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ann@home
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| Posted: May 21 2007 at 1:24pm | IP Logged
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My son went to Montessori preschool for 1 yr at age 4/5. He did wonderfully there and finally learned to write his name thanks to the sand writing, etc.
We then moved away from the area and he went to public K for a yr-  and has been home for the last 2 yrs (he's 8.5yrs).
I started looking at some of the Montessori materials again recently for my 2 younger kids (2.5yrs and almost 6yrs) and thought I should try it again for my son since he responded so well to it.
While he is good at math he's struggling at reading and while I could go on and on about what I think about that, I wonder if some of the Montessori methods might be helpful with this area.
Has anyone started up with Montessori methods after the preschool years? How did that work for your child?
How long did you use the methods/philosophy before adopting other methods?
I just got the book Teaching Montessori in the Home -The School Years by Hainstock from the library and looking forward to reading it.
I just bookmarked many of the resources listed in the recent thread as well, great stuff there!
Are there other resources for older children that I should get/look at?
thanks!
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Ann, Full-time Mama of a 10yr old Lego master, 7yr old DIVA, 4yr old King of the Mountain and one more in June '09!
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Meredith
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| Posted: May 21 2007 at 2:19pm | IP Logged
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Ann, I'm so glad to have you here and YES I am using Montessori in some form or another for all my dc aged 2 up to 11  My oldest is my one dd and she is really enjoying helping me put together lots of the preschool work and is learning a thing or two herself along the way!! 
We have primarily done work with many of the math manipulatives and a variety of nomenclature cards, especially for nature study. My ds 5 is working with the pink card series as he is learning to read. We also do alot with the moveable alphabet, and sorting and classifying for things like prepositions and action words.
I think your ds 8.5 could greatly benefit from many of the Montessori language activites. Have you purchased any materials yet or made anything and are you looking for examples of things that might work for him or for all your dc?? I would definately check out some of the links mentioned in the most recent threads and perhaps some others have some book recommendations as well! I really like the online albums at M.W.E.I.
HTH, and ask away if you need more inspiration!!
Blessings!
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
Sweetness and Light
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Donna Marie
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| Posted: May 21 2007 at 2:33pm | IP Logged
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I am!
An interesting project I have gotten into is teaching one of my eldest daughters (one of the twins), who has a bit of a learning problem, how to present to the younger ones. I will try to blog about this later. It is helping her a lot with her own "holes" in understanding different things. She is HIGHLY visual and this is helping her cement things in her memory because she is approaching the intricacies of math and phonics from a different angle by teaching it and recording her own Montessori album with pictures and drawings! (I am using her strengths to help combat her weaknesses ie...love of teaching the younger ones and a love for drawing and personal journaling)
I make presentations for everyone based on what we are already covering or what we want to cover for school. The latest one is learning about the different flags and parts of a flag. We are also starting a botany unit so we have 3 part cards of plants, roots and some classification fun-ness!
What is helping me is I am taking the online course from Karen ...very reasonable and she answers a LOT of questions for me! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/montessoritraining/ In addition I am a lurker on some of the many Montessori Yahoo groups like http://groups.yahoo.com/group/playschool6/
It is so nice to ask them questions and share materials...so much easier than trying to do it all on your own.
HTH!
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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Angel
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| Posted: May 21 2007 at 3:18pm | IP Logged
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Hi Ann,
We've been sort of spiraling in and out of elementary Montessori for a while now. Mainly I've used the math materials with my oldest 2 -- age 10 and 8. My 10 yo got tired of them rather quickly -- when it comes to work he wants ONE ANSWER and he doesn't want to fiddle around to get it -- but my 8 yo dd seems to learn math no other way. I've tried several math curricula with her, and none of them have seemed to gel the way Montessori has. She still has problems with abstraction, so workbooks were all gibberish to her. We also used cards, file folder games, rubber stamps, etc. for learning days of the week and telling time and temperature earlier in the year. Last year when she was learning to read something that helped a lot was a set of command cards I made up for her (I just wrote them on index cards) and kept in an index card box. She really enjoyed reading the cards and following the directions much more than reading actual books for a while. Also last year I used the movable alphabet with both my older kids for spelling, primarily because I was having a hard time getting my oldest to write. After a while with the movable alphabet, he decided he was ready to write spelling words down, so we haven't been using it much this year; however, I think it served its purpose.
I am working on moving more toward Montessori for next year and the summer. This year we got away from the spirit of Montessori and used quite a few workbooks, which left us all feeling somewhat burnt out. When we're more in Montessori mode, I try to have a set work period which we call "choice time". I'm still trying to figure out how to manage this with the read-aloud time both my older kids still enjoy (about an hour) and their special needs (my oldest in particular needs daily work in math, spelling, and handwriting). And then there is the challenge of trying to organize all the material (and finding time to make a lot of it!) that my toddler twins represent.
I *do* think it's worth it, though, because I've seen the way kids respond to many of the Montessori activities, and workbook learning just hasn't seemed to really *work* for us. I just hope I can somehow pull it off!!!
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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Meredith
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| Posted: May 23 2007 at 8:44am | IP Logged
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Ann, do you feel like you have enough information here or are you still looking for a little more?? Just wanted to check in 
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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ann@home
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| Posted: May 23 2007 at 1:45pm | IP Logged
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Meredith wrote:
| Ann, do you feel like you have enough information here or are you still looking for a little more?? Just wanted to check in |
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After looking at the Hainstock bk from the library I realize I need to start at the beginning again and review the philosohpies and foundations. It can be quite overwhelming at first 
The web-sites are very valuable and I just got some catalogs in the mail so I can see how some things are used and some of the basics I really need.
I also realize something that is VERY important for us is to get into a better daily routine! Just the every day things like waking, morning activities, etc would be helpful for my 2.5yr old son and all of us. Nothing overly structured, but now we are just too haphazard and this is contributing to my daily stress and my 2.5yr old's attention seeking behaviors AKA "naughtiness"  I think.
Now I'm rambling....thanks for listening.
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Ann, Full-time Mama of a 10yr old Lego master, 7yr old DIVA, 4yr old King of the Mountain and one more in June '09!
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AndreaG
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| Posted: May 23 2007 at 1:53pm | IP Logged
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I am trying to follow a montessori approach with my 8- year-old, I found the MTC Albums helpful.
I actually use a lot of standard homeschool curriculum, RightStart math, Story of the World, REAL Science but try to follow the montessori philosophy. For next year I am trying to come with some sort of assignment list system, and have more elementary activities available in file folders/envelopes for him to choose.
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Andrea
GrayFamilyCircus
Read Through the Catechism in a Year- For Moms!
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Meredith
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| Posted: May 23 2007 at 2:14pm | IP Logged
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Great Ann, and I know what you mean by adding a little structure for your little guy. They really do thrive on a routine to keep the mischief at bay
Andrea, this sounds great. I really like the idea of an assignment list system, my ds 8.5 would probably work well under this system as long as I give him some defining parameters, like you actually have to do it...today We are using many of the standard CM and Classical/Living Books items as well, and I'm really trying to incorporate Montessori philospophy for the older ones as I totally SEE the amazing benefit for the younger two!!
Keep it coming, this is great
Blessings!
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
Sweetness and Light
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Who’s using Montessori for age 7+ ?
