| Author | |
websterm
Forum Rookie
Joined: March 05 2008
Location: Oklahoma
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 57
|
| Posted: May 14 2008 at 2:40pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
I read all these wonderful posts about Montessori, and have read the essential lists, but unlike Amy I don't think I have it as together in the understanding as she does  I am unsure of where to start. If you could only buy or make a few things off the essential list for 2 - 3 yr olds, what would they be?
I get so many wonderful ideas from you awesome ladies, but I'm not sure I comletely have it, does that make sense?
Marcia
Home To Learn
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lapazfarm
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6082
|
| Posted: May 14 2008 at 2:45pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I think if I could only get a few things for my 2-3yo, they would be the cylinder blocks and the sandpaper letters. For the pink tower you could substitute any stacking blocks, and for numbers and counters you could use fridge magnets and pennies or poker chips.
__________________
Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mackfam
Board Moderator
Non Nobis
Joined: April 24 2006
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 14656
|
| Posted: May 14 2008 at 2:49pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Oh dear Amy, I didn't mean to overwhelm and I'm certain no one else did either, but looking back and re-reading the posts I can certainly see why it left you in confusion.
How to apply all of this? When to start? Where to start? With what?
I am sure Lori will jump in and offer some very practical steps to consider, but I'll try to clarify a bit of what I said.
First...deep breath. I promise you can do this.
Second...suggested reading material that really helped "gel" a lot in my mind. I know we've talked about it endlessly, but it was just *that good* - Paula Polk Lillard's Montessori in the Classroom. She doesn't gloss over anything, but provides a real, nitty-gritty view of life in her classroom. Brought a much needed sense of reality to the challenge of incorporating Montessori in the classroom. Also, I found her description of how she set up her classroom and what she presented and when and how to be very helpful! It would make great summer reading for you. Also, the Hainstock book Teaching Montessori in the Home. There are others, but I don't want to overwhelm. 
A quick word on the differing looks of Montessori in homeschools. My Montessori experiences are going to be quite different from Angela's, Theresa's, Meredith's and Andrea's. Yours will look a little different as well. The way it looks and works depends on so many factors - the age of your children, the number of children you have (especially those under 5,) your budget, and the other learning philosophies you're trying to mesh. Lori's home probably looks truest to Montessori - but she's a trained teacher.  We're not. Still, it can be done. Ok - so you have the idea that we're all interpreting a little, but trying to keep the essentials of a Montessori philosophy.
For my 3yo...
I started the year with empty shelves. I planned a month at a time - ish (I was really sick the beginning of the year.) I used Lori's guides and offered presentations in a variety of areas. I presented maybe 1 or 2 (academic type presentations) a week. If he was overwhelmed, I backed off. In addition to the math and language and sensorial presentations, I offered lots of handwork and practical life skills. Scooping and sorting, sewing, sweeping, flower arranging, etc. If he got bored, or started abusing something, I pulled it from the shelf and presented something new to have in its place. So...by late October-ish I had a nice amount of work on the shelves for him and he knew to work on his own mat. He didn't sit for long, and that was fine with me. He loves the sandpaper letters, but still doesn't sit for the whole alphabet. I don't push. I don't think I put the scissors away all year - he really needed and loved that kind of work. But I never would have guessed that. I guess what I'm saying is, you can plan for some of the basics, but you just have to feel out where your child is some of the time and go from there.
Does this help at all?
Ask us about more specifics if it'll help.
 Hugs to you Amy!
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
montessori_lori
Forum Pro
Joined: June 06 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 322
|
| Posted: May 14 2008 at 2:53pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Well, you've sort of put your finger on why homeschooling with Montessori is difficult, and why many Montessorians feel that Montessori should only be practiced by people who have taken the Montessori training. And you can see why the training is usually long and difficult - there's so much to learn.
I don't want to get into a debate as to whether or not those views (that I stated in my first paragraph) are correct, because I think there are pros and cons to both sides.
But, I think even the most die-hard Montessori homeschooler would agree that you need to keep reading. There's no one answer for everyone. Some people do set up a full classroom of materials at the beginning of the year. Some just set out a month's worth at a time and switch once the child is ready for something new.
