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violingirl
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| Posted: March 10 2012 at 9:11am | IP Logged
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kristinannie wrote:
| One more question: my oldest is going to be 6 next month. Will any of this still interest him? Are there any good activities or materials for 6 year olds? Thanks! |
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Our most used Montessori materials with my 6yo are the math materials and the moveable alphabet. We use the moveable alphabet quite frequently also. I've made a lot of the math materials that we use or we use what we have available around the house to learn the concept.
I'm not a fan of scripted materials Montessori or not, because that's just not how I teach. But I do make sure to understand the concept underneath and do try to use the most appropriate materials for that lesson.
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: March 16 2012 at 12:48pm | IP Logged
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I agree about the scripted lessons - the album pages themselves are perfect to have in scripted form, so you see how it all plays out, but you're not supposed to read FROM it while presenting - it's supposed to be a natural exploration between adult and child.
The primary work extends to 6 and sometimes to 6 1/2 --- and I have my elementary (ages 6-10) co-op kids playing "challenges" with the primary material, just to get their hands on it.
Many of the primary materials go into the elementary age, but are just used a bit differently.
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kristinannie
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| Posted: March 16 2012 at 7:06pm | IP Logged
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One more quick question: I have read in some of the Montessori books about how important it is to only use realistic materials. She espoused that it wasn't a good idea to read books where animals can talk. My kids love these books. While I make sure to let them know that they are fiction, they really enjoy these books. Can someone explain the reasoning behind this?
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Meredith
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| Posted: March 17 2012 at 12:10am | IP Logged
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Kristinannie, if your dear children like to hear stories where animals can talk, by all means you should read these bookds to them. There are so many different kinds of living books to choose from and the Montessori method isn't really about "what" kind of books you are reading to your children, but "that" you are reading good literature to them on a daily basis. And on this note, I personally would take a note from Charlotte Mason and make sure that "what" you are reading isn't of the "twaddly" type but of living books that will edify and uplift your little ones to yearn towards other great literature, regardless of "who" is talking in the story or not.
It's so great to see you here wanting to learn about what is going to work for your kiddos at such an early age. Have fun with them and keep reading!!
God Bless,
Meredith
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| Posted: March 17 2012 at 8:52am | IP Logged
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Meredith wrote:
| Kristinannie, if your dear children like to hear stories where animals can talk, by all means you should read these bookds to them. There are so many different kinds of living books to choose from and the Montessori method isn't really about "what" kind of books you are reading to your children, but "that" you are reading good literature to them on a daily basis. And on this note, I personally would take a note from Charlotte Mason and make sure that "what" you are reading isn't of the "twaddly" type but of living books that will edify and uplift your little ones to yearn towards other great literature, regardless of "who" is talking in the story or not. |
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I couldn't agree more!
Meredith wrote:
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And it's also really great to see YOU here, too, Meredith!!! So glad you could chime in!
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kristinannie
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| Posted: March 17 2012 at 10:42am | IP Logged
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Thanks, ladies. I know my kids really love these books and they are definitely not twaddle (Stuart Little, Thornton Burgess books, etc). I really didn't understand why Montessori believed that about these types of books. I have to say that I love the Montessori materials and the way they teach young children with that method, but I am truly CM at heart. 
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| Posted: March 17 2012 at 1:01pm | IP Logged
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kristinannie wrote:
| One more quick question: I have read in some of the Montessori books about how important it is to only use realistic materials. She espoused that it wasn't a good idea to read books where animals can talk. My kids love these books. While I make sure to let them know that they are fiction, they really enjoy these books. Can someone explain the reasoning behind this? |
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Maria Montessori was mainly directing this idea towards the levels of 0-6, where a child is rooted in reality. And to expand a bit, she wouldn't find Burgess a problem, because the animal is acting like an animal. Anthropomorphism is more of acting like a human than the animal they were created. In her mind, probably, Beatrix Potter would be a stretch, because they animals are very accurately drawn and retain some of their characteristics, do they do assume human habits, like clothing and taking tea.
Disney movies would be more of a better example.
But like Meredith and Jen said, you need to decide what works for your child. It's a suggestion which is grounded in understanding the child at a young level.
By age 6, the imagination doesn't need to be totally based in reality, and all those examples you listed are perfect.
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: March 19 2012 at 8:29pm | IP Logged
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I followed the "reality" rule for my son - and wow! it was wonderful! (hard sometimes - but I knew our "time" would come around age 6 when we could delve into all things Beatrix Potter and Narnia and fairy tales). Curious George slipped in there a bit - but then, he is a monkey acting like a monkey 
By the time he was 5, he was READY. And I never could have guessed at the intensity of it. Narnia was our first real fantasy - and the journey there still continues (3 years later!).
I went with this because I really wanted my son to understand that God is not a fairy tale. So if the only "fairy tale like" stories he is hearing before age 6 are about God, he will hopefully believe it the rest of his life, since it is all presented as TRUTH.
We didn't worry so much about true stories or not - more about "realistic" and "beautiful illustrations" (no cartoons).
(we didn't do Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny either - but we did talk about how those things came into being - and NOW he wants to play along with it, Tooth Fairy and all - it seems to be more fun this way when we're all "in on the secret" rather than worrying about "what if someone tells him the truth and that someone isn't me!?")
6 year olds and older SHOULD be getting fantasy stories too - their imaginations crave it, they should have had a solid foundation in reality, so now they can really delve into the riches of really, really good stories.
And the younger crowd eases into them as they are ready. :)
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kristinannie
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| Posted: March 20 2012 at 2:40pm | IP Logged
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CatholicMommy wrote:
I went with this because I really wanted my son to understand that God is not a fairy tale. So if the only "fairy tale like" stories he is hearing before age 6 are about God, he will hopefully believe it the rest of his life, since it is all presented as TRUTH.
We didn't worry so much about true stories or not - more about "realistic" and "beautiful illustrations" (no cartoons).
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This is very interesting and makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks for the post!
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Montessori resources
