Intro to Montessori - Videos

Want to know more about Montessori education? Here are 3 very informative videos.

MONTESSORI: PLANTING THE SEEDS OF LEARNING



JOYFUL SCHOLARS: MONTESSORI FOR THE ELEMENTARY YEARS


WHAT CHILDREN REALLY GET OUT OF A MONTESSORI EDUCATION
This is a recording of a talk given by Montessori Foundation President, Tim Seldin, to Montessori educators on the outcomes of a Montessori education that we typically see in children by age twelve.

Moveable Alphabet

Also from Lakeshore, a Magnetic Letters Kit that could work really well as a moveable alphabet, and much cheaper.

Sandpaper Letters & Numbers

Montessori materials can be somewhat expensive. I ran across this set of sandpaper letters and numbers from Lakeshore. They are a less expensive alternative.

Sew Crafty Friday - Coquito Tags

These are some cute little gift tags I made using my Cricut with the Doodlecharms cartridge.

Every year I make Coquito, which is a Puerto Rican version of traditional eggnog. What makes it Puerto Rican? Add Bacardi of course! Over the years I've switched over from a raw-egg recipe to a cooked-egg version. Some people just freak out if you tell them they're drinking raw eggs. Personally I've never gotten sick from drinking raw-egg Coquito. If there was ever any chance of salmonella being in those eggs, surely the Bacardi would've taken care of that.

12/24/2008

*Edited to add:

I realized I should've shared my Coquito recipe. You can click here for the original recipe.

*********PLEASE NOTE: I DIDN'T MAKE IT EXACTLY LIKE THE RECIPE. SEE CHANGES BELOW********

EGG YOLKS - I don't have double boiler so I cooked mine in a pan and stirred the whole time. Just be careful with the heat. You don't want to cook the eggs. I'd say start with a medium heat and adjust from there. Take your time or it will scorch. I used a candy thermometer clipped to the pan until it reached 160.

CREAM OF COCONUT - Use coconut milk instead. It comes in a can too. Cream of coconut is too sweet.

GROUND CLOVES & GROUND CINNAMON - I used whole cloves (about 4-5) and cinnamon sticks (about 3) and boiled them in about 1 1/2 cups of water. Let it boil (slowly) until the water turns light brown and you have about a cup of water left. Then add this "cinammon/clove" water to the mix.

VANILLA EXTRACT - I did one batch with it and one without. I really couldn't tell the difference.

WHITE RUM - BACARDI Need I say more?

Anyway, back to the gift tags. My husband asked me to make some Coquito to give as Christmas gifts to his co-workers. The bottles looked a little plain and boring but adding the gift tags really made a difference. This was the first time I had used the Cricut since I got it. The machine ROCKS! It is so awesome. The cartridge I used to cut the snowman has a "charm" setting so it cuts a little hole above it. All I did was thread curling ribbon through the hole, and tie on to the bottle. Oh...before that I added some sparkle to the edges of the snowman by using a glue pen and glitter. I think they turned out super cute.

Check out more crafty goodness at Shereen's blog. Just click on the Sew Crafty Friday button above.