Monday 9 March 2009

MTD and the pink tower

We have been doing the muffin tin dinners but I find trying to a theme each week too much hard work, the reason I like the MTD is because I can just throw anything in without much thought, my only aim to to get a healthy-ish balance of foods. This week was also girls day, I had sort of forgotten about it but had picked up some girls day kamoboko - fish cake, very cute and Ebi-kun loves the stuff, I am sure he would eat the whole block if I let him.

L-R
fish shaped crackers, kamoboko, red pepper, kamoboko
tomoato, sweet rice for girls day, avocado, tomato
fish crackers, avocado, red pepper, carrot

The pink tower and brown stair haven't seen much action recently but the other day he decided to get them out. He used the photos in my manual to construct this one, he needed a bit of help on how to place the pieces but had no problem picking up what was needed next.
This one he did when I popped downstairs to get the camera, when I came back he had already got this far by himself which surprised me. I think out of all the equipment we have got, the red rods get the least amount of use, he really isn't interested in them and only gets them out if I suggest it, they don't call to him at all.
He is still very much on a language kick and hasn't touched any of the math materials since before Christmas, I sometimes wonder whether I should do a presentation or introduce him to something new or just leave it until he fancies doing some. For the teachers that read this, what do you do if you have a child that avoids one area for an extended length of time?

8 comments:

  1. Good job with the blocks Ebi-kun! I like the muffin tin idea. I'll have to try that for lunch with the kids.

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  2. As always your tins are great! They are so colorful!

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  3. Hi :)

    http://montessorihoy.blogspot.com/ this is a blog in spanish, you may be interested.

    Hugss

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  4. Great muffin tin, looks delicious!

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  5. Hi JO
    If he was in a regular classroom he will probably enclined to use them because most of the kids like to do brown stairs, pink tower and rods but it is true that the simple presentation can be boresome. I would suggest that you could do a presentation with the most complicated extensions. Most of the kids in our classrooms are happy to use materials if we show them once in a while how to use them again. But don't put pressure on yourself too. Ebi is not in a regular classroom so it is a bit difficult to keep him motivated to use other materials than the one he likes the most. In a regular classroom, after a while if the child always does the same thing we try to lead him to choose other materials. Sometimes with extra help with other kids it keeps them interested and they will use the material if they work in pairs for example. I have to read your message again because I am not sure if what i write makes sense.. sorry had a long day at school ;)

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  6. Thank you for your reply!
    I can imagine that in a classroom one child will see another using something and that will spark an interest. Sometimes, when he is working on something, just coming to the end of a work cycle, I will get something out (as if I were another student) and more often than not he will want to try it too. I think sometimes he forgets how to use a piece of equipment so it tends to stay on the shelf.

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  7. Where did you get your pink tower and brown stair from?:)

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  8. I bought nearly all my equipment from IFIT Montessori, I got a couple of things second hand from someone in Japan and the rest I made !

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