTfqrai42aR7pf1odx8GH8aH4H8K6DfQV7yJar81dPQVLi8/s640/Montessori+Materials+142.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sound cabinet before</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCleBCvgwKjePwBSqhkqXoeDof-LRf_JMTRrmk3a748b71TeDBWpsEIxqx9q3_BU75HdpzqFxxHhclJvHxorw1PhDrzNIjCHMekkrCXHefpfYp9UrTALnYIwp05919NKdCnloOjyIw8k/s1600/IMG_7092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCleBCvgwKjePwBSqhkqXoeDof-LRf_JMTRrmk3a748b71TeDBWpsEIxqx9q3_BU75HdpzqFxxHhclJvHxorw1PhDrzNIjCHMekkrCXHefpfYp9UrTALnYIwp05919NKdCnloOjyIw8k/s640/IMG_7092.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sound cabinet after</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKZLzMLfJh1Wagk5zG4ins_vHa2HpnwRo3OxGLOdHCSeZN0N843PwtLS5b69x2fscmRDQnKfGSDN56Dx3EaD4V1zFDwjtq2ALaRQZhAcu0cU3MxR9ROQGdeZ-jNba_fYP3vLfjZF3nEt8/s1600/Montessori+Materials+141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKZLzMLfJh1Wagk5zG4ins_vHa2HpnwRo3OxGLOdHCSeZN0N843PwtLS5b69x2fscmRDQnKfGSDN56Dx3EaD4V1zFDwjtq2ALaRQZhAcu0cU3MxR9ROQGdeZ-jNba_fYP3vLfjZF3nEt8/s640/Montessori+Materials+141.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">language shelf before</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj52uzAt94nxGqgtTLQzPRvsIlKNQiIY-xQ8g7CPN6blmoXc1c-uw_fAJh5asHhjfZj7T1CRZqvGSKRC0gPF2uqHfDkS68KvSxUZDw3Qj3CUsS2TkEZlBdKRSqsCD3H2ZvewANfwPkdnA8/s1600/IMG_7091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj52uzAt94nxGqgtTLQzPRvsIlKNQiIY-xQ8g7CPN6blmoXc1c-uw_fAJh5asHhjfZj7T1CRZqvGSKRC0gPF2uqHfDkS68KvSxUZDw3Qj3CUsS2TkEZlBdKRSqsCD3H2ZvewANfwPkdnA8/s640/IMG_7091.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">oral language and writing shelf after</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJg4xG50YLXLk9vJCZjdVb4xCDwTdugk74iFPejGN7INPnDtjmoKvjM2pVKVfTF7i_XCB_vhE10rvQgcdGWQIEhoU_LRM4GczHfuC2f7rfTdJKHTkviN_ak6WZTY-c1cQOYT7oDH8es6Q/s1600/IMG_7093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJg4xG50YLXLk9vJCZjdVb4xCDwTdugk74iFPejGN7INPnDtjmoKvjM2pVKVfTF7i_XCB_vhE10rvQgcdGWQIEhoU_LRM4GczHfuC2f7rfTdJKHTkviN_ak6WZTY-c1cQOYT7oDH8es6Q/s640/IMG_7093.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">advanced language shelf after</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The above photos show my language shelves before and after. I had always felt I did not have enough oral language materials and this arrangement has really made me think we are better prepared for the upcoming year. I have a number of students with language delay or disorder as well as some who could use additional conversational skills and I think this new arrangement will really help us to provide more practice. Instead of adding to this VERY LONG post, I am going to add my shelf maps for download so you can see just how I have things set up now. Click to view: <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Wav7jDKkTCa2VzSU5heUJXWjg/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Language</a>, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Wav7jDKkTCVEkyelA4MGlJYkE/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Math</a>, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Wav7jDKkTCOUhmRGZ4Y3BYVUE/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Sensorial</a>.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Q1MV_PzRPnOkpDkgtTNSLbDt8cVNvehANl4VSpJpwS1_HnMp0JE4_az-q9gzg-pyCTRELgQv-VYNqfGWL3WhJgVm7Iw7iaG_CrXRDfzmfxuxMYsciWV0XckBj9SV_U59Kp41_lMzZpY/s1600/20150727_141407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Q1MV_PzRPnOkpDkgtTNSLbDt8cVNvehANl4VSpJpwS1_HnMp0JE4_az-q9gzg-pyCTRELgQv-VYNqfGWL3WhJgVm7Iw7iaG_CrXRDfzmfxuxMYsciWV0XckBj9SV_U59Kp41_lMzZpY/s640/20150727_141407.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Storage before bootcamp</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiAiAcQParIpSWqy6ueTUWWExOnKEG2b7PEhkz8x-Jx2YqQLcVoTmhUx5e45i2UwK7zSttot1vcCjuaN2WeqBHhKZ1jd94VmqVJYIUGLXNWguOPODzUmAlZwsVUE9ItJTjUVwYgWvrKcQ/s1600/IMG_7094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiAiAcQParIpSWqy6ueTUWWExOnKEG2b7PEhkz8x-Jx2YqQLcVoTmhUx5e45i2UwK7zSttot1vcCjuaN2WeqBHhKZ1jd94VmqVJYIUGLXNWguOPODzUmAlZwsVUE9ItJTjUVwYgWvrKcQ/s640/IMG_7094.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">storage after bootcamp</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh566qedSUbGXOXCiwkLxpvS3RUlc1EYNp9Xb30ffPaBoPMqqCtMgi-lIUOr6Ds93-4yVo8R2q4NLy5OsrAtDhJTvj-jOQkE4VtrdHxs4qJUj_NIttvtsIJ8x_eaPmv5r9Ktts1d0vWSTE/s1600/IMG_7095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh566qedSUbGXOXCiwkLxpvS3RUlc1EYNp9Xb30ffPaBoPMqqCtMgi-lIUOr6Ds93-4yVo8R2q4NLy5OsrAtDhJTvj-jOQkE4VtrdHxs4qJUj_NIttvtsIJ8x_eaPmv5r9Ktts1d0vWSTE/s640/IMG_7095.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">close up of storage</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Finally, one of the easiest but one of the most dramatic (visually anyway) changes you can see above. I use clear plastic containers for storage. You can see just how messy they looked before Seemi suggested putting craft paper on the sides of the containers. I also took down the extra materials that were in the classroom before I took over. I went through everything and decided that I could combine the materials that belonged to the school into one box instead of the large plastic tubs. I also combined my musical instruments and stored a few other things in other areas of the classroom. What a difference!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So, all in all, I have to say I am so glad that I participated in this bootcamp. It was well worth every penny and I would highly recommend it to both new and experienced teachers. Seemi allows us to continue to have access to all the videos and downloads so that if there were parts of the bootcamp I didn't have time or energy to complete, I can go back and work on them at another time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now I really can't wait for the school year to start!</span></div>
<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D9181778042482189171%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D798758799411893713%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dallposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dallposts%3BpostNum%3D0%3Bsrc%3Dlink&media=https%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-cN_uqt0v_4E%2FVdcsfgGss4I%2FAAAAAAAAE-o%2FU3Q7V00s-sY%2Fs640%2FIMG_7095.JPG&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=svRWkb_TdcDD&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 42px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 7531px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D9181778042482189171%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D798758799411893713%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dallposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dallposts%3BpostNum%3D0%3Bsrc%3Dlink&media=https%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-cN_uqt0v_4E%2FVdcsfgGss4I%2FAAAAAAAAE-o%2FU3Q7V00s-sY%2Fs640%2FIMG_7095.JPG&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=svRWkb_TdcDD&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 42px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 7531px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11220243410828889634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-32044885665315927642015-07-29T18:37:00.002-04:002015-07-29T18:37:57.532-04:00Montessori Bootcamp Day 3: Shelf Mapping<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I absolutely was not going to blog today. In fact, I was fairly certain I wasn't going to work on my day three bootcamp today, either. I spent most of my day working with my younger son on scraping, sanding and priming our shutters. It is not a fun job but it was nice to spend the day with my 17 year old. We talked about his thoughts about the future. He's spending his senior year at a full day Culinary program and hopes to work in (or own) a restaurant some day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our assignment for today was to create shelf maps for the main areas of our classroom (Practical Life, Sensorial, Math and Language). To summarize, we were to take our Montessori albums and organize the topics into grids and then take those grids and figure out how each material should fit on the shelf.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For instance, in Math I tend to break things down into 1-10, 11-20, decimal system, operations and other (fractions, money, measurement, etc.). So in a classroom you may decide to have one shelf with works that teach 1-10, one shelf for 11-20, one for the decimal system, etc. Of course, we are not all lucky enough to have shelves perfectly matched to our materials break down and often have to modify. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thus, the shelf map. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To be honest, for the most part I don't have too much trouble deciding how to arrange my shelves and how to order them. However, I have struggled with the arrangement of my Practical Life materials and so I thought I'd use today's assignment to work on that one area of the classroom since I was going to rearrange it before school starts anyway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I did not have my Practical Life album at home and so I went to <a href="https://www.montessorird.com/manuals/practical-life-manual-early-childhood" target="_blank">Montessori Research and Development </a>and looked at the table of contents for their album. Frankly, I think I like how it is ordered better than my own.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDMel9-yOSbXFzmNgPBogrdpV1srWlZ9RDoeduMZSMD1VI-G8NS9Zezty-AjVIZ5MYlZ1ZkGXfILXLK3t5S21y_rzVkY40CCJrvN0uneeagRyacI_1OYcgZiqB78J7JgQPwWYtjxRel_0/s1600/bootcamp+day+3a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDMel9-yOSbXFzmNgPBogrdpV1srWlZ9RDoeduMZSMD1VI-G8NS9Zezty-AjVIZ5MYlZ1ZkGXfILXLK3t5S21y_rzVkY40CCJrvN0uneeagRyacI_1OYcgZiqB78J7JgQPwWYtjxRel_0/s640/bootcamp+day+3a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's my sunroom workstation</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://trilliummontessori.org/trillium-blog/" target="_blank">Seemi</a> recommended we outline using a table method (which ends up looking like a shelf cabinet!). I had a hard time using that method and went back to my old favorite: the list.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWkT_rHn_hDCJcc2ChDxHfOvAw8hSA3dzojBjyAYmHUSbY5xwKu4Ulpp6Dc9QG7d9GpMQyrhgGkerzyPEfycwpBM4Tu7UkGLeJ597SG9KQTt2T8UCCEnqMGWo7Fs2fnLi8HfSTSFy4aUo/s1600/bootcamp+day+3b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWkT_rHn_hDCJcc2ChDxHfOvAw8hSA3dzojBjyAYmHUSbY5xwKu4Ulpp6Dc9QG7d9GpMQyrhgGkerzyPEfycwpBM4Tu7UkGLeJ597SG9KQTt2T8UCCEnqMGWo7Fs2fnLi8HfSTSFy4aUo/s640/bootcamp+day+3b.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The above photo shows my list. I broke down the areas as they were presented in the table of contents. For those of you not familiar with Practical Life in Montessori, this is not an all inclusive list. These are the materials that would be put on the shelf. There are lots of other Practical Life lessons that we practice like grace and courtesy, how to carry a tray, how to roll a rug, etc. So this list just includes things that I will be creating for the shelf throughout the year. </span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">control of movement</span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">whole hand</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 finger</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">wrist</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">arm movement</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">care of environment</span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">plant care</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">washing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">polishing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">dusting and sweeping</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">care of self</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">hand washing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">dressing frames </span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">food preparation</span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">snack</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">table setting</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">sewing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">art</span></li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ0y9KbhhaeDkD2kmGZNm8yQQz4HkTNWFoHisJ8Lm8YkIKvmnSMZi95qwtBZ2dXqEhM1A1L2fYBZyWR5pFR8O_oZ9jimc-nrFsFmu_cWZuE-tIANPGgQDskIae6Qhciwvul42AbY8K6dM/s1600/bootcamp+day+3c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ0y9KbhhaeDkD2kmGZNm8yQQz4HkTNWFoHisJ8Lm8YkIKvmnSMZi95qwtBZ2dXqEhM1A1L2fYBZyWR5pFR8O_oZ9jimc-nrFsFmu_cWZuE-tIANPGgQDskIae6Qhciwvul42AbY8K6dM/s640/bootcamp+day+3c.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Above you can see my "final" map. Each rectangle represents a shelf cabinet or area. Here they are in list format:</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Easel</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">sculpting table (play doh)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">art shelf (with plants on top)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">control of movement shelf</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">sewing and care of environment shelf</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">hand washing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">dish washing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">care of environment hanging - dusting, dust pan, broom</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">care of environment shelf 2 - spill tray, crumbers, floor cloths, window washing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">food prep (I forgot to add it on the map, oops!)</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm quite happy with the change. This will also really help when I'm changing out the classroom once per month.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Finally, a word about why I really wanted to change this area of the classroom. The exercises of Practical Life are to assist the child in four ways: order, concentration, coordination and independence. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Practical Life area of the classroom is a vital gateway to all the other areas of the classroom. Without concentration and coordination it is difficult for children to go on to the more advanced math and language activities like addition and handwriting. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have found that often Practical Life exercises are not used properly in the classroom. Some children hide away in this area when they are really ready for more advanced work. There are times when the materials are used in fantasy play in such a way that the materials have lost their original purpose. In other words, they are not assisting the children to integrate order or to help them concentrate. The children are not acting in a normalized way in this area of the classroom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I believe one of the reasons is that I had not had Practical Life set up in such a way as to best serve the children. With my new map in hand, I am hoping to see some changes this coming school year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I wonder if I have time to tackle my Language shelves now?</span></div>
Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11220243410828889634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-27647772968792730682015-07-28T15:01:00.004-04:002015-07-28T15:02:04.349-04:00Montessori Bootcamp Day 2 when I almost fell down the rabbit hole.<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today's assignment in the 21 Day Montessori Classroom Setup Bootcamp was to create an Assistant Manual. I have a tremendous co-teacher (the term we use in my school) and so she doesn't necessarily need this kind of manual. Of course I would be fooling myself to think that I will never have anyone else working with me! So I took on the challenge to create the manual.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But first, I almost fell down the Montessori rabbit hole.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In our email about today's adventure, <a href="http://trilliummontessori.org/trillium-blog/" target="_blank">Seemi</a> pointed us in the direction of a few Montessori blogs and websites that had information about assistants. I've scoured the web for years looking for materials and information about Montessori and thought I knew pretty much most of them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Not so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When I clicked on the link for <a href="http://beautifulsunmontessori.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Beautiful Sun Montessori</a> I had to take a deep breath. She has tons of FREE materials. Yup. Tons. Yup. Free. Of course I immediately began reading through her blog and planning on which materials I NEEDED to make for my classroom and how I just wanted to keep reading.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I gave myself a little kick.