Sunday, August 3, 2008

On Friday Amy babysat our kids for a few hours. Lee and I had a really fun date. We walked around a furniture store, got a few summer clothes for the kids next summer, got free t-shirts at American Eagle, went out to eat, stopped at TigerDirect, and lastly tried on rings at a jewelry store (well, I tried on rings.)

Here is our self photo at the restaurant.


Yesterday morning Lee and I went to the Raleigh Temple and did sealings.

Yesterday afternoon my mom, Cal and I went to an open house for a Montessori school. My mom did a brochure for a friend at church for a Montessori school she is opening at her home. She liked the brochure so much, that she is letting Cal go for free! I need to read through the material she gave me, but basically Montessori is a hands-on type of learning. It's very orderly and practical. She--Claudia Vickers, seems like a great teacher. I also am her new visiting teacher! I loved the set up she had in the upstairs of her house. I also loved many of the teaching tools she had. One thing that I saw that I would love to buy is a big box of wooden alphabet letters, and a box of wooden numbers. Check out a website she liked if you want to buy some of the items. They would be great for preschool activities at home:
Alison's Montessori
Cal enjoyed being there doing the open house and seems excited to go. He will go two days a week.

This is what I got off of Wikipedia for a brief explanation of the Montessori method:

The Montessori method is an educational method for children, based on theories of child development originated by Italian educator Maria Montessori in the late 19th and early 20th century. It is applied primarily in preschool and elementary school settings, though some Montessori high schools exist.

The method is characterized by an emphasis on self-directed activity on the part of the child and clinical observation on the part of the teacher (often called a "director", "directress", or "guide"). It stresses the importance of adapting the child's learning environment to his or her developmental level, and of the role of physical activity in absorbing academic concepts and practical skills. It is also characterized by the use of autodidactic (self-correcting) equipment to introduce various concepts.

We also got new cell phones this past week, and Lee and I have had a lot of fun with them. I wanted a way to keep in touch with Lee as much as possible.

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