Jacaranda Tree Montessori

A Montessori playgroup in Amsterdam for babies, toddlers, preschoolers

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13 November, 2014 By Simone Davies

Getting ready for a Montessori Christmas!

GETTING READY EARLY FOR A MONTESSORI

Some fellow Montessori bloggers are putting together some posts on their Christmas ideas for this year and am super happy to join them. Below my post you’ll find links to their great ideas too.

Getting ahead on the Christmas shopping

I was reading a blog post last week (sadly I don’t remember which one) and the person was sharing that they did all their Christmas shopping – and had it wrapped – by the end of November. I thought this idea was genius. I am so going to try to do this! Anyone want to join me? We’ll be the smug ones ice-skating and enjoying hot chocolate on Christmas eve :).

December has a way of just slipping through your fingers and it’s hard to slow down to enjoy it all.

So to get you started, here is a super duper Christmas post for you!

1. Make an Advent calendar

I have shared in past years how much we love to make our own Advent calendar. I have been doing this for around 5 years and the kids are still asking if we can do it again.

I buy 24 craft envelopes and decorate them with the numbers 1 – 24. These are hung from some baking twine with small pegs along our front windows. One year I even sewed some bunting from Christmas fabric and added felt pockets.

Homemade advent calendars

Then make a list of all our favourite Christmas things to do together, write each idea on a paper slip, and pop one in each pocket.

Here are some ideas:

1. Eat oliebollen (a Dutch donut)
2. Make Christmas cookies
3. Take a photo with the Christmas lights
4. Go iceskating at Museumplein
5. Decorate the Christmas tree
6. Put on Christmas music
7. Write Christmas cards
8. Make paper snowflakes

Get the idea?

2. Santa sacks

Even though my kids are well beyond believing in Santa Claus, I still find it fun to put together a small stocking of presents which they find on their beds on Christmas morning.

santa sack

We keep it pretty simple but generally I put in:

* something to eat
* something to make
* something to read
* something to play with
* some cute stationery for school

As we live in Amsterdam, there may also be something fun for their bike too, or something that they need.

3. Christmas presents

We have Christmas lunch together and then open presents from under the Christmas tree. The kids are lucky to get presents from the family and we generally buy one larger gift.

Last year I put together some ideas for presents for young ones. I would still recommend these toys so pop over here to get some fun ideas for your kids:

* Montessori Gift Guide, Part 1 of 4 – Babies

* Montessori Gift Guide, Part 2 of 4 – 1 to 2 year olds

* Montessori Gift Guide, Part 3 of 4 – 2 to 3 year olds

* Montessori Gift Guide, Part 4 or 4 – Preschoolers

My kids are now 14 and 12 years old and still like to play with Lego. Keep them young eh. They have an idea to turn the attic into a Lego world so I’m going to add another set to their collection. You can’t have too much Lego, can you?

Hope you enjoy the silly season as much as I do. I would love to hear about the rituals you are developing for your kids and any great gift ideas too.

Ho ho ho!

Montessori Friendly Gift List Round Up

And I’m pleased to share some ideas from some of my favourite Montessori bloggers with some more great gift ideas. Be sure to check them out:

The Kavanaugh Report – A Montessori Friendly Christmas Round Up
Child Led Life  – Top Gifts for Preschoolers
Milkweed Montessori – A Merry Montessori Toddler Gift List
Every Star Is Different  – Renae’s Guide to Toy Gifts that Won’t Break
Golden Reflections Blog – 10 Gift Ideas for Toddlers Who Love Animals
Study At Home Mama – One You Want, One You Need, One You Wear, One You Read
Natural Beach Living – Best Montessori Preschool Gift Guide
The Natural Homeschool – The Ultimate Gift Guide for the Montessori Home
Montessori Nature – Educational Gifts for Children

Filed Under: Christmas, inspiration, Montessori

3 October, 2014 By Simone Davies

8 easy ideas for keeping your child’s artwork

Hello everyone! I’m loving those crunchy Autumn leaves and crisp mornings at the moment. And these sunny weekends are a nice bonus too. I have to remember to enjoy these days before everything just slides quickly into the raucousness of Sinterklaas and Christmas.Another common question I get asked is if I have any good ideas what to do with the lovely paintings that the kids make in class and at home. So here are some simple ideas for you try. Let me know what are your favourites too!

8 easy ideas for keeping your child’s artwork

It’s easy to accumulate a lot of artwork with a child in the house. I would put it into a box to store it and then wonder “what should I do with it all?”.

But since then I’ve come up with some ideas that don’t require hours of effort to repurpose them into baubles or the like. Although if you find that fun, don’t let me stop you!

It’s important to note that when the child is young, they are interested in the process not actually the product. For example, the movement when they are painting, the colours, the feel of the paint. So it’s common in Montessori training to learn that the paintings don’t need to be kept.

However, as adults we do like to keep some and here are 8 simple ideas if you would like to do something with the end product:

1. Make a portfolio

Once a year, I would sit down one afternoon with the kids and pull out our favourite artwork from the year. I would buy a simple scrapbook (my favourite are “plakboeken” from the Hema for those of you in the Netherlands). And we simply glued them in, folding up the ones that wouldn’t fit.

You could also use a folder with plastic sleeves and slide the artwork in too.

Often we’d stick in some tickets from a special outing and the kids still enjoy to look through them from time to time. And it’s a nice thing to show visitors from out of town.

2. Wrapping paper

Repurposing the larger sheets for wrapping paper means you’ll rarely need to buy wrapping paper again. Add some baker’s twine or a cute ribbon and you have added a personal touch to your present.

