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monica
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| Posted: Dec 15 2009 at 7:53pm | IP Logged
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soo, my 3yo son is at the stage where he doesnt want to play on his own while we "do school" but he cant sit through too much reading or work on paper stuff for very long either. i have been interested in montessori for a long time, but had trouble picturing how it would actually come together at home. i got barbara curtis' book and it broke it down into easy steps. so i got my stuff and started with 3 trays, introducing one at a time. one is beans with a spoon, one is clothespins with a basket, one is jars and lids. i did the demonstration thing and showed my son how to put it all back. one problem-- he hasnt touched them since. he did each tray once after i demonstrated, but since then they have just sat untouched.
sooooo what am i missing? what i get from what i have read is that he is supposed to come and do the trays when he wants to and they are just supposed to be out and available. does this mean that these activities are too easy? should i do a thing where we each do a tray (maybe get big brother to do it too?) so he will be interested?
what am i doing wrong?
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SeaStar
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| Posted: Dec 15 2009 at 9:01pm | IP Logged
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Monica-
I don't think you are doing anything wrong at all. If it is all new to your ds, he might not be used to the tray system. Or maybe the lids/jars, etc don't appeal to him. If you find he has no interest in an activity, you can just put it away and try it again later.
Here is an example: my children always loved the spooning activities, but they never cared to sort things. Sorting activities have always been a dud at my house. OTOH, lids and jars were interesting for a time, but as soon as they had mastered everything on the tray, they lost interest in that.
Other duds at my house: color boxes, fabric swatch matching and three part cards (I love them, the kids not so much)
One thing Montessori relies heavily on is observing the child to see where his interests and abilities lie. I have had better luck with my kids doing things like pouring pinto beans into a large plastic bin and then adding trucks, scoopers and plastic figures (dinosaurs, toob animals, etc). My dc still will sit and play with that for long stretches.
Water dropper activities and mirror polishing have also been favorites, as well as nut cracking. Sometimes I think that is because they are more "real life" activities and have a purpose (as opposed to matching up fabric, which is kind of dull. At least with nut cracking you get a nut at the end!)
Observing their likes and dislikes was very helpful- plus it kept me from being too discouraged when an activity was a dud. Pencil sharpening, sink or float activities, magnet trays... they have also been very popular here.
HTH!
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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montessori_lori
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| Posted: Dec 16 2009 at 12:09am | IP Logged
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Hi, Monica! There's a lot more to Montessori than tray activities; this is a great place to start for ideas: Montessori Services.
In a classroom, children have dozens of materials to choose from and see their classmates using the materials which stimulates their interest.
It's different at home. You are the link to the materials...it's you who makes them come alive for him. Maybe that means changing them up a little, or even doing one yourself, or showing him a variation of one of the trays.
Also when a child isn't drawn to repeating work, it's often a sign that they've mastered it and are ready to move on, not that it isn't interesting to them.
There's a lot to learn about Montessori and how it works at home. So keep reading and you will find a lot of great ideas and good information.
As you follow the child, observe what sorts of things in your house your son is drawn to. Melinda gave some great ideas, so hopefully between that and Montessori Services you'll find some things your son will really enjoy and want to repeat.
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threeturn
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| Posted: Dec 22 2009 at 10:49pm | IP Logged
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Not meaning to hijack, but am finding this thread very helpful. I posed this question on another Montessori loop today and thought I might get some answers here as well:
I have a 4.5yo, 2.5yo and a newborn. I started looking for ways to foster some independence in my older two a few weeks ago which has led me to Montessori. I became intrigued and am very interested in implementing the methods into our homeschool, but am moving a little slowly researching and getting things together due to the newborn.
Up to this point our home preschool has consisted largely of me leading them in doing crafts, projects, stories, and activities. To make matters worse, I was on hospital bed rest with this last baby and we spent a number of weeks after his birth traveling to the NICU. The kids had to attend a preschool/daycare while all of this was going on. They are home now, but have grown used to someone telling them exactly what to do and providing "edutainment" all day,
Though I am not up on much of the theory yet, I have created a few works of pouring, spooning, sorting, etc and put them out for the kids. I do have the Mommy, Teach Me book by Barbara Curtis, so dusted it off for a start. I did a presentation for each work, demonstrating how the work should be done. The first day went pretty good. They would get the work from the shelf and do fine with it. I did have to gently remind sometimes to put things away before getting something new, but they were pretty much on task.
