what age to start pink tower ?

[willowtree]

i've recently bought the pink tower.
my son is just 15 months old.
i can't let him play with the tiny 1x1 cube,
but should i let him use the pink tower now without the top few cubes?
i don't think he would understand the concept of stacking them yet,
but maybe i'm wrong.
help please!

also i have yet to find a book that really goes into detail about the activities for children 0-3 years. the best one i've found was
"montessori from the start" by lillard,
and this only scratches the surface!
thanks so much for any help.
tori

[LoveOhm]

Oh this is interesting... I am interested to see the responses.

[Lillianna]

The Pink Tower is generally presented around 3 years of age and follows the presentation of the cylinder blocks. There is the introductory presentation and 4 exercises that follow.

For information about Montessori philosophy and activities for birth to 3 check out:
Understanding the Human Being: The Importance of the First 3 Years of Life by Silvano Montanaro
Dr. Montanaro worked closely with Dr. Montessori to develop the "Assistants to Infancy" coursework. This book is required reading for all Montessori training courses at this level.

[nkm1968]

Montessori materials for toddlers

Hey I got that book Montessori From the Start as well (although I ignored the part about weaning kids at 9 months and not cosleeping, and also we didn't do that toileting stuff).

If you don't have this already, there is also a great catalogue that is put out by www.michaelolaf.org (or .com, not sure) called "Joyful Child" which describes Montessori in the home and also has TONS of toys, practical life, sensorial, language, math, and cultural materials for that 0 to 3 age group. I don't remember if there is a pink tower in there, but for instance one toy was a set of 12 cubes, 6 different colors, and the recommended lesson was like,"at first, just put three blocks in a basket and present each one to the child saying "red" and "blue" and "yellow" so that only one aspect (color) is the object of the lesson". My guess would be you could adapt the pink tower by only presenting 2 or 3 of the cubes, although if it presented outside of the preprimary type lesson, it might lose its appeal when a kid is 2 and a half or 3, and then they might not explore it enough to get the whole concept.

I think the catalogue is free, or comes free if you order something, and a lot of the stuff is really reasonable (2 or 3 dollars).

[nascarbebe]

I think you're trying to start with that tower (if you're trying to use it for original intent) too soon. Here's something I found that says to start at 2 1/2 or later http://www.bambini-montessori.com/mon_exercises.htm

That Michael Olaf book is awesome and you can read it for free online.

I also love "Montessori Play and Learn" book. It tells you how to set up your home for your child and has many activities inthe back. Also the age suggestion for each activity.

[nest~of~four]

activity bk

"Teach me to do it myself" by Maja Pitamic is an excellent, step-by-step guide to Montessori activities.