We got a second bookshelf! Yay! It's the one on the right. And it quickly filled up. Oops. I want to keep things simple, with just 2 items per shelf.
I like that he can see outside during the day, but I feel like the broken blinds are a distraction. They are pricey to replace! I should really just invest in some cheap curtains, something that will brighten the "room".
Another note.... I haven't done it yet, but I really want to hang some pictures next to the left bookshelf. I also have a pile of books on the floor there, which I don't like! I want to put up a tiny shelf for books. Or get a sweet little basket for the books. Either way, that needs to change soon!
The Left Shelf
Here you can see some of the cursive work we've been doing. I hand-wrote A-M and N-Z on two pieces of paper. Then I created some uppercase letters for him to match with. He gets A-M 100% of the time now! And N-Z is what we'll work on this week. The green thing behind some of the letters is a small dry erase board.
He still loves the Tower of Hanoi (the light/dark rings), the stacking owl puzzle, and the robot nesting dolls. That's his favorite shelf, if I had to guess!
The third shelf is animal stuff: animal matching cards, 3 animal books, and a wooden "toy" that opens and shows a different bird on each side. It's a bit young for him, honestly, but he likes to open it and say "bird" or "chick". We'll leave it there for now!
The bottom shelf is still "things that go"! He loves trucks, and we are learning the different types of tricks, like dump trucks and rigs and excavators and more.
The Puzzle Shelf
I don't think much has changed with the puzzle shelf! I took away the foam letter blocks that were underneath. It makes it a little simpler on the eyes.
Also, you can't quite see, but on the far right of the second shelf, there are some matching puzzle cards. They are numbered 1-5 and they match with the quantities 1-5. For example, "2 airplanes" matches up with the number 2 piece. It's simple, but I want to expose him to quantity as much as possible.
The Right Shelf
I wasn't sure what to do with the top shelf, honestly. I want to frame a few things and have them displayed since he can't really reach or see this shelf. The left is some coloring sheets and colors. (I love that wooden tray and would like to better use it!) The right tray is the leaf matching game.
In a little basket, I've got some bendable wires, beads, and buttons. Alexander is able to string the wire through the beads much easier than a string. So it's a good transition for us. He also tends to match the beads/buttons by color to the colored wires.
In the left bowl, there are some colored cubes. I don't know what to do with them just yet. I thought he might stack them, but we can also work with quantity some more and do a "what's out of place?" game. In other words, I'll put 5 red blocks and 1 yellow and ask him which one doesn't belong. I'm not sure if he's ready for that, but we can try!
You can see I've added a pouring station. Instead of leaving water out, I have some wool balls. He loves pouring! And this is easier for cleanup.
I printed these flashcards from Mr Printables, and I added some 3D objects for him to match. For example, a small yellow ball matches with the SUN card. I don't like this activity very much, but I can't figure out how to make it better.
On the bottom left, there's a bin of empty bottles and their lids. He has to match the lids and also practice screwing the lids onto the bottles. He can match them easily and he can mostly unscrew them. But screwing them on is still a bit of a challenge.
Finally it's a few sheets of paper with a few different clothespins. He may not be strong enough to use the clothespins, but we are working on it!
I'm still trying to figure out this whole Montessori thing. This is the 3rd time I've arranged the classroom, and I know it will change over and over and over. I'm slowly learning as we go, and it is a blast!