Summer Time Fun!

Here Little One enjoys the rain.
Spraying the hose high above him makes him smile and laugh every time.
I haven't been blogging much...summer is here. But we have been crafting lots!
And my wheels have been turning creating activities for my toddler class this fall. I've decided to open an Esty Shop and slowly but surely it will get up and running!
Thank you to all of you who have encouraged me to take this step toward sharing what I love to do! The following is a short list of items soon to appear in my on-line Etsy shop.
I have several different options available for sale.

1.) Reflection Cards are a set of 30 hand painted, laminated cards with dish (inspirational words)~~$15

2.) Comfort Cards are a set of 22 hand painted, ( a bit larger than the Reflection cards) laminated cards with dish (words and phrases to comfort such as 'Let it be')~~$15

3.) 'While You Wait' Cards for expectant mothers are a set of 30 hand painted, laminated cards with dish with words and phrases to both comfort and inspire the future Mama example: "You are a Goddess!" and "Magic within" ~~$15

4.) Children's Affirmation Cards are a set of 20 large hand painted, laminated cards with dish (these cards are intended for both home & classroom use; if you are buying them for a classroom please specify the number of students if more than 20)~~$20

5.) Yoga Position Cards (something NEW I've been working on) are a set of 20 yoga positions, hand painted and laminated includes dish ~~$20

6.) Sentence Starters a set of 15 hand painted, laminated cards with sentence starters printed on them (some examples: "While walking through the woods I saw..." "I opened the box and discovered..." "I heard a loud noise and felt...") with dish ~~$20

If you have another request of idea in mind I can also do custom orders. I once did a set for a friend who was recovering from surgery, she chose some of the words she wanted. Or if you have a favorite color choice, let me know. :)

Also for sale will be prints of my art work and greeting cards as well as note cards featuring Maria Mouse and original cut paper designs!

So bear with me while I get up and running PLEASE I may look computer savvy but honestly, not so much.
I hope you are all enjoying your summers and your kiddos are too!
In PEACE
Montessori Mama

Spirit Whisperers ~ by Chick Moorman (A review)

When I first read the following list, I will confess I was guilty of saying numbers 2 and 5 on the 10 Worst things list almost every day (to my own children not the children I work with).

Anyway, it took some retraining and practice, practice, practice. If you’ve never heard of Chick Moorman I highly recommend giving his stuff a read. His book Spirit Whispers is a favorite of mine. Although not all of the material applies to the age of the children I teach, I have often applied some of his suggestions to parenting with my three boys. I find Mr. Moorman to be inspirational and experienced; he gives helpful suggestions and seems to have a really good understanding of children and teachers.

The intention of this list to give you some tools and a gentle reminder about the language to use when working with children. Remember this is ‘Best Practice’ no-one talks like this ALL the time but we can try to.

From The Teacher Talk System

Designed by Chick Moorman
The 10 Best Things you can say to your students:

1.) Next time…

2.) Check yourself

3.) Check it out on the inside

4.) Sounds like you have a problem

5.) Choose/decide/pick

6.) Please make a “be” choice

7.) What do you attribute that to?

8.) What can we learn from this?

9.) Problem solver or a problem keeper?

10.)Describe/describe/describe

The 10 Worst Things you can say to your students:

1.) What did I just tell you?

2.) That is the third time today…

3.) Stop whining

4.) Don’t run/yell/throw/cheat/lie

5.) Knock it off

6.) Because I said so, that’s why.

7.) Tell her you’re sorry

8.) Great answer

9.) Always do your best

10.)Here is my advice…

Well there you have it! Chick’s Best and Worst list, what do you think?

I have another list I personally like better, I will share it with you soon.

I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful weather! Cornerspring is having their annual auction this weekend May 17^th 6-9pm at the Shriner’s Club in Belfast! If you are local come on by and make a bid! A copy of my book Maria Mouse will be a live auction item.

In PEACE

~MM

Cut paper cards hand made by me

Our local Co-op wants to sell my collage cards! I'm very excited and wanted to share with all of you. I have to say, I really feel out of my element and have no idea what I'm doing but I welcome the learning. Until now I have only made cards for my church and friends and family, never to sell.
Maria Mouse up-date:
I have decided to self publish Maria Mouse in the Children's House! So I am gearing up for another BIG learning experience. Thank you to all of you who have expressed interest and given me support through this process. The folks at Parent Child Press have been WONDERFUL and even though they passed on publishing Maria Mouse, they are going to publish another one of my stories for children called When I Make Silence, it's about making Silence as a group in the Montessori classroom. I'll let you know more when I know more.
Thanks Again!
~~MM

Maria Mouse

Many readers have been asking about my book Maria Mouse in the Children's House. I would like to thank you for your enthusiasm and support for this little story book of mine. I am hopeful it one day soon will be published and I can share that news with all of you but as of yet it hasn't been picked up by a publishing house. And so I wait....
I have been thinking about self publishing but know very little about this process. I will keep you all posted and welcome your comments and feedback about my illustrations and and suggestions about book publishing.


The children I have shared my Maria Mouse stories with have enjoyed them and I feel confident that many more children would too. I hope it happens...(I'm trying to be optimistic).
In PEACE
~~MM

Meet Maria Mouse!

Hi Everyone,
I would like to introduce Miss Maria Mouse. I am hoping one day her stories will be on the book shelves of Montessori classrooms, public libraries, book stores and homes everywhere! A grand idea I know, but I can dream. My children enjoy her stories and I am hopeful other children will also. I'll keep you posted about her journey. Thank you all for your words of support and encouragement!
In PEACE
~~MM