Sound Cylinders

Materials:

This is the homemade economical version. You can also buy the sound cylinders at the store that sell Montessori materials if you prefer the "real" stuff, not cheap though.

(1) 6 film canisters with grey lids partially filled with 6 different grains to make different sounds when shaken.

(2) 6 film canisters with white lids (or any other colour) partially filled with 6 different grains to make different sounds when shaken. (they match the first 6 film canisters)

(3) Table mat

PREPARATION:

Label the canisters with same grains using the dots of same colour as control of error.

SET-UP

Prepare the Sound Cylinder for the first presentation by keeping only three of the cylinders with the greatest variance in sound.

GENERAL PRESENTATION:
1. Invite the child or group of children.
2. Take a table mat and place it on a table.
3. Go over to where the Sound Cylinders are kept.
4. The teacher should name the material for the child, “Sound Cylinders”.
5. The teacher should demonstrate how to carry the box with two hands (thumbs on top and fingers underneath the tray).
6. Invite the child to carry the tray over to the table.
7. Place the canisters at the top left hand corner of the table.
8. Take off the lid and place it to the left of the box.
9. Take out each cylinder, one at a time, and place them in a horizontal line (left to right) below the lid.
10. Pick-up the first cylinder on the left with your fingers and
gently shake it. Return the cylinder to its place.
11. Pick-up each of the remaining cylinders, one at a time, and
gently shake them. Return them to their places.
12. Return the Sound Cylinders, one at a time starting with the
cylinder on the left (left to right).
13. Return the box to the shelf where it belongs.
14. Replace your table mat as you have been shown to its
appropriate place.

Presentation #2 - Grading Partial Grey and White Cylinders:

Follow the General Presentation through Step #8. Repeat Steps
#6 - #9 with the grey Sound Cylinder Box. Have the child pick-up
the first white cylinder on the left with the dominant hand and
gently shake it near their ear. Then have the child place the
cylinder in the center between the boxes. Next, have the child
pick-up the first grey sound cylinder with the dominant hand and
gently shake it near their ear. If it matches the white cylinder,
place it next to it on the right side in the center. If it does not
match, return it to the line and repeat the activity with each blue
cylinder until a match is found. Continue until all the cylinders
have been matched by sound. Replace the grey cylinders into the
box beginning with the top cylinder. Replace the lid. Repeat with
the white cylinders. Follow the General Presentation Steps
# 13 - 14 to return the Sound Cylinder Boxes.

Variation #1 – Complete Grey and White cylinders:
Prepare each box to hold all 6 cylinders (total of 12). Repeat
Presentation #2.

Variation #2 – Grading Partial Grey and White Cylinders:
Follow the Presentation #2 through Step #11. After both boxes
have been placed and the lids removed, have the child pick-up
one of the red cylinders and gently shake it near their ear. Repeat
for the other two cylinders.

Grade the three cylinders by first placing the loudest cylinder in
the center between the two boxes. After the three have been
graded and placed, have the child pick-up one of the grey cylinders and gently shake it near their ear. Have them place it to the right of the white cylinder that it’s sound matches.

Variation #3 – Complete grey and white cylinders:
Prepare each box to hold all 6 cylinders (total of 12). Repeat
Variation #2.


Variation #4 - Memory:
Place the two boxes of cylinders on two different tables. Match
according to Presentation 2.

Extension #1 – Classroom Sounds:
During circle time, have the children find objects in the classroom
that make sounds. Grade them soft, loud and loudest.

Extension #2 – Outside Sounds:
During circle time, have the children close their eyes while you
produce sounds from objects you brought in from outside of the
classroom. Grade them soft, loud and loudest.

Extension #3 – Sounds from Home:
Have the children bring in objects from home that produce
sounds. Have the children close their eyes while you produce the
sounds. Grade them soft, loud and loudest.

Extension #4 – Ticking of a Clock:
During circle time, have the children close their eyes while you
walk to various places in the classroom with a clock that’s tick-
tock is loud enough to be heard. Have the children point to where
they hear the sound coming from.

Points of Interest:
1. Different sounds inside the cylinders

Control of Error:
1. End up without a match for the last cylinder

Aims:
Sound discrimination, grading sounds, order, concentration, independence, ability to make a choice, etc.

Age:
3 ½ and up

Language:
Loud, louder, soft, softer, gently, shake, etc.

Visual Discrimination Cards

Materials:
A tray containing:
(1) deck of visual discrimination cards in a basket (red?)
(1) deck of visual discrimination cards in a basket (green?)

Preparation:
The Visual Discrimination Cards may be purchased from various educational supply stores. Or, you may make your own Visual Discrimination cards by mounting drawings/pictures on 3” squares of poster board.

General Presentation - Introduction:

1. Invite the children to join you on the rug.
2. Invite everyone to sit down (in circle or as a group – your choice).
3. Tell the children that you are going to show them a very special deck of cards.
4. Explain to the children that they will need to look very closely at each picture in order to match them.
5. Remove the basket from the tray that contains the red deck of cards.
6. Place the cards in a horizontal line in front of yourself, left to right.
7. Put the empty basket back on the tray.
8. Remove the basket from the tray that contains the white deck of cards.
9. Place the basket right in front of you.
10. Take the first card and hold it while scanning below the red cards to find a match. Place the matched card below it’s partner.
11. Repeat until all the red and white cards are matched.

Variations and Extensions:
1. Use different cards/objects
2. Talk about the differences

Points of Interest:
1. It takes time to study the pictures

Control of Error:
1. Cards aren’t matched.

Aims:
Visual discrimination, ability to match, preparation for writing and reading, eye tracking from left to right, etc.

