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 montessori homeschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label montessori homeschooling. Show all posts

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Legoboy's Schooling - What did he actually use?

Legoboy used many resources in addition to Montessori throughout his life education. Many of these resources I have previously written about on Montessori Trails. A Keys of the Universe parent asked me to write some explicit posts about our supplements, so here goes!


The first Great Lesson story we tell in elementary is The Creation of the Universe or God with No Hands. This story tells of the creation of the universe and the formation of the earth, with the ultimate goal to demonstrate the laws of nature and the utter obedience of all particles to these laws. 
Just about every child studies volcanoes so of course we did too! No particular resources used - videos, trips to our local museum, books. 

He did fall in love with all things POMPEII! And as luck would have it, our local museum center had a special exhibit, so we picked up a few resources there: videos, books, cards. 


The Story of God with No Hands opens up the Geography album. Within geography, we have studies on the universe, nature of elements, sun and earth, work of water, work of air, human geography, and economic geography. In addition to the Montessori experience, Legoboy utilized the following the most heavily: 





Saturday, December 2, 2017

Crazy Times - Some are Awesome - and A NEW WEBSITE!

Life is crazy - and has so many curveballs, some awesome, some so far beyond painful I can't even share them, and some downright heart-wrenching as the strength of my supportive friends and family is proven second after crazy heart-breaking second.


First the awesome news!

I get to babysit my newborn nephew for two weeks 💖


The oldest of my mother's grandsons
with the youngest of her grandsons. 

Brotherly cousin love ;) 


And I spent the bits of downtime putting together three new websites. The first one is now live and active!

Keys of the World Montessori Resources
The Mobile Site

The Desktop Site

The listings for access to mentoring via albums, videos and online support are all up - I will be adding materials over the course of the next week, while working on the other two websites to be updated: Garden of Francis and Keys of the Universe are both getting a complete overhaul, with a similar format to the new Keys of the World site.



For the weekend I am focusing on some craft projects:

The baby's older sisters are learning to latch-hook. I helped them find a way to organize their colors and their pieces. The youngest is 4 and is just practicing putting the colors on - not following the pattern just yet.





And I am starting on Christmas stockings for each of my family members. Won't all be done in time for St. Nicholas Day, but my son and I are the only ones who officially celebrate that one. Everyone else fills their stocking on Christmas Eve.

And the adolescent-Montessori-homeschooled boy is continuing his studies in history, Minecraft and computer coding and the book of Proverbs - when he's not snuggling on my lap.



Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Montessori Essentials Course


Montessori Essentials Course for all Montessori adults! 
       Montessori Homeschoolers
       Montessori Classroom Assistants
       Catechesis of the Good Shepherd *assistants*
     
June 6 8a-5p
Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception
Lafayette, Indiana

Learn the basics of Montessori that apply to all environments, along with the following:
  • History of Montessori
  • Exercises of Practical Life - preliminary skills, care of the environment, care of self and more
  • Grace and Courtesy lessons
  • Walking on the Line
  • Silence Game/Activity
  • Basic art lessons

$50 for the day (evening-before lodging available only as space permits)

NB: This Montessori Essentials course is one-day of a full 10-day course on the religious potential of children aged 2.5 through their 6th year. While the focus of the whole course is on the religious potential of the child as seen through a Montessori whole-child perspective, this first day will primarily focus on the universal aspects of the Montessori approach to life; thus anyone of any faith background who wants to utilize or learn more about the Montessori approach will benefit.

If you are interested in the full Catechesis of the Good Shepherd course, please see the post 3, 2, 1, Atrium at Seeking the Plan of God.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Planning in a Montessori Homeschool

Planning in a Montessori Homeschool sounds like a huge contradiction in terms, depending on how you define each of those terms ;)

Homeschool - school at home, but we're not always at home; and we spend less time on "school" than children at an out-of-home school.

Montessori - seems to be a free-for-all for some; trays on a shelf for some; multi-age grouping that can only happen at a school for some; and other variations. Indeed, Montessori incorporates freedom, a very few trays, multiple ages can be addressed in a homeschool situation in another way (including for only-children - siblings have that multi-age setting built-in!)

Planning - juxtaposed with Montessori, some people flip over. You can't *plan* a child's education weeks and months in advance - especially not in a Montessori setting! No, this is correct - I cannot tell you what your child should be doing the second of week of June the year they are 4 years old; nor can I (or *anyone*!) tell you what your child should be doing the 25th week of the 3rd year of elementary. Sorry!

But what DO we have? We have a set of key experiences that are typical for the universal child within some time ranges. We can be prepared to provide for those key experiences as the child is ready for them. This part of the three-sided support that IS an authentic Montessori environment - the prepared adult. Please visit that link for the prepared adult - because it highlights some of the many things we adults need to be prepared for - items such as right use of imagination, the four planes of development, human needs and tendencies and so much more!


What about those who don't follow a schedule - and maybe not even a loose routine?
I personally still need to have an idea of what is upcoming - so we can ensure we have time, space, materials, and the right attitude (nothing like saying "Mom, I want to do the river model" when the only space available to do one indoors is the only clear space in the home because of our other projects! ;)


CAVEAT: None of the planning suggestions on this page are boxed into a particular schedule or routine. What is here, is adaptable to any kind of schedule.