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I reminded myself that I was doing this little bootcamp for just this very reason....to give myself a little structure, especially when working on the parts of the classroom I find less interesting (making assistant binders, for example). So I took another deep breath, reminded myself that I had full days to work on each area of the classroom within the bootcamp and that I could use those days to make materials. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today was to complete the assistant manual and finish up yesterday's teacher binder.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtUzneHM4WOSsbFJt_CAmvZza7FEZhvUmdM3KllBpwXwyi3hnaJ2egsgvt2xVKrNXkjKDrNunP_m6g4DfYZmlgV4oP8oo5VTtkR4yUiXaUoKrjQDJa-uSDnqZAv8KEUEZWFdsi5gpP4s/s1600/20150728_085325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtUzneHM4WOSsbFJt_CAmvZza7FEZhvUmdM3KllBpwXwyi3hnaJ2egsgvt2xVKrNXkjKDrNunP_m6g4DfYZmlgV4oP8oo5VTtkR4yUiXaUoKrjQDJa-uSDnqZAv8KEUEZWFdsi5gpP4s/s640/20150728_085325.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yesterday I showed you my classroom and the areas I use to store my office type supplies. I referred to the fact that I also use my sewing room at home to make materials and to stay organized. After I narrowly escaped the rabbit hole, I took a look around my sewing room and realized I needed to do some organizing of my Montessori shelf. I had been just throwing papers on it for a while. I took a trip to Walmart and purchased my yearly planner, classroom calendar and a few other things (including more card stock for that rabbit hole project). I got all my binders and papers out so I could begin organizing. You can see what resulted in the photo above. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguaQWcyuDLny0jeZ9GQe5uO9WJRxT9V2aeLV5oo72JpdpgXRGvweinoIylobRx_XzxVypCwDPUBzryj8b_rSRDDzX3ezMYZnGRUs4MFDWEBpR4yiRvkPtWFmqCWLVCIPTZmbt5kBlyE3Q/s1600/20150728_113958.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguaQWcyuDLny0jeZ9GQe5uO9WJRxT9V2aeLV5oo72JpdpgXRGvweinoIylobRx_XzxVypCwDPUBzryj8b_rSRDDzX3ezMYZnGRUs4MFDWEBpR4yiRvkPtWFmqCWLVCIPTZmbt5kBlyE3Q/s640/20150728_113958.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It has been a really hot and humid day today. We do not have air conditioning in our house so after I got my papers organized and finished up my teacher binder, I printed out the necessary papers that I wanted to check out and took everything for my assistant binder to our cooler sunroom. I spent quite a while down there this afternoon working on the assistant binder. I see you can also follow my eating for the day in these photos!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuQTEX-IxUXvWLK4lcEb8fHmTcszq6wX4jUj1nlShV5yrLaO6-7TL2DAruHnmGtIeWvhHaZua-bU0WTcHmaGZXrYcqnH1cKmQTC-QG9H954TwJDqJ5-0Fw98wl_FWy3KpLnhJ9DB2NIKc/s1600/20150728_141809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuQTEX-IxUXvWLK4lcEb8fHmTcszq6wX4jUj1nlShV5yrLaO6-7TL2DAruHnmGtIeWvhHaZua-bU0WTcHmaGZXrYcqnH1cKmQTC-QG9H954TwJDqJ5-0Fw98wl_FWy3KpLnhJ9DB2NIKc/s640/20150728_141809.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Above, is the final photo. My binders are quite plain because I tend to reuse things I already have. The blue is for my co-teacher and the white is mine. I tweaked things a little from the way Seemi has the bootcamp organized but I'm sure everyone has it that way. The biggest changes are with the teacher binder. I added a tab for assistant training and put some of the training papers and a few articles there for my future reference. I also added a tab for behavioral observations. I want a place to write in specific observations and instances of behavior that we are following in certain children so that when I am talking with parents I have very specific information to follow up my concerns.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the assistant manual I also wrote up our snack preparation procedure on its own sheet because I find that most adults give way too much help to the children who are preparing snack. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All in all it has been a hot and sweaty day but I am feeling very good about all that I accomplished. Thanks for being a great commander, Seemi!</span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11220243410828889634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-5862608687770954522015-07-27T17:22:00.001-04:002015-07-27T17:22:09.471-04:00Montessori Bootcamp: Teacher Workstation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Happy Monday, everyone. I have to admit that sometimes over the summer I forget which day of the week it is. But, Monday it is and today I woke up feeling some excitement. Why, you ask? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last week I was invited to participate in a Montessori Classroom Set Up Boot Camp by Seemi from <a href="http://trilliummontessori.org/" target="_blank">Trillium Montessori</a>. Seemi is a wonderful presence on the web for the Montessori community. She runs a school in North Carolina and has some amazing materials, many of which she gives away for free. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had the pleasure of meeting Seemi at this year's American Montessori Conference in Philadelphia. It is always a joy to meet people you know from the web in person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anyway, last week I used the money I made from my <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/simplysewn" target="_blank">Montessori Visual Schedules</a> to sign up for Seemi's boot camp. She was offering it at a steep discount and I thought I would use it to get myself really prepared for the upcoming school year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So this morning I woke up with excitement because today I received my first email with my homework! Today's lesson was to set up the Teacher Workstation. I have to admit that this one was pretty easy for me as I cleaned and organized my classroom at the end of last year. It has still been interesting to see what Seemi deems necessary and how I will tweak it myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have to admit that I split my work station between my sewing room at home and my classroom at school. I don't have photos of my home environment but took some when I went to school today to clear out the weeds from our classroom garden. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Obviously I won't recreate everything Seemi told us in her email (you have to sign up for yourself for that!), but I'll give you a synopsis. First she mentioned all the office supplies you need for the year. Things like a three hole punch and different kinds of glue and brass brads and a first aid kit, etc. She also talked about different ways to store the items. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiddZv0QZJJLOzy3gyAyHu2H3o0prUHGbILPJT5aCif0FFDdNxvonwz5Zt3lg9T7vao1w59p2Sv1QnRm1JTg4daw0lYGx_F7Iq5GACz071PE2KoXATd34jVZgppefYv1sk8pxfklkyh5LE/s1600/20150727_141407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiddZv0QZJJLOzy3gyAyHu2H3o0prUHGbILPJT5aCif0FFDdNxvonwz5Zt3lg9T7vao1w59p2Sv1QnRm1JTg4daw0lYGx_F7Iq5GACz071PE2KoXATd34jVZgppefYv1sk8pxfklkyh5LE/s640/20150727_141407.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The above photo shows my classroom storage cabinets. You can see that I keep clear bins on the top of the cabinets. These include one bin for trays, one bin for baskets and five bins for Practical Life. I break up the P.L. bins into autumn (Sept. Oct. Nov.), December/January, February/March, April/May. There are two bins of items that belong to the school. I don't get into these much as I have so much of my own items! I also keep my musical instruments and the botany cabinet up on top when it is not in use. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The cabinet doors are organized from left to right as art, science/geography (2 doors), language, practical life and sensorial, math, and office type supplies. We also have a teacher closet at our school in which I always purge a few things and from which I take a few things each year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The children each have a hook and spot under the cabinets for their tote bags, coats, shoes and slippers. It is quite full when school is in session! To the right of the cabinets is my 'teacher shelf.'</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ZtZ4XDe3Csm_cHc4h_Vs9jACSfS_t0rzIGmLT39BSsuGJTQ9u6AHaoVbSCyyritcQ1j4ST0aCjlsGjmhwuv5seD_GpYzSwyxZ0zg7B8bi8Q7ofIr_UA7hC3qZ-ilQPcQJf33ssKxSDI/s1600/20150727_141353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ZtZ4XDe3Csm_cHc4h_Vs9jACSfS_t0rzIGmLT39BSsuGJTQ9u6AHaoVbSCyyritcQ1j4ST0aCjlsGjmhwuv5seD_GpYzSwyxZ0zg7B8bi8Q7ofIr_UA7hC3qZ-ilQPcQJf33ssKxSDI/s640/20150727_141353.