Too Young to Read?

I've written about this before, but I keep finding people (who usually support play-based learning) who seem to believe that young children aren't capable of academic learning. While I wholeheartedly agree that the vast majority of preschoolers aren't ready to learn the way traditional schools teach, I find it frustrating that many people assume that is the only way academic subjects can be taught. It also seems to be a common assumption that if academics matter at all to a teacher, (s)he must be undervaluing other areas of development. I find it frustratingly ironic that many of the same people who advocate for letting children develop at their own pace also advocate for restricting what we offer them.

The subject most commonly treated this way is reading. There is a huge segment of people – parents and educators – who believe that kindergartners should not be taught reading. And the research supports them to a certain extent, but it also only looks at children who are taught in traditional ways. It acknowledges the children who learn to read at four years old, but only as outliers. I haven't seen any research outside of the Montessori sphere that considers any methods of developing pre-reading skills that vary too much from the norm, so it's no surprise that they all conclude the same thing. I read another article about this topic today here. The author touches on some interesting and important research, but I believe she draws the wrong conclusions from it. Below is a comment I left on her post:

Have you looked into Montessori? It’s based on observation of the children and following them developmentally. In the early days, and to a slightly lesser extent now that we have a set of materials that work for most children, materials were brought in and removed based on the children’s interest. My knowledge of Montessori education leads to me to believe that most children CAN and SHOULD learn to read around age 4.5… but note that I did NOT say they should be taught. See, Montessori schools have teachers who are trained to demonstrate the use of materials, based on the child’s interest, and then back off and just observe unobtrusively. The children are free to explore as long as they are not doing anything dangerous, damaging the materials, or disturbing another child. The only “reading” material they had in the original schools was a set of sandpaper letters on small wooden boards. Children who wanted to learn them were offered instruction, but if they didn't that was okay, too. It was just tracing the letter and making its sound. Montessori herself believed 3-6 year olds were too young for anything more than that, and that they would learn even that much later, in formal schooling. So it wasn't urgent, and in any case she looked at these classes as experiments anyway. Her concern was not in making the children learn, but in finding out *how* they learned when no one was imposing a specific curriculum on them. But the children surprised her, and their teachers. In each class, there inevitably came a day when a four year old would make a letter with the chalk that had been provided for drawing. (S)he would write words, and then exclaim something along the lines of “I've done it! I've written!” The other children would crowd around and try it for themselves and suddenly all the older children were writing. This same scenario happened in classes across the world. Montessori wrote about children writing on everything, even the crusts of their bread, because they were so excited about it. And then, as if their teachers weren't astonished enough, about six months later some child would look back on something (s)he had written and read it, and tell everyone something along the lines of, “I can read!” Again, the other children would try it and find that they, too, could read. And when adults asked them who taught them to write and read, the children looked puzzled and replied, “Why, no one. We taught ourselves.” And at that point, most of the students were the children of illiterate day workers. They got no academic instruction at home.

So I firmly believe the issue is not teaching reading and writing at young ages, but in *how* we teach it. I find that most people who are against early academics (at least vocally so) assume that young children couldn't possibly be interested in reading or math or history. It’s the other side of the coin – legislators believe that all children *must* learn it (now), and detractors believe that all/most children *can’t* learn it (yet)… but Montessori schools have found the opposite. And the reason is that Montessori schools actually ask what the children are interested in and let them demonstrate what they’re capable of. They have all concrete materials. There are no worksheets and no homework. There are art supplies and free movement and building materials and basic activities to care for oneself and one’s environment. Academics are “taught” by the materials themselves, through the child’s interest, and in an environment where social and motor development are just as highly valued as academic learning. There are other benefits of it, but I've already written a book so I will just hope people look into it on their own. Suffice it to say that Dr Montessori consistently found that whatever age she developed materials for, it was children just younger who were enthralled by them.

So I hope not to offend you by this statement, but I think articles like this miss the point. The focus shouldn't be on what children learn when, but on *how* we teach them. When teachers believe children are too young, they usually don’t provide opportunities for the child to prove them wrong, and I think that is just as much of a disservice as pushing them to do things for which they aren't yet ready. The key is having an environment that includes materials we don’t think they can handle yet, all the way down to materials we think they have outgrown, and then let them tell us what they need by observing what they use and how they use it.

Dramatic Play: The Perfect Play or a Poor Substitute for Reality?

There's been a lot of information going around lately about giving kids "dramatic play" opportunities. One article that has been circulating through my facebook feed tells about a correlation between the lack of dramatic play and the increase in preschool expulsions. While I can understand how they drew that conclusion, I think there are better ways to let children experience the same benefits.

Dramatic play is almost always a reenactment of something children have seen others do, so if we can give them real things instead of play things, that is better. Who needs to pretend when you can do it for real? Montessori discovered this through observation a hundred years ago - many of the same misconceptions were popular then as now, and she tried all of the common "wisdom" as well as her own ideas. She found that once children had reasonably developed abilities of concentration, they consistently chose real objects and real work over pretend objects and pretend work. Only after observing this repeatedly did she remove the toys from the environment.

