Number cards and counters - control of error

Ever notice that there is no built-in control of error for the Number Cards and Counters material? Well, golly gosh, that sounds like an excuse to use some fabric scraps and whip up something fun and funky for the benefit of my pupils! Here's a quick tutorial for y'all.

1.) Photo copy your sandpaper numbers, 0-9.
2.) Cut out each number.

3.) Pick out ten different fabric scraps. You will only need a little patch of each. Lay them out next to each other and fiddle around with the placement - color contrast and print selection are important.
4.) With your iron, apply fusible webbing, paper side up, to the WRONG side of the fabric. Place the copy of the number on the paper side of the webbing, BACKWARDS. Trace around the number with any pen. Cut out the fabric number and peel off the paper backing.5.) Continue making all the numbers, from 1 to 10. (You will not make a separate zero because it's not used in the exercise.) Arrange them on a piece of muslin or other backing fabric. Iron, following the manufacturer's instructions for the fusible webbing. Your number strip will look something like this:
Feel free to leave the project as is and mount it on some cardboard backing, or find a frame. I chose to embroider the edges around each number in order to provide contrast and texture, and to ensure a strong adhesion of the numbers to the background fabric.

UPDATE: Here's a link to a tutorial for the stem stitch, which I used to embroider the edges of my numbers.

Yay for artsy math! Now you have a work of art to hang near the math shelf, and the children have a way to check their own work!

Saturday Song - Green and Speckled Frogs

A Raffi favorite from my own childhood ...
As always, the audio is available in the side bar under "Songs to sing with children."

Start with any number and count down. In the audio file I begin with 5, but feel free to start at 50 if you have a long car ride ahead of you!

Five green and speckled frogs
sat on a speckled log,
eating some most delicious bugs (yum yum!)
One jumped into the pool,
where it was nice and cool.
Then there were four green, speckled frogs.

For hand motions:
"x green and speckled frogs"
Hold up the number of frogs with your fingers and move your hand from side to side.
"sat on a speckled log"
Touch your forearm (the log) with the fingertips of the other hand.
"Eating some most delicious bugs"
Pretend like you're eating.
"One jumped into the pool"
From forearm, the other hand "jumps" off toward the floor.
"Then there were x green speckled frogs."
Hold up hand again with new number of frogs.

Feeling a little tipsy

A few quick, helpful tips ...

#1 - Hot glue gun + bottom of math charts = less slippage and less frustrated children.

Dots of hot glue around the edges of the chart give just enough "tack" to keep it from sliding off to Timbuktu with the littlest bump from a sleeve. And life is SO much better when your blue and red strips are not unwittingly strewn across the floor!

#2 - Round the corners of your cards. This can go for any vocab/reading classification cards that are used frequently in the classroom. Rounding each corner (with scissors after lamination) helps when the children are replacing the cards in their pouch - corners are less likely to get caught and bent in the process.

xo,
Meg

Peacocking About

Allow me this little post to show you some of my recent non-Montessori plumage ....
(Click on photos to enlarge.)
My entry for this contest made using Simplicity pattern 4017 ....
Fruit of an entire weekend spent appliquéing and hand-embroidering.A happy skirt made with Anna Maria Horner's new fabric line, Chocolate Lollipop. Inspired by the book, Sew You. (A MUST READ for those of you interested in learning how to sew your own clothes!)

Isn't my husband such a good sport, getting the cruddy camera to perform for this little photo shoot? What a gem. (The husband, not the camera.) :)

Hope you folks in the US of A have enjoyed your three-day weekend!

xo,
Meg

Saturday Song - Tue Tue

First off on today's blogging agenda, I wanted to address some technical difficulties associated with these song clips. If the clips do not show up in your side bar under the title "Songs to Sing with Children," you are missing a plug-in that you will have to download. It might look like a green puzzle piece when you scroll over the empty space under the title. Click on it and it will guide you through the simple downloading process. If for some reason you are unable to download the plug-in, you can always listen to the files by clicking on the blue "View my Files" box in the side bar. Click once on the icon you want to listen to under "Songs for the Classroom" and the song will play - no need to download it to your computer first. Hope this helps!

