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Meredith
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| Posted: June 23 2007 at 2:28pm | IP Logged
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Kristine asks, "Also, how does our ability to facilitate our children's learning progress through the later elementary years into the middle school years? What I mean is, what's next when they're not using hands-on manipulatives as much as they were used to in the early years? What makes a Montessori curriculum still "Montessori" when the kids get older?"
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Meredith
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Celeste
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I think step one in developing an elementary Montessori curriculum is understanding the needs and learning processes of the elem. child. A book I found very helpful is Paula Polk Lillard's Montessori Today. A brief explanation of the 4 planes of development is in Gianna Gobbi's Listening to God with Children, pages 71-76.
She doesn't say much about the 6-12 plane except that it is a time of consolidation and assimilation of "all that was developed in the preceding phase." In 0-6 the child learned the names of things. In 6-12 we give the child the "big picture," the immensity of the universe, the whole story of history--the Great Lessons.
The 6-12 child is beginning to be capable of abstraction. Manipulatives still have an important place, but not in the same way as the 0-6 plane. The 6-12 child does a thing for a result, not so much for its own sake as in 0-6. In 0-6 a child will polish a mirror whether it needs it or not. When the child begins to work to accomplish something (like polishing a mirror because it's dirty), then he's starting to "abstract."
You've probably noticed that there are many materials for the same thing, like addition facts. They're different because the 6-12 child doesn't relish repetition like he used to; but he still needs to practice and memorize his addition tables! The materials also are designed to gradually lead to greater abstraction. For instance, the hierarchical material with the tiny unit cube up to the huge million cube prepares for the large bead frame--a step toward abstraction.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: June 23 2007 at 10:08pm | IP Logged
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Celeste -
I really appreciate hearing your thoughts on this. This was really enlightening for me - thank you!
This is one of the subjects I'd love to hear more about, as we are right in the middle of this with one child in the 6th grade. Right now, Montessori is the foundation of what we do. My vision for next year includes Montessori being the springboard to Real Learning. This makes sense in light of Montessori's philosophy of concrete before abstract. I bring in the map, nomenclature card, multiplication board, etc and then jump from there.
Certainly, our 6th grader doesn't need to perform the knobbed cylinder activity, or most of the other sensorial activities we have, but she will want to. I hope some of our discussions here will involve extensions for a lot of these beautiful sensorials. I know it is possible because everything Montessori is so mathematically relational.
I see measuring potential in the Brown Stairs (and Pink Tower, and Red Rods) and projects requiring her to find the ratio relationship between each brown stair. Stair one is ?X bigger than stair 2? Find the area of the knobbed cylinders in block 1. There are patterns everywhere in Montessori. I'd like to explode some of the potential in the sensorial items.
The Botany and Geography items seem to have unlimited potential in the upper elementary years. Maps, culture study, history studies, concentrated nature studies - but I know there are many I haven't thougth of, so I'm really looking forward to hearing what others are doing to springboard from the materials in this area as well.
I also plan on using the color tablets with our art appreciation studies, and perhaps use some of the metal insets there as well as we discuss color and line. I'd like my 6th grader to look at a Cezanne and pull out the color tablets she sees represented in the picture. I'd like to talk about the way line is used in a piece of art - does the painting seem soft or edgy? Is there a metal inset that best represents the lines in the piece of art? Many artists use a triangular composition. When teaching children to draw, we often start with a basic shape. Those shapes are represented in the metal insets. Using the metal insets, color tablets, and color pencils, I'm hoping that I can spark some interpretations of a piece of art.
I would really like to hear more about what you guys are doing/have done to further the potential within the materials, and how you use the materials with your upper elementary children.
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Jen Mackintosh
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: June 24 2007 at 12:27am | IP Logged
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Here are some ideas I thought up for using these materials for my 11 yo ds:
I was thinking that the knobbed cylinders would be great for volume. It would be interesting to have ds make some predictions about volume of the different cylinders based on height vs diameter, then use rice or sand poured into the blocks to check his predictions for accuracy. This will be fairly simple in the blocks which vary in only one dimension, but trickier in those that vary in both height and diameter.