One early childhood education website states, "Dramatic play permits children to fit the reality of the world into their own interests and knowledge." This supports the benefits of offering real materials as much as possible, as long as there is an appropriate use for them in the child's life. The same site also says, "Opportunities for dramatic play that are spontaneous, child-initiated, and open-ended are important for all young children." And again, this is something that real tools can provide just as readily.

Of course, sometimes they will have read a book, or seen a picture, or watched a television program including something that just isn't, realistically, a part of their life. This is where imagination can come in most effectively. If they want to pretend to be a prince or princess (for example) and they want a crown, we can let them explore different ways to make one. Then they are using their idea of what a crown is, and imagining how to create it with materials that are accessible. If we simply give them a crown, we deprive them of the opportunity to be creative , and we limit their imagination. Montessori did speak highly of imagination, but only as far as it can help someone achieve their goals. If it doesn't help achieve a goal - if it can't be used in the real world - then for all intents and purposes imagination is an escape from reality. I think we need to be careful about promoting that.

This also brings fantasy play into question. While fantasy is often included in dramatic play, it is only because adults have introduced children to it initially - a child who has never heard of unicorns won't use them in pretend play. Therefore, the element of fantasy used in pretend play are based on what adults think children are interested in, instead of what we observe that children are interested in... and children are interested in almost everything! We don't need to manufacture a false reality to hold their attention. In fact, it does them a disservice, because when children are young, they are still learning about reality. Introducing fantasy before they can comprehend the difference just makes sorting things out more difficult later.

When people speak about the importance of dramatic play, what they really mean is that children need outlets to help process what they have observed and experiment with it. They also mean that children need to be able to direct their own activity at least part of the time, which is really what allows them to process and experiment. These statements I agree with wholeheartedly - what I disagree with is the need for fantasy or for dramatic play objects.

The benefits are more apparent with real materials, which respond to their use in an accurate way. For example, a child using a plastic drill won't actually drill anything, and won't have any opportunities to learn about the function, proper use, or control of a drill. A child who is shown how to use a real drill and given freedom (with supervision) to drill into real wood gets a much richer experience without losing the benefits. Real activities that don't require such close supervision, such as vacuuming, are even better because the child doesn't need an adult to be available in order to do the activity.

Of course, we shouldn't discourage child-initiated dramatic play based on media, but we also shouldn't provide props that are designed to be used a specific way. Instead, we should encourage the child to come up with his own ways of making them out of what is available to him, and let him decide what props he needs to complete his play.

Unfortunately, there's one big problem with the idealistic concept I just presented: children see those kinds of toys at other people's houses, on television, in the stores, and so on. Almost every time he sees them they are portrayed as the most awesome, amazing toy that he has to have or miss out on everything worth living for. And, since I can't advocate for creating a family of shut-ins, I know you're going to encounter them. So what do you do? I guess you just have to use your best judgment on what to let in and what to keep out, based on your family's value system. If you have any ideas about how to do this, please share with other readers in the comment section!

Now, don't get me wrong - there are definitely worse things out there than fantasy and dramatic play. I do think, however, that it is important to let it be child initiated and child directed every time.

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Welcome to Montessori Moments, a blog written for Dynamite Montessori School in Cave Creek, Arizona. If you'd like to check out our school, please visit Dynamite's website.

Why are there no numbers?

As the toddler teacher at Dynamite, one of the questions I answer most often is, "do you teach counting and numbers? I don't see any materials for that..." The last part of the question shows that they already know what my answer will be, but are hoping I will reply, "well, actually, we DO teach..." But we don't.

So why don't we have math materials in our class?

There are a few reasons. The first reason is that children in the toddler community are still developing an understanding of how to control their bodies, concentrate for longer periods of time, and manage frustration. These skills may not be necessary to repeat a rote memorization of counting, but they are extremely crucial to using the math materials and doing work with any level of understanding. Even when counting one-to-one (where the child matches each number with an object while counting and does so correctly) the child must be able to  keep track of each object, remembering which he has already counted and which he hasn't. If the child isn't ready and able to do that, it seems silly to teach him to repeat something he can't use and that doesn't have any meaning to him.

The second reason is that the materials we use for math are initially quite large, and then quite small. Even if we had a child in our class who was able to manipulate them effective and understand their use, there would be many others who would not. The children in the toddler class have very little, if any, ability to wait for something they want. This ability is augmented by another person already having that something, and this is usually enough to stop a toddler from taking it. Math materials would necessarily only be used by the oldest and most advanced students, leaving them available for a longer portion of the day than materials that all the children can use. This gives children who are not ready more of an opportunity to misuse them and see them being misused. We don't want their absorbent minds picking up incorrect use of the materials over a long period of time.

Finally, the third and most important reason - there is a progression of materials in the primary class environment that lead to the math area, and toddlers haven't mastered them. They don't have the control of movement or the logical sequencing to even use them.

