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

Today ended up being a very low-key day. Not the intent. He and I both had big plans for how the morning would go. It didn't materialize - no particular reason, we just needed to be more laid-back. I have found that when we don't honor this need, we end up sick or with headaches, or we otherwise crash & burn in such a way that following days are even worse. Honor it when it happens, and our bodies and souls get the rest and nourishment they need.


Woke up to reading - lots of historical fiction in the pile.
He'd already opened his Advent calendar.

Morning prayer together

UPS came early today - Legoboy helped put a new shelf together for the kitchen
     We have been almost agonizing over what to do in the kitchen. We have somewhat limited counter-space, no counter space at all by the stove. I did put a rolling cart (already owned) between the fridge and stove; but there was still need for something to cooking utensils nearby. And we'd already added shelves to the closet to make it a full pantry. Well, Legoboy helped organize all of this, so perhaps a post to itself. Short story for now - we needed something. Over and around the stove. We found an over-the-stove microwave shelf, but at over $100 for ONE shelf that is the width of the stove... it didn't sit right with either of us. We finally found a tall shelf with adjustable shelving, option of castors or levelers. Sure, it's wide

breakfast
Minecraft
Read for the umpteenth time: Here There Be Dragons
Reading Upper Elementary Challenge Math (just reading it - not doing the math --- he did this during part of dinner last night too)
Life of Fred Geometry - just reading it, although he had a notebook in which he was taking notes.

lunch - leftovers

Seems like it is going to be a "reading" day!

head to Atrium - play Minecraft while I led a sacramental preparation session - when the other older children arrived, he joined them for a game of tag and word plays

2-hour atrium: opened with all the children from infant through 14 in level 3 to review the Advent Wreath and sing the next verse of the song; Prophecy of Light, learn and sing the associated song (learned the prophecy last week). Level 1 children went to their atrium, while the level 2 and 3 chilren stayed for another 40 minute presentation going through 7 more prophecies and what they mean for us as we prepare, not for Jesus to be born as a baby, but for Jesus' light to grow in us more and more each day, until His light fills the whole world and He returns as a glorious king at Parousia.

Legoboy and another level 3 boy planned Communal Prayer for the level 2 and level 3 children. Favorite song: All God's Critters (message: everyone has a place in the Plan of God - God loves all and so should we).

Afterward, he helped clean up, re-set each atrium for Sunday class, and ensure all tasks were completed.
He really wanted to get home and have some popcorn ;)

He cleaned out the car, played some piano, wrote some e-mails to a few people, and read some Lord of the Rings (The Two Towers).



These descriptions still aren't getting all the in-between stuff - checking the mail, checking the time, random e-mails. But I hope it is a peek into the life of an upper elementary Montessori boy ;)

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

We started with a different sort of Monday, ending with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (Jesus) at the local parish from midnight to 1 AM - something we normally don't do at that time. We did get to hear "Holy God We Praise Thy Name" at the fastest pace EVER. No funeral dirges or slow meditative chants from this priest at 1AM with his favorite song ;)

And now - at 9:57AM, Legoboy sleeps. With this National Night of Prayer running form 9PM to 1AM, I am not sure how many other children were able to participate due to the need to be at school by 8AM. Blessing of Homeschooling.

By the time he woke up, USPS had been here to deliver some Christmas gifts for others. He made breakfast for both of us and we finished prepping and wrapping the gifts. We both found it funny that we received two mail deliveries today - one with packages, the other with regular mail.

Morning prayer

Watched some more Once Upon a Time - honestly, looking for plot holes to create a list of questions to send to the creators.

Confirmation card - on the effects and responsibilities of Baptism and the gift of Grace by the Holy Spirit.

EEME - Work on some of the follow-up questions/suggestions he received via e-mail from the creator of EEME. Legoboy created what EEME Dad calls a "dumb light" (gets brighter in bright locations and dimmer in dim locations). He is working on the suggestions and a response e-mail to EEME Dad


Clean up the hall and landing upstairs - we are mostly beyond the unpacking mode but are still in the "slowly getting specific items where we actually want them and find them the most useful". We are working in stages so we can keep going with the rest of life.

Missing two shelves from moving helpers...
Organizing still a work in progress. 

Eventually we'll have these games organized.
Apparently we like games around here. 

Free-time: Legos and tae-kwon-do practice

Come up with a thousand ways to ask about opening Day 10's Advent Calendar.
No.
(Can I blast a hole through an iceberg? Can I do light-saber target practice? Can I make a sky-light?)
The #10 slot in question is located above an ice-cave opening. On Day 1 he asked such questions as "Can I be-head Darth Vader? Can I give Darth Vader a new helmet?" and the like because the top of Darth Vader's helmet overlaps the Day 2 slot.

For the record - I do not see this as a sign of commercialism or materialism - merely a young boy who LOVES jokes. He will argue with ANYthing just to get people thinking and riled up.