The planning style that has worked in our home: 

First, I need some tools:
  • Key experiences appropriate to the plane of development of the child/ren before me. 
  • Noting the particular child's needs and interests. 
  • Something to record work done. How will work done be recorded? So I know what to plan next time? Montessori Trails page on work plans and work journals in a Montessori setting
    • For younger children, this is my own record - I can just check off a presentation or an exercise as being presented. I am planting seeds that will sprout later - giving keys for them to utilize in their own explorations and discoveries; sometimes they will repeat something, other times not - so I don't record things like "repeated, mastery, etc.". I am a homeschool parent, not a school teacher. And my current students who come to me from their own families "master" at home, not with me. If I were in a situation to worry about mastery, I would observe and have conversations to see if the concept is mastered - and have a second checkmark for that, Seriously? Keep it simple.
    • For older children - elementary children and some kindergarteners, we have a work plan/journal to look at in planning our next steps. In kindergarten and first grade, that can be as simple as moving cards of chosen work from one basket to another
  • That's it. KEEP IT SIMPLE. You are a homeschool parent, with a household and other family members to take care of - and yourself to take care! Montessori is about exploration and discovery - not about being the smartest kid in the universe! ;) 
Some early work plan/journal samples.
Legoboy's First Work Plan/Journal
Used at age 5-6 

Next, I need to put those tools together! The following photos show primary level first; then elementary. 

You'll notice I am only planning for MY presentations. At primary, the child's work is the child's choice within the parameters you have laid out. At elementary, the work plan (conversation) with the child is where the child notes what he is going to do about his particular interests and I the adult can note any outings we will be taking, any supplies to have on hand, etc. The child should be involved in this planning too!!!

THUS - the child's day might inlude a new presentation (0-5 depending on the age and the need) and their own self-selected follow-up work, which might correspond with your presentation and might not. You still have family time, free time, outings, etc. as well. 


Primary Montessori Homeschool Planning

Intervals - for starting with a child at 2 and a half years old, you can figure about 6 months for each interval. Starting with an older child? Begin with those earlier intervals but your child will move more quickly through them. Allow them to move at their speed, it is YOUR preparations that will be stepped up a bit. Beginning with an elementary child? Start with the elementary work, not the primary!

Need to organize material purchases and material-making? That is where the intervals also come in handy - focus on THIS 6-month time period. If your child gets ahead in something, then you only have that one area to look ahead in!

The first interval is only 2 pages - and decent size font at that! 

Plug into a chart - could be a weekday-based one or just a grid, with everything in order - check it off as you go. Or don't plug into a chart and just use the "first interval" (or your current interval section) and select a few activities to show your child this week - you can quickly look it over to pull out another idea if your child is expressing an interest in a particular area. 

Starting out with a 2.5 year old, this is what our chart might look like.
note I crossed off weekday indications.
It isn't about which day you do something - it is about the child's readiness.
We would do walking on the line, some language and some preliminary exercises of practical life on day 1.
Otherwise, I just pick activites in each thread and move forward;
review as needed; when ready, move on to the next stage - mastery only when clearly necessary.
These could be dated if you need that record; or just checkmark or highlight. 

Even SIMPLER:
draw a line to separate the threads.
Each day pick 1-5 items to focus on (some things are quick)
or each week pick a few items to focus on. Move forward from there. 






Elementary Montessori Homeschool Planning

Elementary - this can get a bit trickier because there are more "threads" that overlap one another. 

I still only plan weekly and sometimes daily for my own particular presentations for particular timing; looking ahead to the month or a few months to be sure I have materials on hand; with some days of preparing the materials right before giving the presentation or even WHILE giving the presentation! 


Children at this age can see the entire scope/sequence or just provide them the suggested scope/sequence by year. In this way, they can see what is coming up, request something or otherwise prepare for it. 

The elementary child has their own work plan and work journal, which can include more information. My son's routinely includes researching some aspect of an ancient civilization for example; and as a family we strive for routine astronomical observations and studies. These aren't planned as much as we learn about something and my son puts it on HIS chart. 

I have done a plan book at times - lay out every thread in its separate physical thread - anything that wouldn't come until after that thread is closed can be filled in after the end of the activites in that thread. So Decimal Fractions chapter comes after the Fractions chapter - I don't have an individual row for each of those. This can mean we are on separate pages in the plan book I am using, but it does allow individual pacing. One way to get around the multiple pages? cut along the lines that separate each row and paper clip loose pages together - so when I open it up, I am only on the current placement in each thread. This works for ONE child in the home; or a small number of children that you are giving the same general presentations to, with their own individual follow-up. 

And I have re-organized the elementary scope/sequence to show one year at a time - it's a large chart, but could be a useful image for the children. 


