Favorite Resource - Preschool Power videos

A long time ago I got these videos on VHS out of our local library.  We got them out frequently for a while there.  Now you can find them on youtube.  But these videos really got me interested in Montessori and I eventually developed a routine in our homeschool which I called Montessori Trays.  I had two old kitchen trays and every morning I'd put one out on our coffee table and one on our kitchen table or on the little kids table that lived in our family room for a while.  The coffee table tray would have things like sensorial or early learning type activities.  The kitchen table one was usually messier or food related.

I saw Montessori trays as a way of strewing.  My kids loved it.  I am a very cluttery, disorganized housekeeper, but by the grace of God, one summer I focused on getting the materials for much of these trays usually via garage sales and the like.  Or I made things at home.  There were a couple of things I actually bought from Montessori supply sites.  I cleaned out a shelf in my pantry and stored everything there.  I usually woke the earliest each morning.  I would come downstairs and set up the trays, along with one of three or four floor puzzles that I would put out in our front hall.  When my kids came downstairs things were all set up for them.  They'd gravitate right to them and play.  They'd take a break for breakfast but then go back to playing with the trays afterwards.  This worked well because if I was reading out loud to the older kids, when the younger kids got bored they simply got down from the table and went over to the trays or puzzle to play.

About mid-morning, I'd pack the trays up and we'd start all over again the next morning.  I rotated the materials for the trays to keep the kids' interests.  Sometimes they'd want to play one thing over and over again, but when then began to lose interest I would then switch things out.  I'd pack it away and lo and behold, months later when I'd take it out again, they'd enjoy playing all over again.

I highly recommend watching these videos with your children or letting them watch them when you need a little break. They are a wonderful resource.  They really introduced a wonderful element into our homeschool that I remember with great fondness.  And since I am such a disorganized person, I am really proud of the fact that at least in this regard I found a simple, workable way to do Montessori in my home.

I plan to do a series here on Montessori Trays.  Starting sometime this year I will be a nanny to our little resident house guest who is 3 years old.  His mama is trying to become gainfully employed and is currently studying for the CISCO exam.  But also, I will be nanny to my first grandchild who is due in August!  My daughter has to go back to work, unfortunately.  But I am so grateful I will be able to be his nanny and help her and her husband out with childcare.  So because I am about to be plunged back into the world of early childhood, I have a renewed interest in setting up Montessori trays again.