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Donna Marie
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I was reading just today that in Italian the verb that means "to teach" is insegnare which literally means "to indicate or point the finger at". I understand this being the roll of the teacher or directress...to point out the reality and the reality itself will engage them in the educational process (which was also explained in the book I was reading by Sophia Cavaletti).
How are we to best point out the work to the child without ourselves or others getting in the way of that process? I know that a properly prepared environment is very important, but I was mostly thinking of the mistakes that some might make by imposing their will over that of the child insofar as the child loses interest.
I am thinking from the perspective that a mommy can sometimes lose focus when so much is going on in a home and key words or phrases might help me with that focus....so what could they be? and in addition... help others to keep them in mind too...like older siblings that want to assist younger ones.
Do I make sense? 
God love you,
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc 
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Meredith
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montessori_lori wrote:
| Keep the awesome questions coming. Do you mind if some of them become a blog post? |
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Are you kidding, blog away We'd LOVE it!! I imagine others will be doing this too 
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Meredith
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Donna Marie
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montessori_lori wrote:
Keep the awesome questions coming. Do you mind if some of them become a blog post? |
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Mind? noooo! I love the dialog on this board and on the blogs...It incites so much interest and such a love of what we are doing ..not to mention that it is a terrific form of support that we would be hard put to find elsewhere!
GO FOR IT!! 
God love you,
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc
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God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 9dc!!
Finding Elegant Simplicity
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Mackfam
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montessori_lori wrote:
| Do you mind if some of them become a blog post? |
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Not at all!
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Jen Mackintosh
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lapazfarm
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Heck, we may ALL blog about it!LOL!
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Theresa
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Donna Marie
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I was thinking of this just today... I want to train my children to be good directors/directresses for each other. How can I best go about it? The children are 13yo twin girls, 11yo and 8yo ds, almost 7yo dd, 4yo ds and 2yo dd.
I want to show them that teaching and learning are lifelong things!
Any ideas?
God love you,
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc
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Finding Elegant Simplicity
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montessori_lori
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Great questions about older children nurturing younger ones. While I was putting my daughter down, I was thinking about this other Montessori school in Illinois, Carmel Montessori (it's in Wheaton, to be exact).
The director at my last school was friends with the director there, and we did this school swap where all of their kids came to our school for a day, and all of our kids went to their school for a day. Carmel is a school/farm, with an Erdkinder (high school) program like Maria M. outlined but is so rarely seen.
Anyway, when they came to visit us, we were totally taken aback at the way the older kids took care of the younger ones. They held their hands, carried them, helped with shoes, wiped noses, etc. It was like a sibling relationship without the sibling rivalry. We were in awe, and felt like our own school hadn't done a very good job of cultivating that kind of closeness.
Doing it at home is probably even harder, because of the sibling rivalry dynamic. I would suggest that the older one be given certain specific tasks to help the younger ones. It can be a presentation (a puzzle, or bead stringing - something simple), and/or ongoing tasks like helping with coats or shoes.
Isn't there some kind of proverb that when you take care of someone, you begin to care for them? I don't think the caring attitude will necessarily come first. I highly recommend this awesome book called "Keep the Siblings, Lose the Rivalry" that you can find at Amazon. Even in non-homeschooling homes, finding ways to help older kids bond with younger ones is an ongoing task.
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montessori_lori
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Donna Marie, you've pinpointed my biggest weakness:
"How are we to best point out the work to the child without ourselves or others getting in the way of that process? I know that a properly prepared environment is very important, but I was mostly thinking of the mistakes that some might make by imposing their will over that of the child insofar as the child loses interest."
A few things I do...take a deep breath and say, "What would Maria Montessori do?" when they are particularly vexing. I should have that made into a bracelet...
Also, I sit on my hands so that I don't interfere or intervene when they are struggling to work. I try to talk less, not more which is SO hard for me.
I try to move out of their way, both literally and figuratively. I put myself in their shoes and picture a giant person reaching in to do something that they know they could do if they had more time. I am constantly working at it and thinking about it.
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SuzanneG
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Hi, Lori...thanks for doing this!
montessori_lori wrote:
I would suggest that the older one be given certain specific tasks to help the younger ones. It can be a presentation (a puzzle, or bead stringing - something simple), and/or ongoing tasks like helping with coats or shoes.
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Yes! I have found when I "train the child to train the younger ones" it works great. But, I often forget to make a concerted effort to do it. But, when I do, it's marvelous!
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Suzanne in ID
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I wanted to wait and post my question after you got back because I didn't want to overwhelm you with questions...but braincells being what they are...I was afraid I'd forget 
Manuals?? I've printed a number from online - MWEI, Shu Chen Jenny Yen - they are VERY helpful to me. I'm still having some trouble here, I think because I'm so visually oriented. Is there a presentation manual that you like to use that encompasses it all? Or at least a reference that lists all of the different materials, activities/presentations that can be done with them, appropriate ages, and the order in which they should be presented???? I find that while I have lots of great info from online, they are all in different formats, and different subjects are spread out differently. I need order.
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SuzanneG
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Manuals.....yes that was a question i had too, Jennifer. I'm feeling scattered with the online stuff, but maybe when it's all together it will be fine.
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Suzanne in ID
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AndreaG
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Welcome Lori! I hope I am not too late to ask a question or two!
I am wondering how you schedule presentations, and how many you give a day or week? I have seen your elementary workplans on website, but I am wondering if you could give a sample day or week in a montessori homeschool. I have an 8-year-old and 2 in the 3-6 age group. I am just having trouble picturing what I should be doing each day presentation wise.
