Barbara's Picks: Early Education

	The Absorbent Mind This book - almost 100 years old - changed my life. After reading it, I went back to college and then on to a year of advanced Montessori teacher training. Never did I dream I'd someday have 12 children of my own. But all that experience has only shown me the truth of Maria Montessori's amazing insights into the development of children. This is not the most reader-friendly book, which is why I've written books specifically for moms today to carry the message. But if you're interested in the source - you'll find it here.

	Up, Up, Up I Go - a growth chart by Eric Carle We've kept a growth chart for years - it is so much fun for the kids to see how tall they've grown. I wish we had had this one because it's taller than most - over six feet fo mom and dad and taller teens can still be part of the family growth chronology. Great idea for a baby present too!

	The Cheerios Play Book This is such a cute book - and a fabulous way to encourage even the youngest child to develop pincer grasp and hand control - which both lead to better writing skills later on. The pages have recessed circles where the child can oh-so-carefully place Cheerios one by one. This is the first in a series of Cheerios books. Check the used copies at Amazon for as little as one cent each.

	Mommy, Teach Me to Read! Want a child who loves to read? A family-friendly complete and easy Montessori-based approach.

	Mommy, Teach Me! Want a child who loves to learn? This family-friendly Montessori approach will give you all the help you need.

	Magnifying glass A magnifying glass will spark your child's interest in the world around him. Extend the lesson by asking him to draw what he has seen up close and personal.

	Giant Horseshoe Magnet Kit Remember discovering magnetism when you were a kid? A horseshoe magnet allows a child to learn a big science lesson independently as - in the manner of any scientist - he tests different materials to see whether they respond or not. If your child writes or uses the computer, have him or her keep two lists.

	Creature Peeper Keep your creature for a short time, then let it go. This bug viewer allows children to see the bug two ways, from the top or from the side. It is watertight, so children can view tadpoles or small fish. The peeper is escape proof and won't break or tip over.

	Pegboard with small pegs A refinement of the pegboard your child uses first. See the natural progression from the larger pegs which involve the whole hand to these teeny ones which encourage the pincer grasp? Great preparation for later writing - and concentration.

	Kids' Standing Art Easel If you can afford it, a painting easel is a great investment. Buy the paper in rolls to save money - see Melissa and Doug's Companion Set. You don't need to buy a kid's painting apron - just use an old shirt of dad's.

	Companion Painting/Art Supplies Includes a roll of paper, paint, cups, brushes to get you started.

	Moveable alphabet A less expensive version of Montessori's moveable alphabet - though you may want to buy more than one so your child can "write" lots of words at one sitting. You will also need to create a box to separate the letters so they are organized and easy for the child to find.

	Sandpaper letters If you are looking for a less expensive version of Montessori's sandpaper letters, these look very good.

	Betty Lukens Bible Flannelboard set

	Butterfly Garden Give your child a hands-on experience with the miracle of metamorphosis! This kit comes with a mail-in certificate for live caterpillars. Once they arrive in your mailbox, you can put them in their new home and wait for them to spin their cocoons, then emerge as beautiful Painted Lady butterflies. Kit comes with food to nurture the butterflies until they are strong enough to let go. Amazon has other less-expensive models available too - I got this one because it collapses for storage and we used it year after year!

	Everything Kids' Cookbook A fun cookbook with kid-friendly recipes for kid-friendly food.

	Mary Cassatt coloring book Dover coloring books are incomparable - and they have a whole series of Color Your Own Masterpieces which can help your child grow in so many ways. See Stickers, coloring books and pincer grasp.

	Unifix cubes A must-have kids' manipulative with multiple purposes: counting, sorting, sequencing activities. Later, you can get pattern cards, a hundreds board, early math activities.

	Nesting and stacking blocks Every preschooler needs a set like this. Building a tower of the graduated blocks builds visual acuity, fine motor control, and balance. Looking far into the future, it also lays the groundwork for future geometry relationships. Not to mention that it's fun and kids like it!

	Pattern block cards Use with pattern blocks to help your child develop attention to details, matching ability, and concentration.

	Pattern blocks A must-have for preschoolers. Exploring designs with them will leave a lasting concrete impression of geometric relationships on which your future learner will be able to build. With a set of pattern cards, the set will do double-duty encouraging concentration and attention to visual detail.

	Prisma Color Pencils These are pricy, but they so outclass any others in terms or performance and results. They just feel good to use - and feeling is important to keep kids motivated and working independently. I'm not suggesting these for tiny tots, but for children old enough to work on the Dover coloring books. Here is how to maximize the benefits fo the coloring experience: When you introduce the pencils, handle them reverently so your child will do the same. Show him how to take out one at a time and put it back before taking out another. When teaching how to use the coloring books, make sure he's positioned at the right height at the table (with the tabletop at the level of his body where you would want it on yours), with the coloring book at the proper writing slant, and his left hand stabilizing the book at the upper left. Encourage him to sit up straight rather than leaning over his work. You begin coloring the first picture - or another you can finish side-by-side with him - with up-and-down, left-to-right movements. In this way, the fine motor control is further tuned toward developing a foundation for handwriting skills.