Everyone here does things a little different, which is why you're getting many answers. And there's no one right answer when it comes to Montessori homeschooling, so that's not going to be coming anytime soon :)
Put out a few Montessori things. Try them with your child. Let them initiate some, and you initiate others that you think they might be ready for but haven't been drawn to yet. Try, tweak, try, tweak, try, tweak. I've been doing Montessori for 12 years and I'm still making changes and learning from my children.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
mumsrea
Forum Rookie
Joined: May 09 2008
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 98
|
| Posted: May 15 2008 at 4:28pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Wow. I've been lurking here and i just want to throw rose petals at Amy's feet. Thank you so much for articulating EXACTLY what has been costing me sleep the last few days since dh and i decided to hs.
What i need is a plan that looks alot like the workplans Lori has set out. But i don't want it to stop in january, lol. I need to see a road map to covering all the material. I recognize that this is not montessorian in the purest sense, but i think it is pretty much going to be necessary if you aren't starting with a fully equipped classroom and you want to progress consistently. Obviously, the child's interests should be respected, first and foremost.
I note that my son's accredited school, where he is finishing casa this year, requires all the seniors to do reading numbers and printing/writing every day. usually this is accomplished in the morning and then they have free choice in the afternoon. I like this approach.
One thing i am wondering is what manipulative materials i will need if i go with a CD like lori's. I'm like Amy in that i'm just craving the big picture.
On another topic, i'm wondering how to start my almost two year old this september. I can't imagine having the work set out so my son (who is almost 6) can choose when the tazmanian destroyer will just have a field day with it all....
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Angel
Forum All-Star
Joined: April 22 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2293
|
| Posted: May 15 2008 at 4:48pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
mumsrea wrote:
On another topic, i'm wondering how to start my almost two year old this september. I can't imagine having the work set out so my son (who is almost 6) can choose when the tazmanian destroyer will just have a field day with it all.... |
|
|
 Okay, so I don't really have time to say anything useful right now, but I just had to laugh as this SO describes both of my twins! The simple answer is: NO. Do NOT have all the material for your older kids where the toddler(s) can reach because then you will have to scrape potting soil out of the cylinder blocks. (Ask me how I know this.) If your toddler isn't a climber, you may be able to get away with simply putting said material on open shelves too high for the toddler to reach. But if your toddler is anything like my twins, you may have to use cabinet locks. 
Ok, now back to the regularly scheduled topic...
--Angela
Three Plus Two
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
AndreaG
Forum Pro
Joined: March 25 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 326
|
| Posted: May 15 2008 at 5:15pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Amy- as far as your question about if scheduling presentations, what order and how many a week and such, I can answer that! Karen Tyler gave out a guide with her course, I can dig it up and see what she suggested. I kind of made up my own schedule- here's how I did it:
I went through the table of contents of my albums, decided how many presentations I would need to do in a week to cover them all in a year (practical life was 5 a week, I think sensorial was 2 a week) and just scheduled them in order! As in the order they appeared in the table of contents in Karen Tyler's albums.
I could have also done this with Lori's ocmprehensive lists, I think I might try that next year for variety's sake. I used Homeschool Tracker, a homeschool planning computer program, which made it easy to enter lessons.
As I have said before- I needed this framework- I looked at it as my planning aid not as a strict schedule for the child.
Marcia- ages 2-3 is a great montessori age! I suggest starting with practical life, check out one of the online practical life albums. Most of the materials can be found around the house, the Target $1 Spot or the thrift store. 2-3's really benefit from the practical life, it makes a good basis for later when you want to do more academic stuff. I didn't really get practical life for awhile and was tempted to skip it for more "schooly" topics like math and reading, but now its one of my favorite parts of montessori, and has the advantage of not needing expensive equipment for the most part. A good way to "test-drive" montessori!
__________________
Andrea
GrayFamilyCircus
Read Through the Catechism in a Year- For Moms!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
AndreaG
Forum Pro
Joined: March 25 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 326
|
| Posted: May 15 2008 at 5:19pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I also wanted to add that some of my 2-3 year-olds favorites are the pink tower, brown stair, and cylinder blocks- all pricy but I'm glad I had them when my daughter was in that 2.5-3 range, she did them over and over. I have heard others say they didn't get touched though, so its best not to buy too much at once!
