| Author | |
Katie
Forum Pro
Joined: March 11 2005
Location: Suriname
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 271
|
| Posted: Nov 11 2005 at 12:48am | IP Logged
|
 |
|
Tina and Sarah,
Good points about the storage. I do have mostly open shelving, and the things I don't mind my baby (18 months) getting into I have down low. Other baskets full of shells, glass pebbles (for counting and scooping), bead rods, etc. I keep up high. When I order this package I will have additional shelves built to accommodate everything. I would rather have the stuff available to use and teach the kids how to put it back after they're done, than keep it in a cupboard and never use it. I recently set out all the craft supplies in baskets on a "craft cart" (the changing table - great idea if you have one like us that was never once used for changing a baby!!). I am amazed at the creativity of my kids just having the stuff in view and accessible.
I am unbelievably blessed in a couple of areas. Firstly, I have an 18 month old who isn't into everything. I've had the other kind, too, and it would be hard to to what I'm planning with a very busy baby.
Secondly we have very few other toys, and these are kept upstairs for the ost part. Ds (8) has a tub of legos and a tub of bionicles, and a small drawer of some other miscellaneous bits and bobs. The girls (4 and 6) have a tub of soft toys, and a shelf with a few toys on it, plus a drawer of dress up clothes. Then I have a basket of toys suitable for a baby or toddler. We have a shelf of games and a basket of puzzles. In addition, we have a large collection of wooden toys and people and a wooden dolls house that are kept and played with downstairs, but I love them so don't mind looking at them. 
I really try and keep the house clutter free, and any time it starts taking me a couple of hours to do a "quick tidy round" I know that it's time to go through the rooms and purge and pare down. It was a huge eye opener for me when we moved here and lived for a month before our freight arrived. The house was sooooo easy to keep clean, in spite of being significantly larger than the one-bedroom "house" we lived in in Alaska with thre young children.
This will be a lot of additional "stuff" in the house, and I may keep some in storage until it comes up on the curriculum guide, so that it is not overwhelming, and anything "new" is always more appealing.
Tina, you know my kids are the same with the destruction. It really bothers me as I was a "pens back in the case in rainbow order" kind of girl. The funny thing is, because I love all these Montessori materials, I really care for them, and enjoy tidying them, and I think it rubs off on the kids, because they really do respect them more than anything else we've brought into the house. I have to remind them sometimes, but I'm pretty strict about using them as intended. You know, the laces for the lacing beads are for that purpose only, and are not be used as leashes for the stuffed animals. I try and enforce the one thing out at a time rule, but with four kids that's still a potential mess. I've never been this strict about their other toys.
Finally, and this is the clincher for me, I live in a third world country and have full time help  around the house with cooking, cleaning, shopping, and yes, even changing an emergency poopie diaper if I'm up to my ears in a craft project or something. I know how blessed I am, and have told dh that I'm never leaving because I don't know how I'll ever go back to doing it all myself. It would be hard to do it here without the help - you can't just run to Safeway when you run out of milk - and we have to entertain a lot. It does make homeschooling with a baby a more viable option, though.
So I guess what I'm saying is move to Georgia!  
__________________
Mother of 5 in South America. No 6 due in April.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Sarah
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 17 2005
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1624
|
| Posted: Nov 11 2005 at 8:25am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I'm sending my kids to your school! That's great. I was thinking your were writing from the state of Georgia.  Its neat to have the help. We don't have that same opportunity here because there are McDonald/ Walmart type jobs that people would rather work at. Thanks for replying. I'm going to have my ds 9 look up your location on our atlas (geography bee prep )Its so neat to talk to others living in another country. . . We just found you---you live by the Black Sea. Sorry to veer off the topic.
__________________
Six boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 5, 2 and one girl age 9
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Katie
Forum Pro
Joined: March 11 2005
Location: Suriname
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 271
|
| Posted: Nov 11 2005 at 8:41am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Yes, that's us! It's been a neat experience. Some things are tough to handle, but everything is CHEAP so that is a major compensation. 
__________________
Mother of 5 in South America. No 6 due in April.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Cay Gibson
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 16 2005
Location: Louisiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5193
|
| Posted: Nov 15 2005 at 12:04am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Tina P. wrote:
| A few questions. What did you purchase for the Mustard Seed? |
|
|
The mustard seed was real. Our religious shop had it in a tiny glass-heart on a necklace.
Tina P. wrote:
| and when you say liturgical cloths, are they in the colors for the seasons (red, purple, white, green)? |
|
|
Yes, that's right. There are 4 cloths.
Tina P. wrote:
And I can't find any altar linens at JMJ Publishing online (if it's the same as what you describe...).
|
|
|
I bought them at the JMJ Pub table at our local hs conference, but the cloths might have come from Our Father's House.
HTH.
__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Katie
Forum Pro
Joined: March 11 2005
Location: Suriname
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 271
|
| Posted: Jan 18 2006 at 8:27am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I thought I would post an update now that most of the materials I ordered have arrived. The ed rods, for example, were too big to send through our mail system, bt since I am the proud owner of a very lovely wooden red rod stand, I'm going to have someone make me some. Maybe even dh if I beg hard enough.
I have, for the most part, been very happy with the company I ordered from. Everything arrived unbelievably well packed. I will never have to buy bubble wrap ever again! All the cardboard boxes were extremely sturdy, and each individual shape cutout was wrapped in tissue, then wrapped in foam, then in a box, then bubble wrap....you get the picture! My moveable alphabet arrived with two sets of "k" and no "r", but the customer service has been great and very personal. One item I felt to be of very inferior quality - the flag game - because it was obviously made somewhere where spelling, geography, or indeed knowledge of the English language ae strong suits! Pakistan was called "Palestine", for example. Anyway, they have told me that they are getting new boards and that they will send me one when they get them, and will discontinue sending the ones they have. Everything else is very solid and well-made.
I have all the "stuff" arranged on shelves - a math shelf, language shelf, geography shelf, and a sensorial shelf. So far it has not been too much of a pain to keep in order, and it looks lovely . I want dh to take a picture so I can post it.
In hindsight I might have not bothered ordering some of the sensorial items that are so integral to the traditional Montessori classroom - the sandpaper boards are a good example of something that somehow seems superfluous in a homeschool situation where your children are using their senses all the time. Other materials have really revealed themselves to me, however, beyond what I assumed was their main usage. The pink tower, for example, which is used by all four of my children on completely different levels. The littlest one builds a tower, the older girls use more discernment and link it to other objects and have made observations about the difference in measurements and noticed that the smallest cube was the same as a little white cuisinaire rod. My oldest has used it in terms of volume and multiplication. Now that's cool!
Anyway, not a decision I regret, that is for sure. Although of course now I've seen those lovely Michael Olaf catalogs and would love some of their adorable practical life items. Patience. Katie, all in good time! Thanks again for helping me shop and thinking it all through with me. I did order Moira's albums, and we have started slowly creating an atrium space upstairs, and that has been wonderful, too.
__________________
Mother of 5 in South America. No 6 due in April.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Please help me decide what to do!