Early dinner - LOVE tortellini here :)

Tae-kwon-do - running a bit late, ordinarily before class is hang-out time with friends. Just one class this evening. Because during Advent we have:
...Children's choir - Tuesday evenings leading up to Christmas. He'll be singing at the 4pm children's Mass Christmas Eve. He's not a singer in the spirit of having good pitch matched with others - he sounds great singing by himself with his own renditions though. So this was a surprise to me. He wants to sing at that Mass and serve the altar at midnight.
(the file below has now image - I had the phone facing down on the pew while recording - so it is a video, but it is ok you don't "see" anything ;) )

Get gas - pick up pizza
Yes, I let him go across the street from the gas station we were at, to one of our other local gas stations (their pizza is the BEST) while I pumped the gas. I then picked him up from there. I love this area - I can see his every step, we know on some level every employee of all 3 local gas stations (and both banks), and the sheriff was on duty watching traffic right there ;)

Home for bedtime prep and two of our shows (both in winter finales)
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD
Forever
Watch the news to catch the weather (the ONLY time we watch the news - ever - is after our shows)

Evening prayer

Throughout the day we also played Quik-Sane and a few rounds of W'FF. Because yes, we do like playing games. Legoboy always has some set of cards out to play in between other stuff. Our latest favorite? Rivals for Catan.





Not much math happening here - but lots of using it in real life

• cooking - measuring water and oats, adjusting for wanting 4 servings (the instructions have 1, 2, 6 servings)
• how many miles per gallon gas, how many miles can we go on a tank, how many gallons are left when the low-fuel light comes on. Yeah, we had one of THOSE evenings. While at choir practice, I also drove over to the choir director's home to get her reading glasses she'd accidentally left there, so we *really* needed gas after practice was over ;) 
• he wanted to know when the mail would be arriving; a friend texted to tell us their mail had been delivered, he calculated the miles, the speed of truck with it stops, added to the time of the text message. He was off by 10 seconds - "And that my son is called estimation. We can't predict every delay or package or which houses he can skip for having no mail that day."
• Estimating wood branches usage to see how many Friday fires we can have throughout the winter with current supply. Yes, this one was just plain hilarious - what if we want a longer fire, what if it burns slower or faster, what if we want a bigger fire? But at least he's trying - and thinking. 
• I weighed a package for a Garden of Francis order - he plays with the buttons every time to see what it is in grams compared to ounces then re-calculates to get me to believe that the scale is inaccurate. It's NOT inaccurate, but he "plays" with the numbers to get it looking that way. The thing is - to do what he is doing, he has to KNOW what he is starting with; otherwise he might happen upon the "right" answer and end up looking foolish ;) 

Writing these up, I don't feel like we're hitting on everything - that would take a book each day ;) All the little conversations we have, tossed in between and during everything else....

Interesting to see.

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

Monday, December 8 in the life of a Catholic family - Legoboy was on the schedule for 6:30 AM Mass for the Feast Immaculate Conception.

Our biology study of the day: recalling that a newly created baby girl in the womb of her mother already has eggs forming in her brand-new ovaries - all the DNA that will become her future children is already separating itself out into eggs. Indeed, those eggs are actually mature enough, even while their mother is in the womb of their grandmother, that a British group has had serious discussions about the feasibility of harvesting said eggs from the ovaries of aborted female babies for use in fertility treatments: in-vitro fertilization. 

The main drawback? that those children will grow up and find out that their "birthmother" was "never alive". 

Really. Wow. So the egg that has now become my son was created in my ovaries before I was "alive"? Eggs can grow in something that isn't alive? I had ovaries before I was alive myself? 

Tongue-in-cheek. In reality, I cry for all the pain that is out there because of mis-information about when life begins. 

In the end, science informs our faith. Life begins at the moment of conception. Period. 

Legoboy loves talking about this stuff. 

It was not this light when we left.
In fact, it was not this light when we returned home. 

I did not sleep well last night. In fact, I didn't sleep at all. No particular reason, I just couldn't sleep. Bleck. I couldn't focus on anything this morning when we got back, so Legoboy made himself some oatmeal and I laid down for 3 hours - and finally slept.

I am pretty sure we did not do morning prayer today. Since Mass is the greatest prayer we have, I suppose we are ok ;)

He worked on some Minecraft while I slept, working around the reality that he is not allowed to kill "humans" even in the game. Zombies and animals are fair game. The one is already dead and is attacking him; the other is needed for food and other commodities.

He also worked with Legos. You know - hands-on Minecraft ;)

I woke up and checked e-mails. We had a nice response from the gentleman who offers EEME - Monthly Electronics Projects. After each thing we do on there, we receive an automatic request for a survey/feedback. This last one I put in a couple of requests, pointed out what we loved and shared that Legoboy was having trouble getting the photoresistor to work properly in other configurations (it is actually going brighter when it should go dimmer, and vice-versa). Mr. Pien "EEME Dad" offered for us to send him a photo and he'd see if he could provide some feedback. He loves that Legoboy is experimenting with alternate methods. Very cool.

So he got a photo ready to send over (I just took care of responding this evening, so no response yet as of the time I type this).

 Randomly took a picture of himself walking. Cute.