Children first learn to use the cylinder blocks, which have elements of the later materials but are more easily manipulable by small hands. Next, they work with the pink tower. The pink tower increases incrementally in all dimensions, making it easy to discern the difference in size. The child builds the tower from largest to smallest. Children working with this material are indirectly prepared for the idea of 10, and see how three dimensions changing in unison make a more of a hyperbola than a straight line. They develop their ability to visually discriminate dimension. After working with the pink tower for a while, they are introduced to the brown stair. It is slightly more challenging than the pink tower because it changes in only two dimensions. Instead of evaluating size, the children evaluate thickness. This helps them to discriminate in more detail, and see how the shape changes when only two dimensions vary. Following the brown stair, children work with the red rods. The red rods are slightly more challenging than the brown stair because (I'm betting you've already guessed this) only one dimension changes. Now the children are evaluating length. The first rod is one decimeter in length, the second is two decimeters in length, the third is three, and so on.

In the use of every one of these materials, children are using highly mathematical concepts and evaluative skills. What I have described is merely the first lesson with each material - the barest introduction. After they've practiced with that, they take the measure of difference between each piece, they build from a distance, and match the pieces to things in the environment that are the same size/thickness/length. But these are all indirect uses of mathematics. I'm guessing you're wondering where the direct use comes into play?

Well, after the red rods, there is a material called the number rods. The shortest rod is identical to the shortest red rod, but then they start to alternate colors on each rod while remaining otherwise the same. The second rod is red-blue. The third is red-blue-red, and so on. Each rod is the physical embodiment of a number, with the units differentiated but not separate. Thus the child understand the concept of seven as a discrete quantity, while still seeing and feeling through the use of the material that it is made up of individual units. It's the perfect introduction to what a number actually means.

Why would I skip over all that beautiful preparation, that leads so perfectly into the concept of quantity, just to be able to say they know their numbers at two? Besides, they wouldn't really know them, not in the same way that a child who has followed this progression will.

The rest of the math materials follow in the same kind of logical progression so that by the time a child works with a material, he is really ready to understand it. In depth. And this deep understanding helps him be ready to understand the next material in the same way. It seems contradictory, but by not rushing things, the child is able to actually move through the concepts faster. He doesn't have to struggle to understand each one; the lessons are just challenging enough to be intriguing, and not so challenging that the child finds the work frustrating. Everything in a Montessori environment is like that. We call it "isolation of difficulty". Genius, right?

So when someone asks me why we don't do number work in the toddler class, I know they think I should. But I'm glad we have this beautiful progression, because it shows a profound respect for the child's learning process. Knowing the Montessori way, I would never do anything else.

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Welcome to Montessori Moments, a blog written for Dynamite Montessori School in Cave Creek, Arizona. If you'd like to check out our school, please visit Dynamite's website.

Pattern 3 Part Cards

I've created a new set of pattern three part cards to share with you all, using (with permission) patterns found here. Thanks, Sawdust and Embryos!

To make these cards, first print two copies at 4 sheets per page. The original images were quite small because they were part of a collage, so you definitely don't want to print them full size! Six per page would probably work, but the cutting instructions below won't be accurate. I wouldn't go smaller than that, just for ease of handling.

Next, cut the page in half both ways - you should end up with four pages (from each sheet) that are 4.25 x 5.5. Trim the tops off so that the top margin is .5 in. Do this for all the pages of both sets.
Now put aside one copy of each card - these are the control cards. On the other set, cut between the pattern and the label, making sure to cut in the same spot on each card so they stack nicely. They can be finished at this point, but for best wear, laminate using at least 3 mil plastic sheets.

Ready to go? Here's the link to the Pattern Three Part Cards!

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Welcome to Montessori Moments, a blog written for Dynamite Montessori School in Cave Creek, Arizona. If you'd like to check out our school, please visit Dynamite's website.

The Classroom as a Game?

I just read an article about a sixth grade teacher who turned his class into a role playing game (RPG). If you've never played them, the main idea is that you play as a character, often non-human, and that character "levels up" by gaining experience points (XP). Experience points are typically earned by fighting enemies or completing quests. As your character levels up, it becomes stronger, is able to reach new areas of the game which were not previously accessible, or earns other rewards such as better armor or stronger weapons. In the classroom, XP is earned by completing extra homework, participating in class, etc. The children compete against each other in boy vs girl teams, and the rewards are extra recess and a pizza party at the end of the year.

On the surface it seems like a great idea. Most of the negative responses were to the teacher's boy-girl division in team-making, but in the same comment people posted that the idea itself was fantastic. One comment even suggested that it should become a part of the curriculum in all public schools. And why not? It gets kids interested in learning, right? Well... maybe. If you're starting with children who have already lost their intrinsic motivation, then yes. Give them extrinsic motivation to learn the skills they need to be successful.

