Montessori and Education headlines

Here are some recent headlines grabbed by our automated news feed.

Montessori and Ikea

I spent Friday walking around Ikea. I love the children’s area. Furniture, tables, chairs, work areas and storage units are perfectly built for children. You could furnish a preschool, play area or bedroom with these beautifully designed items made just for young children. Ikea is always budge friendly.

I Like Montessori On A Budget

Montessori On A Budget is lovely. Check out the great spindle box idea.

Use Shopping Bags Instead of Gift Wrapping

My sister used pretty, reusable shopping bags as gift bags last year. It was like receiving two gifts! Bring them when you shop and cut down on your throw away bags or reuse them again for your holiday giving.

Quick and Easy Nativity

You can make a nativity scene from many recycled items. This is a wonderful way to make a nativity craft from Popsicle sticks. Use your creativity and make yours from spools, pots, spoons, paper cups and other reusable items from home.

Make Your Own Play Kitchen

This is a wonderful idea for a play kitchen stove and sink using a recycled cabinet and your creativity! This one is cheap and cheerful!

Great Education Resource

Pinterest.com is a great education resource for parents and teachers. Check out the site for great recipes, handwork and much more!

Pre-Reading Holiday Matching Object Cards

Make Montessori reading cards and use objects to match the cards this holiday. This is a great activity for a child who can not read or is an early reader. For example, print out this bulb, print with colored paper or color it. Label the card with the word “bulb” and find an actual bulb and [...]

Holiday Reading Cards

Make Montessori type reading cards for the holiday and New Years. You can use old greeting cards, pictures from calendars and magazines to make exciting cards. Also, you can use printouts online. I like DLTK’S and Activity Village. Archive Holiday Three Part Cards

American Girl

I noticed the furniture, dishes and basically all items for American Girl dolls are very expensive. I’ve been going to the local thrift store lately to purchase some great bargains for these dolls. I purchased small, toy wicker chairs for less than two dollars. A solid oak jewelry dresser was the perfect size and style [...]

Architectural Building Blocks

After your child has mastered stacking wood blocks, add architectural building blocks. You can purchase a variety of different styles of blocks. These sets provide a wonderful lesson in architecture. Here are two lessons about blocks. Cubes and Blocks Architectural Shapes

Warfarin and aspirin are similar in heart failure treatment, study suggests

In the largest and longest head-to-head comparison of two anti-clotting medications, warfarin and aspirin were similar in preventing deaths and strokes in heart failure patients with normal heart rhythm, according to new research.

Rare mutations may help explain aneurysm in high-risk families

An innovative approach to genome screening has provided clues about rare mutations that may make people susceptible to brain aneurysms, predisposing them to brain bleeds, according to preliminary research.

New device performs better than old for removing blood clots, research shows

An experimental blood clot-removing device outperformed the FDA-approved MERCI; retriever device, according to new research.

Schizophrenia: When hallucinatory voices suppress real ones, new electronic application may help

When a patient afflicted with schizophrenia hears inner voices something is taking place inside the brain that prevents the individual from perceiving real voices. A simple electronic application may help the patient learn to shift focus.

Surface of Mars an unlikely place for life after 600-million-year drought, say scientists

Mars may have been arid for more than 600 million years, making it too hostile for any life to survive on the planet’s surface, according to researchers who have been carrying out the painstaking task of analyzing individual particles of Martian soil.

Malaria kills nearly twice as many people than previously thought, but deaths declining rapidly

Malaria is killing more people worldwide than previously thought -- 1.2 million -- but the number of deaths has fallen rapidly as efforts to combat the disease have ramped up, according to new research. Researchers say that deaths from malaria have been missed by previous studies because of the assumption that the disease mainly kills children under age five.

U.S. counties with thriving small businesses have healthier residents

U.S. counties and parishes with a greater concentration of small, locally-owned businesses have healthier populations — with lower rates of mortality, obesity and diabetes — than do those that rely on large companies with “absentee” owners, according to a national study.

