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JoJo
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| Posted: July 09 2007 at 7:09pm | IP Logged
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I love this thread too.
And it made me think why I love Montessori's approach in this area. One of the things that really made me think was reading that her approach was about "peace education".
So rather than just looking at the differences in our cultures, and picking out the most obvious ones to distinguish the continents etc without explaining why, Montessori gently explains why there are those differences and the underlying reasons for them.
I believe that it starts with "the fundamental needs of man". And then, once children understand the physical aspects of the country / continents, then they can start to understand the why's behind the foods cultivated / cuisine, customs, type of clothing worn, types of homes built - all these things depend on what is /was available to people at that place/time.
And this is so beautiful - that because we are all teaching our children about the "why's" of cultural differences, with hope they will grow up with more love and understanding for everyone around the world.
Just as an aside - there is a lovely picture book by an Australian author Mem Fox called "Whoever You Are" - definitely worth having in your home library. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Whoever-You-Reading-Rainbow-Book/dp/01 52164065
Jo
Mum of 4 (13 to 0)
PS Lori, if you are reading this, perhaps you might be able to shed a little more light for us about about peace education, and about introducing the 'fundamemental needs of man' - I am sure everyone would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. You are always so inspiring.
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Eleanor
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Jo, do you think we could start another thread on this?
It's very timely for us, as my husband and I have been discussing the pros and cons of using the Montessori curriculum -- vs. more of a classical style -- as the backbone of our children's elementary education. More than simply "manipulatives" vs. "books," it seems to come down to a choice of philosophical approaches: "The Fundamental Needs of Man" on one hand, and "The Western Tradition" on the other. As Catholics, we value both of these perspectives, and believe that they're both much needed in today's world. But which (if either!) is the most suitable framework for the education of 6-12 year old children?
I think it would be wonderful if we could discuss the distinctive features of the Montessori elementary curriculum in depth, without having any risk of interrupting the sharing of ideas for continent boxes.
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lapazfarm
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Eleanor wrote:
Jo, do you think we could start another thread on this?
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Done!
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Theresa
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Kristin
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This thread is awesome! I was at Michael's the other day looking at boxes to use for continent boxes and found myself asking (myself) questions about what exactly would go inside of them and how they would be used! 
I saw some square boxes I really liked, but I wondered if they would not be big enough. I think they were about 8" x 8". I know some of you have purchased your continent boxes at Michael's. What size were they? TIA for your help!
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Mackfam
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Kristin, the boxes I got from Michael's are 7"x7"x2 1/2"Deep. Initially, I wanted them to be bigger, but I wanted the kids to be able to see the labeled front of each continent box without having to shift boxes around. My thought was that most of the items in the boxes would be nomenclature cards anyway, so I was hoping the small size would do. Also, my boxes were on clearance  so that was the deciding factor. I siezed the moment!
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Kristin
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Erin said:
"Jo I highly recommend Global Art bu MaryAnn Kohl. It has activities, projects and inventions from all around the world. It really is a worthwhile investment. I just did a quick search on Amazon and couldn't find it, however contact Anna at Fountain Resources if anyone can track down books it is Anna I got mine from her for $29 Aus."
I have had my eye on this book in the Montessori Services catalog, page 56. I'm glad to hear it so highly recommended! They sell it for $16.95. HTH
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SuzanneG
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Kristin wrote:
| "Jo I highly recommend Global Art book by MaryAnn Kohl. |
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Good recommendation! I love all of MaryAnn Kohl's art books. They are quite pricey, so I've only purchased one, but can get the others at our library and generally keep them for a long time.
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Kristin
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| Posted: July 11 2007 at 4:33pm | IP Logged
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Thought I would link to Theresa's original post on this topic in case that hasn't been done yet!
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Donna Marie
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I have like 2 seconds but wanted to drop this in for thought for items in the boxes...if I am repeating anything already written, please forgive me..this is just a bunch of notes I have jotted down for this activity that I have not gotten to yet...it is kinda rough, but many of my best ideas start out this way ...
....what about holy cards or medals of the saints? They make a good geography lesson and their stories are very telling of the places they have lived...even little models of their symbols...so why not represent them in the boxes too? It would be so nice to place the holy cards of them on a continent map...so they can see where St. Francis came from and see his relation to the world too!
Have the kids add to the box some sculpey figures of monuments from around the world too...like a roman arch or something like that...read a book, find a new monument or such to add, create it somehow and add it to the collection...just keep adding...or you could always try a garage sale scavenger hunt 
how about recipe cards of different foods or snacks to make?
Craft cards for a native craft (ie Mexican eye of God...and a snack card with the recipe for Mexican hot chocolate?)
In my folder for Scotland, I have a plaid matching fabric activity....fun for the little ones
We have a purple velvet draw string bag(someone had it from a bottle of liquor) that the kids think is extra fancy and in it we have a sampling of the coins from many lands. This is cool to bring out when you have adult company to show and tell too..stretching the lesson!
Include travel brochures! It is amazing the things they have pictured in them and many times they include maps, national costumes and monuments!
Ck out your local library for National Geographic discards...they are a great source for pics...I got a HUGE pile for a $1. donation...not bad eh?