On the other hand, why should they ever lose their desire to learn? Or their desire to practice new skills just because it feels good to master something you've never been able to do before? If the extrinsic motivation is removed, say by graduating from the class, what happens then? Usually when a motivating factor is removed, the desired behavior stops. It's logical - if you only do something to get a reward, and you stop getting the reward, you'll stop doing it. Research shows, in fact, that children who are given a reward for doing something they enjoy are less likely to choose that activity in the future. Read more about that study here.

Montessori wrote about a teacher who had purchased medals for the "smartest" children, and when the idea was introduced one of the "smarter" boys cried out, "but not for the boys! Not for the boys!" He didn't want his lovely work to be sullied by a reward.

I guess my problem with the game idea has nothing to do with the idea itself. I personally really like the RPGs I play occasionally on my classic Nintendo or Sega Genesis. It's more to do with the fact that it shouldn't be necessary.

This, in my opinion, is why Montessori education is so wonderful. Our model is based on the child's desire to learn and constantly improve himself. We don't use rewards because the work itself is rewarding. It is interesting, meaningful work, and the children want to do it without any external motivation. Beautiful, isn't it?

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Welcome to Montessori Moments, a blog written for Dynamite Montessori School in Cave Creek, Arizona. If you'd like to check out our school, please visit Dynamite's website.

Read All About It!

This post follows "The 'Write' Stuff". It describes beginning reading materials and their use.

Once a child is writing proficiently (usually around 4.5) he will begin to spontaneously read what he has written. At this point the child begins to work with the phonetic object box. This, as the name implies, is a box with five to seven objects in it that are spelled phonetically. The teacher writes the name of one object on a slip of paper, slowly, and the child says the sound of each letter out loud as she does so. Then he puts the sounds together and “guesses” which object was named. This repeats until all the objects are labeled. For repeat use, there is a set of papers already labeled with the names of the objects, or the teacher may continue to write.

The phonogram object box is introduced after the phonetic object box. It is almost identical, but one of the objects (the last one named) is not phonetic. Rather, it uses one phonogram such as “ch” or “oo”, and the rest of the word remains phonetic. The teacher helps the child remember phonograms by isolating them if necessary, either covering the rest of the word or using a phonogram as the beginning sound and pausing dramatically while the child determines the sound. The phonogram is treated as one letter, just as it was in the sandpaper letter work.

Puzzle words are also introduced after the phonetic object box. While similar to traditional education's “sight words”, these are not simply easy words to recognize on sight. Puzzle words are, instead, words that cannot be figured out using either phonetic sounds or phonograms. They are like a puzzle – you can't tell what the “picture” is until you put all the pieces together and see the whole thing. These words are typed or handwritten on cards and the child learns three at a time, in a three period lesson. This involves learning the word (first period), matching the spoken word to the written word (second period), and giving the spoken word in response to the written word (third period, i.e. reading).

All words in the English language can be deciphered using one of those three methods, so once the child is reasonable proficient with these activities he can begin to do work with more challenging words. The picture cards used for spoken language activities come into use again, but this time as three part cards. One part includes both an image and the written word (all lowercase, in an easy to read font like Century Gothic). Another part includes just an image, and the third includes just the word. All cards in a set are cut identically. To use these, the child lays out the control cards with space between them. He then places the matching picture card next to the control card, and turns the control cards over so they are no longer visible. He reads the words, and places them beneath the matching image. When he has completed all the sets, he turns the control cards back over to check his work. Each classroom has several three part card sets on the shelves at any given time, and even more in storage for rotation.

The three part cards branch out into “parts of...” and “kinds of...” cards, as well as developing more fully into definition booklets. For example, a “parts of the flower” set will highlight the different parts of the flower (pistil, stamen, corolla, etc) in color, while the rest of the image remains an outline. These will be three part cards, but there will also be a booklet that describes each part of the flower on a separate page. For example:

The calyx

is the green part

that holds the flower together.

This definition is repeated, split up in different ways, for the child to match the parts of the definition to each other and to the image. The booklet is for initially defining terms and to use as a control so the child can check his work.

This list is (by far) not all of the reading work in a Montessori environment, but the next post will describe spoken language activities (which really should have been the FIRST post) so that after that we can go into the parts of speech and more advanced language work.

The "Write" Stuff

Though contrary to traditional education methods, Montessori discovered that children can write before they can read. In the first classrooms, children given instruction in the sandpaper letters (2.5 - 3) spontaneously began to write around age 4, and then to read what they had written about six months later. This pattern was repeated by many children in classrooms all over the world.
This is partially because, in our classrooms, we have many activities that start a child on the path to developing proficiency with written language, well before we expect him to do so. These activities build coordination and hand strength, recognition of sounds, and give practice in how letters are formed. Practical life activities help a child practice logical sequencing, develop his pencil grip, and increase his concentration.
Spoken language activities help a child develop vocabulary and learn syntax, as well as helping to classify the world around him, and a sensorial activity called the touch boards helps him maintain finger sensitivity. This helps avoid cramps when writing with a pencil.
These activities are started immediately (practical life beginning in the toddler community and sensorial from the first day in primary), far before writing and reading.