Scientists coax shy microorganisms to stand out in a crowd

Scientists have advanced a method that allowed them to single out a marine microorganism and map its genome even though the organism made up less than 10 percent of a water sample teeming with many millions of individuals from dozens of identifiable groups of microbes.

Google Earth ocean terrain receives major update: Data sharpen resolution of seafloor maps, correct 'discovery' of Atlantis

Internet information giant Google updated ocean data in its Google Earth application this week, reflecting new bathymetry data assembled by researchers from around the world. The newest version of Google Earth includes more accurate imagery in several key areas of ocean using data collected by research cruises over the past three years.

Unraveling a butterfly's aerial antics could help builders of bug-size flying robots

By figuring out how butterflies flutter among flowers with amazing grace and agility, researchers hope to help build small airborne robots that can mimic those maneuvers.

Millisecond pulsar paradox: Stellar astrophysics helps explain behavior of fast rotating neutron stars in binary systems

Pulsars are among the most exotic celestial bodies known. They have diameters of about 20 kilometers, but at the same time roughly the mass of our sun. A sugar-cube sized piece of its ultra-compact matter on Earth would weigh hundreds of millions of tons. A sub-class of them, known as millisecond pulsars, spin up to several hundred times per second around their own axes. Previous studies reached the paradoxical conclusion that some millisecond pulsars are older than the universe itself. Now this paradox may be solved by computer simulations, new research shows.

Some roads and playgrounds in North Dakota contain cancer causing erionite

What would you do if you found out that the roads you drive on could cause cancer? This is the reality that residents face in Dunn County, North Dakota. For roughly 30 years, gravel containing the potentially carcinogenic mineral erionite was spread on nearly 500 kilometers of roads, playgrounds, parking lots, and even flower beds throughout Dunn County.

Hubble zooms in on a magnified galaxy

Astronomers aimed Hubble at one of the most striking examples of gravitational lensing, a nearly 90-degree arc of light in the galaxy cluster RCS2 032727-132623. Hubble's view of the distant background galaxy, which lies nearly 10 billion light-years away, is significantly more detailed than could ever be achieved without the help of the gravitational lens.

Erratic heart rhythm may account for some unexplained strokes

Occasional erratic heart rhythms appear to cause about one-fifth of strokes for which a cause is not readily established.

Anemia may more than triple your risk of dying after a stroke

Being anemic could more than triple your risk of dying within a year after having a stroke, according to new research.

Men behaving nicely: Selfless acts by men increase when attractive women are nearby

Men put on their best behavior when attractive ladies are close by. When the scenario is reversed however, the behavior of women remains the same.

Eating together? Simply a matter of adapting

Women dining together finely tune their eating behavior to that of their dining partner. Rather than eating at their own pace, they tend to take bites at the same time as the person sitting across the table.

Psychology Cat

School Of Psychology Adopts Cat From Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary, Rome

Creative Momma

I am Momma Hear Me Roar is a feast of simply creative ideas for making ready wear and accesories. It is just too good not to check out!

Painting with Ice Cubes?

This is so fine! Check out painting with ice cubes at Share and Remember. You can use this as a fun science lesson too. Very tactile, visual and Montessori!

Gingerbread Train and Santa Cupcakes

My sister told me tocCheck out these fun recipes to do with your children. Santa Hat Cupcakes Gingerbread Train

Braided Rag Rug

You can make an easy braided rag rug for a doll house for the holidays. Craft Passion has great ideas for this and other recylced artistic ideas.

Using Applesauce for Science

Mike Kruckenberg has a wonderful blog entry about 3 year-olds using the scientific method to make applesauce. What a yummy way to learn!

Montessori Atrium

Explore and Express has some great ideas for a Montessori type floor plan for the Atrium area. Check out the rest of this wonderful blog for more inspiration!

Flip Over Vowels Game

Play Flip Over Vowels game is another great way to teach the rules of short and long vowel words to your early reader. There are easy to follow instructions to make this hands-onl educational game.

