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ALmom
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I would like to do something more Montessorish next year with my younger children (and some of my older children in some subjects). I don't care if it is pure Montessori and I cannot spend $100 of dollars per item. I may also be working with a 6th grade special needs child. I like the aspects of respecting the child, observing, and helping guide the child, the responsibility and care and order, the hands-on and multi-sensory aspects, etc.
When we attempted this before it flopped because while I had a number of Montessori books, they all were philosophy and nothing that showed you the correct way to use her manipulatives - ie practical hands on or specific advice that gave tangible instructions. I had a few examples of trays and how to use them (Natural Structures) but this was all at very elementary level and didn't always have the wonderful self-correcting aspect of the system. I would like to invest in a book (or a few) that would give me detailed instructions on how to use manipulatives, present lessons, etc, - at the early levels and also at more advanced levels.
I have no real experience with Montessori other than studying her philosophy of education in college (the only one we studied that resonated with me) and seeing the Montessori children on the campus grounds selling their baked goods.
I have a 4 yo who is wanting to "do school" but who is not yet ready for a lot of seat work and does not know letters or numbers all that well.
I have a 6yo who is reading, but could use some auditory phonics reinforcement and already adding and subtracting. I need to be careful about eyestrain with this child.
The 10 yo learns from anything and everything with ease, but not a great writer so it would be nice to have at least some Montessori things that would challenge him and let him show me where he can soar.
I would do at least some geography and science with everyone.
The special needs 6th grader - I'm not sure where he is so I'd need to do a lot of observing and finding out - and this seems to be the best and least intimidating way to learn this. I have been told that he is reading at about 2nd grade but in conversations with him, I suspect he could conceptually go way further if he wasn't bogged down with words and workbooks and textbooks.
I also know somewhere on this site someone recommended the best instruction book (by Moira, I believe) for CGS. Can anyone tell me where I would get this and how many levels are there?
Book recommendations and advice much appreciated. I've been lurking on this particular forum for a while. Thanks.
Janet
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mary theresa
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ALmom wrote:
When we attempted this before it flopped because while I had a number of Montessori books, they all were philosophy and nothing that showed you the correct way to use her manipulatives - ie practical hands on or specific advice that gave tangible instructions. I would like to invest in a book (or a few) that would give me detailed instructions on how to use manipulatives, present lessons, etc, - at the early levels and also at more advanced levels.
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I do not have school aged children (yet)  so I can't answer/help with most of your questions. But I do know that this link
http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfsjy/mts/_link.htm
will take you to an online album for the primary 3-6 materials. Shu-Chen Jenny Yen is a trained Montessori teacher, and from what I've heard, a good one. She has made her album pages available to everyone online and these pages are pretty detailed (esp. the practical life ones) about how to present the lessons, the aims of each lesson and other how to stuff. There are TONS of pages, so that should give you alot of information and work for the 4yo and 6yo in your home, anyways.
I hope this is of some use to you!
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Mary Theresa
mother to 3 little girls --March '06, Dec '07 and Jan '10
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Rebecca
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Hi Janet. I am so glad that you have come out of Montessori lurkdom! I have a almost four year old, a six year old and a ten year old as well as a one year old. They all enjoy the Montessori approach. The materials that I have made or bought for our learning room are used more often and more willingly than any other learning materials. Many of them were made at no or little cost.
With my three yo, I have focused a lot on setting up practical life type trays. These activities pave the way for better hand eye coordination and fine motor skills by using the muscles needed for writing. Some examples of trays are water pouring, rice pouring, tong work, silver polishing, spooning beans from one bowl to another, etc. I also bought an inexpensive shadow box and filled it with sand for my daughter to trace letters in. She was not quite ready to write but wanted to learn letters. More about that here.
For the four and six year old, there are some free phonics and math exercises from this site as well as some wonderful geography and science materials that are suitable for various aged children. The Montessori Materials site has enough great science material that it can keep the average family busy for years. Kim had a great post on her blog about how her family does geography that we found really helpful . Read about it here. Really, her entire schoolhouse category on her blog is chock full of inexpensive but wonderful ideas on using Montessori with young children. Elizabeth had a really thorough and helpful post about language arts with little ones here.
Theresa at Lapaz Farm has some great ideas to use with the younger set. There are lots of photos that really help those of us who need a visual explanation.