Age:
2 ½ and up

Language:
Same, different, etc.

Many facets of Las Vegas

People with children often choose Disney World in Orlando as their destination for summer vacation. In fact, Las Vegas vacations offer the same if not more in entertainment choices. Visiting the city and staying in one of the Las Vegas hotels is surely going to be an exciting adventure and interesting experience especially for the children.

Though Las Vegas is known for its casinos, cabaret, bars, night club, and thus called a "Sin City", it also offers many family friendly activities. In fact, Las Vegas is one of the most popular venues for conferences and corporate meetings. It's also well known as one of the best destinations that people often choose to take their wedding vow and to host their romantic wedding. What a city with many facets, isn't it?

3-part cards classifications

Three-part Cards

MATERIAL:
1. A tray containing:
(8) picture with label cards in a container
(8) picture cards in a container
(8) label cards in a container (These cards can represent any area of study)
2. Floor rug

PREPARATION:

The pictures for the picture cards can be sourced from National Geographic, magazines, Hypermarket flyers, used school text books or workbooks. I made mine mostly by scanning the pictures from books that I have from www.readinga-z.com and coloured them either with coloured pencils or a graphic program.

You may get some from thsi website too: http://www.montessorimaterials.org/lang.htm#class

Note:The teacher must make sure that the three containers of cards are not in order for the next child.

PRESENTATION

1. Invite the child or group of children.
2. Carry a floor rug in the way shown before over to an empty place on the floor.
3. Roll the rug out.
4. Go over to where the 3-Part Cards are kept.
5. The teacher should name the material for the child, “3-Part Cards”.
6. The teacher should demonstrate how to carry the tray with two hands (thumbs on top and fingers underneath the tray.
7. Invite the child to carry the tray over to the rug.
8. Place the tray at the top left hand corner of the rug.
9. Pick-up the whole cards (picture and label are all on one card) from the tray.
10. Place the first card to the right of the tray.
11. Point to the label and say “________” (the name of the object)
12. Place the second card below the first card.
13. Point to the label and say “__________” (the name of the object).
14. Repeat Steps #12 and #13 for the rest of the cards.
15. Next pick-up the picture cards from the tray.
16. While holding the first picture card in your hand, scan the pictures (top to bottom) until a match is made. Place the picture to the right of the picture with the label card.
17. Repeat Step #16 until all the pictures have been matched.
18. Pick-up the label cards from the tray.
19. While holding the first label card in your hand, scan the picture with the label cards (top to bottom) until a match is made. Place the label underneath the picture card. Point
to the label and say “______” (the name of the object).
20. Repeat Steps #16 and #17 with the other labels.
21. Admire your work.
22. Replace the picture with the label cards to their container on the tray starting at the top and going to the bottom of that row.
23. Replace the picture cards to their container on the tray starting at the top and going to the bottom of the row.
24. Replace the label cards to their container on the tray starting at the top and going to the bottom of the row.
24. Return the tray to the shelf where it belongs.
25. Roll your rug as you have been shown and return it to its place.
26. Invite a child.

VARIATIONS AND EXTENSIONS:
1. Have 3-Part Cards made-up for other areas of study.

POINT OF INTEREST
1. Learning to match words to pictures
2. Increase in language

CONTROL OF ERROR:
1. End up not having a label to match a picture with label card

AIMS

Visual discrimination, concentration, eyes-tracking from left to right, preparation for writing and reading, etc.

AGE
3 and up

LANGUAGE:
Names of objects, etc.

Penmanship – Cursive for 3-4 years old?

I teach 3-4 years old cursive writing. You will be surprised how well they received it. To the children cursive is not any more difficult than print. The form of cursive that we choose has the advantage of starting from the same level for every letter. The children do not have sufficient small muscle skills to handle a pencil at 3-4 years old. How do you teach them penmanship when they do not know how to handle a pencil?

An indirect preparation for writing begins with Practical Life Exercises, which are presented to the children when they enter the Montessori classroom ideally at age three. These are a series of carefully laid-out activities involving those tasks the children see accomplished daily in their own homes and which, therefore, they spontaneously seek to imitate: the washing of hands, cleaning table, preparation of food, etc. The purpose of these exercises is not to learn the particular skill involved, although this accomplishment undoubtedly will aid the children's self-confidence and independence. It is rather to enable the children to develop control of movement, concentration, self-discipline, and the ability to complete a cycle of activity. Without this early experience with the Practical Life Exercises, any further exposure to the Montessori materials is fruitless, for the children will be unable to control their own minds and movements even when they wish to.

The direct preparation of writing begins with the use of sandpaper letters, and sand tray, as a form of kinesthetic/tactile practice for teaching penmanship before ever transitioning to paper/pencil. If a child cannot form the letters for himself in this media first, he shouldn't be working with a pencil. The reason being: we're working on motor patterns, not replicating an image we happen to call a letter.

At the same time, the muscular movement needed for writing is refined by the use of thumb and index finger to grasp tiny knobs used in much of the equipment. Control of a pencil is developed by tracing of metal frames with geometric "metal" insets such as a circle.

The child did practice writing, but I have no proof for it, because tracing on the sandpaper letters and writing on the sand do not leave any "proof". Well, I am also running a business and dealing with parents who have little understanding about learning, left alone learning the Montessori way.

How? I have them do tracing on the paper after they know how to "write" on the sand(which is redundant, senseless work), but parents are happy their children know how to "write" now.

Well, I knew that!