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's a close up of the shelf. It does not look like this during the school year. I do my best to keep this shelf looking tidy but I have to admit it gets messy very quickly. Right now I have some items I bought at a garage sale and also some spanish language and sewing materials stored on the shelf. These will be stored in the cabinet when school is in session. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">During school, I like to keep my lesson plans on the top shelf along with any notes that are pertinent for the current week (i.e.: children going home early or with someone new, etc.). The second shelf includes the sand tray (I don't keep it on the shelf anymore but get it out when using it for lessons) and on the paper trays I keep our purple folders (we send info. home once a week in the folders to each child), paper for map making (we pin punch our maps) and folders that include consumables that are currently on the shelf, field trip folder, folders with paperwork for my readers and anything else that is used often.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The fourth shelf holds large and small clip boards for the children and the lowest shelf holds my albums. I'm tweaking the use of the rest of the shelving space this year. I want to give my assistant teacher a shelf. She is in charge of the children at lunch and often wants to have books and music stored somewhere. I do usually keep library books that I plan to read and also materials for group lessons somewhere on the shelf. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Like I said, it gets cluttered quickly!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho0Hf64PvoVKU8Dz5C8B5BZAd1j3TNej3hPbO-gbe_ZI2usMrTBbYzV7KxmlcZMy8mkJryVWVK48CrKLTDsJbcWB_bllB94e-EFM2QLCDVJwzBmjHviElQf947B5fRReLdh5fQ0ApVo3k/s1600/20150727_141444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho0Hf64PvoVKU8Dz5C8B5BZAd1j3TNej3hPbO-gbe_ZI2usMrTBbYzV7KxmlcZMy8mkJryVWVK48CrKLTDsJbcWB_bllB94e-EFM2QLCDVJwzBmjHviElQf947B5fRReLdh5fQ0ApVo3k/s640/20150727_141444.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Finally, here is the inside of my first cabinet. It looks very messy but is actually organized. I keep most office supplies here. Because we are a larger school, we have a small room for school office supplies and larger equipment (photo copier, large stapler, 3 hole punch, book binder, etc.). We also have a very large paper cutter and loads of paper in their own room as well as an art closet. So I do my best not to keep too much in my room that I can get elsewhere. Of course, as I'm the last room in the school I get my exercise going to the front of the school for everything!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At home I have a laminator, three hole punch, paper cutter and large table for material making. I don't make too much at school as there is really not much space (or time!). I use Microsoft Publisher to make most of my card materials. I hope to make a few more before the summer is out!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There was a lot more to Day One of the boot camp including making binders for record keeping etc. but I'm not going to get into that here. I did bring home my record keeping binder from school. I have a three page record that I keep on every child over the three years that they are with me as well as all of their parent conference papers. For the children that have therapists, I keep a separate folder for those notes and file them in the child's personal file each year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tomorrow's lesson is on the assistant handbook. I have a WONDERFUL assistant but I am looking forward to seeing how I can put together a better handbook. I hope to blog about this experience but know that it won't happen every day as I'll be too busy doing all the homework!!!</span><br />
<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D9181778042482189171%23editor&media=https%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-e9mu30LWUww%2FVbaVbQ-UYwI%2FAAAAAAAAE6M%2FV5KnwEi1DV0%2Fs640%2F20150727_141444.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=svRWkb_TdcDD&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 113px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 2484px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D9181778042482189171%23editor&media=https%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-e9mu30LWUww%2FVbaVbQ-UYwI%2FAAAAAAAAE6M%2FV5KnwEi1DV0%2Fs640%2F20150727_141444.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=svRWkb_TdcDD&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 113px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 2484px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D9181778042482189171%23editor&media=https%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-e9mu30LWUww%2FVbaVbQ-UYwI%2FAAAAAAAAE6M%2FV5KnwEi1DV0%2Fs640%2F20150727_141444.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=svRWkb_TdcDD&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 113px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 2484px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D9181778042482189171%23editor&media=https%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-e9mu30LWUww%2FVbaVbQ-UYwI%2FAAAAAAAAE6M%2FV5KnwEi1DV0%2Fs640%2F20150727_141444.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=svRWkb_TdcDD&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 113px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 2484px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11220243410828889634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-31782073042222613872015-07-13T15:33:00.000-04:002015-07-13T15:33:00.513-04:00Las Frutas Freebie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hola! I'm excited to bring you the next set of my Spanish language cards for the Montessori classroom or homeschool. This one is actually a two for one deal.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-Gd0ajR9Vu9RjsVgbf9a1jdSXSOyZ8cW0XKuSZ6P7iAREca0ksnS7HfQ0iNtdzGuH0AI2kpOuDLbSBgOnKwc4ZuSAIyXEu560X9htNv7g5wKcyn_3gjDfu2py-YD3omf_7LQDbKQEjU/s1600/bathroom+and+visuals+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-Gd0ajR9Vu9RjsVgbf9a1jdSXSOyZ8cW0XKuSZ6P7iAREca0ksnS7HfQ0iNtdzGuH0AI2kpOuDLbSBgOnKwc4ZuSAIyXEu560X9htNv7g5wKcyn_3gjDfu2py-YD3omf_7LQDbKQEjU/s640/bathroom+and+visuals+010.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I completed a set of cards pertaining to fruit. For this work I purchased some fake fruit at our local Dollar Store. They did not have a banana so I had to go to Michael's for that one. Of course you can always use real fruit if you are working at home with your child. It's a little harder to use real fruit for a work that is going on the shelf in my classroom. We will use our new vocabulary during snack and lunch, however!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju5E6IXSue8R1lXIxz7FhOJWEpul4WjFvm8fIqxcFt_TmOfKLc2hqV7YBr_9sYRst1Ny9JyJu91KiZIJpjY2ChOzCE_q7TWDw4m8-oIGFgdmF6X_HVT1WEZOy6wzh5ybUBNekrUM64h8o/s1600/bathroom+and+visuals+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju5E6IXSue8R1lXIxz7FhOJWEpul4WjFvm8fIqxcFt_TmOfKLc2hqV7YBr_9sYRst1Ny9JyJu91KiZIJpjY2ChOzCE_q7TWDw4m8-oIGFgdmF6X_HVT1WEZOy6wzh5ybUBNekrUM64h8o/s640/bathroom+and+visuals+011.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I used a large and small basket to set up this work which will look lovely on the shelf once I get it to school in the autumn. As with most cards you can also use this as a card matching or three part card work by printing the cards twice.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg34RpFwpguOK61J2eGdzZ3J7PTANISRo67gPWBj4RDXzcyyxOZuwfV7FjjcIrjkQxykoUr4aQQ0Z9UdwWx3EBQF-nQdwa79NFiHwHSyCEYNqyq-gs578A7Zr-msJQgWOCiMNso4W0l5pw/s1600/bathroom+and+visuals+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg34RpFwpguOK61J2eGdzZ3J7PTANISRo67gPWBj4RDXzcyyxOZuwfV7FjjcIrjkQxykoUr4aQQ0Z9UdwWx3EBQF-nQdwa79NFiHwHSyCEYNqyq-gs578A7Zr-msJQgWOCiMNso4W0l5pw/s640/bathroom+and+visuals+015.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've included two sentence cards with this work. There is a card that asks, "What are you eating?" and an answer card that states, "I am eating.." with room for the object or photo.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi96Q4kL6iLFWPDmgKt-Cvl3Hrrgy7EwzwxsHlrXY5t2VVN1x5cTp2DAAXDz1OVwbPST29msK60KugdsQhubTi34RV6bieY8zEeHdU4Ytmf2XVrFkhJ48WrVJ2Hmb2ZuGAP3zNmMzb55nw/s1600/bathroom+and+visuals+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi96Q4kL6iLFWPDmgKt-Cvl3Hrrgy7EwzwxsHlrXY5t2VVN1x5cTp2DAAXDz1OVwbPST29msK60KugdsQhubTi34RV6bieY8zEeHdU4Ytmf2XVrFkhJ48WrVJ2Hmb2ZuGAP3zNmMzb55nw/s640/bathroom+and+visuals+016.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In this way you can take turns asking each other about the food and practicing vocabulary at the same time. Of course I can see two students having a ball with this work! The download has a full page of instructions, too.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeYJr0elq6ZrZfFnq4py4_Hpy4L9Hhs4NLnNzpavVyx1Isyp1KYlgnTLAKIvp4hMpURKPkqI0fft-tFudsK9nt40XpCW3w3ZyqBrIVTJtnFy6VkqLic0csi03IC0AYE8SCzhdXw3VqDdA/s1600/bathroom+and+visuals+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeYJr0elq6ZrZfFnq4py4_Hpy4L9Hhs4NLnNzpavVyx1Isyp1KYlgnTLAKIvp4hMpURKPkqI0fft-tFudsK9nt40XpCW3w3ZyqBrIVTJtnFy6VkqLic0csi03IC0AYE8SCzhdXw3VqDdA/s640/bathroom+and+visuals+014.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have some great ideas for some more phrase and sentence work so keep visiting throughout the summer. I have also put a page tab at the top of the blog so that it is easy to see what Montessori Materials are available.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oh, yeah....I guess you want the link to the download. Here it is:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Wav7jDKkTCZG16TFMtNXZ2elk/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Las Frutas Montessori Spanish cards</a></span></div>
Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11220243410828889634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-5329863750304032592015-07-06T14:45:00.000-04:002015-07-06T14:45:36.065-04:00Visual Schedule Cards for the Montessori Classroom<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's hot and humid here in PA! We've had quite a bit of temperate weather this summer and I was getting quite used to it. It's back to normal summer weather today. I hope you are all enjoying your summer, no matter where your place in the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I wanted to share what I've been working on. I <a href="http://simplysewn.blogspot.com/2015/06/montessori-material-free-visual-cards.html" target="_blank">posted about visual schedules</a> a few weeks ago and how they can be used in the classroom. There's a free sample in that post so if you haven't already seen it, head on over!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That free download has just a few choices from each area of the classroom. I wanted to make a more complete set of cards for myself to be prepared when I have those kiddos with learning differences who need this kind of assistance. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you are interested in the full set, please go to <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/simplysewn?ref=hdr_shop_menu" target="_blank">my etsy shop</a>! I have tried to price the cards very reasonably while still making a little money after the seller fees. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today I thought I'd share how I'm storing my cards.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqN94DmgqM4WJprJNYZ9FRzkpyD4zI-jv0TYdYIw4NW1heRWCYvAwGA55C0RcpEy0uhQlxhOHzOe_4hq2qn03LZ18CcYaCCzhks2fPr4Wgry_cFv8fouxrQQuYWL4EMmOdahTsk_Vr1tg/s1600/bathroom+and+visuals+017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqN94DmgqM4WJprJNYZ9FRzkpyD4zI-jv0TYdYIw4NW1heRWCYvAwGA55C0RcpEy0uhQlxhOHzOe_4hq2qn03LZ18CcYaCCzhks2fPr4Wgry_cFv8fouxrQQuYWL4EMmOdahTsk_Vr1tg/s640/bathroom+and+visuals+017.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I took one of my son's old binders, laminated some file folders and got out the sticky velcro!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiooVGeT9UuWx5E9YYg6ZNpPDpq8f5-rYv2-6B-FAD5qrQ5pP5BY_tOWYogMEJ6UjsebpugQA4B_x8UzaXNlksVUuGyCyO_MiMAlzRCEsx5CpiX01I4WHQyU9SbRnKOm9AVHEo5GmgAdsg/s1600/bathroom+and+visuals+019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiooVGeT9UuWx5E9YYg6ZNpPDpq8f5-rYv2-6B-FAD5qrQ5pP5BY_tOWYogMEJ6UjsebpugQA4B_x8UzaXNlksVUuGyCyO_MiMAlzRCEsx5CpiX01I4WHQyU9SbRnKOm9AVHEo5GmgAdsg/s640/bathroom+and+visuals+019.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I laminated one folder for each area of the classroom, punched three holes down the left side of the folder and added sticky velcro to the inside and front cover of the folder. Not every folder needed velcro on the front.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIdDqxO-JNO55gyVRjTpCrBIt0MASVRMNWz7zEcI6VL3SfCppyjVT73_jOvIYOiKGVGK_8xMnnyUjCH0V5m_oVIsWPkwsJ_hUTNCEVITv3DZgvaBbD3Go92TSfV8NVKL-pW50iOH7-mxU/s1600/bathroom+and+visuals+020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIdDqxO-JNO55gyVRjTpCrBIt0MASVRMNWz7zEcI6VL3SfCppyjVT73_jOvIYOiKGVGK_8xMnnyUjCH0V5m_oVIsWPkwsJ_hUTNCEVITv3DZgvaBbD3Go92TSfV8NVKL-pW50iOH7-mxU/s640/bathroom+and+visuals+020.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You can fit thirty cards on the inside of each folder. Be sure you stay far enough away from the holes so you can still put the folder in a binder easily. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT3RWeg565gRw2cRVKzXIsZbDwjQVouFaPV2wa5r21JO2WOsC7ledIeMkRtTlVeU2vt4B4pZMulUM_WvIp5lq-Fx6VtIDERgWiPns32L6akdPu0jiFwlTP_Le4Ffh5pQfDGPQAC91WJsc/s1600/bathroom+and+visuals+021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT3RWeg565gRw2cRVKzXIsZbDwjQVouFaPV2wa5r21JO2WOsC7ledIeMkRtTlVeU2vt4B4pZMulUM_WvIp5lq-Fx6VtIDERgWiPns32L6akdPu0jiFwlTP_Le4Ffh5pQfDGPQAC91WJsc/s640/bathroom+and+visuals+021.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You can see I didn't use too much velcro. I attached the velcro to the back of the photo and then attached the whole thing to the folder to make sure I had enough room to fit the photos.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was able to store my first/then cards in the back of the binder and the student work folder in the font. So everything is nice and compact....a necessity in most classrooms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I hope you will find these little cards useful. One of my customers mentioned that she plans on putting some cards in a basket for those children who don't need a schedule but are having trouble finding something to do. They can pick out a card and get to work! I thought that was a great idea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's the link to my etsy shop:<a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/simplysewn?ref=hdr_shop_menu" target="_blank"> simplysewn</a>. There is also a link on the sidebar of the blog. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful rest of your day!</span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11220243410828889634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-75857904180411439612015-06-24T17:08:00.003-04:002015-06-24T17:08:32.145-04:00Los Animales<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvtkEAAeDACoszQHTLH2vPUhxVoVq8hr6GlXNgzKxGOsr66RpaU2BwN49lLIYWvId4iOTPeGZ7nOFzBFTSz3p6RFWVMRPAf8Z7in2G2J9ffIcSxxAvRfe-aIKWGStGKW0cxD0-rD1yD4/s1600/montessori+animals+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvtkEAAeDACoszQHTLH2vPUhxVoVq8hr6GlXNgzKxGOsr66RpaU2BwN49lLIYWvId4iOTPeGZ7nOFzBFTSz3p6RFWVMRPAf8Z7in2G2J9ffIcSxxAvRfe-aIKWGStGKW0cxD0-rD1yD4/s640/montessori+animals+001.JPG" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wow, that's quite a jumble of animals! Most 3-6 Montessori teachers have a bag, a box, a drawer or some kind of container full of small objects. We use them in the classroom quite a bit. Many of these came from a friend from church who was cleaning out her basement. I've had them stashed away for several years and I go through them when I am making materials for the classroom.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN_PHk5qAPT9KieQz8JzSameGPqMsRe-VJr5aE9bUs2FOxk4ws2SdNQx7jkk3X11dxjm1z7R1tbohMmmx7onl-MyZ-c0-n7Zne4vgc6nJBnaFnX_Ocp_OamE6HgQ7VxjzQkgpSTdLeiEs/s1600/montessori+animals+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN_PHk5qAPT9KieQz8JzSameGPqMsRe-VJr5aE9bUs2FOxk4ws2SdNQx7jkk3X11dxjm1z7R1tbohMmmx7onl-MyZ-c0-n7Zne4vgc6nJBnaFnX_Ocp_OamE6HgQ7VxjzQkgpSTdLeiEs/s640/montessori+animals+002.JPG" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've been wanting to add some animals to my Spanish language materials and thought I'd make a card/object matching work. I wanted it to be shareable so I have been working on finding photos or clip art on the web that were free to share. I wasn't happy with what I was finding and then in how the cards ended up looking. So I thought I'd see how it would look to photograph my animal miniatures and use them. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgIKB_NeeUoYxS_APUfU-MTzRSnVuqpPXngkw0r6uN3To6YvDWt9qKntzPw5VDzhYAf54PgmEYXGrCfrfkCMtX1SMzGQpbr0FY651D-SRwxWt-A_9_SSEgZ8tkbonGZc3lU8b6RteApGM/s1600/animal+photos+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgIKB_NeeUoYxS_APUfU-MTzRSnVuqpPXngkw0r6uN3To6YvDWt9qKntzPw5VDzhYAf54PgmEYXGrCfrfkCMtX1SMzGQpbr0FY651D-SRwxWt-A_9_SSEgZ8tkbonGZc3lU8b6RteApGM/s640/animal+photos+004.