And now for the big news ...In honor of the centennial celebration of the town of Creel, we were treated to a wonderful choral concert featuring a very well known children's choir from Morelia (in the south of Mexico.) It was a VERY big deal, as such concerts are rare in our little town in the sticks. We encouraged the parents at my school to bring their children. Many attended, as well as some of my students who graduated last year. Well, you won't believe what happened. The choir did a bit of a 'round the world tour, singing songs from various continents. When the director told us that they were going to sing a song from Africa, one of my students told me "Tue Tue is from Africa!" (Tue Tue is a classroom favorite.) And then the choir started singing Tue Tue!!! Words are not sufficient to describe the excitement and surprise of my students in attendance. Here's a really poor, flash-less photo to prove it:And that wasn't it! They also sang La Bamba, another favorite of my children. Wow. My children ran up to me after the concert and, with beaming little faces, told me "They sang our songs! They sang our song from Africa! And La Bamba! Those our our songs!" I thought to myself ... how interesting that they always refer to the songs as theirs. For me, this just further solidifies my believe in the importance of exposing children to different music from around the world at a tender age. The wonders of the absorbent mind allow the child to internalize everything, from language and song to movements and attitudes, and make it 100% theirs. Music from other lands is no longer strange. If they have the opportunity to try on clothing from other lands, it is no longer strange. Same goes with food. If these cultures are no longer strange, but rather interesting and exciting, so are the people who belong to the cultures. This is how to nurture compassionate, future citizens of the world. I blogged more about this idea here. So get to downloading the world music files if you haven't already. With that, I'll leave you with the song that caused all the uproar among my students - Tue Tue, a nonsense song from Ghana.

Tue tue barima tue tue
Tue tue barima tue tue
Abofroda, ama dawa dawa tue tue
Abofroda, ama dawa dawa tue tue
Barima tue tue .... tue tue.

Consider adding two claps after the first and second lines. This song can also be sung in a round.

Peace,
Meg

Geometry cabinet photo matching

right-angled scalene triangle

oval

circle

heptagon

My wonderful head of school, Adriana, recently put together a set of photo matching cards for the geometry cabinet. The idea is to have several photos of each geometric figure in the cabinet, so you can rotate them to keep it challenging. On a large rug, lay out the cards right-side down, with enough space beneath each row to accommodate the inset. Turn over the first card and go find the corresponding inset in the cabinet. Easy peasy. (Giving the presentation, at least!)

Along with the photos compiled by Adriana, I have been searching high and low on my favorite stock photo site and Flickr. I have made available to you all of the photo files I have found thus far. (Click on blue box.net "view my files" button in the side bar. They are in folders "Geometry Cabinet Matching Cards and Geo cab photos.) Consider it a base set ... I plan on adding to it whenever I see a nonagon, more decagons, etc. Another suggestion is to cut out photos from magazines when you happen upon that cherished nonagon!

Hope you and your children enjoy!

Meg

You never know exactly what we want

My husband grew up in an Irish-American household. Whenever any of his relatives from Ireland visited, he was always perplexed by their habits. Apparently, whenever offered anything, especially food, they vehemently refused. After several attempts at serving them, the food was finally plopped on their plates and they went about eating it voraciously!

Yesterday he made me laugh by saying that "Montessori teachers are like Irish house guests. You never know exactly what they want." He then continued, "I never know when to throw something away ... now I always have to think ... could this be made into something useful for the classroom?"

Good boy. It is true that we Montessorians have a penchant for jumping up and down at the sight of some seemingly useless object. For example, today I just about shrieked with giddy-ness when I saw these treble clef, wrought iron napkin holders at the tiny general store in Creel.

I bought three! Lord knows I have a ton of music materials to display on my shelves.

The Montessori Mantra:

Aprons,
small pitchers
and cards,
Oh My!

The Song Part 3 - Doña Cigueña

Last weekend I was traveling, and yesterday I was, well, I guess I just forgot! So here you have it ... another song to sing with your children. The audio file is available in the side bar - just click once on the title to listen.

Pssst! Don't forget to sign up for the Miniature Object Swap by the end of today!


Doña Cigueña, pico colorado,
una patita se ha quebrado.
Por eso camino con mucho cuidado,
un pie al suelo y el otro levantado.

Translation:
Madame Stork, colorful beak,
she has broken a leg.
She follows this path with much care,
one foot on the ground and the other raised.

Obviously the translation is not so catchy. This song is an "active" one. I call on a child, and then begin singing the song. While I'm singing, the child hops on one foot behind the children seated in a circle, and when the song is finished, he returns to his spot. I usually call on three or so children in one sitting, then move on to the next song. This way, they know that not everyone will get a turn. Although the song is cute, I can't imagine repeating it upwards of twenty times!