Also what is montessori homeschooling look like for elementary level kids? I want to take more "montessori" approach with my 8-year-old but don't really know how to go about it.
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions!
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montessori_lori
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From Donna Marie: "I want to train my children to be good
directors/directresses for each other. How can I best go about it? The children are 13yo twin girls, 11yo and 8yo ds, almost 7yo dd, 4yo ds and 2yo dd. I want to show them that teaching and learning are lifelong things!"
That's a lesson that's "caught, not taught" as Dr. Dobson would say. They will learn that by watching you read, talk about things you learn, get excited about new things, etc.
When we are out and about - like last week we went to the Adler Planetarium - I am just as likely to say "cool!" when we see something neat. I will try all the activities that are set up for kids. It's like we're learning together, not me taking them out so that they can learn while I watch and supervise.
Let the older kids prepare a work for the younger ones...choosing a container, beans, a spoon, and a tray. Let them practice the presentation on each other before trying it with the young ones. Keep modeling the idea that we are all learning new things all the time. My favorite things to say to my son are, "I don't know, let's look it up!" and "Wow, I didn't know that!"
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Meredith
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What would you suggest for an 8yo boy who is really into science, exploration, discovery, etc but has't really had as much hands-on other than a few experiments and field trips to a Discovery Center. This child is an incredible pianist and he's very mathematical as well, but he is also on the lazy side I'm hoping this is just an 8 yo boy thing , but I want to keep his desire and motivation up!! How would I go about this from a Montessori perspective??
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montessori_lori
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Ahh...manuals (or albums, which is my preferred term). Never have so many been available, but none meet everyone's needs or are in the correct format for everyone. Naturally, I'd like to make my own at some point but I haven't had the time yet. Not a week goes by when someone doesn't ask me about them.
I use the albums I received in my training, which, as any Montessori directress will tell you, are worth their weight in gold. That's because when we go through them in the training, we are adding notes and illustrations the whole way through.
Here is a helpful post reviewing all the different Montessori albums available: The Ultimate Post About Montessori Albums
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Mackfam
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montessori_lori wrote:
Ahh...manuals (or albums, which is my preferred term). Never have so many been available, but none meet everyone's needs or are in the correct format for everyone. Naturally, I'd like to make my own at some point but I haven't had the time yet. Not a week goes by when someone doesn't ask me about them.
I use the albums I received in my training, which, as any Montessori directress will tell you, are worth their weight in gold. That's because when we go through them in the training, we are adding notes and illustrations the whole way through.
If I make them, I would like to have pictures/illustrations of all the presentations. I don't know of any that have that right now. But sometimes Googling a specific material will turn up a random site - say, a Montessori store or school - that happens to have a picture of that work laid out correctly on a rug.
Sorry I can't give a better answer than that! |
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Well, if you need anyone to trial run them for you - PICK US!
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Jen Mackintosh
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montessori_lori
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From AndreaG:
"I am wondering how you schedule presentations, and how many you give a day or week? I have seen your elementary workplans on website, but I am wondering if you could give a sample day or week in a montessori homeschool. I have an 8-year-old and 2 in the 3-6 age group. I am just having trouble picturing what I should be doing each day presentation wise.
Also what is montessori homeschooling look like for elementary level kids? I want to take more "montessori" approach with my 8-year-old but don't really know how to go about it."
Honestly, if you have a Montessori elementary school within an hour or two of you, try to make an appointment to observe. You will learn more from a few hours in a classroom than I could tell you in a dozen posts. It's got to be experienced.
Barring that, there is no schedule. No one likes to hear that! I usually brainstorm a loose plan (getting ideas from workplans and albums) for about a week at a time. Sometimes I'll jot down presentations I want to do on an index card. Othertimes I'll set the materials I want to present that week in a pile.
I don't give presentations every day...they need a chance to just use the materials and make their own choices. And often I'll give a presentation I hadn't planned on because the kids show interest in it, or ask a question that leads to it.
For your 8-year-old: again, observe a school if you can. The key to Montessori is the materials. If you don't have Montessori materials, you can't do Montessori. So read up on that and buy or make what you can. Show him one a day for two weeks, then let him work for a week on the things you've shown him.
For the person who asked about a list of all the materials, my lists: Comprehensive List 3-6, Comprehensive List 6-9, and Comprehensive List 9-12 (in the Teacher Tools section of my store) are the way to go. They list everything and anything that you might need, in the correct order divided by curricular area. No one, not even a school, will get to everything in a 3-year cycle but it's a great place to start.
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lapazfarm
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Could you explain a bit about the idea of the "Absorbent mind" and how that changes as the child ages. How should our teaching methodologies change to reflect the intellectual changes in the child?
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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montessori_lori
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Something I should mention - the mastery of Montessori materials and concepts is based on repetition. I find that this is very hard for a child who is older, but just starting Montessori. For a child who has done the Pink Tower 27 times in preschool, it's not hard to bring that repetition into the older grades.
An older child starting Montessori for the first time will resist repetition, because they are often used to only having to do something once before moving on. It's something you have to work on, and the workplans really help with that because they're not done if they only "do" the work, they have to do it perfectly with no help before it can be crossed off completely. That takes more time.
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Mackfam
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Is there a natural point at which Montessori type learning stops, and other educational philosophies begin. We are all (on this forum) believers in Charlotte Mason's philosophies - beautiful, noble ideas presented through living books, and living experiences. It has always seemed to me a very natural extension of Maria Montessori's ideas. It is my understanding that Maria very much believed in the natural progression of moving from concrete to abstract. What comes after the concrete for you?
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Jen Mackintosh
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Welcome Lori from Montessori for Everyone
