Montessori Pick of the Day

Sidewalk Chalk

Sidewalk chalk is easily purchased at your local box or dollar store. Your children will have hours of creative fun using it in a safe place, such as your driveway, patio or sidewalk, as a large canvas. You can make a hopscotch and four square ball area for games. Draw shapes, numbers and letters. Beautiful pictures are fun too!

2 Library Picks

Even though it is dry in the high desert where I live you can find slugs under moist, rotting vegetation. Slugs are snails without a shell. I found these two library books about snails that are informative and easy to understand for your young readers and listeners.

Snails by Monica Hughes is easy to read, but it is filled with wonderful pictures and good information about snails and slugs.

Snails are part of the Mollusk family. About Mollusks A Guide for Children by Cathryn Sill is a great overview of Mollusks that include the land snail. John Sill has illustrated each page with beautiful life-like creatures. It has afterword of each illustration plate with more written information.

How to Make a Sock Puppet

It's time to find those odd socks and make sock puppets. Here are some links for unique ideas and directions for making puppets. Luv this giraffe puppet idea!

Algebra and Quantity

I used to spend hours with my mother's cooking school scale. It was a great way to figure out what items weighed the same, regardless of their size and shape.

I like this wooden scale. You could use other small items to weigh, such as coins or buttons. Make the scales balance and it is the first step in doing an algebra equation.

Earth cycles

Earth Cycles by Michael Ross is a fabulous book. I has an overview of the cycles of the earth and moon. Day cycles, season cycles, moon cycles and year facts put everything into an easy to understand perspective.

I checked a copy out at the local library.

Moon Books

Here are some great books I checked out from the library.

This book is simply written and easy to understand.

It shows where the moon is located with basic facts about the moon and its surface.

The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons has a wealth of information and wonderful illustrations. It's so well done and easy to understand.

Dwarf Planets

What is a dwarf planet?  Find out here!

I found these books at my local library. This first one is an easy reader.

This book is for older elementary to middle school with a complete overview of Pluto in our solar system and New Horizons spacecraft's trip to this far away dwarf planet.