The first activity a child does that officially leads into reading and writing is called “sound games”. This game is usually guided by an adult or older child, and several objects are gathered strategically. Each object has a different starting sound, avoiding sounds that are too similar (like b and p). Each person takes turns holding an object in their hands, and says, “I'm holding in my hand something that starts with the sound ___.” Then the other players “guess” what he is holding. When the children are good at this, they can begin to do it without picking up an item. They might say, “There's something on the tray that starts with the sound ___.” When the children become more proficient they can play this game with middle and ending sounds as well.
Sound games are appropriate for any child who is reasonably verbal, and are played in the toddler class as well as the primary. In the primary they often run parallel to the sandpaper letters.

Sandpaper letters are formed out of (gasp) sandpaper, and backed by a painted wooden rectangle (blue, pink, or green). The child can easily see the shape of each letter, and is shown how to trace it with two fingers. We don't name the letters, but rather call them by the sound they make. This reduces the number of steps a child goes through when sounding a word out later – instead of, “this is b, b says 'buh',” the child can just say “buh”. The sandpaper letters with the green backgrounds are phonograms such as “ch” or “ea”.

The movable alphabet is the first opportunity a child has to actually “write”. He knows the sounds of several letters (from his work with the sandpaper letters), and can make lists, write a sentence, or even tell a story with these easily held cursive letters. Spelling is not a priority with this material (though it is part of the curriculum later), as it is important to develop confidence with the writing process first.

The metal insets are a series of geometric shapes which are traced with colored pencils to make a design. There are several lessons which become more challenging as the student becomes more proficient with using a pencil. This material isolates the difficulty of using a pencil from the difficulty of creating words, and the two are merged after individual mastery.

A sand tray helps a child practice handwriting before using paper, so he can simply shake away mistakes. Chalkboards can also be used for this purpose, and writing on a vertical surface helps to develop shoulder strength. Strips of paper are next, and finally sheets of special lined paper (feel free to use this paper at home or give a binder-full as a gift) which often have a space for illustrations.

The next post will describe the materials used next, to help a child teach himself to read! Stay tuned... :)

Cooking with Kids

This is the last post about food for a while, I just had so much to say that I couldn't squeeze it all into one post for the Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Food preparation is full of great lessons for a child of any age. The opportunity to provide something so basic for oneself is a huge self esteem booster, and parents can use the shared time to discuss all kinds of things like healthy food choices, where the food comes from, tidbits about food science or how to measure ingredients. Older children can help read the recipe and practice fractions by reading the measuring cups or using (for example) two ¼ cups instead of a ½ cup.

Make sure to choose a recipe that doesn't have to be perfect, and that has something for your child to do at each step of the process. If you like, you can prepare a binder of simple and appropriate recipes for your child to choose from. (Check this post for instructions about how to make a child's cookbook.)

A food that is prepared on a tabletop and then baked or otherwise cooked works out best, unless your child is mature enough to help you at the stove top. Choose a recipe that won't strain your child's attention span too much – I've found that my toddlers tend to lose focus after forty-five minutes or an hour, and if the recipe takes longer than that I'm finishing it by myself. An older child would probably focus longer. Make sure you plan for it to take about twice as long as it would if you were doing it by yourself.

With a toddler, it's important to have all the ingredients and materials ready before you begin – if ingredients need to be room temperature take them out of the refrigerator ahead of time. Have the project ready to go and invite him to join you at a moment when he isn't busy. An older child can help pick the recipe and gather the materials, and still be engaged for the entire activity.

Once the materials are assembled, remind the child to wash his hands and put on an apron. Then give direction by showing what to do. If ingredients need to be cut, Use a cutting board to define the work space and protect your table. A wavy cutter or butter knife is safe for little hands and you can show what size to cut the pieces (but don't be too picky or he might get discouraged). A more proficient child can use a sharp knife with supervision.

If ingredients need to be measured, you can show how to use the back of a butter knife to scrape off the excess from the measuring cup or spoon – toddlers find this absolutely magical. Eggs can be cracked into a mug or bowl first, and checked for shell pieces before adding to the main bowl. The pieces will stick better to a large piece of shell than to a finger.

Have your child help you clean up while the food is cooking. He can put away ingredients, wash dishes in a pair of basins or help load the dishwasher, and wipe the table. An older child (or a younger child with some guidance) could sort trash from compost and recyclables. He can also set the table for the meal or snack; if you want to get really fancy, pick up a book about napkin folding and try a few folds out together.

Finally, I have one somewhat controversial piece of advice for you: consider letting your child use a toaster oven for baking. Get a pair of child sized oven mitts and show how to put food in with the oven mitts on. You can cut down an adult pair (leave the arms long) or make your own. After he develops consistent control, you can let him take the food out, too. I have seen three-year-olds use a toaster oven safely... the key is adult guidance. Never leave your child alone with a hot appliance and if you have any doubts about his ability to use it safely, don't offer it as an option. But don't underestimate him, either – a vast majority of children will instinctively understand that using real tools carries the responsibility of being careful. They take it very seriously.