Today was a different story. Today they wanted to test the boundaries of this new system. They tried to use the work items inappropriately. Pouring instead of spooning, spooning into the tray instead of the dish, etc. They would also run to get a work, get it all set up, do about two or three motions, and then declare themselves finished and want to put it up.
What is an appropriate response to these issues? Do I insist that they finish a work before putting it away? What is the Montessori approach to doing that to avoid a battle of wills (and in our house, a time out). What is the response when they don't use the materials as designed and presented?
In addition, my daughter wanted to take the sorting beads and lay them out in a pattern instead of sorting them? What would be the response to that? To me, she is doing something wonderful, but is not doing the work as presented. How far do I let them go before they are misusing the work and it needs to be put away? This afternoon they tried seeing how far some of the sorting pieces would bounce. 
I know interruption of concentration is not a good thing. I have been gently reminding them not the talk to the other while the other is working and not to touch the other's work.
From reading the above (and other Montessori threads here) I can see that I likely need to provide some more challenging works for my daughter. She also has expressed an interest in color mixing and the globe and continents lately, so as soon as I get some time, I want to gather some activities about those things. Peaking her interests may help.
Any tips you can offer while I get up to speed would be very appreciated. Thank you.
Pam
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Dec 22 2009 at 11:16pm | IP Logged
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The most important thing for Montessori to work is that you must observe your child. The reason is that you have to tune your works to your child's sensitive periods, presenting the right materials at the right time for your child. The works are designed to help a child meet an internal need. If the need is not there, the work (no matter how attractively laid out and perfectly presented) simply will not hold the child's attention.
It takes some time and trial and error, but when you hit on the right thing, it is like magic and it will captivate them.
If your daughter is trying to pattern the sorting beads, then that should tell you that she is beyond sorting and needs patterning exercises.Likewise, at age 4.5, she is probably beyond simple pouring and spooning. BUT I do find older children like to use this work as a soothing sort of activity after a period of more intense work, such as math or reading work. It sort of has a calming effect, you know?
My kids always gravitated to the spooning, pouring, etc works in the afternoons, and wanted more challenging stuff in the morning, such as map making, science, or reading work. But this is just my children. As you observe your own children, you'll notice not only which works are appropriate, but also what times of the day your children seek out various works.
So don't look at this week as a failure, but as valuable information about what your kids needs are and are not.
Hope that helps.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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monica
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| Posted: Dec 23 2009 at 1:04pm | IP Logged
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thank you so much for these responses. my goal is to set up for next week 4 new trays with new activities. another question- how many activities do you have out at once? we are squeezed on space, so i have made a trunk under a window a space with 4 trays with 4 activities. he can just pull a tray forward, work on it and then push it back to its spot. should i have more than 4 activities out?
let me know what you all do.
thanks so much for your responses
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Dec 23 2009 at 1:12pm | IP Logged
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I usually have 4 or 5 fresh trays out at a time, in addition to the materials which are always available like the puzzle maps, geometry cabinet, botany cabinet, metal insets, sandpaper letters, bead works, collage materials, knobbed and knobless cylinders, and a few other things.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Meredith
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| Posted: Dec 23 2009 at 1:41pm | IP Logged
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The four trays sound great Monica, you may need to change them out more frequently if he masters them, but for starters it sounds perfect.
Many blessings,
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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threeturn
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| Posted: Dec 23 2009 at 10:24pm | IP Logged
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Thanks Theresa. That makes perfect sense. I am going to try to set out a few things in the next week or so geared more towards their interest. That said: I have read that traditional Montessori presentations are done in a specific order (not that I was trying to do that -- I just put out things I had materials for). If that is so, then how does that fit with the sensitive periods and reaching the child's interest?
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: 3yo has no interest in montessori
