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Earth

Montessori cosmic education teaches children about the interconnectedness of all living things. In the first plane (0-6) this is experienced with sensory learning and connecting with nature. Sensorial experiences are also incorporated in the classroom to deepen the understanding of our planet.

Once the child is introduced to cosmic nesting boxes and sandpaper globe, we begin our study of the planet Earth. These topics are introduced in the form of Unit Study in the classroom. Not all unit studies will interest all children, so it really depends how deep you delve in the unit study topic based on your child’s interests.

Cosmic education starts with macro (whole) and moves toward micro (parts) of the Earth. The lessons in early childhood (3-6) includes: Land, Air, Water Sorting, Sandpaper Globe, Montessori Puzzle Maps, Study of Planet Earth, Botany, Science, Geography, Geology, History, and more.

In our Monti-Story Box, we decided to look at the layers of the Earth. The book we chose for this box, represented illustrations of planets to as accurate as possible and the activities are simple but purposeful. There are 5 activities pertaining each curriculum of Montessori classroom and 1 art activity based on the artist study of the box.

Transfer with tong activities prepare hands for writing. It promotes and strengthens tripod grasp. This activity builds concentration and allows repetition. With repetition comes normalization.

One to one correspondence with ten frames. Ten frames are a great graphic tool to teach children place value. This graphic organizer can also be used for simple addition and subtraction activity

Always pick a book with realistic illustrations for younger children

“Pointillism, also called divisionism in painting, the practice of applying small strokes or dots of color to a surface so that from a distance they visually blend together.”

Impressionistic lesson of Layers of the Earth. We used avocado pit for inner core, ketchup for outer core, gravel for mantle, and apple skin for crust

**DIY Needle Felting Planets @ohhappyplayday. Follow this account on Instagram**

This box also comes with sensorial activity, paint, parts of Earth layers three-part cards, digital downloadable instructions. All of this you can get for only $50 in our Etsy Shop

Resources

Layers of the Earth Definition Cards

Kandinsky Inspired Art

Earth Explosion Activities

Interactive Earth Craft

Planets Needle Felting

In November

“November is a month in which nature prepares to numb”. This month reminds us to be more grateful for all the wonderful blessings in our lives, to slow down and enjoy simple things in life, to give more, and to be more present. We all have something to be grateful for and when we shift our mindset from what is lacking to what is already here, we manifest more joy in our everyday life.

One of the most important things we do every night with our son is to practice gratitude. Before we go to sleep, we count all the things we are grateful for, which for my toddler means he is grateful for his quails, his trucks, and the little blankie that he sleeps with. However, that is not the point but the point is to really appreciate little things in our lives by being more grateful than complaining.

November is also my favorite month to do some fun shelf work. Some of the Montessori activities that we are doing this month are simple nature-based activities. Here are a few ideas from this year and the previous years for you to try at home.

Sensorial Color Matching

Practical Life Acorn Spoon Transfer

Math: Roll the die and match the number of leaves on a tree

Study the real leaves and changes in colors

Parts of the leaf puzzle

Leaves: Three Part Cards

Creating a gratitude tree or a gratitude jar

Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving history

Parts of the Turkey Three Part Cards

Kandinsky Inspired Fall Tree Activity

Make your own turkey craft

Download this Freebie Kandinsky Inspired Fall Tree from our November Monti-Story Box

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November Monti-Story Box

Cloth Diapering 101

Our Cloth Diapering Journey

When you hear these words “Cloth Diapers” it flashes an image of white foldable diapers that needed safety pins to fasten. However, cloth diapers have come a long way and there are many varieties of diapers to choose from. I am not going to talk about the every type of cloth diapers out there in the market but I want to give you a scoop on how we did cloth diapering and cut our diaper cost to $500 for the whole year. I want to share our easy cloth diapering set up that will make you feel confident to go this route and help you save some money.

Benefits of Cloth Diapering

Aside from the usual money saving benefit, cloth diapering is also beneficial for the environment. The disposable diapers are not biodegradable, which means they cannot be broken by bacteria. For us cloth diapering happened when we noticed our son getting a severe rash from the brand name diapers in the market. We tried every brand and no matter what we did his little bum would suffer with rashes. From the amount of diaper rash cream,which is full of zinc oxide to the cost of diapers itself, it felt absolutely counter productive. We heard of cloth diapering but we weren’t sure if we could take on so much work load with a little baby. However, it turned out to be very easy and affordable system of diapering for us.

Things you need for Cloth Diapering

Cloth Diapers (roughly around 24-28 diapers)
Diaper Pail
Diaper Pail Liners
Diaper Liner
Diaper Inserts
Baby Detergent.
Toilet Sprayer

Firstly, let’s talk about the types of diapers that we used. There are many types of cloth diapers out there: hybrid, pre-folds, pocket, and all in one. We opted for pocket diapers which comes with two inserts. Usually when you buy pocket diapers the inserts comes with it. We used three brands for our son, Bum Genius, Nora’s Nursery, and Alva Baby. Bum Genius Pocket Diapers are around $19.99 per diaper. Alva Baby diapers were around $40 to $42 for 6 diapers depending on the print you choose. We didn’t buy all 28 diapers from the start. We bought 5 Bum Genius, a pack of 6 diapers from Alva Baby, and a pac of 6 Diapers from Nora’s Nursery to give it a try to see which one we liked more. We ended up liking Alva Baby and Nora’s Nursery more because of its fit, three snaps versus two in Bum Genius, and the affordability. All of these diaper brands have adjustable sizing so you can use them from infancy to toddler years.

Diaper Pail Liner were from Amazon for $18. They are resueable liners so I usually throw the whole bag in the washing machine for a wash along with the diapers. I have two liners so when one goes for wash I can use the other one.

Pail Liner and Wet Bags

We also use Wegreeco Biodegradable Diaper Liners for solids. You can throw the whole liner in the toilet and they are flushable. It made our life so easy as we didn’t have to worry about solids. Any solids that accidentally landed on the diaper, we would spray it down in the toilet with the toilet sprayer. The dirty diaper will go in the diaper pail until it is a laundry day.

Unwashed Diaper Set up

For any stains on the diapers, we used the Biokleen Bac-Out. It is a plant based, live enzyme solution and it works like magic on poop stains.

For washing the diapers, I would wash it once or twice a week depending on how many diapers we went through that particular week. My first wash is just a quick wash with cold water. The second cycle of wash, I used Seventh Generation Liquid Detergent and a couple of drops of Dettol. Dettol is an antispetic liquid that I bought it off Amazon. The link is below in my amazon store.

That’s it! It is that simple to do Cloth Diapering. Here is my storage unit for Cloth Diapers. I bought this Door Shoe Organizer from Target for $9.99 and it fits almost all of my diapers.