The most important thing to do when cooking with a child is to have fun and to make it fun for him. It's a great opportunity for learning and bonding, but he won't want to do it at all if the experience is stressful, and neither will you. Honestly, it's a lot easier and more fun than you might think!

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Montessori Moments is a blog written for Dynamite Montessori School in Cave Creek, Arizona. If you'd like to check out our school, please visit Dynamite's website.

How to Make a Children's Cookbook

This cookbook is intended to make cooking as simple as possible, for a young child to do independently. Making it yourself ensures that all the recipes meet your family's nutritional goals and you can include only foods your child likes or add new foods to try. The list of ingredients can be in picture form for a child who doesn't read yet, and knowledge of fractions is not necessary to follow the recipes! It will quickly become your child's favorite resource.

What you'll need:
simple, healthy, recipes that don't require tools your child can't use independently (can opener, vegetable peeler, etc). You can start with only a few recipes and add to the cookbook as time passes.
Plain colored measuring cups and spoons – metal or clear/white plastic.
Colored dot stickers – at least 6 different colors
A three-ring binder and three hole punch
for a very young child: camera and all ingredients OR internet photo search skills

Step 1: Attach a different color of dot sticker to the handle of each measuring tool. Don't repeat colors! Secure each one with a small square of packing tape.

Step 2: Title the recipe and, optionally, put a picture of the finished food at the top.

Step 3: List the ingredients in a column using your word processor. Indent them ½ inch. Underneath, write the directions as simply as possible – for very young children use pictures instead of typing the words, and use recipes where all the ingredients are simply mixed together so no directions are needed.

Step 4: Format it in an easy to read font (like Century Gothic) and arrange the margins to your liking. Make the left margin bigger (I used 1.5 inch) so the words don't get chopped up when you hole punch it later.

Step 5: Print the recipes. Add colored dot stickers next to each ingredient to show which measuring cup to use – this is why you indented the ingredients list earlier. If you need two cups, put two dots that match the one on the measuring cup.

Step 6: Laminate the recipes! If you don't laminate your pages they will be floppy and get dirty fast! If you don't have a laminator, you can have it done at a copy shop or teaching store. They also sell cold press laminating sheets that don't go through a machine, but I haven't ever used those so I can't say as to their quality or ease of use.

Step 7: Hole punch the recipes and load them into the binder. Add more as you discover them, and as your child gets older you can begin to use recipes with more complex directions.

Some ideas to start with:
Fruit Salad - list fruits that you usually have at home.
Egg Salad - keep hard boiled eggs ready on a low shelf.
Yogurt Parfait – plain yogurt, chopped fruit, nuts/granola or dry cereal.
Tuna Spread – tuna from a pouch, mayo or mayo substitute, and celery.
Deviled Eggs – cut hard boiled eggs in half and mix yolks with mayo or mayo substitute, then scoop back in.

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Montessori Moments is a blog written for Dynamite Montessori School in Cave Creek, Arizona. If you'd like to check out our school, please visit Dynamite's website.

Independent Food Preparation: My Toddler Can Do That?

Welcome to the November Carnival of Natural Parenting: Kids in the Kitchen
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared how kids get involved in cooking and feeding. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

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It seems to be a cultural norm that children under a certain age are simply served food, without having any chance to participate in making it or even choosing it. It's much easier than showing a child what to do and giving him time to do it... in the short term. In the long term, giving children some control over what they eat not only saves time, it also promotes independence and a positive attitude toward food.

There are a lot of ways that a toddler (and therefore also an older child) can prepare his own snacks, and they only require a minimum of preparation.

I like to have a fruit, a vegetable, a grain, and a protein available for children to snack on, and pack them up an hour or so before mealtimes. If your child is on a special diet, use your judgment. The idea is to offer a variety of healthy foods – three or four choices are ideal.

For most foods (like celery, cucumber, carrots, pears, or melon), you'll need to set up a cutting work. The tools you will need are a tray, a child sized apron, a small cutting board, and a crinkle cutter. I like to make them match, so that it is obvious that they go together and are used for a single activity. If your child is older and you feel comfortable with it, you could skip the wavy cutter and provide a knife instead – but keep it out of reach of younger siblings who aren't ready to use one safely yet.

Do a little pre-cutting, so that the foods are already in a single serving size and have a flat edge. For an English cucumber, for example, I would remove the ends, slice lengthwise, and then cut each half into three or four segments. In the classroom, I put a few on a plate with a glass dome over it next to the cutting work, but you could just as easily put it in a container in the refrigerator. Just make sure it's low enough for your child to reach independently – if you prepare more of a particular food than you want your child to eat in a day, store the rest up higher and move it within reach later. Also be sure to use a container that he can open himself.

Cheese can be cut with the cutting work, or you could get a cheese slicer. I find them at thrift stores fairly often for only a few dollars.

For foods like hard boiled eggs, mushrooms (as part of a larger cooking project) and strawberries with tops removed, use a heavy duty egg slicer. If you only plan to use it for eggs, you could buy a cheap one at the grocery store or dollar store. Strawberries and mushrooms are a bit firmer, and might break one that isn't so strong.

For apples, we use an apple cutter. First I slice the apple in half (so the top and bottom are separate, not the left and right). I try to get small ones, which are easier for children to cut. Show how to center the corer over the stem and push down hard – this one takes some strength and practice – in my experience most children are able to do it independently around age 3.

The grains we provide at Dynamite are usually some variation of cracker or pretzel, which the children serve themselves with a scoop or tongs. If you buy prepackaged bags of those items, teach your child how to open the bag with scissors.

The theme running through all of these ideas is guided independence. You, the adult, offer appropriate foods in appropriate amounts, and let the child decide what to eat. Since the options are all healthy, you can feel good about whatever decision he makes. Since he decides when he's hungry, what to eat, and how much he wants, he is practicing listening to the needs of his body. It's win-win! And if you ever had them, you can forget about mealtime struggles because you'll know he has healthy food options at other times of the day.

FYI – links are NOT affiliate links; I have provided them to clarify what I meant when I named certain tools. I have not used the actual brands I linked to, and while I have no reason to doubt them, I also can't vouch for their quality.

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Montessori Moments is a blog written for Dynamite Montessori School in Cave Creek, Arizona. If you'd like to check out our school, please visit Dynamite's website.





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Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be live and updated by afternoon November 8 with all the carnival links.)

• Baking & letting go — Cooking with kids can be a mess. Nadia at Red White & GREEN Mom is learning to relax, be patient, and have fun with the process.
• Family feeding in Child of Mine — Lauren at Hobo Mama reviews Ellyn Satter's suggestions for appropriate feeding and points out where her family has problems following through.
• Children with Knives! (And other Kitchen Tools) — Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy teaches her children how to safely use knives.
• "Mommy, Can I Help?" — Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment writes about how she lets her kiddos help out with cooking, despite her {sometimes} lack of patience!
• Solids the Second Time Around — Sheryl at Little Snowflakes recounts her experiences introducing solids to her second child.
• The Adventure of Toddler Tastebuds — The Accidental Natural Mama shares a few things that helped her daughter develop an adventurous palate.
• A Tradition of Love — Kelly at Becoming Crunchy looks forward to sharing the kitchen traditions passed on from her mom and has already found several ways to involve baby in the kitchen.
• The Very Best Classroom — Alicia C. at McCrenshaw's Newest Thoughts reveals how her kitchen is more than a place to make food - it's a classroom!
• Raising Little Chefs — Chef Mike guest posts on Natural Parents Network about how he went from a guy who couldn't cook to a chef who wanted to teach his boys to know how the food we love is made.
• In the Kitchen with my kids — Isil at Smiling like Sunshine shares a delicious soup recipe that her kids love.
• Papa, the Pancake Artist — Papa's making an incredible breakfast over at Our Mindful Life.
• Kids won't eat salad? Try this one! — Tat at Mum in Search is sharing her children's favourite salad recipe.
• Recipe For a Great Relationship — Cooking with kids is about feeding hearts as well as bellies, writes Hannah at Wild Parenting.
• The Ritual of Mealtimes — Syenna at Gently Parenting Twins writes about the significance of mealtimes in her family’s daily rhythm.
• Kid, Meet Food. Food, Kid. — Alburnet at What's Next? panicks about passing on her food "issues" to her offspring.
• Growing Up in the Kitchen — Cassie at There's a Pickle in My Life shares how her son is growing up in the kitchen.
• Harvesting Corn and History — From Kenna at School Garden Year: The kids in the school garden harvest their corn and learn how much history grows in their food.
• My Guiding Principles for Teaching my Child about Food — Tree at Mom Grooves uses these guiding principles to give her daughter a love of good food and an understanding of nutrition as well as to empower her to make the best choices for her body.
• Kitchen Control — Amanda at Let's Take the Metro writes about her struggles to relinquish control in the kitchen to her children.
• Food — Emma at Your Fonder Heart lets her seven month old teach her how to feed a baby.
• Kitchen Fun? — Adrienne at Mommying My Way questions how much fun she can have in a non-functional kitchen, while trying to remain positive about the blessings of cooking for her family.
• Kitchen Adventures — Erica at ChildOrganics shares fun ways to connect with your kids in the kitchen.
• Kids in the Kitchen: Finding the Right Tools — Melissa at Vibrant Wanderings shares some of her favorite child-sized kitchen gadgets and where to find them.
• The Kitchen Classroom — Laura at Authentic Parenting knows that everything your kids want to learn is at the end of the ladle.
• Kids in the Kitchen — Luschka from Diary of a First Child talks about the role of the kitchen in family communication and shares fun kitchen activities for the under two.
• Our Kitchen is an Unschooling Classroom. — Terri at Child of the Nature Isle explores the many ways her kitchen has become a rich environment for learning.
• Montessori-Inspired Food Preparation for Preschoolers — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares lots of resources for using Montessori food preparation activities for young children in the kitchen.
• My Little Healthy Eater — Christine at African Babies Don't Cry shares her research on what is the best first food for babies, and includes a healthy and yummy breakfast recipe.
• Two Boys and Papa in the Kitchen: Recipe for Disaster? — MudpieMama shares all about her fears, joys and discoveries when the boys and handsome hubby took over the kitchen.
• Food choices, Food treats — Henrietta at Angel Wings and Herb Tea shares her family's relationship with food.
• learning to eat — Catherine at learner mummy reflects on little M's first adventures with food.