Scope and Sequence in chart form (each subject in a column,
3 pages each (some are more blank than others since threads differ in length)
Art and Music are more free-form, so are not included in this image. 
My son's plan for a while - with the threads written horizontally.
Highlight as we finished - could date them if we needed such a record.
Not all things are highlighted, though Legoboy is done;
because I couldn't keep up with it!
I needed to write it out for my own mental preparation
but then I preferred the checklist approach most of the time. 
The threads do peter out - not all are the same length.
But this gives the children time for their *own* studies:
reading, building, DOING. 



So you can see - KEEP IT SIMPLE. Use a checklist for your own presentations if that works; the children shouldn't have a checklist, but should be given the key presentations, ask questions and find ways to answer their own questions. Lots of real life experiences, outings, and lots and lots of DOING.


How do all of these plans pan out?
See this page for some samples of A Day in the Life of a Montessori Homeschool.





Friday, January 1, 2016

Culture Studies in Our Home

We have not really written about our cultural studies in our Montessori home... or have we?


What is included in cultural studies?
  • Political geography 
  • Physical geography - and biomes - climate - all of these affect how people live, the choices they make, and even how the political lines are divided!
  • Music, art, clothing - all those choices that people of different regions make
  • History of various areas - what happened in the past still affects today
  • Economic Geography - goods that are available in one area might not be available in another; or there might not be enough in one area to support the needs and desires of the local people. 





A Montessori Nugget on Culture in Montessori



Previous stops along the Montessori Trails - not all-inclusive: 
Calligraphy
Continent Folders - Primary
Some of Legoboy's work plans - Upper Elementary age
A Week in the Life of Legoboy - earlier Upper Elementary
Timelines: Doing the Child's Work for Him










Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Friday


This was a stay-at-home day. It has been a full out-of-house week and I really am a homebody. Legoboy could go either way, but really does like to be home too. In fact, he put together his favorite schedule as a joke:

(not finished with adding images and descriptions - posting anyway)


It was a pretty low-key day, even though we both had big plans. We just needed to veg ;)

He worked on some science experiments.


A session of his apologetics course


Christian Heritage Art lesson 6 of level 5


Played the piano - actually worked on a lesson this time


Read through his magazines some more.

He finally had time to work on EEME and he somehow forgot. That happens!

We talked about putting away our Christmas decorations. Then did nothing about it.


He spent a lot of personal time LEGO building.


Watch Shark Tank to see what kind of business ideas people come up with.





Our other links to past Montessori Homeschool weeks:
Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Thursday
Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Wednesday
Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Tuesday
Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Monday
Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Work Plan for the Week

A Week in the Life of Legoboy - Friday (includes links for Monday-Thursday)

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Thursday


We slept in. Legoboy intercepted a late-night phone call intended for me which still woke me up and left my tired self unable to sleep for several hours.

up to gather schoolwork
I promised him bacon if we could be ready in under 20 minutes. Always works!

help transfer stuff to car/building
Lots of stuff to shift around to get some big projects done at the school building and prepare for atrium in the afternoon.
In the car on the drive there, he decided he wanted to help me (help me? I wasn't going to DO this!) put together follow-up packets for particular areas of interest. So a child has an interest in a particular area, the adult doesn't, here are ideas of what to do.

We'll see how far this goes! I know he wants to do volcanos, inspired by some of the seismology studies from Monday.

bake bacon at school building
Using the toaster oven I had used to bake bread the night before with the atrium children. It was working well until he left the room and didn't check on it!

schoolwork projects (wall of fame - confirmation notebook)
Continued Wall of Fame and worked on his confirmation notebook. 

An example of what he does when he thinks no-one is watching: 

visit the church
Like me, Legoboy is not a public pray-er, preferring to keep things more private. He loves alone time in the church.

heat up more lunch
Toaster ovens are great!

minecraft
Computer time with Minecraft. My one rule: no killing innocent people - if you wouldn't kill/destroy/attack them in real life (self-defense, demons) you don't get to kill/destroy/attack them in a game.

tag
As the atrium children begin arriving, they go down to our large open school basement (dining hall) and play tag. The children really like to arrive early specifically for this purpose ;)

atrium
Continue a Moses study with the group
continue personally chosen projects from the work packet
We had cake at the end - for the fun of it ;)

meet with confirmation sponsor
He caught up a few of the sponsor cards he hasn't done; but they haven't yet caught up with reviewing the other cards. He has 60+odd cards to assist in building a notebook. Some have a cross on them to indicate "do this with your sponsor" - then his sponsor also goes over all the cards he has done individually.

pizza
Thursday pizza. We love our Thursday pizza. I really didn't want to make this particular tradition - but now? It is SO nice to get to Thursday and NOT have to cook!

home again, home again
check mail - mostly for him: EEME monthly package, Odyssey magazine, Dig/Calliope magazine, Muse magazine (review post on EEME)
Relax with a good boy movie of Transformers (actually he started last night, he finished it, but I had gone to bed - so I needed to finish it). I am SO not into Transformers. He is "eh, ok" with it - I am pretty sure he is watching these out of curiosity only.
Then we watched our DVD we had picked up earlier in the week: Mummies of the World
I can't seem to find a link to the DVD - it might only be available for purchase at the exhibit?
We learned more about this family.

Settlers of Catan marathon
He beat me. Repeatedly.

