Do you know how big our sun is compared to our home planet? Can you visualize that? After our model solar system activity, we got a good idea for the sizes of the planets. Originally I’d really hoped to take the kids on an adventure around town showing the scale and distance apart, but even…
Life’s gotten crazy lately; I know I don’t have to tell you that. With everyone stuck at home lately corona-quarantining, how about we take a virtual field trip together? Recently, we were very privileged to meet a local artist who keeps sheep for wool and weaves beautiful textiles. What a fantastic opportunity to learn about…
We recently went on a field trip to a Primitive Arts and Stone Age Festival to learn more about the Third Great Lesson. The main highlight of it all was learning to throw the atlatl; we took turns hunting down a Wooly Mammoth. Having recently visited the skeleton of a real Mammoth, we determined we…
The Montessori Great Lessons are a series of stories that tell the single cosmic tale of the Earth from its creation to the marvelous interconnectedness of mankind. They’re the framework all of Montessori elementary is based on; these stories inspire the kids to want to learn math, science, language and more. For the third cosmic…
I had a few requests to see inside our animal classification boxes since we recently revisited them for our “2nd Great Lesson” science shelves. I made these boxes a while back to help drive home the key characteristics of animal classes. We have a box for mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and one general invertebrates…
Almost forgot to share this fun outing we had last month. The Florida Museum has such great displays covering the geological eras; it has amazing prehistoric fossils, a huge Mammoth fossil that was found in a tiny river not far from our home, and giant megalodon jaws. If you have a chance to visit this…
Tour of our science shelves here I posted a tour of our science shelves for the 2nd Great lesson on IGTV today. I had some requests for our materials used, so I have the sources here. Some are affiliate links (at no cost to you). Hope this is helpful! Montessori Services: Timeline of Life. I…
In science we are currently talking about the timeline of life and all that goes along with the second great lesson. In the past we’ve used the traditional Montessori Clock of Eras in printed form. I struggle with it though because technically some of the “eras” are really “eons” now. I want our science work…
After this week I’m switching to a new format for these updates — I never want to sit down and write a post because it takes so long to 1) recall what we even did 2) find the pictures 3) write something up that makes sense. Also I have been told more than once that…
Florida requirements for homeschooling aren’t super stringent. We’re required to maintain our portfolio of activities with samples of work and to keep book lists — among a few other procedural requirements (like notifying the superintendent’s office). Most fellow homeschool moms I know hang on to their book store and / or library receipts as records…
