Montessori Elementary Homeschool Blog - with documentation of our infant Montessori, toddler Montessori, and primary Montessori experiences; as well as preparation for the upcoming adolescent Montessori homeschool years.
Showing posts with label cosmic education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cosmic education. Show all posts

Sunday, July 30, 2017

REVIEW POST: Montessori Kiwi Elementary Montessori Boot Camps

There is not one thing I do not love about Montessori Kiwi's Bootcamps for Reading, Writing and Great Lessons!

I was privileged to access all three of them and, while I was asked for a review on just one, well, I can't do that. I truly appreciate the content of all three of them and can't pick a favorite.

As a homeschool mom years ago, just starting out; or as a newly trained Montessori teacher just going into my student teaching and even my first full-on teaching experiences, I would have loved Lisa's concise, focused, *practical* guides that she provides here. Even with my own studies, full training and many successful experiences in the classroom and at home, these boot camps provide a down-to-earth perspective that makes it all feel possible!

She includes ideas for "what if this doesn't work", shares experiences from her own teaching,

Each half-hour video is a slideshow presentation with Lisa's voice-over. A pdf of the slides is included with each video as well; the writing portion has a writing template.


Great Lessons: 
She includes specifics on what can be done before, during and after the Great Lessons. Typically with such resources there is always something that makes me cringe a bit or think "that doesn't quite fit with my reading of Montessori's work" or similar. But NOT this time! Spot on, 100% agreement! I gleaned some new ideas/tweaks as well; which just goes to show that collaboration does indeed help us adults go deeper!

Writing: 
Lisa includes information on the Inquiry approach which is very much in line with the Montessori approach, but (as she states) was not created for a Montessori environment - so some of the details are somewhat "givens" (such as freedom to go back and review a concept at any time). The way she organized and presents about the writing prompts, inquiry, and all else is very intuitive, very practical - and very much needed reminders about how straight-forward we can be with the children!


Reading: 
In this boot camp, what she describes as happening in primary/casa/other-name (ages 3-6) includes a variation on the pink/blue/green series, that not all Montessori approaches utilize. I find reading to be the one area that different Montessorians really take different approaches. I love how Lisa works through this area in a way that honors any of the approaches.



She also offers supportive downloads in a variety of areas. Take a look!





Friday, November 30, 2012

God with No Hands - Some Follow-Ups


We first did the Story of God with No Hands when Legoboy was 5 1/2. He was just very, very ready for it!

But many people wonder - what do we do after? Follow the child? But how? What materials should I have ready?

Don't REQUIRE anything. Let it sit. Let it fizzle. Let it percolate. I promise in most cases, you won't be waiting long! If at all!

  • Have ready everything you have demonstrated to the children - so the children can repeat. 
  • Have lots of large paper on hand if they want to copy the charts. 
  • Have beautiful colored pencils or watercolors on hand. 
  • Have some flexibility in your schedule so you can hit up the library on any given day. 
  • Keep an open, trusting mind - and have some questions of your own you'd like to research, perhaps side by side. 
  • It is probably best to just have on hand what you need for the remaining geography album pages and don't worry about much else - because honestly, NO one can tell you where your child's interests will go - even I've been surprised by own son! 



My son's original interests were in the volcano (go figure!) but he didn't get into the parts of volcanoes like most children - he wanted to know about types of volcanoes, which necessitated learning some of the parts, but in a different way from a child who wants to directly know that information - and where active volcanoes sit today - and where inactive volcanoes sit. And could one be where we live. We then got into Pompeii. And two years later, our local museum hosted the Pompeii exhibit! Oh my! It was WONDERFUL! We went twice! He had other minor questions which were not as polarizing at the time.

And we moved into the other Great Lessons, instigating a study into ancient history. We began reading through Mystery of History in our own manner - reading a "lesson" each evening, creating an index card for it, then he could select any of the suggested activities from any of the listed age groups to do during school time in the coming week. Well, 2 1/2 years later, we've not quite finished the book because this study branched into Ancient Middle East, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece - leading to a study (when I say study, I mean reading lots of books and watching videos and having lots of discussions) of the multiple gods of their religion, leading to an interest in astronomy because of the connections of all those names, leading into a study of clocks and time-telling through history, back into astronomy. And then back into Ancient Civilizations (only reinforced since joining the level 3 atrium a year early). He really has little to no interest in modern history. Ah yes, then he discovered there were more suggested activities in Mystery of History, so he's gone back time and again to review the past stories and add more work in.