Our other links to past Montessori Homeschool weeks:
Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Wednesday
Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Tuesday
Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Monday
Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Work Plan for the Week

A Week in the Life of Legoboy - Friday (includes links for Monday-Thursday)


Monday, February 9, 2015

Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Wednesday


He awoke to immediately greet me with birthday greetings - his eyes weren't even open yet. Sweetie!
Photo is actually from last week
Too adorable not to post though ;) 

Morning prayer, breakfast, read a section in question from the Bible.

He did some chores at random points of the day - not sure when, but the house was clean when we left for afternoon/evening events.


Primary Grade Challenge Math
Legoboy finds chapter 19 to be particularly complexing. This is *again* one of those many situations where he could be more successful if he could just hold on to the math facts for longer than 1 day at a time.

Speech class

Wall of Fame - Mystery of History

Confirmation notebook

Dentist appointment
RELIEVED to report that our dental treatments have been a SUCCESS!

A couple of years ago, Legoboy got into the habit of chewing on ice. While this is a sign of anemia in most children, it turned out to be a desire for something tough to do - manliness.

WELL. That led to some chipped teeth. Then some rotten spots. Then one day he had an actual abscess. LONG story short, we went through a long route of natural treatments that included a homemade toothpaste of essential oils, calcium-magnesium, and real sea salt, a daily mouth-wash rinse of essential oils and xylitol and baking soda, and avoiding all fluoride.

Not only did the abscess completely heal, the hole itself healed over; small spots in cracked teeth actually filled in, and the one tooth that was broken in half (below the abscess) is actually looking decent. It is a baby tooth and JUST became a bit loose.

Current x-rays show that all is well and we'll just wait for the remaining 3 baby tooth to fall out, adult teeth to come in, then we will look at addressing the top front four teeth which are angled odd (the middle two are tipped a bit backward, making the appearance of the next two (one on either side) tipping forward, look that much worse. Because they stick out, they could be an issue in things like tae-kwon-do ;)


LaRosa's
Birthday dinner at LaRosa's! Yum! 
   

Dairy Queen
Stopped by to pick up an ice cream cake - peanut butter cup. I usually make something but this week was so full - and this thing was calling me!


Goodwill
Scored some awesome deals on some atrium materials as well as discovered that Goodwill gives a 50% discount on anything not already on sale - on your birthday. Score twice! 

Tae Kwon Do
STORM Team and regular class
STORM: Special Team of Role Models. Legoboy is getting a bit frustrated right now and I am letting him work it out. The last few weeks they did nothing but prep for a tournament at the end of January. He wasn't participating, but he helped others with anything they needed and he reports that most of the class he just sits. Ok, well that is over, back to regular STORM team business, right? Nope. The older STORM team members who are already black belts are testing in the upcoming black belt test for their next "dan" (the next level) and there are two younger members of STORM team that have brown belts with black stripes, which means they are prepping for their black belt tests. So they are spending their STORM team time working on belt test prep.

Legoboy is one of them. Why is he frustrated? Because they have their advanced belt class on Mondays already for this purpose AND they have Saturday mornings set aside - a 2 hour block of time EVERY Saturday that they can make it from the beginning of January through mid-May. Even a boy who wants his belt SO BAD needs to work on other things too.

I wonder what the lower belts who are on STORM team are doing? I teach atrium during this time, usually, so don't get to observe like I usually do during other classes.

All in all - a good learning experience for a growing young man.


snow/ice
We finally got some!!!!

I picked up Legoboy from his TKD instructor's home (the same apartment building in which we used to live) - he brought him back for me so I wouldn't have to drive through the ice and snow. This was the first time I had pulled into the parking lot of our old apartment since we moved out in October. Even Legoboy thought it felt kind of strange. It was snowing so hard, that sitting and waiting for them to arrive, I had to brush off my car --- I haven't even brushed snow off the car at our new home! (we have a garage). Legoboy thought this was riotously funny - 10 year old boy humor.


start a movie
I fell asleep; then was rudely awakened by an 11pm phone call from someone who should know better. I ignored it, but just the knowing that it happened and that there was a voicemail waiting for me, kept me awake for a few hours. Bleck. Legoboy watched the entire movie, then snuggled up with me and fell asleep. These days won't last much longer. Love them while I have them!




Our other links to past Montessori Homeschool weeks:
Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Tuesday
Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Monday
Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Work Plan for the Week

A Week in the Life of Legoboy - Friday (includes links for Monday-Thursday)

Friday, February 6, 2015

Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Tuesday

Tuesday morning started off kind of slow. Monday was a drainer, so I wanted him to sleep in and I got up to work. At least that was the plan.

The alarm went off at 6:05. Somebody wanted to serve at 6:30 Mass across the street.

Go for it, kiddo; I can't move.

He came home, made breakfast (scrambled eggs - his specialty - touch of cream cheese, some salt and garlic. DELICIOUSNESS. Now if we could work on not giving Mama the ONE bite that has a bit of shell in it, we'll be doing awesome.), snuggled up with me and went back to sleep.

Once Upon a Time plot holes
By the time he woke up again, I was up and working. He started looking for additional plot holes in the ABC show "Once Upon a Time" - he is making a list of things he wants to look for in upcoming shows.