I guess it's hard to believe whether the teacher was bluffing or not when she said "We did, we traced sandpaper letters and wrote on the sand. :-)

It's kind of funny, the children who have been working on the motor patetrns are so confident that cursive writing is a piece of cake and they love to trace that on papers with not so developed small muscles, and produced tons of "proof". One of the 4 years old boys brought back more than 100 pages of cursive tracing at the end of the school year. Another 3 1/2 years old boys asked for extra sheets to trace during the school holidays.

Are you going anywhere in the summer ?

With the price of gas going crazy and the economy looks so gloomy right now, I wonder do people still make vacation and traveling plans with the children this summer?

If you plan to travel to Disney World in Orlando this summer,I am sure you recognize that the tickets for various theme parks really add up and they are not cheap! One of the way to save is to buy this tickets at discounted price, you may want to find out more about this discount Disney World tickets before you head off to Orlando. In this current economy situation, a buck save is a buck earned.

Hosting your blog for less

This blog is the first blog that I have started in Jan 2007, it's hosted on blogger for free, but the catch with free hosting is you don't get access to the root directory and there are basically a lot things you can't do because of that.

So I have signed up a couple of hosting plans for several other newer blogs. Hosting multiple blogs with multiple plans can add up to be quite a bit annually. But, with promo codes and coupons, you can generally get hosting plans at reduced price.

If you are starting a new blog or planning to migrate your old blogs, you may want to check out the 55 reasons why dreamhost rocks. They have a 50% discount dreamhost promo codes that you can get a share hosting from dreamhost for 50% less!

Movable Alphabets DIY

In the Montessori classroom, children are taught to build words from the phonograms, that enable children to "write" words and compose sentences before they have developed good pencil grip. Children learn to "write" and spell what they hear, thus start encoding words(spelling) before decoding words (reading).

The movable alphabets are made from wood or plastic, in prints or cursive. The wooden ones typically cost $100-$200 a set. They are very expensive!

(L -R)Wooden Movable alphabets in print, Wooden Movable alphabets in cursive, plastic movable alphabets in print.

I know there is no where I can afford this. I have decided to make them!

First, I decided to make them from plastic because it looks like it's easier to cut plastic than wood!

Then, I bought this clip files from Jusco, CBE brand, RM2.80 each.

I choose a cursive font of size 400, choose the setting to be only the outline(to save printer cartridge!) print out 10 copies for consonants, 15 copies for vowels. While watching TV or talking to my mum during one weekend, I cut this letters out and paste them on the files.

Then I cut the individual letter out and cut them using a scissor to cut the outline and a blade for the inside. It took me 2 weekends to finish the cutting.

These letters are stored in a tackle box right now, but I have asked my carpenter cousin to custom make a storage box to keep this letters.

I used up 6 red folders and 3 blue folders, cost RM25.20, a bottle of glue RM0.70, a brand new scissor from RM2 store, total cost of RM27.90, excluding the cost of three weekends of busy hands.:-)

Lessons using movable alphabets:

http://homepage.mac.com/montessoriworld/mwei/Reading/lma/lmaintro.html

http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfsjy/mts/lang/30.htm

Omega-3 supplement for children with ADHD

It's a known fact that the deficiency of certain minerals or dietary ingredients can be the cause of rising ADHD in some children. In many developed countries, drugs are used rampantly to put the children under control.

I used to know a six year old student who displayed a lot of ADHD symptoms. She was never diagnosed, her parents are uneducated about ADHD, so they assumed she is an active girl who doesn't like to sit down!

I have given her mother an article on ADHD and recommended she sees a specialist to get her child diagnosed so that the child can be put on a dietary or an intervention program. Though she didn't bring her child to see a specialist, she got a bottle of fish oil which is rich with Omega-3 for her child. She claimed that her child has been able to concentrate better after taking the fish oil. Unfortunately, the girl dislike the fish oil and she refused to take after a while and she is back to her old self.

It's a pity that she and I didn't know about PharmaOmega Learn at that time. I would have told her that PharmaOmega is giving away free samples of Learn so that she get to try the omega-3 supplement specifically formulated for school-aged children.

VoIP phone system and outsourcing

In this age of outsourcing, don't be surprise you are talking to a guy in Bangalore, India when you call up the tech support of an American company. :-)

The lower labor cost is the attraction, but the availability of reliable VoIP phone systems make it possible to have the entire tech support team "virtually" offshore. With the current technology, you hardly can tell you are talking via a VoIP phone system. The sound quality for VoIP has improved tremendously since it first started in the early 90s. In fact, it is as good as the normal phone, you seldom get static and interferences like it used to.

Why my child won't listen?

I get asked this question quite often.

Are you interested to know what Maria Montessori's view on this?

I have a 4 years old joined my class in January, he was what the Cantonese called "gao jin" ---literally a "stubborn cow":-)

He broke a glass pitcher, spilled the beans and refused to pick them up on the first day.

We played walking on the line, he couldn't walk in straight line and wiggled like a worm on the chair, pushed the chair with his butts and gave out loud noise, couldn't solve a 10-piece puzzles and wouldn't pick them up when he didn't want to continue.

When we played silence game, he couldn't hear his name being called even though I called his names louder and louder for about 10 times.

Should we have started "teaching" him, do you think he can absorb?

We make sure we play silence game and walking on the line with him everyday, sometime twice a day. By the third or fourth day, he jumped up when I just whispered his name from another corner of the classroom.

One of those paradox of Montessori education. If you want your child to listen, you don't speak louder and louder so they can hear, but to bring him silence and quietness, so that he learned to listen carefully.

Dr. Montessori invented this game when she was working with children who were partially deaf. She found that partially deaf children’s hearing was often improved when they learned to listen carefully to sounds.

Today is the last school day of his third week, he has not broken anything since the last pitcher, he is also able to sit down for 20 minutes, completing a 20 piece puzzle, all by himself. To me, that's a big achievement for the child.

Flying to Australia is inexpensive

Our national carrier and the cheap airline are having a price war. Have you have any luck trying to grab a bargain air ticket lately? I did check the website for tickets to North America, but found out they only have discount for tickets to Australia!

Hey, if the big boy keep delaying the apartment hunting, may be can forget about reuniting with him at IL. Let's go for a vacation in Australia? Flying to Australia is rather inexpensive, some more got discount for all the hotels. No wonder so many of my friends flew there so often for vacations. Whether you are looking to stay in Sydney Hotels, Melbourne Hotels, Brisbane Hotels, or Perth Hotels, check out the site for deep discount off the published rates!

Sensorial - Red Rods

Red Rods
These are ten wooden rods painted/stained red, all of the same thickness but varying in length from 10 centimeters to 1 meter.

If you intend to DIY, the cross sectional area is 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm, and the lengths are 10cm, 20cm, 30cm, 40 cm, ......, 100cm.

My carpenter cousin cut this rods for me, I painted them using the acrylic paint.




Materials:
Red Rods
Floor rug

General Presentation:
1.Invite the child or group of children.
2.Go over to where the floor rugs are kept.
3.Choose a rug and take it over to the floor and unroll it as you have been shown before.
4.Go over to where the Red Rods are kept.
5.Name the material for the child, “Red Rods”.
6.Demonstrate how to carry the rods one at a time by placing one hand on each end (if the child cannot reach that far one hand can hold the end and the other can hold the rod as far down as possible).
7.Invite the child to carry the red rods (short to long) over to the rug.
8.Place the rod on the rug, with the left end of the rod lined up with the top left side of the rug.
9.Continue placing the rods (not in order) until the longest rod has been placed on the rug.
10. Choose the longest rod and stroke the rods with your right hand down the front edge of the rod. When your right hand gets to the end of the rod pick it up with your right hand. Pick up the left end of the rod with your left hand (or as close as you can get down the rod).
11. Place the rod below the last prism lined up with the left-hand side of the rug.
12. Continue to select the next longest rod and place it below the last rod.
13. After the prisms have been graded from longest to shortest, slide your hand, palm side down, over the graded edge of the rods and say, “Longest to shortest”.
14. Invite the child to do the same.
15. Next take the shortest rod and move it up the graded edge of the rods pausing to note that every other rod is even when the shortest rod has been added.
16. Now, take the shortest rod and move it down the “stairs” pausing to note that every other rod is even with the shortest rod.
17. Return the rods to the shelf carrying them properly and starting with the longest rod.
18. Roll your rug as you have been show and return it to its place.


Variation #1 - Memory:
Follow the General Presentation through Step #12. Then, roll out a second rug some distance away from the first one. Carry the longest rod over to the second rug and build the graded rods the exactly the same way as you did on the first rug. This is the first memory exercise called order to order. The second memory exercise should be mixed order to order. The last one should be mixed order until you get to the middle rod and then grade toward the longest rod.


Variation #2 - Blindfolded:
After the rods have been carried to the rug and are in mixed order, have the child use a blindfold. The first blindfolded exercise has the child grade as in the General Presentation.


Variation #3 – The Longest Rod:
Follow the General Presentation through Step #12. Ask the child,
“Which two rods can be placed together to make the length of
the longest rod?” Replace the rods back to order and then
repeat for each rod.


Variation #4 – The Maze:
Follow the General Presentation through Step #12. Then, roll
out a second rug and place it right next to the first one (making a big work space). Say to the child, “We are going to make a maze!” Take the shortest rod and place it in the center of the rug. Picking-up each rod in the appropriate way, going from short to long, place it up against the rod before and make a maze. Walk the maze in stocking feet careful not to touch the rods.

Points of Interest:
1.The relationship of the rods to each other

Control of Error:
1.Visually

Aims:
Visual discrimination(Understanding of size, muscular and visual perception of dimension) which leads to observation and knowledge, order, concentration, coordination, developed small motor skills, prepare for math readiness, sequence and order.

Age:
3 and up

Language:
Long, short, red, rods, prism, maze, etc.

Don't send me junks, send flowers

Our wedding anniversary is coming up next week and my birthday is coming up in two weeks time. He mentioned about mailing me something, but I told him that I have enough clutters to deal with, don't need any more junks. He has never sent me flowers but things that I hated and told him not to send.
In fact, he spent more on shipping every time he mailed me something. I might said in a joke that he bought a bigger gift for the United Stated Postal Service, what I really mind is the lack of thought put into the selection of gifts.

Development Required Before a Child Can Read

What is developmental appropriate activities? Making 2-3 years old holding a pencil with the wrong grip is setting her up for lifelong hatred of writing. Flashing cards to wigglers who can't sit still for 20 seconds is setting ourselves for frustrations.

Parents came to me and said their 4 years old is "slow" because the academic progress is not as satisfactory. Usually, almost everytime, it's because the developmental needs of the child were not addressed. If a child can't concentrate for 20 seconds, he won't be able to read and sit still to learn, and that is the underlying reasons why he is not "performing" academically.

In an authentic Montessori classroom, we prepare the children by allowing them to develop the right skills required for academic success, namely: ability to focus/concentrate and love of learning.

What are the developmentally needs and how do we prepare them?

