Monday, April 18, 2011

Real Montessori - Pouring water

We're using a Montessori curriculum with Bella at home (more about that here).  Lots of Montessori activities are very useful things that a child needs to learn, like how to pour themselves a glass of water from a pitcher.  But the idea of putting a glass pitcher and an empty glass on a shelf and and allowing Bella to take it down, fill the pitcher with water and pour it into the glass (even after some instruction) made me a little green around the gills.  So we have started easing into this activity a little at a time.

When Bella is thirsty, or around snack times, I'll pull down the dishpan along with the empty pitcher and her glass (and a towel).  I fill the pitcher a little over halfway.  Enough to overflow the glass if she pours too much (so she understands why she needs to pour carefully) but not enough to make a gigantic mess.  Then I let her have at it.  She usually pours the water back and forth between the pitcher and the glass (taking sips in between) until she has either drunk it all, or it's in the bottom of the dishpan.  Then we put the pitcher and the glass away and she uses the towel to mop up any water from the bottom of the dishpan.

Demonstration:


If you're wondering, we got the little glasses as part of a set (here) and I love it because it's real glass, but it's also unbreakable.  And the little glass pitcher is actually a glass creamer we got from Target, which is the perfect size for her little hands.

How do you make the Montessori activities work better for your household?

1 comment: