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~Rachel~
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| Posted: Aug 01 2007 at 9:12pm | IP Logged
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I was wondering... where do I start? 
I want to do some things with my 3yo (the disrupter in our homeschool)... and well, I dont know where to begin. I have several books, I just wondered who does what...
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~Rachel~
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Kristin
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| Posted: Aug 01 2007 at 11:17pm | IP Logged
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Hmmm. I think that David Gettman's book (Basic Montessori) is a great, in depth and practical resource to get started.
With a 3yo I would start with lots of Practical Life! If you want to, you could add in a little Sensorial (I would do Pink Tower and Brown Stair). As far as I understand, Sensorial becomes more of a draw for the older preschooler --- this has also been my experience --- so you could hold off on that for a little while if you want to. But Practical Life is a natural fit for this age and they love doing it over and over and over! I look forward to hearing what others recommend!
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marianne
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| Posted: Aug 02 2007 at 7:37am | IP Logged
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Rachel,
I'm new, too, but these ladies are so inspiring, and so is Montessori. I've just gotten started with some simple activities and I can tell you what has been the most popular with my 2yo and 4yo. They love doing water pouring (I just use random containers and cups that I already have), and they love stringing beads. I had a big wooden bead stringing kit (Melissa and Doug) and all I had to do was round up all the beads and strings and set them on a tray and it has gotten a lot of use lately. During homeschool time, you could give her some paper with marker lines drawn on it and have her practice cutting. My littles like to fill our big toy dump truck with brown paper that they hack up to look like dirt and then dump it out.
I haven't bought a lot yet for my little kids, but I've resurrected a lot of puzzles that were in hiding, and I've put together little activities from our own stuff. I put 4 washcloths in a basket for them to practice folding, I set out our old HWT wooden letter pieces, ect..
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Meredith
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| Posted: Aug 02 2007 at 10:00am | IP Logged
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Rachel, glad to have you popping in here  Both Kristin and Marianne have given you some good things to start with and I would also recommend How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way by Tim Seldin, it's a very good starter book.
We have SO MUCH in our threads about how to get going. I might also recommend browsing through the Montessori for Everyone Blog as she has some lovely articles and posts on the Basics and Essentials for getting started!
HTH, blessings!
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Meredith
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~Rachel~
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| Posted: Aug 02 2007 at 1:24pm | IP Logged
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Lets see... I have the Gettman book... I am reading it now (after sitting it on the shelf a while  ).
She does some practical life stuff... my parents bought her a kitchen set for Christmas. Today she is cooking bean soup with dried lima beans  .
I have beads which she loves to string... although I need to buy some hemp for it because ALL the other string materials I have tried do NOT work  . We keep the pouring to the bathroom during bathtime (which often happens during homeschool time ).
Cutting we've done... I have a rule to do it over the trash can . She definitely enjoys that. And I just discovered where I hid the puzzles... shame I threw out the missing pieces when I thought I had thrown it away . Thank you Kristin and Marianne.
Meredith... hmm that is one book I had not seen. I'll put it on my list .
I had seen the blog... and I subscribed before I lost all my blog subscriptions when I reformatted, so I re-subscribed .
This forum is great... the ideas are wonderful. I have to hold myself back from doing some of them though  .
Keep the suggestions coming ladies, I am making notes
Now... I think I might need a trip to the Target $1 spot...
And after all that, I nearly forgot to add what I actually came in to say.
How do you set each learning activity up? Do you store them in boxes on a nice shelf? Have centres/stations where they can do the activities? What if you are short on room?
I just cleaned out DD's room yesterday, it now looks great. We have placed a nice small table in there for her, and a seat at it, and all her toys are put away ... but there is not a whole lot of room to put up a load of stations for her to choose from.
I am siding with the idea of getting some boxes, and putting a picture of each activity on the outside... what do you think?
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~Rachel~
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ShawnaB
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Hi Rachel! I was just where you were last year, I'm happy to share what we have been doing with our dd now 4. We started last year when she was 3.
I took an inventory of all of the Montessori-ish activities that I already had or could quickly make, and I made a list. I put all (or most) of these activities on a shelf in our learning room, up kind of high, out of her reach. Then, I chose a low shelf (ours was actually a cabinet with doors, as we also have toddlers) to put the materials that I would present for her. I purchased a "mat"...just a small rug, and rolled it and placed it in a basket near her shelf.
I explained that for a portion of our school time, she would have "mat time". I showed her how to lay out her mat, and showed her the activities (I started with only two) in her cabinet. I presented them, and explained that her mat activities had to stay on her mat, and she had to "finish" before she could choose another material. This meant, she had to replace the activity to the basket, box, tray, or whatever they way she found it. She could play with the material as long as she wanted, as long as she used it properly (for me that means treating it respectfully and keeping in on the mat, but I do allow for creative exploration, which may not be fully Montessori). When mat time was over, and I would tell her when it was over, she could roll up her mat and put it away.
Now we've expanded "mat time" to also include "tray time" at the table with other materials such as pouring, dropper work, and a rice bin.
For a few weeks at the beginning, I presented a new material every day, until she had a good variety. Now, I present a new material, or a new variation on a previously presented material, once or twice a week, and I remove materials that she has lost interest for and put them up on the high shelf, to be reintroduced later.
I think introducing the mat is an important first steps, and taking some time to train all the children in its proper use. In our house, if a child is working on a mat, that space is off limits to everyone else. No touching someone else's work. Everyone must step around the mat.
I also keep the mat materials separate from our other toys, and only allow their use during specific school times, or when permission is specifically requested.
I continue to add to my Montessori Materials based on the skill needs and interests of my dd. I have also just begun to train my 2 year olds in the use of the mat...with some success! And, I have learned all I know from this Board...and the many wonderful Montessori Bloggers who have shared with me their ideas and wisdom.
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Shawna, wife of Jacob, mom to Abraham 8 Amelia 5 and Jillian & Jonathan age 3 years http://www.psalm121family.com
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Kristin
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| Posted: Aug 02 2007 at 10:47pm | IP Logged
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Way to go, Shawna --- sounds great!!!  I like how you described the introductory process you used. This should really be helpful for those in the beginning stages!
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Bunch 'o Honey to my Honey Bunch and Mama to five - Noah 10y , Rose 8y , Dominic 2.5 y , Oliver 16m
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Meredith
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| Posted: Aug 03 2007 at 11:43am | IP Logged
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I love your descriptions Shawna, thanks for taking the time to share them here for the newbies I couldn't agree more with your mat training advice, it's worth it's weight in gold
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ambermelody
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| Posted: Aug 05 2007 at 6:25am | IP Logged
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Yeh Shawna!
I also want to recommend the same book as Meredith:
meredith wrote:
| I would also recommend How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way by Tim Seldin, it's a very good starter book. |
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i just got it from the library yesterday & am loving it. I seem to have been reading a lot of musty Montessori books so it's exciting to see such gorgeous photos & it's a really easy read. I'm going to buy it for my own collection.
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Angel
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I don't want to hijack this thread, but Shawna -- if you could tell me how you're doing mat training with your 2 2 yos, I would be forever grateful!
As far as getting started... I'm not sure we ever really have in an organized way.  But for the past year or two I've tried to add little pieces of independence to my now 4 yo's day that are Montessori-inspired. For instance, we added putting on his own clothes all by himself to his day and I spent time presenting it in a Montessori fashion ("this is how you put on your shirt"), then let him do it. He was very happy to have *time* to figure this out instead of me rushing him through it all the time. The happiness he experienced with being able to do more real things himself bubbled over into school time, because he was also happier to let me do things with the big kids.
I think it's ok to start small and in a relaxed fashion, because then you can do more observing, and you'll be able to tell what sorts of activities your dd might enjoy, what activities she needs, and whether or not you want to make a bigger committment.
--Angela
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marianne
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Angel wrote:
I don't want to hijack this thread, but Shawna -- if you could tell me how you're doing mat training with your 2 2 yos, I would be forever grateful!
As far as getting started... I'm not sure we ever really have in an organized way. But for the past year or two I've tried to add little pieces of independence to my now 4 yo's day that are Montessori-inspired. For instance, we added putting on his own clothes all by himself to his day and I spent time presenting it in a Montessori fashion ("this is how you put on your shirt"), then let him do it. He was very happy to have *time* to figure this out instead of me rushing him through it all the time. The happiness he experienced with being able to do more real things himself bubbled over into school time, because he was also happier to let me do things with the big kids.
I think it's ok to start small and in a relaxed fashion, because then you can do more observing, and you'll be able to tell what sorts of activities your dd might enjoy, what activities she needs, and whether or not you want to make a bigger committment.
--Angela
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Angela,
My 4yo is learning to do the same type of things. We had been babying him with getting dressed and helping him with his pants after he goes potty. He has always been our most uncoordinated child, so he did need more help than the others, but enough was enough. We've been trying to persuade him to do more for himself, but he would bargain and convince us to help him. Finally, the other day I told him, "I am NEVER putting on your underwear again for the rest of your life!" He looked shocked and sat there looking at me for a minute, but he hasn't asked me since. I was thnking that I could probably consider that a Montessori moment! Independence! Finally! I guess some moments are just more lofty than others.
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~Rachel~
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| Posted: Aug 05 2007 at 11:42am | IP Logged
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marianne wrote:
| Finally, the other day I told him, "I am NEVER putting on your underwear again for the rest of your life!" He looked shocked and sat there looking at me for a minute, but he hasn't asked me since. I was thnking that I could probably consider that a Montessori moment! Independence! Finally! I guess some moments are just more lofty than others. |
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Sometimes, I think I am lucky that my second was a girl... she was FAR quicker at dressing herself than my son That being said, she will often do some very odd clothing combinations. (Think tights in summer).
Now, as to the Seldin book... I picked it up Friday and finished it this morning (reading in between shopping tax free yesterday )... it is great... it really has given me some great ideas to start with
THANKS Meredith!
(edited to fix spelling... embarassingly up for a day!)
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~Rachel~
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Meredith
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You are so welcome Rachel, it's such a great book, I don't think it's ever ON my shelf, but usually open next to my lesson plans and presentations I am working towards
Blessings!
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Meredith
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Land O' Cotton
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Shawna, I loved your explanation of "mat time" and how you put your planning into effect.
I've decided that the best thing for us is to step back and start with some of the activities that will begin our exposure to Montessori "schooling". Since handwriting is something we need to work on here, I'll be using lots of the tonging activities and sorting. We'll even do some pouring and transferring, as I think they make for an enjoyable start with this new way of learning for us.
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