In the meantime, I was really not wanting to drive into the city again for the Lego Store's monthly mini-model build (first Tuesday of the month - stand in a long line - put together a Lego set and take it home for free - it draws CROWDS, MONTHLY), and Legoboy had expressed interest in attending one of this month's Lego Club meetings - which are different than they used to be. So I got brave (sucked my pseudo-asperger's) and called the store. Patrick answered the phone. We like Patrick. He knew my son by description which is both kind of cool and kind of creepy (in a good way). He explained that the new Lego Club set-up is far cheaper ($10 versus $25); no t-shirt anymore; BUT the children get to build and take home that month's mini-model build (so they could get two if they attended both events: the mini-model build and the Lego club meeting) --- and do some activities that build a story around the model. They also get a mini-box for the Wall of Bricks, that they fill up to create more components to that month's model's story.

And they take it all home.

Ok. 9:00 AM on a Saturday. Sigh. I don't like making commitments before 10AM. But he'll enjoy this - and in the end, I will too.

Back to work for me - on with school for him.

Decimal Fractions


Legoboy worked on the decimal fractions as promised. He remarked from time to time, "That is dumb! They put a zero in front of some of the numbers!" I reminded him that calling someone (the person who created this image) "dumb" when we don't know the person's intentions is a sin. We can judge behaviors when we know the full story; but not judge people. Ever. 

Best to consider the person's best intentions until we know more. 

A lesson we could ALL learn - some of us are more in need of it than others. 

In this case, Legoboy came around to, "You know what Mama? They probably put those extra zeroes in to be tricky! But they can't trick me!"


Mystery of History

He is getting really simple with his pictures ;) The focus is on the process - learning the skills of creating images from scratch, considering what goes into each image, what are the most crucial elements to include when it is not as easy as sketching with a pencil?
He allowed me to post this one very beginning draft. No details.
He doesn't want to share yet. 




Consecration in Truth

6 lessons together - mostly review. One new saint he didn't know about.

Chores

swept out the garage
watered all the plants
record the power usage on the basement fridge/freezer
clean up after self (clothing, etc. )

Swim lesson
He is actually MOVING through the water! Still holding on to a dumb-bell-shaped floater and he has a thin floater around his chest when in the deep-end (liability requirements - which I am fine with right now, because this is about getting over fears and building confidence). Previously he keeps his knees bent and gets upset when the instructor tells him to straighten his legs because he think he does have them straight (when they are bent underneath him - you can see where the "there is no thinking when in the water because of the fear factor" issue comes in). But he finally let go and straightened his legs! This boy can MOVE when he keeps those legs straight!


DQ

Because he earned it!

Drive Home: Talk about Jupiter (it was to the left of the full moon - and despite the hazy overcast of clouds, Jupiter shown through! Awesome to know the names of these things. We couldn't see any other stars that evening.
Earth Sky Website gallery of images

We frequently use our car rides for discussions, sometimes just silence, we like to sing, or listen to classical music (he LOVES classical music!).
This is basically what we saw - this is not our photo.
Linked from EarthSky



Confirmation Notebook card
 - slowly making forward progress
Piano - just reviewing past lessons. Not ready for a new one yet.


Our shows were both on! Yes, we watch a tad bit of television. We did nothing for the longest time but now we watch Marvel's Agent Carter (while Marvel's Agents of SHIELD is off for the winter break --- these are both the back/connecting stories to the Marvel's Avengers series). Afterwards, I watch Forever and I let him watch some parts of it.
Legoboy's favorite line from all the movies and shows?
Ma'am, there's only one God. And I am pretty sure he doesn't dress like that. 
(that may not be a direct quote - but his rendition of it over time ;) Captain America!)

Second favorite:
Puny god! (Hulk)



Somewhere in there we did morning and evening prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours; and still didn't get to our Oremus prayer study book! Yikes! Two weeks without doing the daily homework. At least the Sunday evening meetings, video and discussions are still fruitful!



Our other links to past Montessori Homeschool weeks:
Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Monday
Montessori Homeschool Week - February - Work Plan for the Week

A Week in the Life of Legoboy - Friday (includes links for Monday-Thursday)

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Montessori: Small Objects



There are a few Montessori presentations for which random small objects are great for. Typically, these are in the language area --- and depending on the "style" you follow, you may need more or you may need less. The Keys of the World (AMI-style) require fewer.

In our home we didn't buy any - except one batch of tiny flower pots with flowers, on Ebay. Why? I don't know, but they sure are cute!

We could have totally done without them.

The thing is - each object has far more than just one name. And you can describe it.
So a "pig", depending on the details shown you could use: pig, sow, boar, swine, pink, large (other sizes), piglet, animal, mammal --- and even look at their parts that can be seen: snout, eyes, hooves. etc. Or what they provide: pork, bacon, ribs.

Cows are also bovine.
Horses are equine.


If you want to buy some objects - go for it! Just don't dismiss the idea that you have 100% of what you need in your home already. What you don't have in small objects doesn't have to done with small objects - "I hear the sound in "mmmm" in something in this room - who could it be? OH! It is Emma!!!"



