Will is 3 years old, and while he’s been in our at-home Montessori classroom since he was 18 months old, he’s really just now getting into a lot of the children’s house works. I shared the curriculum I’m using with G this year, so now I thought I’d share a bit of what work William is enjoying currently.
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Size Sorting
This size sorting kit, which was passed down to us, has been a fabulous surprise. It’s really well thought through, and makes it easy for him to sort objects by size. Each object comes in 3 different sizes, and there are 3 different sized pieces of felt for them to be placed on: small, medium, and large. It’s flexible, so you could only do small and large if you wanted. You could definitely DIY a work like this, but if you wanted to purchase, this is the one we have.
Sandpaper Letters
I’m really excited that William is finally ready to start learning his sounds. Maria Montessori created sandpaper letters to use while teaching sounds, so that the child would have a tactile experience. As we introduce the sounds, we say them and trace them, then encourage the child to do the same. Learning sounds instead of letter names makes learning to read easier down the road.
There are so many extensions you can use with the sandpaper letters, we play games with them, and I ask him to put different sounds in different parts of the room and then find them again. Making the sound in a tray of sand is always a hit. We brainstorm words that start with that sound. Yesterday I drew Will a bubble letter M, and had him practice his gluing by filling in the shape of the letter with yellow and blue pieces of paper.
We have this set of D’Nealian letters, but if you want regular print, there are also several options. This set from Didex is small, but well made. This is a larger set of regular print. I personally like larger sets because it makes it easier for a child to trace. If you go searching for sandpaper letters online, you’ll see huge variations in price. What I’ve found is that the lower the price, the more likely the sandpaper used is going to be grainy and rub off quickly.
Hanging Bead Stair
I’ll admit that this is one of my very favorite counting works. I love it for so many reasons- it’s simple, and self-correcting, requires concentration since there are multiple steps to the process, and works on fine motor skills as well as one-to-one counting.
William is very proud to be ready for this work. He’s been watching G and his cousins use it for years, anxiously waiting to be told he was ready for his lesson.
Book of Maps
Along with our geography study this year, we purchased an atlas, and William loves pouring over it, learning about different countries, and seeing what he recognizes. I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s been so much fun to explore as a family.
If you’re interested in more Montessori works our family enjoys, check out this post from the archives for Charlotte’s favorite!
