Our Little Bookshelf – Page 8 – Our Montessori Life

April 21, 2015

What we’re reading: Fave’s at 3

I could just live in the Children’s section of a good bookstore. I could nestle down amongst some comfy pillows and just hope that the shop owner would simply forget about me.

When we look for books for Quentin, the themes of Montessori whisper in our ears. Excellent quality, realistic images, and above all else beautiful.

Reading is a part of our everyday. We don’t set aside a strict time and a limit. It is not a chore. It is a joy. We read with Quentin because we love to, not because we have to.

These are his favourites that have stood the test of times this last year and going into 3.

If You Hold a Seed. A heartwarming story about a boy and his wish. Quentin loves that it goes through the seasons. The layered paper art is stunning and I just had to go to YouTube to find the video of how Elly MacKay made her gorgeous pages.

Walk This World. This is such a fun book. Each page is a different country, and there are lots of paper windows to open on each page. Quentin loves finding the hidden story behind the windows. If your child loves geography like Quentin does, this is the book for you.

African Animals ABC. Ant bear, bush baby, crocodile and dassie. A feast to roll off your tongue as much as to look at. We have always loved Barefoot Books. This is Quentin’s favourite of their publishing line. There are many educational facts at the back that accompany the rhyming text. The style of art is so interiguing and the richness of the colours is what draws you in.

If You Find a Rock. A beautiful poem about not only the rocks around you, but also the places in nature you find them. A wonderful addition to the shelf of any child who loves nature. I have used this book in my classroom before venturing out on nature walks as well.

Julia, Child. “Baffled and befuddled, mindless and muddled, adults sometimes forget what they know.” How so very true. Quentin loves the story of a child who grew to love cooking and helped adults “overcome their feelings of never-enoughness.”

Home. This is a new one for us, but it has quickly become a favourite of Quentin’s. Beautifully simple pictures and a good straight forward story has made this a favourite. Quentin loves the fact that the homes are from all over the world. Definitely another good one for a geography enthusiast.

Both Buddha at Bedtime and Nightlights are essential in our house for bringing calm. From virtues to peaceful self affirmations, these books do it all and in a gentle way.

And finally an unexpected late entry. In fact, we didn’t own this until late this afternoon. I was looking for another title to give as a gift and this one caught my eye. It absolutely floored me with its artwork. The layout and text are just breathtaking. Here are some examples.

I showed it to Quentin and he immediately loved it. Facts accompany each drawing. For lovers of animals, geography, and art, Amazing Animals. If I could only get one, this would be it.

And so there it is. His bookshelf at 3. If you are looking to start a Montessori child’s bookshelf think beauty instead of “cute”. Trying to bring it all together at once may be daunting. Each of these books cost under $20US and were collected slowly one by one.

That’s the beautiy of a collection. It starts to take shape over time. As does a child’s love of reading.

February 8, 2015March 19, 2019

Exploring the World: Activities, books and ideas surrounding Geography, Landmarks & Architecture

Lately we have had an explosion of interest in architecture in our house. Quentin has (like many children his age) an extraordinary memory for facts.
Then we noticed that he had the entire route to school memorized with all the “landmarks” in order along the way. All 30 minutes of it. It was time to help him explore this new love of his world.

It started (as it so often does in our house) with books.

1. Walk this World 2. Young Frank Architect 3. If You Find a Rock

These are gorgeous books.

Young Frank Architect is one of Quentin’s favourites, and has a moral that thinking outside the box is a good thing and that kids creations are as relevant as the great architects of the 20th Century. It features at trip to the MoMA and showcases some of the “great Franks” of the architectural world.

If You Find a Rock is absolutely beautiful, and I will be sneaking it out of the house to use in my new classroom before our nature walks. A lovely poem about stopping to observe your surroundings and finding “special” and beauty in the natural world.

Walk This World is Quentin’s absolute favourite book at the moment. We’ve read it twice today. It features a day walking the world through some of the major cities. The art is amazing and simple. And it’s a door flap book kind of like a paper advent calendar. Behind the doors there are lots of hidden treasures including a tiger in the Taj Mahal, and a chicken riding the bus in…well, I’ll let you find out for yourself.

I also purchased some Safari Ltd. Toobs for Quentin. The Around the World Toob and the World Landmarks Toob coupled with some matching cards I made have been a hit, and he loves naming and matching them. Sometimes he will tell me a fact he has remembered.