When I have TIME...hopefully tonight, I will go up into my files and tell you what else I have up there. I have some continent files from a Montessori school that I got a few years ago on ebay... One thing I remember had some great pics of homes in England mounted on the same color poster board...it included definitions, labels and cards of like a 5x7 size. My kids LOVED this. Heck, I did too...We were just reading a story with the older ones that took place in England...it was a great go-along!
We have kinda unit studied around the world before like this and I made them a cute passport thingy and they got a stamp for it when we finished each country.
I have to say that these kind of collections of things really ends up being great discussion starters for later studies. The little ones love what is in the folders and boxes and the older ones love to share what knowledge they have gained from further explorations...so nice to see!
What are your thoughts? ideas?
Time to bathe the 2yo again! How many baths do I need to give this child in one day??
God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc 
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Donna Marie from NJ
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earthmaven
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I love the idea of making passports to stamp (and any delays for me to process them are still nothing compared to the US gov't!) I could really see my children getting excited about the idea. In fact, I think we got some HighLights magazine promotion that included country stickers...I KNEW I saved them for something!
And thanks for the tip on asking about library discards of National Geographic...I'd been scouring Craigslist, but people want quite a bit of money for those!
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Donna Marie
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earthmaven wrote:
And thanks for the tip on asking about library discards of National Geographic...I'd been scouring Craigslist, but people want quite a bit of money for those! |
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I am glad you like the idea!
Try freecycle.org and you would be surprised what you will find there for FREE!
God love you,
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc
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Finding Elegant Simplicity
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Meredith
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More great ideas DonnaMarie and earthmaven!! It's great to brainstorm here together
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Meredith
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lapazfarm
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I am loving all the creative ideas!
I just cam from a thrift store and bought (for 25 cents) a book "Time:Great People of the 20th century". It has wonderful portrait photos of famous people that I am going to cut out and laminate to put in the boxes. This will add a bit of interest for older ds.
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lapazfarm
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This won't go in the box, but here is a great website to use as an extension. It has a huge collection of 360 degree panoramas from famous landmarks all over the world!famous landmarks
Enjoy!
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Theresa
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Meredith
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Another wonderful item shared, thanks so much Theresa, this is a keeper for sure!! Love it!
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CatholicMommy
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I am writing down all the ideas from this thread as we further develop our own boxes (drawers in our case) - I'm putting things together as I come across them during our organizing (which it seems everyone is doing!) and packing, so it's all supposedly together when we unpack...
One item I found in a pile of stuff I forgot we had: Activity Atlas by Sally Hewitt. I have a copy someone gave me, so without all the little extras: passport, 10 country postcards, stickers, etc. The maps in the book are beautiful, with a bit of information about each region.
I see Amazon only has this same edition (no updates, no picture). I think this book would be an excellent addition to our geography/culture activities; I would so love to have the pieces that came with it...
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saintanneshs
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Oh so many great ideas! Thank you everyone for sharing!! 
I spent the other night in town looking for small items to fill our geography boxes, many of the things that have been mentioned and here's a few more that I found online and are inexpensive (a big plus for me!):
...like Meredith, I have mostly little guys coming up and they are not doll-lovers so the little dolls are out, BUT...Dover Publications has little sticker books of dolls from other countries (LOADS of them) for only 1.50 each. I got lots and still had a tiny bill due!
...from the same site above, I ordered 2 mini-booklets each of some of the "Learning About" series like, Learning About African Animals, Learning About Sea Animals, etc. I'm planning to make these into laminated nomenclature cards. They're only $1.50 each as well and it's one less thing I have to do (to look for images for cards). There are colored stickers and about a paragraph of info on each page of the mini-booklet. Not much but just enough for us.
and Catholic World Mission's Glory Stories are excellent! I can personally vouch for their quality as some of the audio recordings have even brought me to tears, they're so moving!! I ordered a bunch for the kids to listen to during our busy summer mornings, but I think they'll make a great addition to our continent boxes, especially since they focus on the lives of saints from different continents and countries!
Keep the ideas rolling, ladies!!
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WOW, more great ideas Kristine!! Love the Dover stuff, and especially the price Thank you so much for linking, it's hard to remember ALL the ideas, so it's nice to have this all in one great place
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Land O' Cotton
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Good morning!
I just returned from a quick trip to Big Lots (white cardstock for $2/pkg--yeah!), and I saw some neat puzzles made by National Geographic. They were 100 piece puzzles for $1, and the few I looked at were landmarks such as Eiffel Tower in Paris, Easter Island megaliths (or statues?), and the Great Sphinx in Cairo, Egypt. I think the one for USA was a rocket launch (I think) at Cape Canaveral. For a buck, they seemed a nice addition, but I have no idea how Montessori-ish they are.
Another thought I had are some little books that I find at thrift stores that were a giveaway with kid's meals at Chic-fil-A. They are called "A Visit to..." and there are six titles in the series. They are: Australia, China, France, Kenya, Mexico, and Russia/Ukrane. These are Golden Look-Look Books from a series called "Friends Everywhere". If you can find them at the thrifts, they're kind of nice.
Oh, I don't know if you want to include books or not, but I found the neatest little story books with beautiful pictures awhile back at Salvation Army. They are a set called "See How It's Made" by Modern Curriculum Press. The books that could be interesting additions are Rubber, The Rice Farmer, and Palm Oil, and The Bar of Chocolate. These are really like pamphlets, and very thin.
Hope some of this helps!
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lapazfarm
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Those are all great ideas!
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Theresa
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Geography - Continent boxes