By the way, it would be prudent to have a grace and courtesy lesson on how to hop on one foot around the group! This is a fun lesson to give.

Mexico Findings and Miniature Object Swap

We're back from our whirlwind trip to Mexico City. Hope you enjoyed the pics! Here's a few classroom goods that I picked up at various markets around the city. If you ever find yourself in the there, be sure to check out the Coyoacan and Lagunilla markets on Saturdays and Sundays.Click on the picture to enlarge. I found some great children's outfits, along with THE BEST child-sized sombrero, for my continent-classified clothing/dress up. The girl's dress is hand-embroidered in typical southern Mexico style. And a mini woven poncho for boys! Other knick-knacks are: two sets of small pitchers for pouring exercises, a hand-painted seed shaker (traditional percussion instrument,) a blue tile tray and matching set of small bowls for spooning, a collection of miniature food made from painted clay for use in sound games, a few baskets, an Aztec clay flute from Teotihuacan, a few small spoons, and a traditional doll for the North America continent box.

We zoomed around at lightening speed through the markets and historic sites ... not to mention trying to keep up with the night life of our single friends! At 26, Patrick and I are old and married, and not used to crazy dancing. I think I'll spend the next few days sleeping. Ha! If only. I have parent/teacher conferences in the afternoons until the end of May. Material making is going tortoise-speed.

In the meantime, I thought I'd organize another swap. Our last swap is over -- all of the packages have been mailed off. Please allow 4-6 weeks delivery time, as your package might be arriving from overseas. Thanks to all who participated, and I hope you enjoy your ethnic children's clothing!

The theme for this swap will be Miniature Objects for Sound Analysis.

Here are the rules of engagement:

1.) Each participant needs to email me by Sunday, May 20 at montessorirevolution(at)gmail(dot)com and give me the following information:
a.) the mailing address where you wish to receive your package. This could be your home address, your school's, or a post office box.

2.) By Tuesday, May 22, you will receive an email from me letting you know where you will be sending your package. You will be sending one package to one person - postage could be international, so keep this in mind if you want to participate.

3.) Prepare your package.
a.) Send 5 miniature objects that can be used for Sound Games to your swap partner. Please, avoid plastic unless the object is super cool. The objects can be former key chains, doll house furniture/items, hand-made, blown glass, clay, etc. Use your imagination!
b.) Include a short note in the package introducing yourself, your Montessori background, school, family, etc.

4.) Send your package by June 2. In exchange, you will be receiving your own package shortly from another Montessorian.

5.) Email me and let me know that you have mailed your package! This will allow me to monitor who should be receiving a package when, and will help the sender know when to check on their sent package to see if it could have gotten misplaced en route.

Okay, y'all ... fill up my inbox! This is an easy and fun swap, so I expect a lot of participants!

Peace,
Meg

Mexico City Snapshots

Snapshots of Mexico City and its surroundings

Wood stove at our friend's ranch in Hidalgo

Anyone know the name of this flower/vine?

The Sun Pyramid - Teotihuacan. Bet you didn't know that I'm taller than it! :)

The lowering of the flag - Zocalo (Mexico City's main plaza)

Aztec dancers in the Zocalo

One of many markets

The murals of Diego Rivera at el Palacio

Leaf Shape Cards

Today we're heading off to Mexico City for mini-vacation! I thought I'd leave you with some photos of my current materials project:

Hand-embroidered felt pouch for my leaf shape cards, which I bought at Montessori for Everyone.
I'm not quite done. I still need to finish the blanket stitch on the back panel and attach a loop and button closure. (I found some great leaf buttons at Craft Connection.)

I'll be back on Tuesday night, so don't expect to hear much from me until then! I hope to be having lots of fun and to be thinking about Montessori not-so-much. Everyone needs a break once in a while! Happy Mothers Day to all.

Peace,
Meg

Butterfly 3-part cards and reading classification

If you haven't already, check out Karla's photos at our Yahoo group (the brown box in the side bar.) She's put together a really great "Days of the Week" reading classification exercise, along with a control of error accordion booklet.

Also, a BIG THANKS to Helga for sending me some beautiful butterfly 3-part cards to share with the rest of you! I have uploaded them (as a Word file) to my Box.net files under Classified Cards - Butterflies. Click on the blue "View My Files" box to access and download.