The geometric solids are great for surface area and I got the volume set as well, which are clear plastic and fillable.
The geometry cabinet has endless possibilities for perimeter, area, angles, etc. and the insets can be used for some of this as well. Tessellations are always fun to do, too and have applications to art and design (mosaics, quilts, tile floors).
The color box 3 might be fun to use in calculating percentages. Have ds measure the amounts of colored vs. white paint used to mix and match the various shades and get percentages from that.
Looking at the colored tiles through different colored filters would be an interesting exercise in understanding color of light vs. pigments.
Of course he is chomping at the bit to use the puzzle maps and I think it is pretty obvious that they will be useful for all ages.
I will try to post more ideas as I think of them.
Great thread!
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Theresa
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AndreaG
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This is a great topic! I have really been pondering what the important elements of a montessori education are, and how this fits with Real Learning. Especially for elementary and up. I have NO answers, but I'm enjoying reading everyone's thoughts!
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Katie
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If you haven't already done so, I recommend reading the Michael Olaf catalog "Child of the World". This is a nice introduction to some of the theory, and i found it very helpful at the point where I couldn't really "see" Montessori for the older child.
For the 6-12 group, you will still use manipulatives but differently, as someone posted above. Ingeneral, the children in this age range are fascinated with the big questions - where did we come from, how far is the sun, how does that work? The so-called "Great Lessons" are a fabulous way of introducing some of these hard to explain ideas to younger children in a way that makes sense, and often manipulatives are used (the black strip for life on earth etc.)
The younger child has learned about the earth and his home country, about the continents etc. Now it's time to look beyond. The 6-12 age is when you might introduce the solar system, for example. A lot of the lessons help the child see the greatness of the universe and of time.
As someone mentioned three-part cards for this age group often have more detialed descriptions, and can be combined with "prompt" cards that can stir a child to further investigations or to a written work.
I have always thought that it would be fun to set up science experiments for the older kids in the way we might do a practical life tray for a little one. Set up all that is needed, along with written instructions and a place to record hypothesis, results and conclusions.
Sorry all these thoughts are very random but my 9yo is trying to get me to do a MadLib and apparently I have lost my ability to multi-task!!
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Meredith
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| Posted: June 25 2007 at 11:19am | IP Logged
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Katie wrote:
| I have always thought that it would be fun to set up science experiments for the older kids in the way we might do a practical life tray for a little one. Set up all that is needed, along with written instructions and a place to record hypothesis, results and conclusions. |
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Love this Katie, and all your thoughts here for that matter  I'll start a new thread...back to link in a minute!
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Meredith
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saintanneshs
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| Posted: June 26 2007 at 3:31pm | IP Logged
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I'm printing these ideas out for my notebooks! Thank you, ladies!!
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Kim F
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Check out Spontaneous Activity in Education and The Advanced Montessori Method for more info about her upper level school work. Well, ck the first at the library. It is good but not $75 worth of good lol. ; )
Montessori elem and jr high is very child led and hands on. I also noticed on Flickr that they do a great deal of notebooking and making of their own texts that way. I was also intrigued by places like Hershey Montessori Farm It is very much what we are trying to do. If you have no such outlet it may be worthwhile to become a member of a local nature observancy or CSA or anyplace they can volunteer in like manner.
Strewing is still important. But, there is a fine line between strewing materials and doing the lion's share of the work ourselves leaving just a bit left for students to discover.
Kim
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: June 28 2007 at 3:15pm | IP Logged
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Kim, thanks for that info.
The more I learn about Montessori, the more I discover that our schooling style really fits the method. The way upper elem is described sounds very much like what I do with my son. I can really see the methods of the younger years preparing my daughter well for this later.
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Theresa
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AndreaG
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| Posted: June 29 2007 at 9:38pm | IP Logged
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Thank you all for the elementary info - I will be doing some reading!
Theresa,
Isn't that cool when you find a philosophy that describes what you are already doing?
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Andrea
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Meredith
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| Posted: July 06 2007 at 6:21pm | IP Logged
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I just found this at my library, score!! Thanks for your insight here Kim  I'm very interested in this one!
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Meredith
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Montessori Throughout Elementary & Beyond