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">wild animals</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have to say I'm quite pleased with how everything worked out and since I own the rights to the photos, I can share them with you! You can click on the link at the end of the post to get to the cards. There are 23 cards for you to use. You can print the cards twice if you want to use them as matching cards or just once and find some little animals to match with them. My kiddos <b style="font-style: italic;">love</b> using little objects so I think this will be a hit in the classroom. I plan to break up the work into farm animals, wild animals and home (cat, dog, boy and girl). </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGCrhD6knqpAPtcNuuJAZ9jez2698WJADkpts8kdQb3i9fZhH0uV7NvrQZPUo3thbXTnaQMLXF5JnnQOfU97IBJquaX6yyU9nJbRAF7XQs8szEex3eIOSJGcippEJ4M-zN6cBchpZtAt8/s1600/animal+photos+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGCrhD6knqpAPtcNuuJAZ9jez2698WJADkpts8kdQb3i9fZhH0uV7NvrQZPUo3thbXTnaQMLXF5JnnQOfU97IBJquaX6yyU9nJbRAF7XQs8szEex3eIOSJGcippEJ4M-zN6cBchpZtAt8/s640/animal+photos+003.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">home</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I hope you enjoy this work and come back to see what else I'm making! I think next up may be food. I'm also hoping to add in some materials to work on phrases and sentences so stop by often!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9DtU6O8NNclUD8NoZjER37Eyy5gogm-grHlX-fNnKC6QM-0OFL9kQTJRBnVas4bv-ceUbqWrCLX782yFBuwz6HBlSmuSEVsZSnF8eLRkXf0T9xnK6Xy5QDyjLO443OBFFDTMkcbXg7Y/s1600/animal+photos+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9DtU6O8NNclUD8NoZjER37Eyy5gogm-grHlX-fNnKC6QM-0OFL9kQTJRBnVas4bv-ceUbqWrCLX782yFBuwz6HBlSmuSEVsZSnF8eLRkXf0T9xnK6Xy5QDyjLO443OBFFDTMkcbXg7Y/s640/animal+photos+005.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">farm animals</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's the link: <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Wav7jDKkTCalRnSGdzb3FzRWs/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Los Animales Spanish Language Download</a></span></div>
Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11220243410828889634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-60299671807690112812015-06-21T14:24:00.002-04:002015-06-21T14:24:55.066-04:00First/Then Freebie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It is a glorious Father's Day here in Central Pennsylvania. I went for a morning bike ride through the farmland of our fair county. It was quite windy which I figure made the 12 miles I rode count for more like 15. It works that way, right?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Well, maybe not. I'm in the middle of making homemade ice cream sandwiches and really wanted that ride to counter balance the calories I'm planning on eating tonight during our yummy Father's Day dinner. We're having steak, potatoes and sugar snap peas right out of the garden. Can't get much yummier than that. Well, until dessert!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anyway...I made this little download the other day and wanted to share it with you! If you are using visual prompts for your child/student, it can help to start with something very simple like a first/then card. In the photo below you can see that the child will first do some bead stringing and then can put together a puzzle.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0Hq7bsQt7ZNWd1Mln0Abb3BzRXDZXKNJ5mWFsI0KU0fndgQgs_dUuRCsFJjIab4A5se6q7ffAAMChK24bng3W2f2kJrOfy3c-ca3wo_UryDiEFg-U-YIQUP7XhToq693VoIO_WbHTTk/s1600/IMG_6872.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0Hq7bsQt7ZNWd1Mln0Abb3BzRXDZXKNJ5mWFsI0KU0fndgQgs_dUuRCsFJjIab4A5se6q7ffAAMChK24bng3W2f2kJrOfy3c-ca3wo_UryDiEFg-U-YIQUP7XhToq693VoIO_WbHTTk/s640/IMG_6872.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You can also use a first/next/then card like the one below if the child is able to handle it. First work on a knobbed cylinder, then a metal inset and then you can choose a work. Remember that children with disabilities, especially those on the autism spectrum, often have a special interest. A special interest is something that they love to do and talk about. They will often work better if they know that after the work period they will be able to have time with their special interest. My son would have work periods that culminated in playing computer games for a limited period of time. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvrkYBuCaA245cfsewRTV_FKbD7FVtKem5_bUBc2_7DsI_WrADVL9st2GkCOESndDNLhVXChsPVdmQ4zS9P-p6Yrjkxy8diwXlGhOhByugabgOBc91gefVB9MYcIIwne4vnboCIxPpgwE/s1600/IMG_6874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvrkYBuCaA245cfsewRTV_FKbD7FVtKem5_bUBc2_7DsI_WrADVL9st2GkCOESndDNLhVXChsPVdmQ4zS9P-p6Yrjkxy8diwXlGhOhByugabgOBc91gefVB9MYcIIwne4vnboCIxPpgwE/s640/IMG_6874.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here's the one page freebie I made for you. I work in a school so I print on card stock and laminate everything for durability. If you are just at home, you could cut out the chart you want to use, tape it to a full sheet of paper and put it in a page protector. You can then just use tape to attach the cards to the page protector. As with everything....do what works for you! The link to the document is at the bottom of the blog post as normal.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkEo797l-re2bxb1RJTKz8DkTvbQD2-NSd1ii_w_OUii_n_37Vnyz6l9eRcBwyv1_Ma6VZ884v9R3N9PPQage_rT6XxUVjT_rFkDt2XzBidfCjr3R4QbWLIh3cuGkFO8uvfIhyphenhyphenYLaOk9M/s1600/IMG_6871.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkEo797l-re2bxb1RJTKz8DkTvbQD2-NSd1ii_w_OUii_n_37Vnyz6l9eRcBwyv1_Ma6VZ884v9R3N9PPQage_rT6XxUVjT_rFkDt2XzBidfCjr3R4QbWLIh3cuGkFO8uvfIhyphenhyphenYLaOk9M/s640/IMG_6871.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here it is! <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Wav7jDKkTCY2NzTmpTUGxLRXM/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">First/Then download freebie.</a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you are looking for the free visual cards link, go to <a href="http://simplysewn.blogspot.com/2015/06/montessori-material-free-visual-cards.html" target="_blank">this page</a>. Please let me know if this or any other download I make available is helpful to you or if you wish I would change it or make something else! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Most of all, have a wonderful Father's Day. Do something great for a Dad in your life.</span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11220243410828889634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-33238421989645723752015-06-18T13:52:00.000-04:002015-06-18T13:53:27.652-04:001-10 Spanish<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This morning I woke up to the gentle sounds of rain and birds with a cool breeze wafting through my window. It was a nice way to wake after the past few hot days we've had here in PA. I hope you are enjoying your summer, wherever you roost!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I've been working on another set of Spanish language cards for my upcoming school year and thought I'd share them with you! These cards relate to the numbers 1-10. There are four sets of cards included in the file. Two sets that include stars to count for each number. They are identical except one has the Spanish word and one the English. The other two sets have the numerals and words, one in English and one in Spanish. I also created two title cards, one in English and one in Spanish.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZ5wdZgcoQ-0oeum4tzipVTZ862P00l72WN_LYRuU5vJKLqkeOB-oZMwMwUxv1SOZ2kMsBzpDEWmBeXLaOptEud9jT9wF9E3l0Rrsc6f0WO9xlEiX6n1LQ9oH5DiEWdGCqxxZ1695Oc0/s1600/IMG_6861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZ5wdZgcoQ-0oeum4tzipVTZ862P00l72WN_LYRuU5vJKLqkeOB-oZMwMwUxv1SOZ2kMsBzpDEWmBeXLaOptEud9jT9wF9E3l0Rrsc6f0WO9xlEiX6n1LQ9oH5DiEWdGCqxxZ1695Oc0/s640/IMG_6861.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">These cards can be used in many different ways. Please excuse my scratched up sewing table! At school I would have the children do this work on a floor rug but you get the idea from these photos, right?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One way to use the cards is to count the stars (in English and Spanish) and match them up.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsQzPC0dCdxSw6PIUfHzgGwbLkdORuvPkWUf5CQDGW6KA_KzHFOmI6-IRSqLTsgdm-Zrm1bblCLaZeV8Cj2QxzTzwSJE6FvmCQ9o9zlnWmi0Xx23OUSLKIOQ3ar5mCd6UgfVasDadVd2w/s1600/IMG_6862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsQzPC0dCdxSw6PIUfHzgGwbLkdORuvPkWUf5CQDGW6KA_KzHFOmI6-IRSqLTsgdm-Zrm1bblCLaZeV8Cj2QxzTzwSJE6FvmCQ9o9zlnWmi0Xx23OUSLKIOQ3ar5mCd6UgfVasDadVd2w/s640/IMG_6862.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Another way is to match the numeral with the star cards.