• The Night My 7-Year-Old Made Dinner — Melodie at Breastfeeding Moms Unite! shares how her 7-year-old daughter surprised everyone by turning what started as an idea to play restaurant into pulling off making supper for her family.
• Cooking With a High-Needs Toddler — Sylvia at MaMammalia describes how Montessori-inspired activities and a bit of acceptance have helped her overcome hurdles in cooking while caring for a "high-needs" child.
• Kids in the Kitchen – teaching healthy food choices — Brenna at Almost All The Truth shares her belief in the importance of getting kids into the kitchen using her favorite cookbook for kids to develop healthy food choices now and hopefully into the future.
• Make Milk, Not War — Tamara at Tea for Three remembers the daily food fights as she struggled to feed a picky eater.
• teaching baby birds about good food. — Sarah at Small Bird on Fire writes about the ways in which her family chooses to gently teach their son how to make wise food decisions.
• 5 Ways to Enhance Your Baby or Young Toddler's Relationship with Food — Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama shares simple ways to give your child a healthy beginning to her lifelong relationship with food.
• Toddler at the Table: 10 Creative Solutions — Moorea at Mamalady shares tips for preventing meal-time power struggles.
• How My Child Takes Responsibility During His Mealtime... — Jenny @ I'm a full-time mummy shares how she teaches and encourages her 32 months old son on adopting good manners and responsibilities during his mealtimes...
• Kids in the Kitchen: 6 Tips Plus a Recipe — Kristin at Intrepid Murmurings shares six tips for overcoming some of the the difficulties of cooking with multiple young sous chefs, and a recipe they all can agree on!
• How BLW has made me a better parent — Zoe at Mummykins shares how baby-led weaning has changed her approach to parenting.
• My Budding Chef — Jenny at Chronicles of a Nursing Mom is no cook but is happy that her daughter has shown an inclination and manages to whip up yummy goodies for their family.
• Kids in the Kitchen: An Activity for Every Age — Gaby from Tmuffin describes how she keeps her kids busy in the kitchen, whether they are one week old or two years old.
• The Phantastically Mutlipurposed Phyllo — Ana at Pandamoly shares how Phyllo is used to create enticing dishes at home! Anything can be made into a Struedel!
• Kitchen Kids — Laura from A Pug in the Kitchen shares her children's most favorite recipe to make, experience and eat.
• Independence vs. Connection in the Kitchen: won't you please get yourself your own snack already? — Lisa at Organic Baby Atlanta wishes her daughter would just go make a mess in the kitchen. But her daughter only wants to do it together.
• Grandma Rose's Kitchen — Abbie at Farmer's Daughter reminisces about her childhood and dreams of filling her kitchen with people, love, noise, and messes.
• Healthy Food Choices for Kids — Jorje offers one way to encourage children to make their own healthy food choices at MommaJorje.com.
• Cooking food to thrive rather than survive — Phoebe at Little Tinker Tales is trying to foster a lifetime of good food habits by teaching her children about the importance of avoiding junk, cooking healthy meals, and learning about the whole food process.
• Evolution of a self-led eater — Sheila at A Gift Universe shares the story of how her son grew from nursing around the clock to eating everything in sight, without her having to push.
• 10 Ways Tiny Helps In The Kitchen — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama explores the ways in which her toddler actively participates in kitchen-related activities.
• The Complexity of Feeding a Child — Feeding children a healthy diet is no straight-forward task, but Lisa at My World Edenwild shares some general guidelines to help your child thrive.
• Lactation Cookies — That Mama Gretchen shares a fun recipe that will benefit both mamas and babies!
• 50 of the Best Books, Websites, & Resources to Inspire Kids in the Kitchen — Need inspiration to get your kids in the kitchen? Dionna at Code Name: Mama rounds up some of the best books and websites that can serve as a source for ideas, recipes, and cooking with littles fun.
• A 4-year-old's smoothie recipe — Jen at Grow With Graces and her son set out to make a smoothie without the usual ingredients. She let him improvise. See how it turned out.
• Independent Food Preparation (My Toddler Can Do That?) — Megan at Montessori Moments shares simple ways for children to prepare their own healthy snacks.
• Follow Your Gut — Amy at Anktangle shares her philosophy about intuitive eating, and how she's trying to foster her son's trust in his own inner wisdom when he feels hungry.
• A TODDLER-STYLE LUNCH + RECIPE — Manic Mrs. Stone photographs how to have messy fun during lunchtime with a helpful toddler.