There are also some great ideas in the Michael Olaf catalog/website. Their print product catalog has a small fee but, in my opinion, is worth it for the great ideas and loads of inspiring text. If you scroll down on
this page, you will find ideas for several age ranges.
I am running out of time for right now but wanted to answer your question that Moira Farrell has two albums currently in print. The 3-5 and the 7-9 year olds. She was supposed to be publishing one for 10-12 yo's but I believe it has not been completed yet.
You can purchase her albums from Our Father's House. Elizabeth has a wonderful post about how she uses those materials and ideas with her little ones to lead them closer to God.
That's a lot to read but a good place as any to start. Maybe some other ladies can chime in with their favorite books or links that may help you as well.
~Rebecca
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Kim F
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Janet if you want a cheap and thorough "how to" book I would pick up David Gettman's Basic Montessori. It gives the exact step by step directions for presentation and several of the activities would work for older children. The science in particular. montessoritraining.net has several free sample downloads. I also love Montessori Home School and MWEI The latter site has pictures with its directions - a big plus for me!
Kim
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Kim F
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Donna Marie also posted about teacherfilebox.com which is a service of Evan-Moor. They have the Take it to Your Seat Centers books for preK-6th which I LOVE. They are ready to laminate and put into file folders to make self correcting work for all major subjects. Its not purist Montessori but look very similar to the Albanesi Command Cards
Better yet the filebox site is only $10/mo for unlimited downloads. You can try it for 99 cents for a month and at least get those.
Kim
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ALmom
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Kim: Thanks for the references - and really thanks to all. I have downloaded the album from one site and have Basic Montessori on my list. I have lots of things to come back to for file folders when I actually know what I'm doing. I am in the research and pray mode as I have flopped at most attempts in the past and have enlisted my dh to help discern this as the philosophy is so appealing - and it seems the perfect thing for us to do with so many vision issues that affect eye-hand.
Just 2 more questions if you all will bear with me.
What is the difference between David Gettman's book and the Hainstock books (there seems to be one for younger and one for school age)? I suspect I need information on both pre-school and school age.
The teacherfilebox.com for file folders is very intriguing. I know removing the handwriting out of some things will really help some of mine work conceptually where they need to be - and we can work on fine motor with other things. I was reading elsewhere where the copyright may restrict you to only use materials when you are paying for the site. I would want something that I could purchase - and then use forever. If I did get the Evan-Moor stuff from teacherfilebox.com, would I be able to keep it forever or would I have to keep paying $10 per month?
Janet
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Kim F
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<<What is the difference between David Gettman's book and the Hainstock books (there seems to be one for younger and one for school age)? >>
Gettman's book includes more materials and details but the Hainstock's are more than adequate and the layout of the Hainstock bks are a bit more user friendly imo. There is one activity per page and lots of white space.(and illustrations) Gettman is packed with info which is great. But Gettman is packed with info which is a problem - if that makes sense 
On the teacherfilebox - Rebecca and I both just subbed. Rebecca said it was running really slow for her last night. I just got on this am and that was my reaction too. REALLY slow and cumbersome imo to get the stuff selected and printed. The color on the learning centers were not as vibrant as my hard copy either. If money were not an issue I would prefer the book format just for the ease of picking it and going rather than wading through the web pages and then printing oooooone activity at a time versus a whole slew. I think this guarantees only the most determined teachers will manage to ever print the whole darn site off.
Hopefully Rebecca and Donna Marie will pipe in about this.
Kim
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ALmom
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Kim, boy thanks for your response! I may get both of the Basic Montessori teacher books and then glean where/ what activities I think we should start with and either use manipulatives I have or purchase a few items to get us started.
I much, much prefer spending a little extra to avoid on-line as I generally get lost in e space and usually end up frustrated and begging my dh to just do it for me before I have a meltdown  so he'd probably prefer me to spend a bit more and take him out of the printing business too. I think the file games sound like such a good idea. Where or how did you order the hard copy.
I'd like to get some idea of what price I'm talking about cause stuff on the Montessori sites is enough to send you running. Kind of sad when her goal was to have quality available to the poorest.
