Color Tablets: Box 2

Here's a snapshot of my almost 3 year old son. For purposes of this blog, we'll just call him son #4. He loves working with the color tablets and can't wait to move on to box 3. Even I have trouble distinguishing some of the shades in box 3! The color tablets above were purchased at Montessori Outlet.

I'd love to share more pictures of our children in action and of our Montessori home setup, but it seems I am always having camera issues. Hopefully I can get this resolved soon!

Snapshot! Son #3 & Knobbed Cylinders

This is Son #3 working with the knobbed cylinders. He's 3 going on 4 this month. In observing him, I gather that he definitely enjoys the sensorial and practical life materials at this moment and that is what is developmentally good for him right now. He has asked me to present stuff from the math shelf after seeing brother #1 working with stuff, but I see him using even the "simpler" math materials in more of a "practical life" way.

I'm finding a bit challenging that I have a lower elementary student (my oldest is 6), sharing the classroom space with my primary children. I've arranged the materials on the shelf from the most challenging to easiest, so that the children choose stuff at their "level". However, my 3 year old sees his 6 year old brother working with the golden beads, etc. and will ask to be introduced to the material too. It's a little tricky. If I had a bigger classroom, I'd have a toddler section, primary section, and elementary section. I can't complain though, I'm very blessed to even be able to dedicate one whole room in the house to a classroom!

So, one of the things that has helped with my 3 year old wanting to choose work he is not yet ready for, is figuring out his need. I ask myself, "What is it that attracts him to the elementary work?". If it is sorting, stacking, or counting, etc.. I can then divert his attention to an activity in which he can practice or use those skills. This seems to help. He enjoys repeating the activities a few times, and then chooses something he has already been presented with, or asks me to present something new. I'm planning on either purchasing or looking up some extension work for some of the sensorial materials. The level of satisfaction and concentration he has shown so far, leads me to believe that he will be really engrossed in the extension work.

What do you all do if you have children in the primary (3-6), lower elementary (6-9), and upper elementary (9-12) levels combined? I'd love to hear from you!