LaPaz Home Learning

Ok, I promised a glimpse at our science room and I guess it is as ready as it is going to be for now. Just please understand it is a “work in progress”. Some of it I am very happy with, some of it only slightly. So, things may change. What? That doesn’t surprise you? Me neither.

The room itself is tiny. It used to be a mudroom and is essentially a glorified closet between the kitchen and garage. It would make a great pantry or laundry room if it weren’t for the fact that I need a science room. So…

As it stands, I’ve got it organized sort of like a darkroom with a dry side/wet side kind of theme. (I know, nobody does darkrooms anymore. But hopefully some of you are old enough to know what I mean.) It’s all in the name of mess containment, really.

When you walk in from the kitchen, this is what you see.

This is the dry side, where most of the Montessori materials reside. Using my favorite “centers” strategy, it is basically a table for working with all of the materials in easy access. Please ignore the junk under the table and the half-painted wall. I told you we are a work in progress!

Anyhow, lets look closer at the goods:

The tall stack are the zoology and insect puzzles. . The corresponding three part cards are in the red coupon organizer on top, along with a few little booklets that will make great extensions. Oh, and that’s a Melissa and Doug insect puzzle peeking out from underneath.

Next to that is our fabulous botany cabinet, filled with all of the nifty leaf shape insets and frames, and on top are the botany puzzles. The green coupon file holds botany 3 part cards and the blue one holds life cycle cards for our Cycles of Life book, which is underneath the botany cabinet. (See it peeking out?) In front is JBug’s lovely new nature journal from Family Centered Press.  (only 5 dollars!) She loves, loves, loves it.

Next…

This little corner is the  “idea center” (note the environmentally responsible compact fluorescent light bulb picture above) where I will be setting up some themed science activities that will be changed on a regular basis. Sort of like the “science tray” idea, but only not on a tray. The first week’s stuff is all about dinosaurs. There is a little magazine file of dino-books (including a sticker book) some dino-figures, and a tray with build-your-own dino-skeleton stamps and a stamp pad. Up on the corner of the botany cabinet (not where it belongs…) is a little set of dino-matching cards. Should be dino-mite!Right? Ahem. Moving on…

On a shelf above is our microscope center, ready to roll with plenty of slides, slips, and forceps. Love the new book, btw. Kids are itching to try out some of the cool stuff contained therein.

About face. Lets look at the other side of the closet room.

This is the “wet side.” Dh built this work station last year and designed it to be used for all things, muddy and messy, goopy and grimy. I am guessing this is where Superboy will spend the vast majority of his time. Again. The old typesetters cases on the walls hold our insect collection (in process) and various nature finds. The plastic drawers below hold various stuff for science related activities. The wall behind was intentionally left blank for a Superboy’s first project, in which he intends to paint a mural of a “tree of life,”adding pictures of various life forms as we come across them in our studies.  Should be “interesting” (though probably not the best selling point once we put the house on the market this winter).

Oh, and this…

This a our shelf with some science and nature books and supplies. Yes, it is a mess. Thank you for noticing. The black apron hanging on the side is for Superboy to wear when doing messy science stuff. He never wears it. Instead, he wears messy science stuff.

And this…

Got school supplies?

We do. Not science related, but it was just a really convenient spot to hang this thing and it is working out wonderfully to store all this junk these handy tools.

So, that’s the tour. It’s a teeny room, but I am hoping big things will happen in it this year.

Filed under: montessori, nature study