	Dover Coloring Books I used to underestimate coloring books - thinking they stifled creativity. As I watched my children grow, I realized that creativity is not that easily stifled :) Coloring books not only offer a kid-friendly challenge to improve handwriting skills (through exercising fine motor control), but also are one of the best vehicles for increasing a child's ability to concentrate on a given task for a long period of time. Since concentration is a portable skill - someone who's learned to concentrate on one thing is then capable of carrying that concentration to other tasks - coloring books are an excellent choice for kids. Knights and Armor is just one of many, many of the incredible Dover line of coloring books, which span all eras of history and culture, plus the animal kingdom. Search amazon under Dover coloring books to see the wide range of choices.

	National Geographic Give your children the world! Teach them from the get-go that we are not the center of the universe. Teach them not to take our way-too-comfortable lifestyle for granted, while developing their capacity for compassion. Young children cannot think abstractly. They need visual images to understand. These magazines are invaluable for a comprehensive cultural education. Pick up used copies wherever you find them. Use them for projects: "Let's find all the pictures of people working (or playing, or transportation, or housing, or helping their families - whatever you choose)." After collecting the pictures, make a big collage and find a relevant Bible verse to inscribe on it. Create a powerful geography/social studies curriculum with seven folders, each with a color-coded shape and name of the continent on the outside. Fill with pictures from the continents, backed with the corresponding color and hopefully - because this is something you create which can be passed down to your grandchildren - laminated.

	Smart About Art I don't know about your background, but mine was pretty culture-deprived. Now, through all I learned while introducing my children to the world of art and music, my life is all the richer. Our cultural heritage is not stuffy and boring, but vibrant and alive - and sharing that heritage enriches our family bonds! This series of books offer a way for parents of any background to connect with their kids around art and all the conversation it inspires. Don't forget to take in art museums when you can - why delegate that part of your child's life to school field trips?

	Mommy, It's a Renoir! A wonderful program to introduce your child to art, while providing a matching activity and conversational opportunities. The beginning of a step-by-step program you can continue as your child matures.

	Magnetic Letters - lower case This is one place Sesame Street and a lot of other kids' shows and materials have it wrong. Teach phonetic sounds and lower case letters - avoid any products with capitals. Pull out a book and take a look - in the printed word, very few letters are capitals. Kids can always learn those later. For early reading skills, stick to lower case and sounds, not names, of letters. For more information, read my book Ready, Set, Read!

	Puzzles with knobs Puzzles with knobs encourage your child's pincer grasp - exercising the fine motor control which will lead to handwriting. Teach your child totake out the pieces and set them down carefully to the left of the puzzle; then when he puts them back, he will be exercising left-to-right eye hand coordination - creating a foundation for future reading and writing.

	Counting and Sorting Bear Set Maria Montessori insisted that children be given lots of time to work with manipulatives before being introduced to the abstract. In other words, we would count small items with children over and over before showing them what the numerals actually look like. You can buy a set like this, or simply round up pennies or some all-of-one-kind objects to teach your child to count. You can use sets of buttons differing in size and shape to teach sorting.

	Nesting/Stacking Blocks A lesson in size and proportion. Similar to Montessori's Pink Tower - but so much more affordable! - you can present it the same way. Take the boxes out slowly, one-by-one. Make a quietly dramatic show of finding the largest and set it in place. Make a quietly dramatic show of finding the second largest and set it squarely atop the first to begin building a tower. When the tower is complete, walk around it with your child, looking at it from every angle. Take it apart and ask him to do it again.

	Parquetry Blocks A really lovely set of brightly-painted wooden tiles designed to sharpen a child's awareness of shape and color through matching designs on cards, while imparting a subliminal message about geometric relationships - the basis for high school geometry.

	Pegboard Start at the youngest age with simply inserting the pegs randomly into the holes - great practice for your toddler's pincer grasp, so necessary for later writing. Later, she can sort rows by colors or build tall towers in sequence - red, yellow, red, yellow, and so on. A good "toy" lends itself to being used in more ways than one.

	Primary Colors Lacing Beads These primary-colored beads beg to be caught up on a lace! All the better to keep your toddler practicing his fine motor control and concentration.

	Lacing and Tracing Classic preschool, this set - which my own children have used for years - is simple and sturdy, doubling as lacing cards and templates for tracing on paper to color. Good preparation for writing skills.

All written content is © Barbara Curtis www.mommylife.net

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Montessori megamom serves up smorgasbord of parenting, cultural, political, and spiritual wisdom. Because she can.

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