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SeaStar
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| Posted: Oct 31 2011 at 11:26am | IP Logged
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yeah... as in, we rarely visit them these days (or the past three years).
I have a little geography center center set up with a map stand and several Montessori maps. Mostly they gather dust. Every 6-8 months my dd takes out one and works with it.
Now, I have tried to incorporate these maps more often into our school work, but mostly I just get frustrated with all the pieces and am not eager to do it again.
Am I alone in this? My dc have never showed a particular desire to create their own maps using these map puzzles. OTOH, they love to look at the giant world map we have mounted and laminated on a project board.
So I'm reevaluating... what stays, and what goes...
any thoughts?
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Oct 31 2011 at 4:19pm | IP Logged
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We still use ours, though not as much now since my two older children have learned all the countries and continents and states. My younger two are coming up though so I imagine we'll be using them more frequently again soon.
My olders do still go to them to use them to trace the outline of a country/group of countries for projects and my dd recently grabbed Florida out of the cabinet to use the outline for her essay on native American Indians of Florida.
Other ideas for using these maps:
** Label the puzzle-piece-countries of a continent (simple tape and Sharpie) and toss them in a basket (you can do this with the states, too). Invite the kids to put them together on the floor, or on top of a control map, or even on the wooden puzzle board for an afternoon activity instead of map quiz/geography time. Sometimes a simple change in presentation rejuvenates interest.
** Timed geography map quizzes. We do mapwork using an Atlas and outline maps, but on Fridays I sometimes pull out the continent, grab all the pieces (countries) and time the kids to see how long it takes them to put them all back in the puzzle in order. This works well when working on pronunciation of the countries - some of them are REALLY hard for the kids to learn and they NEED TO HEAR someone say it. So, as they put the piece in they have to say the name, and I correct mispronunciations. This also works really well for children that are struggling writers - instead of really struggling through writing the long and arduous names of some countries, they can say the name and move the piece. This task really worked well with my fine motor delayed child.
** Have a state or country that is REALLY STUMPING a child? I take the Montessori map piece and tape it to the wall in front of their desk (double sided tape...this works as long as it isn't a big country). After they stare at it for a week they tend to remember that country! 
** Make a states or country mini book, tracing the outline of one state/country per page, and adding stickers or illustrations or magazine clippings of flora/fauna from that region. This works well with the states and doing state birds, flowers, etc.
** Mix up two continents worth of countries in a big basket and see if the kids can identify the different countries and the continents on which they're located.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Aagot
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| Posted: Nov 01 2011 at 8:31pm | IP Logged
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Hi Jen,
If you were to start over with homeschooling tomorrow, would you buy the map puzzles again? I looked at your link to them on your blog and am very tempted although the price is a little intimidating. My oldest is in 6th and the youngest is 3, so I would probably get my money's worth. What do you think?
Aagot
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Nov 04 2011 at 9:33am | IP Logged
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As my son got older, he stopped doing them as puzzles. He now traces specific pieces and labels them - he is starting to add more information and the other day added the drawing of that country's flag to the same piece of paper. Technically, they are not designed for use by elementary children, so I would not recommend buying them *for* elementary children; however, if you have them, you can extend their use.
Creating a map (other than the world map) is tedious. I recently re-created our control maps - it takes a long time, I'm not done and even though my son and my co-op children have seen me do it, they have NO interest in making the maps themselves (except the world map). They do like putting together a few of the pieces (from a particular region of the continent). They do use the control maps - but just as controls :)
And if they have a smaller outline map, they will color in the same colors and label the countries/states that way.
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Garden of Francis
HS Elementary Montessori Training
Montessori Nuggets
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Aagot
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| Posted: Nov 04 2011 at 9:37am | IP Logged
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Thanks that helps!
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Nov 04 2011 at 9:44am | IP Logged
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Aagot wrote:
Hi Jen,
If you were to start over with homeschooling tomorrow, would you buy the map puzzles again? I looked at your link to them on your blog and am very tempted although the price is a little intimidating. My oldest is in 6th and the youngest is 3, so I would probably get my money's worth. What do you think?
Aagot |
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These kind of questions make me a little itchy. Mostly because I'm really uncomfortable telling other families to purchase this or that...especially bigger ticket items like the Montessori maps. I'd much rather just review something, tell you how we use it, and then let you consider that review, weighing it with other family factors and considerations.
I like our maps and we do use them. Would I buy them again? I don't know. That decision is affected by many different variables all present at the time I'm considering a tool purchase and I would have to consider anew....but would I choose them over books? No. Would I purchase them if they took me outside of our family budget? No. Are they great tools for learning geography? Yes. Do they work as a tool for non-writing students that need to work on that pincer/fine motor skill? Yes. Can their usefulness be extended? Yes. But they do have a finite area of usefulness, so that needs to be considered. Do they take up a significant amount of footprint in your space? Yes. Do consider that! These are not small maps!
I hope that's enough so that you can consider this tool in light of your own family circumstances and needs! 
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Nov 04 2011 at 1:04pm | IP Logged
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We have used ours well over the years, and I think it was a good investment. Even though my kids are older now,the maps still tend to get used off and on and luckily are one of those items that can be extended to uses way beyond the original intent. Just yesterday my dd (10) used one of the control maps on our new light table to trace a map of North America for a map-making project she is doing. I can see her doing the same as we cover each continent this year.
They do take up a good deal of floor space, but honestly I really like the way the cabinet looks in our living room with a globe on top, and have gotten so many compliments on it.
Could we have gotten by without them? Certainly. Have they blessed us by being useful and beautiful? Yes.
Like Jen says, it all depends on your budget and needs.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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ShannonJ
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| Posted: Nov 04 2011 at 4:03pm | IP Logged
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I have loved the idea of having these map puzzles in our home since my daughter attended a lovely Montessori preschool. Every year I nearly buy them. Then I don't. As Jen says, they do take up a large portion of your floor space and we move sooo much. And really when it comes down to it, I would rather spend the money on books. So each year as my planning comes to an end I draw the curtain on the idea of purchasing them.
I have seen the great strides that we can make using blank outline maps and labeling countries in pencil. The kids love making the maps beautiful. They also love to use tracing paper and the old light table that somehow I ended up with for tracing(I think it is an old negative table my father had when he was into photography).
I still love the *idea* of a beautiful rack of Montessori maps in our house, but practically it just wouldn't work for us.
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~Shannon
Mom of dd 12, ds 9, & dd 5
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SeaStar
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| Posted: Nov 05 2011 at 7:12am | IP Logged
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I thank you all for sharing your thoughts. My dd was the one who really worked with these maps when she was younger.... now, not so much.
My ds never really liked working with them. He would do an activity if i presented it, but he never picked this work to do on his own. Maybe the size or all the tons of little pieces or having to work with the control map put him off. I'm not sure.
I was very excited when I bought them, but probably I would not buy them again. My dc enjoy smaller wooden maps we have of the US, etc. I might try to extend the life of my MM by some of the activities you all have mentioned... I'll see how it goes. Thanks again!
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Revisiting my Montessori Maps
