Reviewing and Planning

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.

So in looking at the week in review I'll use that information to plan for the upcoming week. 

1. Food and exercise. 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.

2. Drawing. 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. 

3. Meal Planning. 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. 

4. Quilting. 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.

5. School. 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.

6. Reading. 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!

7. Connecting. 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.

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.

Another New Year

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. 

Canadian Goose I photographed in the late fall. I love looking at the details of feather and flight.

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. 

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:

• My health - eating healthy and naturally, limiting alcohol intake and getting regular exercise
• 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!).
• 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.
• 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!!!

The backyard garden in June 2017

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Life

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

And so must I....fly.....far and wide.....and flower where I am planted.

Italian Meatballs with Oven Roasted Broccoli and Tomato Coconut Sauce

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. 

I should say that this isn't a real recipe but just me throwing some things together.

Italian Meatballs with Tomato Coconut Sauce

1 lb pasture raised ground pork

1 lb pasture raised ground beef

1/2 onion minced as fine as you can get it

2 cloves garlic minced fine

1 TBSPish Italian Seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

fat of choice

1 can coconut milk

1 large fresh tomato peeled and chopped

fresh sage, julienned

2 cloves garlic sliced 

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.

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.

Serve the sauce over the meatballs and roasted broccoli (recipe to follow).

Roasted Broccoli

1 head broccoli cut into florets

olive oil 

salt and pepper to taste

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. 

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!

Having Fun

It's day four of my 21 day Primal Challenge. One of the Primal rules that I think is so wonderful is play.  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. 

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. 

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.

Next up for fun I'm thinking of rock climbing!

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.

One of the Primal rules of living 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.

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.

So for now, I'll just keep on thinking and finding more ways to move around a lot....slowly. Gardening anyone?

Blogging....again

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. 

*sigh*

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.

Perhaps it's because I've been blogging on Sundays for my Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program and posting on my school Facebook page. 

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. 

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.

So....in order to get ourselves into the habit of eating and exercising we are devoting the next 21 days to the Primal Blueprint. I'm not going to say much about this now but will be blogging about our journey for the next three weeks.

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.

Advent

But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,

and from his roots a bud shall blossom.

 The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:

a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

A spirit of counsel and of strength,

a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD.

The Autumn Garden

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

Naturecise

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 two years ago that I blogged about another Conservancy hike 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.

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.

Oh no, think again.

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. 

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.

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.

Autumn Nature Walk

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. 

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!

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. 

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! 

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.

Frugal Friday

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.

We're still eating the sauce we made from these tomatoes.

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.):

This is the first in what I hope will be a weekly Friday posting. Hope being the operative word here.

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. 

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.

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?

Well, first off: waste not.

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???

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?

1. Impulse buying. It is so easy, isn't it? Let me give you a current example. Yesterday a friend recommended the book 7:An experimental mutiny against excess. 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. 

2. Savings. 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.

3. Eat real food and cook it yourself. 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. Unless you look at the big picture. 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. 

4. You. 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.

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.

Then and Now

Nathan as a preschooler

Nathan at Graduation

I've been pondering time 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.

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.

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 (cringe) 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. 

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.

I'm getting to the point of looking back instead of looking forward.

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."

Nolan as a preschooler

Nolan as a Senior

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. 

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.

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.

If I was still writing songs (which I am not), I do wonder what I would write about.

Mike and I when we were first dating

Mike and I a few years ago at his sister's wedding

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. 

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.

Montessori Bootcamp Review

My classroom set up for the beginning of the school year.

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. 

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' here, here and here. The bootcamp was created by Seemi Abdullah from Trillium Montessori. 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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Practical Life art and sewing before the shelf map.

Practical Life art shelf after the shelf map

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.

fine and gross motor wet works before mapping

care of environment shelf (sewing sequence and wet works) after mapping

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 Sewing in the Montessori Classroom 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.

fine motor shelf before mapping

fine motor shelf after mapping

Above is my fine motor shelf before and after. I now have things arranged in this way:

• top shelf - whole hand
• second shelf - three finger
• third shelf - wrist, arm

This arrangement will really help me as I am changing out the shelves each month. I now know exactly what should be where!

sound cabinet before

sound cabinet after

language shelf before

oral language and writing shelf after

advanced language shelf after

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: Language, Math, Sensorial.

Storage before bootcamp

storage after bootcamp

close up of storage

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!

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. 

Now I really can't wait for the school year to start!