Cosmic Curriculum from Fossilicious!

I’m excited to introduce you to my dear friends at Fossilicious! Founders Claudia and Doug are long time Montessorians with a passion for the Cosmic Curriculum. Their work is particularly aligned with the Elementary Cosmic Curriculum. Fossilicious was started in 2005 to promote Discovery, Wonder and Inspiration for the history of our beautiful planet. Founded by Doug and Claudia Mann, …

Continent Dice

When conference goers see the container of continent dice on the Great Extensions table they tend to get really excited! The dice were designed using the Montessori colors for the continents. These 14-sided die have an outline of each of the continents in it’s specific color and then the continent name written in the corresponding color. The die can be …

Numeration and 1-10 Dice Work

One of the first skills needed in the area of math is for the child to gain an understanding of quantity and numeral. Through the use of the number rods and the sandpaper numerals the child is introduced to the idea that quantities can be represented by symbols and the symbols we use are numerals. Beginning with the concrete experience, …

Number Composition and the Place Value Dice

As Montessori educators we have some of the most phenomenal teaching materials available to us to introduce abstract concepts in a concrete way.  These materials, designed over one hundred years ago by Dr. Montessori, have stood the test of time and are as powerful today as they were back in their conception.  These manipulatives incorporate the principles of isolation of …

The Alphabet Dice

When people think of dice they naturally think of numbers and math.  What is often exciting to discover is that certain dice can be used in other curriculum areas such as language and cultural. In this post I’m going to offer some suggestions as to how the ABC or Alphabet die can be used to enhance the learning of initial …

Those Beginning Lessons

In our planning for the beginning of a new school year our thoughts turn to which introductory lessons we will be presenting in each of the curriculum areas.  In the Sensorial and Math areas there are actually beginning lessons for each different strand of instruction.  For example,  in Sensorial, there are the Cylinder blocks for gradation, Color Box 1 for …

Back to School / Ice Breaker – Interrogative Dice

For those of us living in the south or mid west, the summer break from school is quickly drawing to an end. Despite the hot August temperatures, many of us will be returning to school within the next few weeks! As I begin to prepare for the upcoming school year and my new group of students I am always looking …