Developmental Preparation
1. Sensorial development to receive information
2. Perceptual development in order to organize, understand and integrate information.
3. Neurological(tactal, stereognostic, etc) to utilize information in a physical manner.
4. Social development of interpersonal relationships to relate to people and events.
5. Symbolic development in order to decode.
6. Concept fromation
7. Verbal language
8. Visual language reading

Development Needed
1. Gross motor control
2. Fine muscle control
3. Eye-hand coordination
4. Ability to perceive figure in space (walking on line, etc)
5. Directionality (top-bottom, right-left, etc)
6. Ability to organize a temporal, spatial relationship (understanding, difference between in and on)
7. Ability to differentiate contrasting symbol and sound i.e. "a" and "t" is a good contrast in sound and symbol "b" and "p" are too similar .
8. Ability to classify
9. Ability to udnerstand conceptions presented in text (content meaning)
10. Well developed auditory discrimination
11. Ability to focus and listen to verbal instructions
12 General ability to focus on the task on hand.

Reference: "what's involved in being Able to Read" Ellen de HArt Young Children, March 1968

Some of the activities and games that we used in the Montessori classroom to help to aid this developmental needs and develop the necessary skills.

http://joymontessori.net/2007/01/sound-cylinders.html

http://joymontessori.net/2007/01/visual-discrimination-cards.html

http://joymontessori.net/2007/01/pre-reading-exercises.html

Purposeful play and homemade "toys"

Parents often told me their children would not tidy up their toys after they played with them or they destroyed/torn apart the expensive toys after the initial excitement of new toys. They were also pretty surprised that their children were totally different in school. They played with the same "toys" over and over and knew exactly where to return them.

Many find it perplex that children are more engage with this simple "toys" than the colorful, expensive and sophisticated toys that available commercially.

I thought I will share some of these inexpensive "toys" that fascinated every child that I knew. :-)

1) Stringing wooden beads

You can buy the educational toys type that cost a bomb, or you can do what I did.

(a) Buy some shoes lace. (I got from RM2 store, 1 dozen for ....RM2)
(b) Buy some wooden beads (I bought from a sewing supplies shop, these are beads for curtain, lantern, total cost RM7)

2) connecting PVC pipes (No, you are not training your kids to be plumbers:-))
I bought
(a) several PVC pipes, asked the guy at the hardware store to cut into 1' and 6" lengths.
(b) 3 L-shaped connectors, one side has teeth to screw on
(c) 3 straight connectors, one side has teeth to screw on.

Total cost was about RM5

The presentation is here

The books tell you about her

Right after the surgery, I was recuperating at my sisters' place for a week before coming home to live with my parents temporarily. While my sisters are at work and there is no TV at their condo, fortunately my second sister has a big collections of reading materials.
The books and magazines are my best companion during that whole week! She has a lot of novels, books on travel and all sort of magazines, doesn't have the Denver magazine though.
You can roughly guess what she is into lately by going through her collection of books and what she has been buying lately. :-)

Montessori Pink Reading Nomenclature Cards

Whole to Parts - Nomenclature Cards



Direct aim:
1) Development of visual discrimination: graphme matching.
2) Order, concentration, coordination, and self esteem.
3) Vocabulary development

Indirect aim:
Preparation for associating initial sounds of words with the alphabet symbol


Materials:

One set of language arts "3-part cards" maybe organized as follows:

Group a1: can, map, jam, cap
Group a2: fan, gas, pan, rag
Group a3: man, yam, tag, cab
Group e1: bed, hen, peg, net
Group e2: hen, jet, red, pen
Group e3: keg, leg, ten, web
Group i1: bib, fig, tin, rim
Group i2: fin, kid, bin, zip
Group i3: lip, pin, pig, wig
Group o1: cob, log, mop, dot
Group o2: cot, dog, pot, wok
Group o3: top, fox, pod, hog
Group u1: bud, jug, mug, nut
Group u2: sun, bug, bus, tub
Group u3: cup, gum, sun, pup

Montessori Pink Reading Blending Sounds with Objects

Blending Sounds with Objects

Direct aim:
1) Identify the separate sound in a word.
2) Order, concentration, coordination, independence, and self esteem.

Indirect aim
1) Preparation for writing and reading
2) Preparation for spelling

Control of Error
1) The adult
2) The child's auditory sense


Materials:
Object may be organized in the following groupings:
Group a1: can, tag, map
Group a2: pan, fan, bag
Group a3: ham, jam, cap
Group e1: peg, hen, jet
Group e2: bed, red, ten
Group e3: pen, net, leg
Group i1: bib, tin, lid
Group i2: pin, wig, zip
Group i3: kid, pig, bin
Group o1: log, mop, pot
Group o2: dog, dot, cot
Group o3: cob, top, fox
Group u1: bud, cup, sun
Group u2: bug, pup, gum
Group u3: nut, bus, jug

Presentation 1:
1)Invite the child to work with the objects for sound blending
2) Show the child where the objects for sound blending are located on the shelf.
3) Select the group a1 container and carry it to the table or rug.
4) Remove the objects in group a1 one at a time, place them in a horizontal row from left to right: can, tag, map

5) Select the object (can) to the left and place it before the child. Say the word "can". Then say, /c/ /a/ /n/
6) Replace 6the object (an) in its original position.
7) Select the next object (tag) to the right. Place it before the child. Say the word "tag". Then say, /t/ /a/ /g/
8) Replace the object in its original position.
9) Select the next object (map)to the right. Place the object before the child. Say the word "map". Then say, /m/ /a/ /p/.
10) Replace the object in its original position.
11) Say, "Hand me the /c/ /a/ /n/" Continue with the commands with the remaining objects.
12) Say, "What is this?" "Can you make the sounds in that word?"
13) Continue in this manner with the remaining objects
14) Return the objects to the container, replacing the materials one at a time from left to right.
15) Return the material to the shelf.

Presentaion 2:
1) Continue in this manner with objects in group a2 thrpugh u3.

Variation
Each day at group time
(1) Present blending with objects
2) Sound out children's names
3) Sound out objects in the room i.e. box, pin, map, lid.
4) Sound out made-up words. The children "guess" the word being blended.

Language:
1) The names of objects
2) the separate sounds in words.

Age:
4-5 years

Get the hot tickets online

Watching your favorite games in front of TV can never beats the kick of watching the games live!

However, how many of us have the time to line up hours for that hot tickets? We all know tickets for popular sport events i.e. Miami Heat tickets are usually sell like hot cakes.

You don't have to feel frustrated because you cannot seem to get the hot tickets for your favorite NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL games or an amazing concert anymore. With the Internet, it is possible to get your tickets without camping outside the ticket sale counter. Have you ever tried getting it online?

Montessori Pink Reading Initial Sound Bin with Pictures

Activity 2: Initial Sound Bin with Pictures

Materials:

Pictures of objects, animals or people representing the initial sounds.






Pictures representing initial sounds may be organised into the following groupings:

1) s m t a
/s/ - snake, sailboat, saw, seven, sun, spoon, swing, sofa
/m/ - mat, map, mail, maracas, mop, mouse, milk, mango
/t/ - tag, ten, tape, tomato, tail, turtle, tiger, table

2) f n d e
/f/ - fan, fin, fish, fork, fox, finger, flower, frog
/n/ - nail, needle, nest, newspaper, nut, number, net, neck
/d/ - door, deer, desk, dinosaur, dog, doll, duck, donkey

3) c r p i
/c/ - can, cap, carrot, cat, cot, cup, cake, cow
/r/ - rabbit, rat, red, rug, rainbow, raccoon, refrigerator, racket
/p/ - pan, pot, peg, pin, pineapple, pink, pie, pup

4) h l b o
/h/ - house, hat, hand, helicopter, hen, horse. hammer, hoe
/l/ - ladder, lamp, leg, lemon, lid, lion, lips, lorry
/b/ - bun, bag, banana, bib, bud, bus, boat, bread

5) w k g u
/w/ - watermelon, watch, wig, wagon, web, window, worm, windmill
/k/ - kangaroo, keg, key, kid, kitchen, kettle, kite, koala
/g/ - gum, gas, goat, goose, gorilla, guitar, girl, gate

6) j v qu
/j/ - jam, jeep, jug, jellyfish, jacket, jar, jacks, jet
/v/ - vase. van, vacuum, violin, vest, vet, violet, vegetable
/qu/ - quail, queen, quilt, quarter

7) x y z
/x/ - xylography. xylophone
/y/ - yoyo, yam, yak, yellow, yarn
/z/ - zebra, zero, zipper, zither, zoo

Pictures are assembled by initial sounds as single picture cards or in a flip book.

Within the same grouping, the same initial sound pictures are placed together in a container.

For example, the pictures of mop, mouse, milk and mango are placed together.


Presentation 1: Vocabulary

1) Invite the child to work with the initial sound pictures in group #1: /s/

2) show the child where the initila sound pictures for /s/ are located on teh shelf.

3) Select the container with the sound pictures for /s/ and carry it to the atle or rug.

4) Place the container in the upper left of teh table or rug.

5) Remove the picturs one at a time, placing them in a horizontal row from left to right.

6) Name each picture as it is removed.

7) Proceed with the Three Period Lesson to establish the vocablury of the pictures:snake, sailboat, saw, seven, sun, spoon, swing, sofa.




Presentation 2: Initial Sounds
1) Select a picture. Name the picture (Snake). Say, "The first sound you hear when you say 'snake' is /s/. Select anotehr picture and repeat the same procedure of naming the picture and giving the initial sound of the word. Continue in this manner with all the pcitures.
2) Select a picture and say, "with what sound does this picture begin?" Continue until teh child has voiced the initila sound of each picture.
3) Return the pictures to teh container.
4) Return the materials to the shelf.
5) Continue in this manner with the remaining initila sounds in group #1: /m/, /t/ and /a/


Presentation 3:

1) Continue with the following groupings:

Group #2: /f/, /n/, /d/ and /e/
Group #3: /c/, /r/, /p/ and /i/
Group #4: /h/, /l/, /b/ and /o/
Group #5: /w/, /k/, /g/ and /u/
Group #6: /j/, /v/, /qu/
Group #7: /x/, /y/, /z/


Language:
1) Names of pictures
2) Discussion of the pictures.

Age: 3-4 years old

These teenagers never heard of "The Merchant of Venice"

My cousin's children, who are teenagers were here going through all the books that I wanted to give away. They picked up Shakespear's "The Merchant of Venice" and asked me what kind of story is it. Would you believe it? They have never heard of the title of thsi book. They were fascinated about the canals and the city of Venice when I told them about Venice. I half jokingly told my cousin may be it's time to book that Hotels in Venice and bring the children for a vacation. :-)

In fact, with the Internet, it's not that difficult to plan for a trip to Europe, whether you are looking for Milan Hotels, Barcelona Hotels or Madrid Hotels, you can find good deals all over the Internet.

Beautiful inside out

I think my skin started screaming out loud for the neglects and abuses they received.:-) Few weeks ago, I suddenly have some pimples break out on my face. Well, I am way passed the pimply age and I have not have a cluster of them on my face for years. It must be the stress of moving, the late nights and the coffee!

