Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Free Montessori Video Lectures

Doing things the Montessori way isn't always cheap or easy.  When I find free resources I can't help but smile!  I haven't prowled all the way through these lectures yet, but there are a lot available.  Margaret Homfray was a colleague of Maria Montessori, and I find it fascinating to hear her speak and watch her hands.  I'm sure I'll be viewing a lot of these over the summer as I give myself a self-guided refresher course  :)

Monday, April 4, 2011

Listen to this!

Have you heard of Storynory? It is a collection of free downloadble stories! You know they must be good because the site is sponsored by CGMS (Center for Guided Montessori Studies).

I'm finding myself doing more and more reading aloud in the classroom.  I like reading a story early in the work cycle to help set the tone for the day and as a way to bring our current theme study to life (not to mention practicing listening and group-activity skills).  We have been reading chapter books in the afternoon and it seems to help transition the kids from high-action recesses to concentrated classroom work.  With Storynory they'll have a chance to use their imaginations even more as there are no pictures to go along.

Now, to figure out how to play them in my technology-free classroom.......


Couple Listening to Radio in Living Room




Sunday, April 3, 2011

Pardon the interruption

Yes, I know I haven't posted in some time.  I was frustrated because whenever I pasted HTML code into the post, the code would show but not the image. 

I'm happy to report that the problem was duly researched and solved!  Turns out that  "show HTML code literally" was selected in my post options.  Now it is set to "interpret HTML" so all systems are tickety-boo and set to go.

To celebrate this success, I'm leaving you with a gratuitously lovely image.

Happy April!


April Showers