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2HmKYESo9mGlJz4gi56Z70hyJACR8HtOB8ONkscZwr0qM_b0DVbVDQNOEj_X_uhVyIEVy08rVM4_0hTebGWYYbWsx3a1dPFsYyp2uwLY_QmqN61i4JbBQ-7NpM30dxq6W7wkXfDau1Tw/s1600/IMG_6863.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2HmKYESo9mGlJz4gi56Z70hyJACR8HtOB8ONkscZwr0qM_b0DVbVDQNOEj_X_uhVyIEVy08rVM4_0hTebGWYYbWsx3a1dPFsYyp2uwLY_QmqN61i4JbBQ-7NpM30dxq6W7wkXfDau1Tw/s640/IMG_6863.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You can also use the cards with objects. Below I chose the numeral Spanish cards and counted buttons (a cards and counters type activity). You could also use the star cards and have the child place the manipulative directly over the stars to be a little more self correcting. Of course the main point of the cards is Spanish language, not math but like I said, these cards are versatile!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitBAdiUHq3cuxUqnVn1J-zdte7eGvlN5x5UqUzQ6i_2POXLEp24bO4upqqHldKAB6z4VOdBlYoD4TWtUR3w-mLRo9RUE1ngfiCvFZWQxV5rsJVzkhOivkDS5y-hDZXR6a0a3OhmVtHnQ/s1600/IMG_6864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitBAdiUHq3cuxUqnVn1J-zdte7eGvlN5x5UqUzQ6i_2POXLEp24bO4upqqHldKAB6z4VOdBlYoD4TWtUR3w-mLRo9RUE1ngfiCvFZWQxV5rsJVzkhOivkDS5y-hDZXR6a0a3OhmVtHnQ/s640/IMG_6864.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you don't want the words attached to the cards, simply cut them off! If you want to make three part cards, just print them twice. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Once the child has a good understanding of the Spanish number words (can rote count), you can play 'pick a card'. In this game take one stack of cards (numerals or stars), mix them up and hold them upside down for the child to pick one. The child then looks at the numeral or counts the stars in Spanish. My school children love this game!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As I've been looking through the web for ideas and freebies I ran across Mudpies and Make-Up. She has a great blog post with free downloads of Spanish printables that can be used at circle time. I'm planning to incorporate these into my classroom as we study Puerto Rico next year. Click <a href="http://mudpiesandmakeup.blogspot.com/2012/08/spanish-circle-time-printables-free.html" target="_blank">here</a> to go to her post and get yourself some awesome materials. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Click on the link below to print out my Spanish 1-10 cards. Let me know how you like them or if you have any questions.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Wav7jDKkTCV2p2QWpXR2JRN2s/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Spanish 1-10 cards download</a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11220243410828889634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-23286940629504539502015-06-15T10:14:00.002-04:002015-06-15T10:14:36.137-04:00Montessori Material Free Visual Cards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Hello! It's summer and I've checked off most of the items on my initial summer 'to do' list. That list included things like my eldest son's graduation and awards ceremonies and graduation celebration. Things like cleaning the house and organizing my sewing/work room, finishing a quilt for my nephew who just got married this past weekend. I also read a few fun books to help recharge my aching brain. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I find if I take a few weeks to work on the necessary jobs that have been put off during the school year combined with some much needed down time I am ready to get back to working on things for the upcoming school year. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was fortunate enough to attend the American Montessori Conference in Philadelphia in the spring. I completed the MACAR training (Montessori Applied to Children at Risk). This training was given by the <a href="http://www.shelton.org/" target="_blank">Shelton School</a> and focused on helping children at risk for learning difficulties. It was an amazing training. If you ever get the chance to see Joyce Pickering speak, do so.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It was during that training that they talked about visual schedules and their use in the classroom. I was very aware of visual schedules because we used them with our eldest son when he was young. For children on the autism spectrum, visual cues are often vital because they tend to be more attuned to visual than to auditory information. We used visual schedules and cards to help him learn routines like getting ready for school, work that needed completed (when we were homeschooling) and even to help him identify his feelings.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In the classroom there are often children who struggle to find and settle into work. If you are not familiar with the Montessori method, we refer to the materials on the shelf as work. The child is free to choose any work on which he has been given a lesson. He is also free to ask for a lesson if there is a work he would like to learn. A child is free to choose the work, take it to a table or rug, complete the work and return it to the shelf ready for the next friend. Dr. Montessori referred to this as 'freedom.' There is a caveat to the freedom of the child in the classroom. We teach the children to be respectful of the materials (clean up spills, don't bang things together, etc.), to be respectful of their peers (ask if you want to watch another friend, respect if that friend does not want to be joined, use kind words, etc.) and to respect themselves (come to school ready to learn, eat healthy food, exercise your body, etc.). These are the 'limits' in the classroom. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So you see, the child has freedom with limits. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For most children, providing lessons will give them the excitement to choose and work on new materials throughout the year. However, for children with learning differences or some other issues (emotional, foreign language speaker, etc) they may need more direct guidance in order to choose appropriate materials to work with during the day. This is where the visual schedules and cards can be of great help.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There are many places online that you can find generic pictures to make your own visual schedules. There are also programs like PECS that are very helpful (but very expensive). What I have not been able to find were pictures directly relating to the Montessori materials. So I decided to begin making some myself. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I started with a few photos from each area of the classroom. I have included a free download of this work for you. Click on the link at the bottom of this post to grab it. There are two pages of photos and two pages of instructions.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here is one way to put together a visual schedule for a child. What do you need? </span></div>
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<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Montessori Material Visual Card download (print photos on card stock)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">File folder</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">sticky Velcro</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">scissors</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Laminate the photos and the file folder.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhveXnLnEF8ggmhMJUNNBQ2EZq1M4dP-Kku4LFdvhUJhZUFSKIbbTeot6UCxJJRTAUq24NOEcHMAyEG_yMeLZZl93Nd474W-dxuMncY75qGFpY7J6uL8hE5KATTno5aBHZLMnobEr3Ec2c/s1600/IMG_6690.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhveXnLnEF8ggmhMJUNNBQ2EZq1M4dP-Kku4LFdvhUJhZUFSKIbbTeot6UCxJJRTAUq24NOEcHMAyEG_yMeLZZl93Nd474W-dxuMncY75qGFpY7J6uL8hE5KATTno5aBHZLMnobEr3Ec2c/s640/IMG_6690.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Cut out the photos and attach squares of Velcro to the middle of the back of each.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvKwJXJpys0X-B5WIHcHwlDSVLSyD1REPgDCZQp1qiK-4I4lHCxxZzSGsVCcfysWPvxznJ2cQkr4m4EfSSrD-aNXQjfpkbRlMxvFpcw8vaXLH5s81l-OiOoq8uLNYAT67qcHsyfzIC80/s1600/IMG_6691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvKwJXJpys0X-B5WIHcHwlDSVLSyD1REPgDCZQp1qiK-4I4lHCxxZzSGsVCcfysWPvxznJ2cQkr4m4EfSSrD-aNXQjfpkbRlMxvFpcw8vaXLH5s81l-OiOoq8uLNYAT67qcHsyfzIC80/s640/IMG_6691.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lay the cards onto the inside right of the file folder to judge where you need to place the Velcro.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVy-QiOh6Y2-lHyuJaO3iw06p4p9-hyc366kCmdwBC3oGPFKDTYWMvbg-IIB6C2qplvPpAoyFjok7P8wJy8UuBZEk3np0rIrsq86eiHbgSoQgB3-wHbUl3JS8HhYly5QteZCvrpzFjo6Q/s1600/IMG_6692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVy-QiOh6Y2-lHyuJaO3iw06p4p9-hyc366kCmdwBC3oGPFKDTYWMvbg-IIB6C2qplvPpAoyFjok7P8wJy8UuBZEk3np0rIrsq86eiHbgSoQgB3-wHbUl3JS8HhYly5QteZCvrpzFjo6Q/s640/IMG_6692.