Montessori at 7-Years-Old

Somehow my tiny baby Nora is turning 7-years-old today. The years go so quickly, don't they? She is now solidly a second plane child moving through the world with increasing amounts of independence. Nora just finished her first year of lower elementary in a public Montessori school. She handled the year with so much grace and flexibility and I cannot wait to see her blossom in the coming year. I thought I would share a few of her favorite things to give a glimpse of Montessori life at 7. 

Just a friendly reminder that these are unique to Nora. By the time a child is into the second plane of development, they generally have their own unique interests, skills, hobbies, and challenges. While I can share our journey with Montessori, I can in no way speak for every child's experiences. 

Nora's absolute favorite everything is math. She would spend all day working out math problems if she could and quickly worked through many classic Montessori materials here at home this year. As the school year wrapped up she was just starting work with the Racks and Tubes to further her study of long division. She also really loved the Checkerboard. I think she will spend a lot more time with both materials next year. 

Beyond math, she also really loves doing research. She loves learning new facts and writing about things. She is a strong writer and really enjoys the process of story-writing and journaling. On the flip side, she's still working on reading proficiently. 

At 7, so much of Nora's play is around small loose parts and creative play. She loves creating huge scenes with her Grapat and Grimms figures and playing with them. Her play farm is still a favorite as well. She also really likes American Girl dolls. But, I will say, overall her interest in playing with toys is slowly decreasing overtime. She spends more time running around with friends or her brothers socializing and doing kid stuff, then anything I can put on a shelf for her. 

Nora still loves insects, and in particular collecting dead bugs. It's been a favorite hobby of hers since she was around 2-years-old. Actually, she loves so much about the natural world. She loves animals, plants, and insects. She requested a book about trees for the summer to learn more about the trees we see in our neighborhood. 

Nora is also super creative. She loves to draw, paint, create, and sew. She can frequently be found making origami. I would say the only exception is musical things, which she hasn't really discovered much. But, she is always up for creative expression.  

Nora also loves to run, play outside, climb things and just generally move her body. She's not super into competitive sports but she loves staying active and playing games that require moving. 

If I would have had to guess when she was a toddler, I would have said that Nora would be super into cooking or kitchen work, but honestly she really isn't. She spent her toddler years in the kitchen and that interest sort of faded away as she grew older. Now, she is very into gardening, and frequently can be found weeding and watering. She also loves animals, so she is responsible for taking care of our dogs (feeding, walking, watering) a great deal of the time. 

Nora loves listening to chapter books and she could sit and read with me for hours. She also loves listening to audio books. Right now she is reading The Way of the Gnome and Beezus and Ramona. 

Nora is extremely active and her birthday list completely reflected that this year. For her 7th birthday Nora is getting a few things including: