Twas the night before back to school...

Ok, so I know that the first day back to school for kids isn't until next Monday. But for us (ahem, teachers) it's tomorrow. I don't feel the same nervousness I do when the kids start back but there's definitely an anticipation in the air. It's like the nesting instinct new mothers get before their babies are born. I've been combing my house, looking for odds and ends to bring to school. "These pompoms would be great for an activity I want to do for fine motor skills." "Wow, that book would be great in my science area. Harrison won't miss it a bit."

One of the underlying themes of Montessori teacher training is for Montessori teachers to make their own materials. Our rooms and materials must be "aesthetically pleasing" (read: pretty). What is more beautiful than something homemade? Even if it's not as nice looking technically than something you could buy in a store.

Today I put the finishing touches on my Golden Mats. I made one for a lesson to teach the decimal system (ten units make one ten) and one for operations (adding, multiplying, etc). These mats are used with the Golden Bead material. This material is introduced in Primary Montessori and continues into Elementary. The one I made for operations is pictured below.

Again, this mat is used with the Golden Bead material to teach operations. For a video of a demonstration using the Golden Beads (and a similar but much more beautiful mat) please see the below video. This woman is showing a dynamic addition problem which is an addition problem with exchanging. Enjoy!