Montessori Geometric Solids Extension

Due to school we don't get to do as much formal Montessori activities these days and I also have to work at keeping Ebi-kuns English level up. What I find works well is a combination of both. My main aim for the English side is that it is fun, he enjoys it and is inspired and motivated to take it and continue with it by himself.* We do a lot of projects and activities together, in English and I try and work some reading and writing in there too. 

Since watching The latest Miyazaki film with his daddy he has shown an interest in technical drawing and how things are put together. Hurrah! I think to myself, engineering drawing was, by far, my best and favourite subject at school, so I have been patiently waiting for the day to do this kind of activity with him!

We started out by getting out the Montessori Geometric Solids and re-familiarizing ourselves with the names (yes, I am including myself there, I am getting older after all! You can get the cards here). Then I showed him how to do a plan of the rectangular prism, I chose this one because the length is longer than the width making it easier to visualize. On a piece of paper I drew around side A then rolled it over and did side B, then C the D. Like below....

 Next I asked him where the ends would be (E and F), he figured out how to add them and we talked about how they could equally be attached to any of A, B, C or D.

Once he the basic idea set in his head, I introduced other shapes. First I got him to sketch the plan, no ruler and no measuring so that he would get the image from his head onto paper without worrying about the details. We then talked about how we could make it into a solid object and that it would need flaps to hold it all together. He already had an idea about this from doing the magic box from the gadget book. So he then added flaps to his sketch and drew arrows so he knew which side they would be attached to.

Then we got out the gridded card. So that his plan wouldn't fall off the paper, I showed him how to decide on a start point. He set to and drew out his plan. For all 3 shapes I did the cutting out, the card is quite thick and neither of use feel confident about him using the knife to do the cutting but he did everything else.

When it came to the triangular prism, I had another trick up my sleeve and showed him that a compass isn't just about drawing circles. He LOVED that!

We did 3 of the shapes, sticking with the easier ones this time round. We did discuss how you would go about drawing a plan for a cylinder and I am sure that will be in the works soon!

What I want to know from you is... what was your favourite subject at school and have you had the chance to share your passion for it with your child yet? Tell me the comments, I would love to know!

* When I read this through I realised that, that is actually my philosophy for all learning, not just English.