Keep the great ideas coming!

Peace,
Meg

Saturday Song - Sur le Pont d'Avignon

Sur le Pont d'Avignon - On the Bridge of AvignonHearkening back to my days studying abroad in France, I present to you one of our classroom favorites:

Refrain
Sur le pont d'Avignon
l'on y danse, l'on y danse.
Sur le pont d'Avignon
l'on y danse tout en rond.

verses
Les messieurs (mesdames) vont comme ci,
et puis, vont comme ca.

Sur le pont d'Avignon
l'on y danse, l'on y danse.
Sur le pont d'Avignon
l'on y danse tout en rond.

I didn't include the translation in the audio file (which you can access by clicking on the title in the "Songs to Sing with Children" box in the side bar,) but here it is in case you're interested:

On the bridge of Avignon
we all dance there, we all dance there
On the bridge of Avignon,
we all dance there in a ring.

The gentlemen (ladies) go this way,
and then, go that way.

We accompany this song with motions. The children stand in a circle and we all hold hands, swaying slightly during the refrain. During the verses, when it says messieurs, the boys bow when we sing "comme ci" and "comme ca." The girls curtsy when we sing "comme ci," "comme ca."

Curious about this famous bridge? Check out this Wikipedia article.

Have a great weekend!

Meg

A Little Bit of Everything

Lots of ideas swirling around in my head. House guests. Parent-teacher conferences. Another head cold. So here's a post that reflects my current mental state - lots of ideas and hardly any organization!

View Master "Around the World" slides and view finder found on Ebay = Geography folders extension. Search for these old slides on Ebay and organize them by continent, much in the same way as the continent folders. But these are in 3-D! In my house, we are all quite twitter pated (reference Bambi if your eyebrow just went up) with these slides and my antique View Finder. I can only imagine what it will be like once I put it in the classroom! Just have to make little folders for the slides and increase my slide collection. Just. Maybe after P-T conferences!

Recently, Montessori By Hand was included in a helpful list posted by Lori of Montessori for Everyone at her blog. Called Montessori Basics 3: Ultimate Guide to Online Resources, it features links to all kinds of Montessori and educational websites organized by category. Check it out!

Tie One On's new apron gallery is up! My little "Watering Plants" apron is featured. Make sure to send in photos of aprons you've made to Tie On On - and post them on our very own Handmade Montessori Materials Flickr group. Let the apron inspiration roll!

Are you familiar with Kids Craft Weekly? If not, familiarize yourself! This is a great, bi-monthly newsletter put out by a mom of young children. She has some really great ideas - a great way to keep your art shelf fresh and interesting. One caveat - be sure the craft is doable without adult help. Some of her ideas are heavy on adult guidance, and not what we really want in a Montessori environment. Think "help me do it by myself," a favorite quote from our favorite lady.

And a purely crafty announcement, Anna Maria Horner's new line of fabric, Chocolate Lollipop, is now available. I'm drooling. And yes, I already ordered some. Must ... have ... fabric. Are there any support groups for this kind of addiction?

Back to the crazy life.
xo,
Meg

Upload photos of your Montessori creations to the new Flickr group!

Sharing photos of our handmade Montessori materials - an easy way to pass on ideas and inspiration!

I've finally figured out this Flickr photo sharing business. Can you see the new photo badge in the side bar? I used to host a Flickr photo badge in the same spot, but it linked to my personal account only. Good news ... I've just created a Flickr Group, under the name of Handmade Montessori Materials. Here's the direct link:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/montessorimaterials/

All you will need to do is create a free Flickr account if you don't have one already, upload photos of your own Montessori-related creations to your account, join Handmade Montessori Materials, and send your photos to the group.

Here's what I'm not totally clear about - I think that once you have your own account, you will need to somehow search "groups" for handmade montessori materials in order to join. The catch? The group won't show up on searches until it is reviewed as "safe" by the folks at Flickr. Try joining by clicking on the above link, but if it doesn't work, wait a while until you can find it on a search. Flickr says that the review shouldn't take more than a week.

Please let me know how your sign up process goes by leaving a comment on this post so that others can follow your advice.

P.S. You don't need to sign up to view the photos. Just click on the link toward the bottom of the photo badge.

P.P.S. If you make a material, post a photo of your creation to the Flickr group. Period. No excuses. Think of it as a little bit of community service. Especially post the photos if you have made a material using one of the snazzy tutorials available on this blog. Or post photos of the materials/activities suggested in the blog in use in your classroom. Thank you, awesome readers! Let's spread the Montessori love!

Announcing the Saturday Song!

Okay, even though today is Friday, I couldn't wait one more day to post this! I had to choose Saturday because of the pretty alliteration. The Friday Song doesn't do it for me. From now on, every Saturday I will be posting an audio recording of a song that I sing with my children in the classroom along with the lyrics and explanations of any movements that accompany the song. The audio files are embarrassingly simple - it's just me singing a cappella. I would have accompanied myself with guitar, but my computer microphone isn't up to the challenge. Many of the songs you might already recognize, but please listen to the song before you write it off, as many of the English versions also have Spanish and/or French translations as part of the audio clip. Also, pardon the foreign lyrics, as they will be missing any accents or other letters that aren't easily available on my keyboard. I'm lazy. :)

To access the files, go to the side bar and you will find a box.net widget that is called "Songs to Sing With Children." Click once on the song title and the song will play directly from the blog - no need to download it, since you will only be listening in order to learn the song yourself. If you really want to download it, right click on the song title.


Today's Song:

It Rained A Mist / Llovio Ayer

It rained a mist, it rained a mist
It rained all over the _______, the _______,
It rained all over the _______.

Llovio ayer, llovio ayer
llovio por toda la/el ______, la/el ________,
Llovio por toda la/el ______.

The sample I give in the audio clip uses school/escuela. The Spanish translation is not exact, as the exact translation doesn't rhyme. The Spanish means "It rained yesterday."

We begin by singing the "school" version, then the children can raise their hands and suggest a place/thing that is rained on. For example, you would continue with "it rained all over the car/house/plants/trees/flowers, etc. for the other verses, whatever the children suggest.

Also, I want to make a plug for "The Garden Song (Inch by Inch)" which I have also posted in the "Songs to Sing with Children" box. This is a great time of year to be talking about botany, doing experiments with seeds and plants, and planting in your classroom garden (or indoor herbs/flowers if you aren't lucky enough to have outdoor space.) The Garden Song is perfect for this time of year.

On being role models ....

Okay, so this may not be entirely Montessori related, but it most certainly has to do with the example we, as teachers/mothers/administrators send to the children in our care and to the community at-large. U-handblog has posted a fab tutorial on how to make an eco-friendly, fabric grocery bag. (Click on pictures to enlarge.)Let's all make them for ourselves, our families, and our friends. Down with the ridiculous plastic (or paper) bag!!! What a waste - here in the supermarkets they tend to double bag things. And where do these bags end up? Not in a landfill because we don't have one, not recycled, not made into interesting eco-art ... well, right now I see that one is stuck in the tree in front of my house. Arrgh. Thank you, wind.

Plus, how cool is the small pouch that it fits into? With this pouch, you can toss the grocery bag into your purse, and you will never have to be without it! No excuses!

Here's another idea I found while perusing the crafty blogosphere, for all of the Assistants to Infancy Montessorians and moms/dads with newborns:Laura provides a quick tutorial on how to remake a newborn shirt and add this binding. She talks about dyeing the old, stained baby shirts, but I'm not too sure I would use dye for the newborn. I might consider organic dyes. Laura said she found these fold-over shirts at Target. They seem like a good idea to me ... why traumatize baby by forcing a shirt over his head and arms when you could provide a kimono-type shirt? I would think that these fold over shirts could be slightly altered so that the fold-over is in the back, closed with velcro, so that when the baby is on his back for changing you can easily get his arms out of the shirt without having to lift him up. However, this is not my area of expertise. I'm not yet a mom, and I work with 3-6 year olds. Any old pro's out there - moms, A to I trained Montessorians, etc. who might be able to offer some practical advice on newborn clothing?

By the way, my cat Amelie is getting much better. She's back to bossing me around and whining for cheese. Perhaps I should have thought of her post-spay recovery time as a bit of a personal respite! But it's good to have her back to normal.

Humble Creatures

Were you wondering why all of my mini-teapot cozy photos were shot outside? It's not as if things are green, blooming, and beautiful here at high altitude in Creel, Mexico. I do have some nice volcanic rock backdrops, though. Funny as it might seem, in between the oh-so-cute-cozy photo shoot, I was looking for earthworms. Hee hee.