Since the causes of this breakouts are mostly internal, I guess changing the cleansers probably won't help? What can I do before it becomes a serious problem and need acne treatments?

Computers in the Classroom

It worries me to see preschools start offering computer classes or claim that they use mulitmedia for teaching. And in my opinion, the computer classes they now offered in all Malaysian primary schools are just a business opportunity for a few people to get rich.

The New York Times just recently published an article titled "Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops", which doesn't come as a surprise to me. But at least there is transparency in the system that allow this to be told in a major newspaper. An average parent in Malaysia will never know who are the people who set the curriculum for the computer classes, who are the people the school hired to teach the classes (university students, those waiting for STPM results, ah-dog, ah-miow, you get the idea), what/how do they teach (what approach, which curriculum, which learning theory)?

I think this is a very revealing article. It shows how little educational establishment understands about learning and how to support it -- and how little they understand the nature of computing technology. Note the reasons offered for the failure of these laptop programs: technical difficulties, bad children, soaring costs, teachers who don't know how to integrate computing technology into their curricula, teacher's resistance. What a list!

IMHO, the real reason these programs failed is because the people who implement the program do not fully grasp the nature of the computer and how it interacts with the nature of the human being.

Computers by nature reflect and amplify our thinking habits and consciousness. Yes, that's what computers are: amplifiers of thinking. All tools amplify human ability in some way, like glasses help us to see clearer, telescope helps us to see further, but only the computer has such ability to reflect and amplify the mind. The trouble is that computers amplify ALL the thinking habits and consciousness of their users, the bad along with the good, the primitive along with the refined. The computer is like those magnifying mirrors they have at the cosmetic counter - you can see yourself a little too clearly, every pore, every hair, every blemish. :-)

The computer can only transform the thinking of the user, and the thinking itself has to be built the "old-fashioned" way, by many years of self-construction in a developmentally appropriate environment. By just having "computer skills", let alone just owning a computer, will never be a substitute for the discipline and conscious efforts it takes to build a well-trained mind.

Block shell acess for security reason?

Have used the hosting services of four different hosting companies so far, only to discover recently that some companies do not allow access to the root directory! That posed a little problem if you are trying to to migrate the blog from the old host to the new host by "importing" the XML file that you exported. It was quite a pain!
They said the reason for blocking access to the root directory is for security. What a lame excuse, don't they heard of power broker? If they are worried about security, they should invest in a robust system that can securely manage the
Since direct import of the posts, comments and categories from ther old host cannot be done without access to the root directory. I am still thinking should I get a new domain and start a new blog there, or just abandon it totally? Luckily it is free for the first year, nothing to lose!

Buying used cars

Most of us prefer buying a brand new car, though financially it's really not such a good idea! Price of a brand new car drops like a bag of rock, and within 3-4 years, it will have depreciated 30-50%! We must remember that buying a car is never an investment, what kind of investment depreciates in value?
Personally, we would prefer to get a used car. A car that someone else have absorbed the brutality of depreciation. May be for the main car in the family, it doesn't have to be an old car, but a slightly used car, a 2-3 years old car will be ideal.
For the second car, it can be a junk that brings you from point A to point B safely. Some people said old cars often break down and it's costly to repair. But, it still cost less than paying loan interest for a new car!
Nowadays, one can easily get parts and replacements from places like midwest auto recycling. We don't buy new parts for a junk car, we always check out the auto recycling centers before we hit the workshop or car accessories store.

Notebook computer for mobility

The migration process is going to take at least another 6-9 months to complete. We are making plan for me to visit IL while the process is going on. have to come back to attend the visa interview and medical check up, then only move there for good.

So we need a reliable notebook computer that allows me to work online during this transition. My father in law has suggested using the allowance he has from work to get me a new laptop. Currently just waiting for the big boy to put his acts together. I hope he can get the laptop in time without stressing me to death.

Weight gain due to PCOS

Over the past few years, it has been an uphill battle trying to keep the weight down. Though I have been very disciplined in watching my diet and not over eating, yet can't lose weight and the weight still goes up steadily. I kept blame it on the sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical exercise since we started the preschool and tutoring center. When the doctor found out I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), it helps to put the puzzles together.
It's quite a classic symptom of PCOS: weight gain because of low metabolism rate due to hormonal imbalance. In order to lose weight successfully, there is a need to control the hormone and boast the metabolism rate. I have not tried any of the diet pills in the market, but I doubt they will work for people who have PCOS. Apparently you can eat very little can still put on weight when you have PCOS, because it's not the amount of dietary intake but rather the dietary intake itself that needs to be modify.

Zero fare promotion in the Boleh Land

The ads kept repeating every few minutes on the TV. I have seen the man repeatedly talk about this "zero fare" promotion of our beloved airline about 20 times within 2-3 hours of sitting in front of TV Saturday evening. Can you imagine the amount of money being spent on this TV ads campaign?
If you would spend so much money promoting your "internet only specials", does it take a MBA to figure out that there is going to be a surge of traffic to the site and you want to make sure your database can handle the huge amount of queries ? However, if you have been trying to access to the site to no avail, welcome to the Boleh Land ! I have been trying to check out the site for cheap ticket to LA, and my queries were returned with "the site is busy right now!" and "server is down" all kind of error messages.

Plan B for Mothers' Day

Have you have any plan for your mother this weekend? We have not start planning, it depends on whether my sisters are home for Mothers' Day or not. They came home last week, so not sure they will be home again this weekend.

I called my sisters today, they said they haven't decided, they may just order some flowers from this place that sells bulk flowers if they couldn't make it home. So, my plan A is to cook lunch or dinner if my sisters are home. If not, we will just go out for dinner and/or give her a cash gift or gift certificates.