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Attach two strips of Velcro (the opposite side to what you put on the photos, obviously) to the inside right of the file folder. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6XbQmoyAAyqqYMmJox67e7NQY_7a2fY0xSWX98gMnTrSbpDh_bDHdxGVM-bFqa955WhpVGjsz6eQP6LkzpACg47EI35bqvQCNJZSuO_p5bgceNaW_t9BNQxD8qz8YSK8yHDHjIygbj4/s1600/IMG_6694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6XbQmoyAAyqqYMmJox67e7NQY_7a2fY0xSWX98gMnTrSbpDh_bDHdxGVM-bFqa955WhpVGjsz6eQP6LkzpACg47EI35bqvQCNJZSuO_p5bgceNaW_t9BNQxD8qz8YSK8yHDHjIygbj4/s640/IMG_6694.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Place the cards on the left strip of Velcro in the order you want the child to complete the work.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As the child completes the work, she can move the picture to the right strip of velcro.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You can also label the two velcro strips. Left side would be 'To Do' and right side 'Completed' or whatever you think would best serve the child. You can also place a photo of the child on the front cover or just his name to make it more personal. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Remember, the child will need assistance in learning how to use this material. You may want to start with just one or two materials at first. I have also included a card for the child to choose his own work. You may want to make a card that has a material that is high interest to the child as something to work toward.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I will continue to be blogging about ways to use this material and other ways to help children at home or in the classroom who need extra assistance to get the most out of their Montessori experience. Check back often!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Click here to download the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Wav7jDKkTCQWlLRGMxR1ZsX0E/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Montessori Material Visual Cards </a></span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11220243410828889634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-24148665293555005582015-06-10T20:08:00.000-04:002015-07-06T10:19:32.248-04:00Spanish Montessori Materials<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWREpgvJQI-RHkoqGftLTNciZnIEBX6d1_LLDavlOlaNv-zTAcbNLz9cXoaLR4u89jhoNJyNVWPNzOZefqoRnxKjhSrvtX6e6R6weP24s1DpowB5DhLG9pxBjEZoX6Q05GybUEEcyTPOM/s400/IMG_6530.JPG" width="400" /></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We are fortunate at our school to have a Spanish teacher. The kids really love having Spanish once a week and a few of them are quite good at remembering the vocabulary and the phrases. I, however, am TERRIBLE at it! So, at the end of the year I was thinking about a way to extend our Spanish class throughout the week by putting some materials on the shelf. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Each classroom also picks one country to focus on for the year and so to go along with my desire to add Spanish language materials to the shelf, I thought we'd study Puerto Rico next year. That way I'm sort of killing two birds with one stone.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I also thought it would be nice to share some of the materials I'm making with the world at large since I've benefitted from similar generosity many times. In fact, sometimes I think half my materials I found for free on the web!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I don't know how quickly I'll get things done but I do plan to work on them throughout the summer. I started with something simple: the colors/los colores. I've included red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, white, brown, black, gray, pink and a card for 'the colors.' The download is 7 pages long. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Of course it is always fantastic to add music to any educational venture and I thought I'd post a few links to some songs that use the words for the colors in Spanish.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I'm very picky about the music I play at school. I find that many recordings for children are very low quality and do not even use real instruments! So I don't often use recorded music in the classroom. Generally I just sing with the children or sing and play an instrument. That being said, some of these songs are better than others but I'll let you be the judge of that!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_806236152"></span>Th</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE24HSKfNcs" target="_blank">e Colors Song<span id="goog_806236153"></span> </a>(I like this one because it is simple. We sing an even simpler version)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsRKoZGaoEM" target="_blank">Colors, Colors</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H15nDRfnfWo" target="_blank">Spanish Vocabulary </a>(not a song but a nice little video)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://redmp3.me/5606332/raffi-de-colores.html" target="_blank">De Colores </a>(Rafi- have to get that one in here!)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you've got one you like, leave a comment with the link. To download the material click on the link at the bottom of the page. Let me know what you think!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Wav7jDKkTCa1pBR0NIZTVUb3M/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Los Colores Matching Cards Download.</a></span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11220243410828889634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9181778042482189171.post-36512366910077023962015-06-10T07:42:00.001-04:002015-06-10T07:42:47.783-04:00Playing Catchup <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Wow. It's been a long time. I had such great hopes for the things I was going to do this year. It seems school and family kept me busier than I anticipated. Hey, that's ok!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Above are a few photos to give a little synopsis of our last few weeks. Mike continues to play every chance he gets (which, as a professional musician is a lot!). I don't go to very many gigs because, frankly, they start too late for this early bird. The photos of him above are from two special shows, one with a friend Dan who put out an amazing CD and another was with a friend from High School celebrating the 20th anniversary of a CD he recorded for his 30th birthday. Fun times. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The boys have been busy too. Nolan finished up his Junior year with the prom. Aren't they are beautiful couple? (only friends, though!) He has been accepted into the Culinary program for his Senior year at the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center. Way to go, Nolan! He's very excited.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Nathan graduated from high school and the Career and Technology Center Baking and Pastry Program. He also received a senior award, the Stanley Lipman Memorial Award. This was in honor of a special education teacher. We are so proud of Nathan and his accomplishments. He's searching for a full time job which is somewhat discouraging but we're persistent. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We also celebrated the first Mass of Thanksgiving with our friend Father Don (it's still strange to say that!) who was ordained just this past Saturday. It's been a long journey for him and a new chapter is just starting. We're thrilled to know this amazing man and new priest!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As for me, (no, there are never photos of me) I've finished school and teaching the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at church and am glad for some down time. We are heading out towards Pittsburgh this weekend to celebrate my oldest nephew's wedding. I finally finished their quilt (with a few days to spare) so now I'm ready to tackle some of my other projects.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">More on those in another post. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The weather has been glorious and I'm working on losing the 30 pounds I've gained in the last two years. So I'm walking and biking and trying to find some tasty but healthy recipes. Speaking of that....time for my morning constitutional with the hubby. Have a wonderful day everyone.</span>Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11220243410828889634noreply@blogger.com0