Montessori Pick of the Day

Where in the World

This book has complete lessons, vocabulary and resources about maps, grids, longitude and latitude for older elementary children..

Carbon Paper & Tracing

This is giving away my age. I used carbon paper when typing my papers in college. It was the only way I could make an extra copy of my work.

Carbon paper is very useful for other things too. You can use it for tracing designs and patterns for handwork, art designs, banners and wall paintings.

Bedtime in Space

My children loved using a portable planetarium theater to study space at bedtime. They chose this instead of a bedtime story.
Studying stars and constellations at night is so relaxing. Sweet Dreams!

Advanced Skywatching

Finding a good backyard guide to skywatching can be found on the internet or at the library. I own Advanced Skywatcing, the backyard astronomer's guide to starhopping and exploring the universe. It has lots of ideas that you can do just using a journal and binoculars.

Favorite Constellation Book

It's a classic, Find the Constellations, by H.A. Rey. It is still a favorite of mine.  My children loved this book from the time they were preschoolers. I'm sure you can even find it at you local library. Also, Rey's series about Curious Gorge are precious and funny.

Plasticine Clay

Plasticine clay is used in Montessori classrooms. It doesn't dry out, it has a variety of colors and can be used for art, play and educational learning. You can buy kits or tubs of plasticine.

 

Bat House

Watching bats leaving their bat house at sunset is a wonderful opportunity to study their hunting habits. Bats exist almost everywhere in the world.

Here is the bat house we use,

Water & Land Globe

Montessori introduces concepts of geology with a globe. A simple globe that shows the shape of the earth, the continents and water are easy for even preschool children to understand.

Here's an idea of a globe you can use for introducing geography:

This Montessori newsletter has free printouts of landform cards.