Posted this on Facebook:
Some assurance that you don't "need" to buy small objects (if you "want" to - have fun! but those feeling the pinch? ***Look around your house***)

This stuff was gathered one day, several years ago. We sometimes pull additional things (like jumpdrive, necklace, lego pieces (Legos are great for miniatures!), other toy pieces, etc. It is AMAZING what we have in our homes, when we actually look. Got a junk drawer? A random art pieces junk drawer? Sewing? Hardware? Legos or other play sets? Oh! We did a tealight candle in this set for a while - then we decided to use it wink emoticon

Another Story: 


I met a homeschool mom about 2 years ago, who insisted up and down "we just don't have small objects - which ones should I buy? and we are on a TIGHT budget."
I told her

  1. You have more than you think you do. 
  2. You don't NEED all those cutesy objects other people have. Use the large objects around you if needed; use words in the child's mind. Use the kitchen cupboard contents, or the trees/objects in the backyard. Sounds are all around you. 
  3. She was still in a quandary (amazing how we moms like to work ourselves up into these). I was coming to visit anyway and I asked for permission to find small objects all over her house, requesting permission (or boundaries) of where I could look. 
I filled a 3-gallon bucket. All sounds were represented. 

She had insisted she had NOTHING! 




Here is a basic run-down of our "tiny objects" in our Montessori homeschool and co-op:


Un-pictured:
Toob animals (I don't even know what all we have here!)
Lego pieces (amazing what can be pulled from Lego sets)
Tealight candle
More hardware pieces
#6 from our fridge magnets (to have an "x" when animals are not present)


Pictured: 
Barbie hairbrush
flower from my bouquet from my mom/stepdad's wedding
housekey
set of three tinier keys - on a key ring
plastic keys from a Wendy's kids meal game (like pick up sticks)
plastic rosary
plastic ball
big green button from an old coat
plastic pacifiers from a baby shower
tiny flower pots with flowers - different colors
white gift bow
red gift bow/rose
hexagonal box with two lids
wood cross
bunny in egg
paint board
rubber band
tongue depressor (popsicle stick, craft stick)
sharpener
green paint
empty jar of paint (clear, jar, cap, lid, glass, metal, white, empty)
various rocks/stones
rug from a doll-house
washboard
moccassins
tacklebox divider
wood star
feather
egg-shaped stone - looks like the universe
tissue
pen cap
shell
glass stone/marker
brown jars with white lids
small cloths
wood ring
red die
funnel
cottonball
bunch of flowers
chopstick rest
sticky notes
brass bell
red netting
tiny wood cube
Christmas wreath pin
thread spool
gold dish
white cup hook
two sizes of paperclips
extr caps/lids/covers
4-leaf clover
hat
suction cup hanger
mug
silver bell
lock
cup
gold ribbon bow
plastic ring
gold cap for lightbulb
milk cap
red paint
silver ring
table-leg foot prop (we used these for polishing dishes years ago)
carrot
funnel

NOW **THINK** - for each of those objects are words for all of the following:
colors, sizes, textures, composition, style, other appearance, weight, multiple names....

Tell me you can't do all the sound games and the Mystery Bag with this set?

;)


Sunday, January 18, 2015

Getting Started with Elementary Montessori Homeschooling

Getting Started with Elementary Montessori Homeschooling

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How do I start Montessori homeschooling? 
How do we begin using Montessori at home? 