3. Post to grandparents and family

Remember to send some to the grandparents and family. For those of us living in a different country from family, this is a lovely way for family members to be included in your child’s life.

4. Frame and hang

It’s fun to take a special artwork or two and buy frames to hang them in your home. You can change the artwork from time to time. Your child will feel pleased to see their work displayed like artwork. You can also have conversations with them about their work.

5. Use a wire curtain line with pegs

If you have a wall available, you can also hang a wire curtain line and use pegs to hang up the art work your child brings home. It’s easy to rotate work and replace older work with something new. The old work can go into a box to be reused for another of these ideas.

I like the Ikea curtain wire here: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/111745634473638507/

6. Recycle recycle recycle

There is no need to keep it all. As mentioned above, the younger children are not busy with the end product and the paintings can be recycled. Older children may want to keep them, so it is worth checking with your child before they find their lovingly made artwork in the recycling box.

7. Take a photo and print a photo book a year

Particularly with art work that can’t be stuck into a book, I like to take a photograph. Some people then put together a photo book once a year from these photos and have it printed. Saves a lot of space and is a beautiful memory.

8. Hang clipboards on the wall

I think a fun way to present art coming into the home is to hang some clipboards on the wall, perhaps in the kitchen or hall. It’s then very easy to update the artwork, rotating out the old one for something new.

I’ve put together a little summary in case you’d like to pin for later and remind yourself of some of these ideas. And of course I am sure you have some great ideas too. I would love to hear about them on our Facebook page.

8 easy ideas for keeping your child's artwork

Upcoming workshopsI’m super excited to have Eowyn Crisfield coming back to Jacaranda Tree Montessori on Monday 27 October for her seminar on Raising a Bilingual Child. Eowyn is an expert in bilingual and multilingual families and gives great advice on putting together a 6 step plan for your family.Date: Monday 27 October
Time: 20:00 – 22:00
Cost: €35 p.p or €50 per coupleTo register, please click here: https://www.jacarandatreemontessori.nl/shop/raising-bilingual-child-seminar/
Update from the classroomIt has also been lots of fun to make a few additions to the classroom. My favourite is the table in the kitchen area for the parents to drink tea and share wisdom. And my kids were great helping me to assemble the furniture. So pleased with it!
IMG_2427

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And we had fun in class making some cute Autumn crowns. How adorable are these? The idea came from this blog: http://www.handmadecharlotte.com/fall-leaf-crowns/. Love!
IMG_2396IMG_2403

And not related to Montessori but of my love for cake, my favourite piece of cake this week has to be the chocolate and sea-salt cake from Bilder & De Clercq. Did you know it has been baked by The (lovely) English Cake Lady herself for them? Worth checking out. Oliver and I shared a piece after school on Friday – such fun these little outings with my nearly-14 year old son.I hope you found these tips useful for keeping your child’s artwork. And have yourselves a lovely weekend everyone!

Filed Under: Art and craft, inspiration, Montessori Tagged With: art and craft, Montessori, storage

6 June, 2014 By Simone Davies

Age Appropriate Chores for Children

It is amazing what young children take joy in doing. Here is a list of age appropriate chores for children.

Some people might read these lists and not believe it is possible. But if you would like your child to not only do these chores, but enjoy contributing to the household, follow these tips:

    1. Never force the child – you can do these alongside each other or step in when they need help
    2. Look for child-sized brooms, mops and utensils to give the greatest success
    3. Slow down taking time to show your child how to do these tasks
    4. Keep your movements slow, and limit talking at the same time – makes it easier for them to copy you
    5. Makes chores around the house lots more fun if there is a little one alongside trying it out too
    6. Let go of perfection – you may find that the spill is not completely wiped up, there is water at the bottom of the pot plant etc.
    7. Scaffold skills – start with one step at a time and build on it
    8. Enjoy yourselves – if it starts to feel like hard work, come back to it in a couple of weeks

To download as a pdf, click here. For a black & white version, click here.

How do you include your child around the home? I’m sure you have some great ideas. Please post them to our Facebook page.

And if you have found this infographic useful, you might also be interested in our other most popular articles:

* A Montessori approach to toilet training
* My top Ikea picks for Montessori children
* Montessori activities for travelling with kids

And be the first to receive new blog posts by subscribing to my newsletter here.

If you have any specific questions about Montessori, please feel free to email me.

Age Appropriate Chores for Children
Age Appropriate Chores for Children

 

How do you include your child around the home? I’m sure you have some great ideas. Please post them to our Facebook page.



Filed Under: child development, inspiration, Montessori, Parenting Tagged With: Chores, daily life, Infographic, Montessori, Parenting, Positive parenting

19 May, 2014 By Simone Davies

A quote to inspire you…

Montessori quote

Filed Under: inspiration, Montessori Tagged With: quote

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The Montessori Toddler book, by Simone Davies


– NOW AVAILABLE IN AMAZON AND ANY BOOKSELLER –
* Learn to understand your toddler better
* Find alternatives to time out and help them become responsible humans
* Get rid of the chaos and set up cosy spaces at home
* Create beautiful Montessori activities for their age
* And more…
<<< MORE INFO HERE >>>

The Montessori Baby book, by Simone Davies and Junnifa Uzodike


– NOW AVAILABLE IN AMAZON AND ANY BOOKSELLER –

* Help you bring Montessori into your home from conception, birth and the first year
* Learn how to show your baby respect the Montessori way
* Set up your home for your baby with a lot less than you think
* See how capable your baby is and learn to follow their interests and timeline
* And more…
<<< MORE INFO HERE >>>

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