__________________
Andrea
GrayFamilyCircus
Read Through the Catechism in a Year- For Moms!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
hopalenik
Forum Pro
Joined: Nov 17 2006
Location: Connecticut
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 230
|
| Posted: May 15 2008 at 9:42pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
lapazfarm wrote:
| I think if I could only get a few things for my 2-3yo, they would be the cylinder blocks and the sandpaper letters. For the pink tower you could substitute any stacking blocks |
|
|
Actually I disagree with that statement-the pink tower part. I have had many stacking/nesting toys in this house over the past 8 years and nothing caught the interest really until that pink tower came into the house. That tower is actually what sold me on Montessori. I bought that and then a set of mini cylinders and I have never seen such a response before. I turned around 3 weeks later and donated 3 bins full of toddler/preschool toys that I would rotate in and out of the playroom. Even my 8 year old builds with it and the brown stair, and they never, never played with the plastic or cardboard ones.
__________________
Holly
Mom to dd 10, twins dd and ds (transplant as baby that failed 05/09, permanent dialysis patient) 8 , dd 5 and dd 3 1/2 and dd in Feb 2009. 2 I hope to meet in heaven.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
hobbitmom
Forum Rookie
Joined: March 29 2007
Location: Maryland
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 58
|
| Posted: May 19 2008 at 2:23pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thanks, everybody. Lori, my DH groaned when he saw your suggestion to read more... he thinks I read way too much as it is, and I do tend to get stuck in the reading and research and planning phases and never actually get to the DOING. But I think you're right. I'm obviously missing a key concept in the practical application.
Jennifer, I'll take your advice and order Montessori in the Classroom. While I wait for that to come in, I did have a bit of luck at the library: Montessori for Parents, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (author of Understood Betsy). Great read! Very clear, and addressed to parents who are either trying to implement Montessori principles in their home life, considering a Montessori school, thinking of "Montessori homeschooling", or all of the above. As such it's very readable -- and reassuring.
Chapter five starts off: "The carefully graded advance, from the simpler to the harder exercises, which is so essential a part of the correct use of the Montessori, as of all other educational apparatus, seems to most mothers contemplating the use of the system, a very difficult feature. "How am I to know?" they ask. "Which exercise is the best one to offer a child to begin with, how can I tell when he has sufficiently mastered that so that another is needed, and how shall I select the right one to go on with?
"Perhaps the first answer to make to these questions is the one which so often successfully solves Montessori problems: "Have a little more trust in your child's natural instincts. Don't think that a single mistake on your part will be fatal. It will not hurt him if you happen to suggest the wrong thing, if you do not insist on it, for, left freely to himself, he will not pay the least attention to anything that is not suitable for him. Give him opportunity for perfectly free action, and then watch him carefully."
"If he shows a lively spontaneous interest in a Montessori problem, and devotes himself to solving it, you may be sure that you have hit upon something which suits his degree of development. If he goes through with it rather easily and, perhaps, listlessly, and needs your reminder to keep his attention on it, in all probability it is too easy; he has outgrown it, he no longer cares to occupy himself with it, just as you no longer care to jump rope, though that may have been a passion with you at the age of eight.
"If, on the other hand, he seems distressed at the difficulties before him, and calls repeatedly for help and explanation, one of three conditions is present. Either the exercise is too hard for him, or he has acquired already the bad habit of dependence on others, in both of which cases he needs an easier exercise; or, lastly, he has simply had enough formal "sensory exercises" for a while. It is the most mistaken notion about the Montessori Children's Home to conceive that the children are occupied from morning till night over the apparatus of her formal instruction. They use it exactly as long, or as often, or as seldom, as they please, just as a child in an ordinary nursery uses his ordinary toys."
I am so heartened by this book, and strongly recommend it for other moms who know they love the theory but can't quite figure out how to put it into practice.
__________________
Amy
Mom to Mr. Mischief (5/05) and Mr. Happy (9/07)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MarilynW
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2006
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4275
|
| Posted: May 20 2008 at 9:39am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Wow - great thread. Lori - I just emailed you from your website - I should have checked this forum first!! My 4 year old has really benefited from early Montessori activities - he is independent, can select activities, has wonderful gross and fine motor skills and practical life skills. But now I am starting K - I am clueless about what to do - all my other kids moved to more "traditional" reading, Math and writing.
My main fear is - with homeschooling 5 and being low energy right now - will it be too much preparation and stress me out. Also I am on a budget and how do I get all the materials?
Maybe I will start a new thread rather than hijacking this one?
__________________
Marilyn
Blessed with 6 gifts from God
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Montessori: when to do what?
