Sorting Beans.... with tweezers

Carlee had the chance to try a new activity today. She got to sort beans using big tweezers. She did really well! I was so surprised that she also kept the mess to a minimum today. I really think it has to do with her new school setup.



If you look in the background, you can see two bookshelves. This is now Carlee's school organizing area. It's still a work in progress, and I haven't added all the activities that I want to yet, but basically she will have an assortment of things to pick from. I will change out the activities based on what we're working on at the moment. Today, she chose her Triceratops lacing card (another first time activity,) the bean sorting and pouring, Melissa & Doug Puzzles, coloring, reading a few books together, and her Dino Match game.

I was really inspired by the blogs I've seen using the Montessori approach, and so I incorporated the setup into how we do things. I think the structure and having the carefully chosen activites available for her choosing will really encourage Carlee's independence. She already showed improvement today, her attention span was so much longer after getting to choose the activity, and she even did a lot of it independently (which is highly unusual for her!) She was also much better at putting each activity away before picking another one. Hopefully, she'll continue to do this even after the newness of the setup wears off. =)