And one wonders why I post so little about the direct use of the Montessori materials ;) because it's ALL Montessori materials - the whole world! ;) 


In the meantime, we did another re-telling of the first Great Lesson when he was just past his 6th birthday, with follow-ups that time being the states of matter - heavily into the states of matter. Repeating ALL the demonstrations

At 6 1/2 to 7 1/2, with 2 more tellings during that time, the focus shifted to the layers of the earth, mostly focusing on different types of rocks. Here, he went back to the volcano to discover types of rocks around different types of volcanoes and the use of some of those rocks. Pumice and its uses; some volcanic rocks are great for closet deodorizers - put them in your closet or a polluted area, it soaks up all the smell and pollution and gets really heavy - put it out in the sunlight and the sun's rays burn out all the pollution and you can use the rocks again and again and again. He told me, "Let's buy me a bigger pair of shoes, so I can keep a stone of this stuff in each toe!" (he has raunchy-smelling feet!). I am purposely not telling you the name of this rock so you'll go look it up yourself ;) Isn't it interesting this type of rock would be spewed forth by the very volcano that it helps to "clean up". Kind of a nice balance to nature there, eh!?



Since then, he still continues to come for re-tellings of the original story - told just the same as the first time (with glass test tubes now) - and now he ponders questions of morality: how all these particles have particular laws, obey those laws, and the human race has these choices even though made from the same particles as everything else. He also ties in elements from the later Great Lessons and his own personal research, relating the particles to the planets, or to human peoples and their various methods of migration. His follow-ups these days are not as distinctly coming from just this one lesson, because he has the grand overview, told many times in the last 3 years and he is making connections and discoveries.


Some people suggest changing the story up from time to time - while focusing on just one small section has been a positive experience, I have not once had a positive experience with changing the story at all. The children seem to thrive on hearing the SAME story told over and over and over and over - much like when they were preschoolers! And each time they can listen in for a new detail, a new enticement, a new discovery, a new learning path, all from the same old story.


In upper elementary, children explore other creation stories and make comparisons, exploring how the culture and their stories tie together - what do all of these stories reveal about the Truth and about the ways of life of the people holding to their own story. At this time, it might be feasible for a child to re-write the Great Lesson, modifying it. Or they might enjoy coming back to an old friend.


Saturday, June 16, 2012

Pollinator Week - Biology



Pollinator week is June 18-24 and we'll be doing what we can at our home. How about you?

We'll be continuing our balcony garden, as well as the gardening at our friend's home; and we'll be on a "Pollinator Hunt" all week to see what we discover. My son also wants to do some research to see what plants and insects/animals go together for pollination purposes.

He has already started our list for when we move into a house - he knows which plants he wants in order to attract certain butterflies for example ; )


Kids Discover
This great article has a list of resources for more information, as well as activities and background information.


When planning your pollinator-friendly garden, choose native plants whenever possible. The Pollinator Partnership has a native plant guide (http://pollinator.org/guides.htm) that tailors recommendations to your region. Plant a variety of species that will flower successively over the entire growing season.






Who Pollinates?
Lentils – bees and insects
Artichoke – bees
Figs – wasps
Honey – bees
Eggplant – bees
Onions – bees and flies
Garlic – bees and flies
Sesame Seed – bees, flies, wasps
Chili Peppers – bees
Sweet Potatoes – bees
Yellow Potatoes – bees
Garbanzo Beans – bees
Herbs – bees
Lettuce – bees and insects
Grapefruit – bees
Currant – bees
Avocados – bee, flies, and bats
Tomatoes – bees
Spinach – insects
Almonds – bees
Lemons – bees
Sugar Cane – bees
Cocoa – flies
Cherries – bees
Bananas – birds, bats
Vanilla – bees
Raspberries – bees
Strawberries – bees
Coffee – bees and flies
Tea – bees, insects, and flies
Cranberries – bees
Apples – bees
Tequila – bats
Oranges – bees

Find out more at Kids Discover