Don't Cut the Top Off Your Pumpkin

If you want your jack o'latern to last, cut from the back side or the bottom of the pumpkin. Your pumpkin will last much longer as a decoration if you keep the stem intact. Also, use a small flashlight instead...

Babies Watch too much TV

Zero to Eight, Chhildren's Media Use in America has shocking news about our children and the overuse of media. According to the study, infants and toddlers watch almost two hours of some sort of televiion a day. In fact, they...

Roman Arch

When my husband and I lived in Germany we were amazed at the stone arch bridge work built by the Romans. The structures were made with the Roman Arch and the bridges were still in use centuries later. There are...

Learn to Tell Time Game

This Clock Game is attractive and a creative way to teach children how to tell time. What a fun way to learn! It's very Montessori and hands-on.

Wonderful Reading with Legos

This teacher has a wonderful, and very Montessori idea, using legos for reading activities. I'm in awe of this creative idea and I know children would love reading in this classroom!

Shop for the Best Toys

Toys, there are so many to choose from. Action toys and figures, computer games, toys that bake and make woodworking projects, almost anything we can imagine. Montessori is based on development of the senses, small and large coordination and building...

Thanksgiving Ideas for Kids

I love Thanksgiving. It is a great time to teach about being thankful for life. Here are some of my favorite links for lessons, handwork, art and costumes.

Pumpkin Carving & Costumes

This newsletter has my favorite links for pumkin fun and making homemade costumes. Happy fall!

Free Botany Lessons & Worksheets

Studying plant life is easy and simple by observing your surroundings. Here are some free lessons with science reading and learning printouts. Wildflowers Sprouts Roots

Free Science Lessons and Printouts

It's that time of the year when school begins, budgets are slim, but not to worry. Check out some free, fun and educational science lessons. Squirrels -printouts about anatomy and food squirrels like to eat. Beavers - printout about anatomy...

Linear Verses Patterns in Learning

This little video is amazing. Why do we remember video games from our childhood and not math from our textbooks? Video games provide patterns that our brains use to gather information. We repeat the process and push the boundaries while...

Was Montessori the First Italian Female Doctor?

I was taught that Maria Montessori was the first woman to graduate from medical school in Italy. She was the first certified female doctor. I was told recently that she was not the first female medical doctor in Italy. I...

Montessori New Year's Celebration

Use birthday celebrations for New Year's party ideas for your children and family. A new year is a type of birthday and a new beginning. Here are some ideas you can adapt for New Year's. Montessori Birthday Walk Happy New...

Montessori and Tips for Moms

Montessori and Tips for Moms is a helpful site with some cute downloads. It's encouraging blog for moms with preschool children. I'm going to try some of the recipes, they sound so good!

Our Daily Life and Work

Our Daily Life and Work is such an uplifting and worthwhile blog. If you are looking to incorporate Montessori into your child's religious life this is a great place for ideas with nice pictures. Check out the fun homeschooling ideas...

Super Fun Mama

Super Fun Mama has great links and ideas for moms and teachers. The photos are beautiful and inspiring!

Home Free

Home Free is a blog about handwork and living a beautiful life, which is all very Montessori. I like the finger knitting pictures and instructions and walking with her two year old grandchild. Check out all the beautiful handwork ideas...

Let's Explore

Let's Explore is a colorful and illustrated blog for early learning using art and the senses. What a fun, learning environment!

My Montessori Journey

My Montessori Journey has clever ideas for holidays and special days. The ideas are fresh and creative, and your preschool children will love doing these activities. The photos are inviting too!

Good Tree Montessori Homeschool

Good Tree Montessori Homeschool has beautiful pictures and lessons for Montessori at home. Check out the archives for lots of helpful ideas.

Sew Liberated

Sew Liberated has handmade Montessori manipulatives. The items are so inviting for children. Nice textures to feel and beautiful images to see.