It occurred to me the other day that, just like I can rotate children through work box activities and computer time in order to keep them occupied with educational activities while I am teaching another child a lesson, I can rotate children through listening to audio pieces!
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| We already had a CD player in the school room, so I put some picture books on CD and some music CDs in a basket next to it and got out our new ear phones. Voila--an "audio center"! |
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| Margaret listening to "A Story About Ping" while I taught John a math lesson. Notice that the two-year-old is sitting still and being quiet and not running around, shouting with exuberance, pulling books off shelves, or crying? |
Such a simple idea that should have been obvious, but wasn't obvious to me!
Bonus Reading:
How much does a baby really cost?: How I raised my baby for the cost of a cup of coffee a day
Bonus 6-minute Video about a family of 15 children, 8 of whom have become religious so far:
Katherine, this is a little off topic, but it occurred to me as I was reading this post that Margaret is the perfect age to try some multi step (but independent) Montessori Practical Life work. Things like dumping paper scraps and then sweeping them up into a little dust pan, washing fruit for snack, putting jelly on crackers and then offering it to older siblings are all little things that don't require much time or effort to start but can absorb a little one for ages. Also, washing (in a small basin) doll clothes and hanging them on a line. I'm just thinking of things ive seen in the classrooms I've observed.
ReplyDeleteLove this! I've just been trying to brain storm ways to have the kids listen to audio books as a regular activity. I like the fact that it has the perk of keeping them quietly occupied so I can focus on another child.
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