Miss Melissa, one of my three wonderful assistants, put together this table setting activity which the children are really enjoying. It is arranged on the shelf as shown below.
To do this work the child takes the tray to a table and sets it as shown below. One side of the placemat has outlines for the proper placement and the other side is blank. For the first week we placed this work out just as shown. The second week (this week) we added a second placemat and place setting so they can set two places. The second placemat does not have outlines shown which increases the challenge of the activity for the children. One of our parents commented recently that they were impressed by how their child came home and showed them how to properly insert a napkin into a napkin ring after doing this work at school! We have strategically timed this work to coincide with Thanksgiving so our little ones can help set the table for the big feast!
I love this work and your post on the topic explains it so well. I linked to it on my blog...
http://montessoriforlearning.blogspot.com/2011/03/mindfulness-lesson-1-lessons-of-grace.html
Posted by: Kyle Sadler | March 27, 2011 at 10:54 PM