Montessori Musings: Russian

Since we are already a bilingual family with German and English, I haven't tried to do much with my kids in the area of foreign languages.  However, since we will be taking a trip to Russia in the near future, my kids have expressed a lot of interest in learning a bit of the language.  Since I really believe in the Montessori principle of "Follow the child", I decided to jump on the chance to follow their interests in Russian.

We started learning some basic vocabulary with these wooden blocks pictured below. I bought them years ago when I lived in Russia and never dreamed that I would be using them with my own children.  We've been adding a couple of words a week and are about halfway through the alphabet.

Then, a friend of mine recently showed me a website for teaching Russian as a foreign language with free downloads called УРЯ. We downloaded the workbooks below here. (You have to be able to speak a little Russian in order to register and navigate the site! If anyone needs help, please e-mail me and I can give some tips.)

With my daughter who is learning to read in English, I am only concentrating on vocabulary and not attempting to teach her the Cyrillic alphabet.  But coloring the pictures while learning a new word is a sensorimotor activity that helps her remember the word. My son, however, who is 8, is able to associate the Cyrillic letters with sounds.

I got very excited when I found Montessori-like letter cards on the УРЯ site with the consonants in one color and the vowels in another. (Click here to view them.) I immediately had the idea to make a matching game for my son with some of the letters that he already knows.  I downloaded clip art pictures to match the letters and glued them on index cards.  (Yes, I am a complete nerd and make Montessori stuff in my free time! When I don't have the time or money to laminate, I often make Montessori materials with index cards.) So that my son could check his own work, I numbered the cards on the back. It was the first thing he did when he woke up this morning, so I was happy that he found it interesting.

Linked to Montessori Monday at Living Montessori Now and One Hook Wonder

Inspiration for the Week

"There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air is softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again."

-Elizabeth Lawrence

Source:Think.exist.com

Children and Communion

Play figures from Godly Play:
"The Good Shepherd and the World Wide Communion"

Should young children be allowed to participate in holy communion? An interesting and potentially controversial question, depending on what faith tradition you come from. 


Before I had children of my own, I was of the firm opinion that children should not be allowed to participate in communion until they understood in an age-appropriate manner what they were doing.  This was partially influenced by the Protestant denomination that I was raised in where children were not encouraged to participate in communion until they had been baptized as older children, teenagers or adults.  (In fact, if I am completely honest with myself, a huge motivating factor in my wanting to be baptized at age 12 was the desire to be allowed to take communion and not be left out!) Another factor was my very different understanding of child development at that stage of my life.


However, since having my own children and working full-time with children, I have completely changed my opinion on the whole matter.  Montessori, Godly Play, and my own observations of children have helped me see how children learn about and internalize abstract concepts. I became aware that children learn in a sensorimotor way, that is, through their five senses and by doing.  


Because of this, I became open to letting the children in our church come to the communion table with their parents and partake of the elements together. I felt that this "learn-by-doing" approach would make communion more meaningful for them as adults when they would finally come to the communion table alone. 


Most of the children in our church plant are already aware of the communion table and connect it to the Jesus through the Godly Play story, "The Good Shepherd and the Worldwide Communion".  Also, the Feast element in our Godly Play worship services is a symbolic preparation for taking communion. 


That having been said, I would not want the children to come alone to the communion table. I feel it is very important for them to do this with their parents who can explain and guide them through it.  This helps keep holy communion from being confused with a snack time.  


Coming to the Good Shepherd's table together has become a beautiful thing for our family. No doubt, my children do not understand everything that takes place when we are at the Lord's table together, but neither do we as adults understand everything either!  My 8-year-old son at the very least understands that we are remembering what Jesus did for us by going to the cross and that is certainly a start.  


If you are from a Christian tradition that takes a much different stance on children and communion, please know that I respect your opinion and am not writing this as a "must". It is simply my opinion and what our church has chosen to do. But I am curious . . . 

How do you feel about young children taking holy communion with their parents? 

What does your faith tradition do?

Drawing Prayers with Children

I am always trying to find ways to encourage my children to connect with God and pray on their own rather than just at certain "official" times (i.e. before bedtime, family devotions, etc.) with Mommy and Daddy. Several months ago, I read this post at Watkins Every Flavor Beans about drawing prayers with children after Emily had read a book called "Praying in Color" by Sybil MacBeth. Since I know through my work with Godly Play and Montessori that children are intuitive rather than verbal and how drawing pictures can help younger children better express their thoughts, I was intrigued by the idea.

So I hung a large piece of paper in the hallway and wrote "Dear God . . . " on it.  I explained to the my kids that they could draw a picture of anything that they wanted to say to God at any time they wanted to.  For a couple of days, the paper stayed blank, perhaps because my children didn't really understand what it was all about.  Then, I drew a picture of a carrot, because I was particular pleased with some carrots I had bought that day and wanted to thank God for creating such yummy things to eat.  My kids wanted to know right away why I had drawn a carrot. Then, they started drawing their own pictures:

Some of the drawings above are requests, some express thankfulness, and some are there just because the kids thought God would like them. I don't all the reasons or specific prayers behind the drawings, but God does and that is all that matters.: )

Montessori Musings: Reading

As I have mentioned before, I am teaching my daughter to read using the Montessori method.  We are just at the beginning, but she is making progress at recognizing sounds and three-letter words. We are in the Pink Series, which is the first stage in the Montessori language program.  


The activity below has been a hit with her as well as with the first and second graders at my school.  The child builds simple three-letter words using star-shaped beads.  The beautiful cards are a free download from Montessori Print Shop, which has a ton of free materials. Thanks, Montessori Print Shop! I later happened to find star-shaped beads in a hobby shop and immediately thought of using them to make words with these cards.  (I look at almost everything these days with the thought, "Could I use this for Godly Play or Montessori?")

Preschool and younger elementary children tend to love the tactile experience of building the letters and I have seen some children work for up to 20 minutes on it.  

Another activity that my daughter has enjoyed it guessing the ending sounds of words.  The cards below are also a free download from Montessori Print Shop. My daughter enjoys using the chalkboard to write out the words.  

I'm always amazed at how children get so excited over a chalkboard. Our elementary school actually doesn't have any in the classrooms (instead we have multi-media screens called "Smart Boards"), so there is something earthy and attractive about using a chalkboard in our Montessori lessons. 


Linking to Montessori Monday at Living Montessori Now and One Hook Wonder

Inspiration for the Week

"An educational system isn't worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn't teach them how to make a life."  

~Author Unknown

Source: The Quote Garden

Autumn Nature Table

When chestnuts start falling from the trees, you know it is autumn in Berlin.  Last week, my daughter and I went to the park to pick up the beautiful chestnuts covering the ground. After she went to bed, I set up this autumn nature table for her.  Wenn die Kastanien überall auf dem Boden zu sehen sind, dann weiss man, die Herbst ist da. Letzte Woche haben meine Tochter und ich einen ganzen Korb voll von Kastanien im Park gesammelt. Nachdem die Kleine ins Bett gegangen ist, habe ich diesen Jahreszeittisch für sie aufgestellt.

I arranged silk "baskets" of chestnuts  . . . 

Ich habe seidene "Körbe" mit Kastanien . . . 

. . . and acorns from our last trip to the forest. Felt leaves and a beautiful piece of birch that we found on the forest floor help celebrate our Creator's breathtaking autumn palette. 

 . . . und Eicheln vom letzen Waldausflug gemacht. Filzblätter und ein tolles Stück Birke, das auf dem Waldboden lag, helfen uns die bunte Palette unseren Schöpfers zu feiern. 

A wooden candlestick from the Tabernacle reminds us that as the days grow shorter and darker, God's light is always there with us. Ein Kerzenständer aus Holz von der Stiftshüttegeschichte errinert uns daran, dass Gottes Licht und Wärme uns in den kommenden kurzeren und dunkeleren Tagen begleiten werden. 

The next day my daughter woke up and was pleased with what she saw. She immediately began playing with the chestnuts and wooden figures and added a few more nature treasures to the table. Then, she designed the table setting below for our dining table that is right next to the nature table. Am nächsten Tag ist meine Tochter aufgestanden und hat sich sofort über den Herbsttisch gefreut. Sie wollte sofort mit den Kastanien und Holzfiguren spielen und ergänzte alles mit noch ein paar Naturschätzen. Danach machte sie die Tischdeko unten für den Esstisch, der daneben steht. 

Happy Autumn!  If any of you have nature tables, please leave a link in the comments. I'd love to see them! Ich wünsche euch viel Herbstfreude!  Wenn ihr auch Jahreszeittische für die Herbst habt, dann würde ich sie gerne sehen. Also, hinterlasst bitte eine Link im Kommentarfeld. 

Linked to The Magic Onions

Raising Memories