The Taj Mahal is made outta white marble. The Statute of Liberty is made outta copper. I don’t know what dis Parfannon place is. I gotta look dat up.

Part of this experience we are offering Quentin is the very basis of the Montessori “My place in this World” activity. It begins with a child identifying their house, their community, their region (state/province) and so on circling outward. Our nature walks have begun to incorporate not only being mindful of nature but also identifying “landmarks” such as bridges, trees and even rocks.

We “Follow the Child” allowing time for him to stop and explore something more closely. We will walk to a point and then turn around and ask him if he remembers what’s coming up next. “The bridge!” He exclaimed rushing by on his bike, face full of concentration.

Having him point out familiar things like the firehall or the park strengthens his sense of order and placement of the world around him. Allowing him time to explore and take pleasure in the things he sees is hopefully instilling a life long love of adventure and a knowledge that there is a big world out there to discover.

August 23, 2013

Montessori Book Review

This book is one of the gentlest, guides to Montessori in the home I have ever read.

Broken into three parts (the 1st year, 1-3 yr olds, adults roll) it uses clear language to describe the different Sensorial Periods, and how a home environment can be easily modified by parents to help us support the immense inner potential of a child beginning at the hour of their birth. Not wanting to step on the toes of anyone else that has reviewed this book, I wanted to write about how this book made me feel.

As I said I was surprised how it reads like a novel, not a “Montessori Text”. It didn’t make me feel confused, or “dumb”. Instead it showed pictures. Lots of pictures all the way through of children using materials, and parents offering experiences to young children. Many of the pictures I felt a connection with because we have done the same thing with our boys.

There are no charts or graphs. Nothing to put that terrible little seed of “my child doesn’t do that” into my brain. Instead the book simply speaks of things to try in the general age groups mentioned above.

For example:

A mat on the floor, in a room that has been completely prepared for safety, allows a child to come and go, exercising all his developing abilities.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is pregnant and interested in Montessori. I would also recommend it to those parents that are like me: seeking a simple, gentle, but thorough guide of how their child sees the world, and what we can offer them in support of themselves.

July 12, 2013July 12, 2013

Novel Ideas

This post can also be found on the new page with the same name. I’m hoping to keep this going there.

A room without books is like a body without a soul-Marcus Cicero

We are a family of bibliophiles. I have fond memories of my Father reading to me every night. I spent many a sunny summer day, perched in a tree, surrounded by open fields, feasting on literature. So, when my parents came to visit us after Quentin came home, the first thing my Father and I did was make him a bookshelf.

On Quentin’s shelves for July: (the following contains affiliate links)

Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Simple text, colourful artwork and a happy ending. There’s a reason it’s stood the test of times.

Jon Scieszka’s Seen Art
A small boy accidentally visits the MoMA looking for his friend Art. A great story and introduction to many artists and their work. Probably suited for 3yrs+ but Quentin loves the pictures.

Eric Carle’s Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you see
Quentin asks for this every night. Not exactly Montessori due to the unrealistic colouring of the animals, but he loves pointing out the animals and claps at the end when we turn the page to the children.

Lois Elhert’s Eating the Alphabet
A new one for us. The artwork is stunning. A fantastic vocabulary builder for Quentin. Anthony enjoys reading the history of the foods in the back pages.

Lois Elhert’s Color Farm
This one is interesting. I love the geometric shapes, but the animals are too abstract for Quentin to identify them. Still, he loves the cut out pages. We will return to this one when he’s a little older.

Jon Scieszka’s Science Curse

Don’t ever tease a wee amoeba
By calling him a her amoeba.
And don’t call her a him amoeba.
Or never he a she amoeba.
‘Cause whether his or hers amoeba,
They too feel like you and meba.<

We’re also full blown science nerds.This is really just us making sure Quentin assimilates.

Lara Vaccaro Seeger’s Green
Also a new one for us. One of the most beautiful children’s books I have ever had the pleasure to read.

Although most of our rooms have bookshelves, not to mention the books on our bedside tables and coffee tables, this small bookshelf is one of my favourite things in the house. It is a memory holder representing a lineage of book lovers and holds my memories of my parents, grandparents and even my great grandparents sitting in a quiet spot reading. It is also a memory builder. Many a quiet hour has already been spent feasting.