Useful tips for starting a new classroom or transitioning in new-to-Montessori children as well.
Over the years, there have been numerous blog posts and other articles helping parents get started with Montessori homeschooling; most of these articles are addressed to the primary level; a few to elementary. None really get to the heart of the matter. Dr. Montessori intensely observed the child and his inner workings, observing what has been there since the moment of creation - and found a way to provide for what she discovered. On the one hand, nothing magical; on the other hand, so profound that it affects our very being - because that is what she observed - the depth of the human soul. Thus Montessori is about more than materials and lesson plans (album pages), more than the academics... it gets down deep and the environment MUST reflect this depth in order to achieve the true fulfillment of the child.
Elementary is compatible with primary, if you have children of both ages in your home; but it is NOT the same. The needs and tendencies are the same, the core response is the same (respect, follow the child), but the outward signs are different. Why? Because the elementary child is now in the second plane of development, which brings about a set of changes. A need for order? Yes! but order has now been internalized and the child no longer feels the need to keep order in his outer environment - now we must be very conscious about keeping our space cleaned up out of respect for the other persons in the environment and not for our own internal development. Among many other examples.
So how do we get started with Montessori homeschooling at the elementary level? What if your child has had no Montessori background or is even approaching the adolescent years. Let's take a look at what remains the same. First some previously posted articles of interest that remain pertinent to our needs in this article - these apply to both primary and elementary, with my elementary additions:
Thoughts to keep in mind as you FOCUS ON THE KEYS: 
    • A set of Montessori albums (manuals, lesson plans) will be your "keys" - your academic teasers to get the children working on their own interests. 
    • The children should be exploring their own interests; and you will need to pull in resources according to those interests.
    • You do NOT need the most expensive manuals with every possible interest included. You want something reasonably-priced with the *keys* so that you have both time and money to do what you need to do with your child's interests.
    • You WANT a theory album to explain all the background in every day applicable terms.
    • The elementary level is OPPOSITE the primary level in the following key ways:
        1. If the child is not yet reading/writing, reading will typically come first. (in primary, writing was first)
        2. We will now provide the BIG picture first; then go back and fill in the details. We will provide that big picture every single year of elementary - so there is plenty of time to come back to it; they don't need to get everything the first year. (in primary, we start with the most basic) - Cosmic Education (everything is inter-connected) - the big picture is told via stories called the Great Lessons. 
        3. It is NOT necessary to finish the primary albums before moving into elementary, if you have AMI (keys) albums that provide for what to do with children who didn't finish or didn't do primary Montessori.
So how do I suggest getting started?
(these tips are good regardless if you are new to Montessori altogether or are transitioning from primary to elementary or even if your children are nearing or even in adolescence)
  1. Follow the steps in the two articles above. This is just to get started in laying the foundation. Add in the book Volume 2 of The Advanced Montessori Method (available free online through Google Books) - just the background portions to get a feel for things. Purchase your core set of albums, or at least the "theory" album. Hint: if the set of albums does not contain theory, it probably won't suit your homeschool needs at this time; these other album options can be added later if you find your child has particular interests. 
  2. Focus on de-cluttering your home. Don't get rid of anything just yet (you'll end up wanting some of that stuff back) - just clear it out of the main living areas. Do get it out of the way - what is the purpose(s) of each room, just have what you need there. You do not need 5 tools to do the same job. You do want your children to have access to the tools they need. Consider placing strong chemicals in a high-up cabinet so that the accessible cabinets contain safe items. Consider replacing your cleaning chemicals with safe substances your children can use with you.
  3. IF you are transitioning from primary, you will be removing a LOT of trays (or keep the trays for your other littles). The elementary child now has things he needs in more logical places. Science experiments are only trays for the teacher demonstration, and when the child goes to the supply shelf to gather his needed supplies. He does NOT need everything laid out for him on a tray anymore. Trays at the elementary age, for the most part, are an insult to his intelligence. Yes, a nice basket of interesting items, requested by the child or presented once in a while by the adult is a great way to entice an interest, but that doesn't look like primary ;)
  4. WITH your children, make any necessary repairs on found items. These practical life skills are HUGE to the foundation of an elementary child's education. And a very strong preparation for a fantastic adolescent experience.
  5. WITH your children, truly clean the house. Same idea with the practical life skills. Use those safe cleaners (white vinegar, baking soda and citric acid go a LONG way; add some washing soda and borax and 99% of your cleaning is done). Use those large muscles and those tiny muscles. CARE about the environment and show them how to do so as well.
  6. On your cleaning breaks: Begin telling the Great Lessons. Just the stories, with the included experiments. You'll pull your supplies from what you have, only buy what you  need for these lessons.
  7. Work on remedial language skills IF needed. 5 minutes at a time, interspersed throughout the day - the needed keys should be in your elementary Montessori language album. The ideal is that a 1st grader can read at what the public schools consider a 3rd grade reading level. By 2nd grade, a Montessori child utilizing KEYS, will be reading at middle/high school level and your only concern from there is keeping up with maturity in regards to topics.
  8. Where do your children's interests lead? Establish the pattern of hearing a story, exploring what we think about it, what entices us, what questions do we have (write those questions down and expect them to find answers, sometimes with your help), what do we want to DO with this new knowledge (write that down too). The children can copy the chart, re-create the charts in another way, repeat experiments, seek out further information on a key point of interest.... If they have more than one idea, write down the other ideas to save for another day. Encourage a point of completion - write down the question and the answer found; draw pictures; collect ideas in a notebook; create a poster; etc. Around this time you will also be starting to work on work plans and journals - as you are comfortable and find the need for accountability, it will come more naturally. Not every story or presentation will lead to self-designed follow-up; be ok with that, but also be encouraging of the child asking questions, going further, and EXPLORING. 
  9. (this step might be a month or more in) With your chosen set of albums, go through the early math lessons to find where your child is. Keep it fun and interesting - let your child show you what they know. Let them know this is what you are doing (show a material, state its purpose and say, "show me what you know, I'll fill in the rest"). Do NOT worry about the age on the album pages when you are starting - just focus on finding where your child is since the sequence is very different from every other math option out there. Begin where needed and move forward from there. Hint: Good elementary math albums include a section on what to do with children who have had no (or limited) primary experience. Do not start a typically developing elementary child in the primary math album.
  10. Getting into the rest of the albums. By now, you should find that you are using most or at least half of the subject albums based on the child's interests (geography, music, biology, history) and the basic skills (math, language, geometry). Add in the remaining subjects when appropriate for your family.
There you have it: 10 Steps to Elementary Montessori Homeschooling.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

A Week in the Life of Legoboy: Friday - Upper Elementary Montessori



wake up in a mood (don't tell me boys don't have PMS too)
straight to breakfast - took FOREVER (reading Life of Fred Geometry - AGAIN)

morning prayer, bit too quickly for my liking.