We've been preparing the beds and planting our humble organic garden (with the help of our friend Tony, who is shown below in the foreground. He's an expert in all things gardening, having studied the subject at the renowned apprentice program at UC Santa Cruz.) We are lucky to have him.


I've been itching to get started with worm composting, or vermicomposting, the more socially couth way of discussing your little slimy house guests. It all started when I read this book:

Oh me oh my. You will also be a worm enthusiast after reading this cover to cover. You will DEFINITELY want to have one in the classroom! And this would be easy to do anywhere bait shops abound! In this situation, you don't have to worry about hunting in your backyard. However, this option is a lot of fun if you have a backyard and a green thumb. For more info on vermicomposting and the necessary supplies, visit this site.

I am using a smallish styrofoam cooler as my worm bin. More snazzy worm bins can be purchased. The book offers a lot of suggestions and also shows you how to build your own.

We filled ours with a bit of soil, started filling it with the cute little wormies, and put down some banana and papaya peels for their first meal. I later topped it off with moist, black and white newspaper. This prevents it from smelling bad, and the worms can eat the newspaper, too.

A worm bin in the classroom would be a great asset. I'm going to bring mine into my primary class for the rest of the year. The worms will eat anything except meat. (They will actually eat meat, but we don't want it in the bin because the smell would be pungent.) I won't tell you all about it here; the book gives plenty of instructions on how often to feed the worms and how to harvest the extremely rich vermicompost. (In short, by making little piles on a tarp outside in the bright sun. The worms will continue burrowing down, and you will continue removing compost from the outer layers of the piles. Eventually, you will just have a pile of adorable :) worms.) The worms are then placed back in the bin with food and damp newspaper. And you will have very rich compost to add to your classroom/garden plants.

For the elementary classroom, check out this companion book for science activities. I haven't read it, but it looks great.

Yum. For the worms, I mean.

For those of you in the swap, I will send out an email tomorrow letting you know who your partner is. This weekend has been a little crazy in my household. We took our car-phobic cat on the three hour (one way) drive to get her spayed on Saturday. It was rough on all parties involved. Plus, I've been worried about her because she still seems to be lethargic and not feeling so well. We've been giving her a water/wet food mixture from a dropper. Hopefully she'll start to feel better tomorrow. Anyone else had experience spaying their cat? How long did it take for her to recover?

Until the next post,
Meg

The "What's That For?" Cozy

Let's see if you can figure it out ... click on the pictures to enlarge them.



Do you have an idea yet? :) This is my new "Sensitizing the Fingers" Cozy! Hand - stitched with a double layer of wool felt, this will top my mini Japanese teapot, keeping the water warm throughout the day. The pot is filled with very warm water before the children arrive. The child pours out a tiny amount of water into an authentic tea cup. This tea cup will fit a child's fingers perfectly. No extra water is wasted!

Here's what you need to make the cozy:

1.) A teapot - any size will work.
2.) Kristin Nicholas's book, Colorful Stitchery. Here you will find easy instructions on embroidery and on making a wool teapot cozy. I had never embroidered before, and now I feel pretty competent. Embroidery is a very fun piece of cake. And what a great way to add some lovely detail to the classroom environment!

3.) Wool felt. Either make your own from wool sweaters, or buy it from Magic Cabin.
4.) Embroidery thread.

Have fun with it! And sign up for the swap!

Peace,
Meg

Great Science Curriculum Resource

My material-making focus has veered from music to science. (But don't you worry - one of these days I will finish the tutorial for the world music curriculum CD pouches. I just feel the need to procrastinate a bit and give in to the magnetic pull of physics, biology and botany!)

In the meantime, I thought I'd share with you a nice resource I happened upon the other day. Lori, a trained Montessori teacher who is now a full-time mom, has a website where she sells some quality printable materials. I especially like her offerings in botany, biology and zoology. For reasonable prices she will either email (PDFs) or print and send to you a wide range of 3-part reading classification cards. If you order the vertebrate nomenclature series (parts of a mammal, reptile, amphibian, bird, and fish) with each 3-part card set also comes a definition for each part. This can easily be used to make AMI-style definition stages. Just print off two extra sets of pictures.

In addition to her online store, Lori has a great blog on Montessori topics. Check it out when you have a chance!

:) Meg

P.S. Have you signed up for our little swap yet? You don't need to have ethnic children's clothing sitting in your closet. Perhaps you could buy it, or buy some ethnic fabric and send a pattern!