BOOKs: Based in reality

 

Within Montessori, children's books based on reality, rather than fantasy are seen as the most approriate for children.  Here are three books we have that are based on reality, with accompanying photography featuring children at work and play.

BOOK: Playmates by Jane Tanner

"At about a year and a half, the child discovers another fact,

and that is that each thing has its own name.

This show that..... s/he has been able to single out the nouns, and especially the concrete nouns."

 The Absorbent Mind, Maria Montessori

 

New to our bookshelf is this book, Playmates by Jane Tanner. Every once in a while I come across a book which finds a special place in my heart and this is one such book. This book is written and illustrated by Jane Tanner. The pictures are breathtakingly real and so beautiful.

Thankfully my children adore this book as much as I do.  At 16 months they are undergoing a explosion of words. A in particular shows a keen interest in the naming of things.

Caterpillars, Caterpillars and more Caterpillars

Caterpillars seem to feature prominently in the girls reading material. The collection of caterpillar related material has evolved by coincidence

 
We have this well known book, The very hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, as mentioned in a previous post.

Books we love at 14 months old

We now have a Kidcraft Sling Bookshelf like the one below in our living room.

The girls select and bring to me the books they would me to read. Here are some of their favourite books at the moment.

Care of Ebay - The Little Helper Fun Pod

We are proud owners of a Fun Pod.

 

We were lucky enough to be the winning bidder for a Fun Pod listed on Ebay. These do not appear very often, so when I saw the listing I just had to have it.  For any parents of multiples I will say that the fun pod only fits one child. I did know this prior to purchasing and I did think long and hard about the value of buying a large item that will only fit one of the twins. After much pondering I decided that it would be worth it and it has been a fantastic purchase. 

 

There must be something liberating for a young child to see what happens at the BIG bench. The girls take turns in the fun pod and both love been in it. Their favourite game to play is peekaboo. The twin not in the fun pod thinks this game is hilarious. G sometimes likes to just sit inside and chat to herself.  We often play apple, orange and lemon.... a game where they pick up the item and I name it. The apple has yet to survive a session .

 

 

 

What I like about the fun pod is that it is fully enclosed, so no chance they will accidentally step back and slip out. The downside is that the child needs to be lifted in and out. However the smiles, laughter and delight on the girls faces when they are in the pod out weighs any negatives.

 

I have also purchased a Learning Tower which we are expecting any day now. Here is a fantastic link to a post about the learning tower used by twins. We are lucky enough to have the space for both in the house we currently rent and eventually in the house we are going to build. I opted to have a learning tower and a fun pod to give our family the option to have them both in the tower or split them up to work/play different activities at the kitchen bench. As most parents know siblings do not always play nice together. Sometimes they like to have their own space and the dedicated one on one time with a parent.

 

As a side note, if you are tossing up between a fun pod and the learning tower, one aspect you might want to consider between the two is the age of your little person and if you intend them to use the fun pod for water play. The fun pod is splash resistant it is not water resistant. It will stand up to some hard knocks and repeated use, ours is secondhand and looks brand new. However, it will not survive a drenching by enthusiastic little people helping with dishes and/or adventurous water play at the kitchen sink.

 

All in all I am super impressed with our Fun Pod, unfortunately brand new Fun Pods are no longer available for sale in Australia, so the only way to obtain one is secondhand.

 

 

 

Bedtime reading for babies and infants

This is the newest addition to our growing library. Time for Bed is written by Mem Fox. This book starts with a mother reading to her child, with every turn of the page other "animal" parent bids goodnight to their young. The book ends with the child asleep. This book incorporates a broad variety of animals from the familiar warm and fuzzy domesticated animals (cat, dog and cow) and wildlife (fish, snake and bee). I love this book for its lyrical rhythmic verses and beautiful realistic illustrations. A lovely gentle book and a perfect read to slow down the pace just before bed.

Mem Fox, is a well know writer of childrens' books such as Possum Magic and Hattie and the Fox (which I remember from when I was a little girl.) We also own two of her other books Where is the Green Sheep and  Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes. Kylie at How we Montessori reviewed Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes and I agree with all her comments. Like her I love the global feel of Ten Little Fingers. You can read her review here.

Books for Infants

Here are two of our favourite books. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

I remember been enthralled by The Very Hungry Caterpillar when I was young and now I have children I see why. There are so many aspects covered by this book (life cycle of a butterfly, days of the week, colours, counting, food variety, the moon and the sun and it is interactive)  A&G like to explore this book by poking their little fingers in the holes the caterpillar has created.

My parent brought my sister and I a Swan plant when we were little. They may have brought two, so we wouldn't fight over one plant. The Monarch Butterfly likes to lay its eggs on the leaf of the Swan plant. I remember visiting the plant each day and to our delight one day we discovered little white eggs on the leaves. We watched avidly as the little caterpillars hatched, ate the leaves on the plant, grew larger, turned into a chrysalis/pupa and eventually a butterfly. It truly was an amazing experience to witness. I hope to provide the same experiences with my children. I feel it is important to create opportunities for real life activities and memories that will be remembered many years after the event. Since they have one of the best books on the life cycle of a butterfly, why not investigate avenues to provide them with a real life experience.

Both these books are Big Board Books otherwise known as lap books. They cost more than the normal board books, but I buy these where possible.  A & G like to touch the pages, help turn the pages, sometimes sit on the page, and press their faces closer to the book to look as whatever has caught their fancy. The bigger the book the less fussing and frustration experience by everyone.

PS : Please note the Swan plant is declared a weed in some states of Australia.