Gifts for new born and mummy

My cousin just had a baby last week. Not knowing what to get her and the baby, my mother suggested I give her cash. I thought that's a bit lack of thought for a cousin whom we are quite close to.
Actually, have thought of getting her one of those baby gift baskets that saw at the stores. May be should get her some cloth diapers?

Is the sun going to rise from the west tomorrow?

I told my mother about what I saw just now, she said tomorrow the sun will rise from the west ! :-) What did I see and tell her? I told her that our next door cousin was mowing the lawn when I drove by his house at noon. He was wearing the Shutter Shades to protect his eyes from the glare and from the pebbles that flying around.

Our cousin has been unemployed for years, he usually stays up late drinking with friends and gets up in the afternoon in time for lunch. The weeds at his backyard have grown as tall as him. I don't know how he and his wife can live with borrowed money and dealing with all the debtors that come knocking on their doors all this years.

They used to make big money being a contractor and they refused to work for mere wages right now. Even if they decided to do some small trading, his rich sister would have helped him to get started. Even selling the shutter shades at the marketplace will be better off than just living off borrowed money. One can Buy Shutter Shades a dime for a dozen at the wholesaler and resell them at online or offline marketplaces. The other neighbor of us make good money selling all sort of trinkets at the NYC China town and recently bought two shoplots with cash!

Bad reception after cell phone tower removed

Ever since they removed the cell phone tower in the area where my parents live, the reception has been not good. They have installed the tower too near the school and houses, the residents have complained because they were afraid of the harmful radiations.
Without a cell phone tower in the area, they probably need cell phone amplifiers to get good reception. It's a choice between good cell service and health, the residents obviously have chosen their good health. If the cellular service provider were not trying to be sneaky, tried to disguise the project, the residents would have proposed to them to have tower built on the hill, which is at a safer distance from the houses.

Options trading when blogging falls apart

Do you know anything about options trading? I have no idea how it's done. We have a few friends who are very much into trading stock options and are doing pretty well in it. They often try to persuade us to go for seminars that teach you how to do that, but we are not really interested.
They actually paid for such seminar and bought the software program that provides them with all the data and resources, which allow them to analyze and choose different strategies. I have heard them talked about the iron condor strategy though we have no idea what it is! Maybe I will learn how to do options trading when this blog for money thing fall apart. :-)

Painkillers are not M&Ms

Certainly not one that has very high threshold for pain. The first few words that blurted out from my mouth to the doctor after coming out from the operating theater the other day was "Painkillers, please.". :-)

The gynecologist actually gave me one whole packet of painkillers. But I stopped taking them after the first week as the pain subsided and became bearable. I don't dare to pop more painkillers even though I do experience some slight pain off and on. I don't want to end up have to get into a drug rehab to take care of a new problem - painkiller addiction!

Sent the slides for second opinion

Due to the recent laparoscopic surgery and cancer scare, I have been going in and out of the two major private hospitals in town. Yesterday, I have to collect the referral letter from Dr Nonis's office. Then, together with the slides of the biopsy that done in another hospital, I handed it to the pathologist for a review.

The pathologist's office is on the ground floor, next to the laboratory. One of the lab assistants was attending to a patient. I thought he must be one of those people who came for health screening, as he did not wear the hospital gown nor wearing the medical id

A friend told me the pathologist is one of the best in town, so I half expected him to be an elderly white hair old man. Was a bit surprised to find him to be a young chap, may be around mid thirty to early forty. Anyway, the pathologist took the slides and told me he will send the report to Dr Nonis's office within two days.

Gears for paintball games

Just like any sports or hobby, if you are serious about it, you would want to buy all the latest gears and equipment that supposedly help you to perform better. I am sure you know of at least one golfer who are always in need of another club so that he can bring down his handicap.

For people who are into paintball games, there are equal numbers of gears and equipment the players can get. One may innocently start with the invert mini package special, before you know it, the spare bedroom is occupied by boxes that keep all the gears for paintball games. :-)

Waiting to place order for a laptop

We are looking to buy a laptop right now. I have picked one that has all the configurations needed and stayed within our budget of $1000. It's a Dell machine that comes with a core 2 duo CPU, 3GB of memory and many other standard features that come with new laptops this days. It has a built-in webcam, bluetooth and wireless access.
It has been more than 10 days since I picked my choice, still waiting for the big boy to look at it and place the order. Oh, I don't need another item to stress me, my conservative estimation is: it will take another month or two! I just hope the laptop is there when I move to IL!!

What's up in this weekend?

We went to the hospital to pick up the pathologist's report and the slides today. On the way home, dad took the short cut to avoid the many stop lights and passed by the International Trade Center. We could see quite a few trucks were unloading the trade show booths at the back of the convention center.
Some workers were putting up the banner stands all around the building. I bet there are more workers putting up the Pipe and Drape or decorating the banquet tables with table skirts inside the convention center. We wondered what kind of event are they going to have this weekend?

Would he sell his possessions to pay my medical bills ?

The recent surgery and diagnostic tests for the cancer scare had burnt a big hole in our pockets. The total medical expenses cost us over 10k without health insurance. The big boy had transferred the money to my bank account before the surgery. He is going to transfer another sum for the rest of the medical expenses.
Luckily he has a job and steady income right now, if not we would have gotten into a difficult financial situation.
I do wonder if we were desperate without any saving for emergency like this, would he sell his priced possessions li.e all his Star War and LOTR toys or the silver coins that he got from his grandmother to raise fund for my medical expenses?