Janet
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Kim F
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I agree on the prices. Though I do admire the quality of the wooden material I still think its likely a big markup. That is why I loved the Labritta Gilbert bks and the Workjobs series. Those women ran their schools with whatever they could make. Like I said - it IS a quality issue. You arent going to have homemade materials last through multiple kids. Then again if your toddler runs off with a critical part of a knobbed cylinder set your heart will be broken.
Kim
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Donna Marie
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Kim F wrote:
<<What is the difference between David Gettman's book and the Hainstock books (there seems to be one for younger and one for school age)? >>
On the teacherfilebox - Rebecca and I both just subbed. Rebecca said it was running really slow for her last night. I just got on this am and that was my reaction too. REALLY slow and cumbersome imo to get the stuff selected and printed. The color on the learning centers were not as vibrant as my hard copy either. If money were not an issue I would prefer the book format just for the ease of picking it and going rather than wading through the web pages and then printing oooooone activity at a time versus a whole slew. I think this guarantees only the most determined teachers will manage to ever print the whole darn site off.
Hopefully Rebecca and Donna Marie will pipe in about this.
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I too subbed to try this out. The first day I used it they had a notice saying that they added a bunch more oomph (for lack of a technical term) to make the site run faster. It did go very fast for me and I printed out two science centers and started to use them right away. I agree that the books are much brighter. I figured that for .99 it is worth the time to really look around at the different products they have and try them out for size. They don't have everything they have on there..but there is a varied selection.
As far as the center books go...I do use my books as my hard copy and make my centers from that copy. I have too many pieces that walk away for me to just use it straight out of the book.
I have been very happy with the books we have used so far...the phonics and geography centers...umm a few more things too.... Their task cards are much like some that I have seen in Montessori catalogs.
I love how you can go to the Evan Moor.com site and view the whole books. If money were real tight, you can at least get some ideas of things you can make with index cards and sharpie markers and maybe some stickers. I find that using the centers and watching the kiddoes use them gives me ideas as to how I can make my own. They are attracted to the shapes and colors and figures used. I think it makes it seem like "important work" to them and they respond in kind.
Speaking of Evan Moor...I do use their History Pockets books...the kids love them. I don't always use them as written, but we have made some great lapbooks using them as well as making the pockets out of the large sized cardstock (as opposed to construction paper) and sliding each pocket into the page protector of a scrapbook. My one son (11) really likes to do this and choses the brightest colors he can get his hands on. He keeps adding to his pocket with other things he makes on the subject (like the American Explorers) and adds pages of copy work and such backed with colored paper that he slides in the pocket with it. When we have company he pulls it out and spreads it out on the table and narrates much of what he knows with props...whether they like it or not...lol
God Love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc 
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Donna Marie
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ALmom wrote:
I would like to do something more Montessorish next year with my younger children (and some of my older children in some subjects). I don't care if it is pure Montessori and I cannot spend $100 of dollars per item. I may also be working with a 6th grade special needs child. I like the aspects of respecting the child, observing, and helping guide the child, the responsibility and care and order, the hands-on and multi-sensory aspects, etc.
The special needs 6th grader - I'm not sure where he is so I'd need to do a lot of observing and finding out - and this seems to be the best and least intimidating way to learn this. I have been told that he is reading at about 2nd grade but in conversations with him, I suspect he could conceptually go way further if he wasn't bogged down with words and workbooks and textbooks.
Janet |
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Janet, may I ask what your 6th grader needs work on or what his difficulties are? I have a few issues here that I am working on with my twins. They are 13...maybe I can help somewhat?
God Bless!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc
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Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 9dc!!
Finding Elegant Simplicity
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Meredith
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What a great thread, Janet thanks for getting the ball rolling! I too am really doing lots more Montessori with my dc, especially the littles, but find the hands on especially in the Math dept works so well for my older two, they think it's fun and not really like doing math 
My question is about the older kids, when do you know they are ready to move off the manipulatives and really get down to working their figures on paper, and is the transition difficult or does it seem to keep them behind because they are doing so much hands on??
Sorry if this seems jumbled, for lack of a better term??
Thanks Rebecca, Kim and Donna Marie for your great ideas and links!!
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Meredith
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CatholicMommy
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Meredith wrote:
My question is about the older kids, when do you know they are ready to move off the manipulatives and really get down to working their figures on paper, and is the transition difficult or does it seem to keep them behind because they are doing so much hands on??
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I am new here, but thought I'd share from my limited Montessori experience. I run a Catholic Montessori family day care in my home and I tutor a 2nd grader using almost entirely Montessori materials, with some CHC thrown in for something more hands-on for me. This girl hated math with a passion I've rarely seen - and would cry about reading because she simply couldn't, not for lack of interest or desire. Given that she attends a public school, obviously affecting how she responds to the Montessori-based materials, I have found that she naturally works towards a point where she wants to write things out, whether math or reading. I also have some little booklets already available for her (one math problem per page or a sentence per page for example) that I make sure are in visible line of sight, and I will flip through them once in a while to pull a problem from them. Sometimes this prompts her to use them, other times not.
Just in 4 months of working with her a total of 6 hours a week, she has leaped from kindergarten reading level and math concepts, to 2nd grade levels on everything, and is already doing multiplication (she is currently working on her third multiplication chart - by choice - I only have 10 columns labeled thus far, she fills in the answers with what she knows and uses legos to find the answers she doesn't yet know).
As for materials: we make so much out of cardboard, pieces of felt, old cloth, things printed or written on cardstock... I did make the golden bead work out of gold sparkle pony beads, but I have seen less tedious methods of production for similar or cheaper costs. This was a fun one though, as my tutoring student helped me make them, and loves working with them "just for fun." It was with these, she first (on her own) developed a sense of grouping for multiplication and division sake.
It has been fascinating working with her and seeing the light go on and just get brighter!
~Jessica
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Kim F
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I haven't found that the manipulatives held them back. Eventually they just drop them and say hey I know that one! We do the online mathusee drill games alongside the manip based lessons so they are working on memory skills too.
What I HAVE found is that my older kids who went into paper based learning much earlier had major math woes by junior high. I remember Cathy Duffy saying that is the point where failure to really conceptualize shows up and it certainly was for us. You don't always see the foundational issues until its much later and then its a mess to fix.
Kim
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lapazfarm
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Kim F wrote:
What I HAVE found is that my older kids who went into paper based learning much earlier had major math woes by junior high. I remember Cathy Duffy saying that is the point where failure to really conceptualize shows up and it certainly was for us. You don't always see the foundational issues until its much later and then its a mess to fix.
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I agree. My 6th grade ds, who went to ps for K-3rd, is just now running into some issues that are due to a lack of a strong conceptualization, making errors that clearly idicate he hasn't really internalized a few foundational concepts. I am going to have to take some backward steps and go back to fix these problems using some manipulatives. Not sure exactly how yet, but that's the plan.
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MarilynW
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Kim F wrote:
Donna Marie also posted about teacherfilebox.com which is a service of Evan-Moor. They have the Take it to Your Seat Centers books for preK-6th which I LOVE. They are ready to laminate and put into file folders to make self correcting work for all major subjects. Its not purist Montessori but look very similar to the Albanesi Command Cards
Better yet the filebox site is only $10/mo for unlimited downloads. You can try it for 99 cents for a month and at least get those.
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My almost 3 year old is really doing well with his file folder games. Takes everything out, does it, puts it away. Still not got the concept of checking against the answer key. But he LOVES them.
I am just introducing the file folder ones to my older ones - in their independent work times - and it really is so much more efficient (and enjoyable for them) then simply doing workbooks
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Meredith
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Kim F wrote:
| What I HAVE found is that my older kids who went into paper based learning much earlier had major math woes by junior high. I remember Cathy Duffy saying that is the point where failure to really conceptualize shows up and it certainly was for us. You don't always see the foundational issues until its much later and then its a mess to fix. Kim |
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This is my main concern as I personally had these issues with Math and it was a constant struggle. When we have the manip's out, they don't think it's Math, in fact they bag for them. It's my inclination to just bag the Saxon books for a while and do Montessori based work until we need to move to Algebra...is this insane???
We also use LOTS of online drills, I have found so many great games and drills (Math-U-See, being our first and foremaost fave) that I do feel they are getting plenty of memory work practice.
Blessings!
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Meredith
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Kim F
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It's my inclination to just bag the Saxon books for a while and do Montessori based work until we need to move to Algebra...is this insane???
>>
If it is I am in trouble.
A basic workbook like Spectrum Math provides computation work to use with the Montessori manips. I have the Key To series for more concept work as well. We jump into Mathusee for high school math then.
Kim
Kim
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