Primary Grade Challenge Math - chapter 9 on Percentages - again with the math facts not solidified, but he won't take up any of my ideas or come up with his own ideas for how to solidify them. He will learn them all great for a day. Then they are gone again. He has a great memory... so just not really really sure what is going on. 6% comes up a lot in this chapter - after a while he says, "UGK! I am SO tired of 6 perCENT! I need a NEW number!" So dramatic. I had to laugh at him. Probably not the best thing to do based on the grimace on his face afterward ;) 


Piano - for a LONG time - this helped him. A LOT.

Made lunch: scrambled eggs --- got to work on the clean-up part


I guess it did turn into a Math week though! ;)
(he even took the book "10 things mathematicians should know" (or something like that - by Ed Zaccaro - see review post here) along in the evening car-ride until it got dark enough to see the Christmas lights)

We spent 45 minutes this afternoon organizing a few shelves in the library - got more boxes emptied anyway. 
The goal was to gather the rest of the faith-related books onto the far two shelves - I had already set up the childbirth books (considering becoming a doula in the future), the adult faith books and the Montessori/Catechesis of the Good Shepherd resources on the upper shelves. 

But it is a 'give a mouse a cookie' deal - one thing leads to another - so we ended up also working on most of the math, some of the science and some geography, art and music. 

Not bad ;) We even ended up with several empty boxes. Haha. Ignore the stacks of books now on the floor that WERE in boxes. ;) Hey, now we can see what we have. That's a purposeful purpose for having stacks of books, right!? ;) 

he found a couple of books he wanted to read - one a book of Christmas stories and poems ("Christmas Tales for Reading Aloud"), and Advent devotional he forgot we had, and another faith-based books I can't recall off-hand. This is where I found him: 
This is the GUEST bed - yet he's been in it almost every day this week. 


Early evening, I finally read through this week's messages from Educents and came across a set of Minecraft math guides. Using my credit with them (from purchasing a mod class we've not been able to use yet) and the sale already on, we got three guides for $3.49. Legoboy is excited to try them out, even though his original reaction was "there is NO math in Minecraft!" Hm. We'll see ;)  Every once in a while Educents offers something really neat and useful. I consider it useful for browsing for interest units. 

Gathered up some wood from the backyard, but needed a LOT longer of outdoor time today that we did not get. 


The day ended with me posting this on Facebook: 


3 hours of Christmas light touring; ice cream eating; song singing; great conversation with my awesome son. Sitting in the car that long makes me sore. Worth it. 
We did some mystery shopping, enjoyed the Christmas lights in this darkest time of year, and talked a lot about the Amish specifically and the Anabaptists in general (we were driving through an area with a large Amish population; their night-time buggies are still required to have functional green, red and white lights). We discussed our similarities and differences and Legoboy developed a stronger understanding of where various pieces of the Christian puzzle fit together. He even deduced some of their beliefs based on particular things I shared with him - spot-on every time. We have a few things to look up that I was unable to answer for him.



Not sure I can see anything in this one. It was all lit up though. 

Then we got to talking about the other images on our Facebook page:





Thank you for spending the week with Legoboy! It was pretty exciting on this end, but with so much to write up on top of my regular work - I am not sure I made it sound as exciting as it really was. 


My goal: to provide a glimpse of what 5 days of a week looks like in the life of a Montessori homeschooled child. Especially at upper elementary, it is not so much about the materials anymore - but about the real life experiences, the planning, the follow-through.

He has plans going on in Minecraft and with his Lego creations that I do not get into - I monitor to keep things "moral" but otherwise, these are his world. His two other big projects right now are the Further Up, Further In Narnia study and Confirmation preparation. But other rabbit trails criss-cross continuously. We love it. :)


For more days from the past week: 
Friday of "Week in the Life of a Montessori Homeschooler"
Thursday of "Week in the Life of a Montessori Homeschooler"
Wednesday of "Week in the Life of a Montessori Homeschooler"
Tuesday of "Week in the Life of a Montessori Homeschooler"
Monday of "Week in the Life of a Montessori Homeschooler"

In the midst of this series, I also posted a "day in the life of a Montessori homeschooler" from about 2 weeks previous:
A Day in the Life of Legoboy

Any particular day or week may not be representative of what goes on in the grander scheme of things - that particular week would have made an interesting write-up - he ran in his first-ever 5K that Thursday (Thanksgiving) - VERY proud of him!


Saturday, right after this posted week, he has a 3 hour study at the local-ish museum on "Geometry in Nature". We will also watch their current IMAX film again (we have a year-pass to the IMAX theater there - we can watch as much as we want!) - and do more mystery shops on the way home. Not sure what he will do in the morning - could be school work, could be Legos, could be hanging from a tree... I'll be working. Lots to get caught up on now we are in a house. Legoboy is an awesome helper, taking out packages, locating good packaging options, weighing packages, printing labels and more. 

Sunday we have atrium and he serves at the Traditional Latin Mass - he is a bit nervous because it has been a while since he has been to Mass there, let alone served! He will do great! 


:)