Can I tell you how excited I am to take off on our trip around the world at Serendipity? I love the collaborative process of working with such gifted women and I am thrilled with the results. Our school year is going to be so rich! I can't wait to unpack the African treasure chest together and see what we find. I hope you all will join us.
For those of you beginning to flesh out the details and trying to get a vision for how this could work in your home, you can see my first attempt at laying out a week in my Google calendar in .pdf form here: Download Calendar_2009-05-10_2009-05-17. There are already some things I want need to work on to get this plan exactly where I need it to be, but it's a good start.
I'm beginning to put together our continent boxes too. I'm using black photo boxes like these for this project. I'll back on outline map of the continent in colored card stock and decoupage it to the top, then slide a same-colored label on the front of the box. The montessori downloads for that continent will get backed in the same color card stock before laminating and then placed in index card files. I'm going to have to gather all my other items before I decide how exactly I'll keep them in the box and color code, so I'll give you a more detailed run down when the Africa box is ready to go. If you need ideas for how this concept works, there is years worth of conversation and ideas logged at 4Real plus lots of links to really great examples.
This little table that I showed you in another post will become the montessori geography center. I'm going to hang some art and photos low on the walls just above the table, then place a globe and the box for the continent that we are studying on top. The small drawer will hold the appropriate puzzle map. On the shelf underneath, I will place work trays similar to these with the push pin tools and a three part card tray. During the montessori work block I have scheduled in the week, I'll have one child take the three part card work from the continent and the tray and bring it to the big table to work. Another child will stay stationed here at the small table where to do map work. A third child can take the rest of the contents of the box and the work tray to the large table and explore freely. And finally, there'll be the option of geography computer games for yet another option. As each child finished his work in one area, he can swap stations with someone else or move on to the open station at the time. Our beeswax, wooden figures, and play silks will be available for anyone who is waiting for an open station. Those can be used to sculpt the animals in the box, to imitate cultural dress styles, and to be painted or decorated like children from the continent we are studying. Little ones will be allowed to explore the continent box and puzzle maps when older kids are done and to use the art supplies with the help of an older brother. In addition, they will be encouraged to complete the work in their own montessori baskets during this time.
I hope that gives you an idea of how one component of this study can look in your home. I hope to add posts that detail some of our other learning blocks too, but they'll probably have to wait a while...the baby clock is in its final hours!
