Although preschool does not start until the age of 2 1/2 for most kids, I still say that I home-school preschool my 21 month old. I believe strongly in the role of parents to teach children in every moment of their lives. I don't believe that toddlers need any formal education if parents grab every teachable moment. I discussed this in another post all about what Montessori calls practical life type of learning:
Skirting the Full Monte(ssori). That being said, I began formal learning activities with my son around 19 months. I decided that since potty training was apparently the deciding factor for when a child would move from the toddler room to the more learning centered classroom in a Montessori school, why not use it as a gauge in my house? (I sort of say that tongue and cheek as I partly think it's ridiculous; yet, at the same time, I understand that there is something to be said once a child can mentally grasp potty training...it very well may be a sign for something)
Jack's classroom is set up Montessori style. There are trays that he can grab from in two different sections of a room in our home used solely for this purpose. We go to this room for a half hour to 45 minutes every morning after our walk, and then once again in the afternoon if possible. The only rule in the school is that he must return the activities once he is done. He is allowed to explore them in any way he wants. He can do them on the floor or on the toddler table. The activities are changed every 2 weeks or so. However, I do add activities for holidays or seasons here and there. In a Montessori classroom there are numerous categories: Practical Life, Sensorial, Cultural, Language and Math. Practical Life is generally covered by most stay at home moms who involve their child in daily activities like emptying the dishwasher, cleaning the house, cooking. Sensorial and Cultural can overlap with music and art. At the age of a toddler there are pre-math activities such as sorting and counting steps. Language includes language acquisition and the physicality of writing which is helped by improving dexterity. I would love to put the activities into categories; however, many over lap. For example, our walks are sensorial for obvious reasons, but they are also cultural since we look at different leaves and plants and learn about our habitat, mathematical because we count things like trees and cars and categorize trees, and language because we learn new names for things. I will try to categorize the activities as best as possible.
Here are some of the activities curently in Jack's classroom:
Practical Life:
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| Setting the table |
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| Dressing |
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| Making is morning vegetable/fruit shake |
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| Baking (making honey cake for Rosh Hashanah) |
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| Dinosaur Washing |
Sensorial:
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| Finding buried treasure (frogs) |
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| Homemade scented play dough |
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| Froze some toys in a bowl of water, he played with them until the toys melted out |
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| Matching colors (this was an easy sew homemade activity) |
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| Dyed rice |
Language:
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| Pouring, this is an important activity in Montessori |
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| Tracing helps to prepare for writing |
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| Using tongs to pick up items begins for writing preparation |
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| Threading (these are cut up milkshake straws) |
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| Poker chips with letters on them he puts into the box |
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| This is my only real deal Montessori item. The concept is that once kids can readily place these objects they are ready to learn to write (kids learn writing before reading in Montessori) The different circles are different depths and widths. |
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| Homemade binder puzzle |
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| Matching animals to their pictures on the blocks |
Math:
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| Sorting beads by color and threading |
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| Building and counting by color |
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| Matching shapes and outlines |
Cultural:
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| Music |
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| Matching paintings and artists |
Holidays/Religious:
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| Colaberation for a mobile |
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| Rosh Hashanah cards and apple stamping |
There are many other activities that will be rotated into his room. Crayons, paper, and nonfiction books are ALWAYS available in his classroom. (He isn't deprived of fiction; we just keep it up stairs in his room)
***It is important to note that at this young of an age, it is really important that this is fun and student driven. No child should be forced to learn ever, but especially not at this age. Jack actually begs me to play in his classroom.
