Nature Study in our Backyard

I love living by the foothills! There is so much more wildlife here than where I grew up only 15 minutes away.  Brush Rabbits, woodpeckers, hawks, lizards, and more are seen daily. It makes it very easy to do Nature Study when nature comes right to you!

 
This furry cutie visits us morning and evening for his favorite clover leaves. I love seeing the kids rush to get their field guides in order to identify our different visitors.

The same pair of Mourning Doves come back every spring around May to rebuild their nest, lay their eggs and raise their young.  We have had 2 different broods hatch this season.

Ok, I'll be honest. This Painted Lady butterfly didn't show up on it's own.  We hatched and raised them. I love this picture though. How cool that the butterflies were willing to land on the children's hands.

On Our Shelves in August...

Hot August days seem like a great time for ice cream! So my theme this month for our sensory tub was...Ice Cream!  The kids had a great time serving 'sundaes', and the scoop and puffs are a good transfering activity for the little ones.

To keep with the ice cream theme, I made some Neopolitan scented playdough. It smelled so yummy! Expecially the chocolate!  The kids have been having a blast with this as well.

Homemade playdough is so much better than store bought! It can seem so much more realistic than the purchased kind.  Plus, some kids hate the smell and get headaches from it.  I like to make up a new batch of themed play dough every month.  That seems to be how long it keeps and the kids anticipate the new batch. :) 

Our Learn and Play Room

I was hesitant to call it a designated "classroom" because I don't want the kids to become conditioned to only learning in specific areas and at specific times. I've heard so many children say that they don't want to do any 'learning' or 'thinking' when they are outside of school hours, the school campus, vacation, etc.
I believe that learning can and should happen naturally throughout the day no matter where they are and no matter if the bell has already rung or not rung yet, it is a weekend, they are on vacation...

Here are some pictures to give you a 360 degree view.  This is the wall that has our reading area.

Reading is a BIG part of our day. Did you know that the single best thing you can do to raise a great and confident reader is to read aloud to them everyday?  You don't need a fancy TV program, expensive reading coaches, or magic formulas.  Giving them exposure to the written word Everyday will do wonders. The bottom bookshelves are low enough for the littlest ones to be able to have them at eye level and within their reach. And having the books face out interests them a lot more than just seeing a spine.

We also have a computer station for 3. 

 Strict Montessori probably wouldn't have computers in the classroom.  That being said, Dr. Maria Montessori did not have computers in her day, and we believe that with limits, computers are beneficial.  They are such a big part of our lives nowadays, it would be disadvantageous to not be computer savvy.  I've also seen computers help a lot with creative writilng. If kids are young when learning to type, they will be much more willing to 'write' longer passages when doing writing assignments since typing is not as tiring on their little hands.

This corner shows some our our shelving areas for our learning materials. Right now there are mostly toys on them since we are on our summer break so they will look different in a few weeks.

This corner shows the TV and some of our storage for learning materials. Most of the materials are stored elsewhere so that the height of the boxes doesn't become a safety hazard! :)