We have been slowly working on our Jesse Tree ornaments for this year - set up the tree this morning, but have not yet hung the ornaments. Last year, Legoboy made paper ones each day. This year, we'll be doing wood-burned ornaments again.

For Advent, he has a Star Wars Lego Advent calendar. In the past, he has had a Kingdoms Lego Advent Calendar which was really neat. The City version never intrigues him for some reason.

He did use his St. Nicholas gift with some Legos today - after a couple of hours of experimentation, both yesterday AND today. He received a box with a battery pack with a switch that allows the current to go either way or off, a motor with a piston that turns either direction based on the switch, wires with 2 lights, and something else (can't remember off-hand). A few small extra pieces too. Anyway, today he built this - he says he has more to add to it to make a non-water boat.

Our Advent prayer table. Using a red candle for Gaudete Sunday - he can't seem to find the rose candles and I have not had time to look.

All the Legos he is getting for Christmas either from me or from others? I got some free packages mixed in ;) To be clear - those freebies? they're mine ;)

History: He and I reviewed his progress on his Mystery of History Wall of Fame. He was half-way done, looking forward to finishing up two months ago, then had the idea to convert all his images to the computer. He wants to learn how to use Paint.net really well and thought this would be a great to do so. He is about 20 images in so far (doing 2-3 a day, about 3-4 days a week) - and his skills are definitely improving! He won't let me share until it is entirely done.

Confirmation Preparation: He worked on a card in his Confirmation notebook. He does 1-2 a day, 4-5 days a week, with about 4-5 cards actually done each week. (more information in another post)

Outside to gather up more fallen branches and sticks, sweep away some leaves, before snow falls again.

Natural creations: Made new batches of deodorant and toothpaste. Yes, he helps make this stuff.

We did some afternoon chores together, cleaned up the living room, discussed the most recent episode of Once Upon a Time and how grateful we are to have the movie Frozen with substantially fewer loose ends now. Elsa, Anna and their aunt (who also has ice powers) have been on Once Upon A Time this season - the aunt is something else, and it came to a sudden conclusion that at first made us all think, "What!? That was IT!? That is all it took? That was WAY too simple!" But if you go back to the "Love Experts'" (the trolls') song in Frozen:

"People don't really change... People make bad choices if they're mad or scared or stressed, But throw a little love their way - and you'll bring out their best. True love brings out their best!"

We only watched the movie this past summer when there was an intro of Elsa at the end of OUAT Season 3. I LIKED the movie, surprisingly enough, but SO MANY loose ends.

Most of them are now tied up. Why the parents left. Yes they threw a message in a bottle before they drowned. Are the powers genetically passed on or was Elsa cursed? Does Anna's love really withstand all things? Could she ever do something to harm Elsa? What is Christoff like when HE is grumpy? These and so much more. Legoboy appreciates the further depth to the story now! He is NOT a Frozen fan in general.

Faith Formation: Two lessons of Consecration in Truth - below his actual grade level, but the teaching is so meaty that he asked to go back to where we stopped. He did level 1 when he was in kindergarten-age, but we've not used it since then. So he picked up with level 2 today and we did the first two lessons.


Then it was time for tae-kwon-do.

Mystery shop at Dairy Queen. My favorite mystery shop ;) Legoboy's too.


45 minute drive home - yuck. Stuck behind 10-15 mile per hour traffic for NO apparent reason (two police cars in front of the traffic slowing everyone down).

Evening prayer.

Considered a nap. We had adoration at the church from midnight to 1 AM, tonight, in honor of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the upcoming Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe when Mary appeared to St Juan Diego with the unborn Jesus in her womb ---- this vigil/adoration is for the sake of all unborn children in our world.

Legoboy took a nap. When I woke him up, he stumbled around for about 5 minutes, then came to me and asked, "Did I fall asleep?" Yeah, just a little, kid ;)

after everyone in front of us left

That was his Monday (and a small part of mine).
Lots of faith formation. Can't complain ;)


I'll add: I looked up Fractals and we both discussed them. People keep mentioning them and it IS in the Frozen song "Let it Go". My personal opinion? Totally cool, totally fun. No need to introduce lesson plans or new materials for Montessori-educated children - just have a book or a chart about them to entice interest. These seem more a follow-up, a connection to art for sure - not necessary as a "key experience" because the key experiences that already emphasize patterns and history and further studies will lead the children down that path.
And if the children don't go there in elementary - then they have adolescence for it. 

What Montessori Homeschooling Does to Children

First, he did this work to help me locate any remaining typos reported by Keys of the Universe AMI Montessori Album owners: 

Grammar Box 6 (filler box B)
ignore the colors - my printer is out of some of the ink

Then, in pure LegoBoy fashion, he did this:

OOMPA LOOMPA!!!!!!

Only in a homeschool (in an authentic Montessori, my upper elementary should not be working with the grammar boxes anymore at all ;) ). I love it!!!!

Montessori Homeschool Classroom Differences

Help me build this list everyone!

I want to create a series of blog posts each highlighting a particular difference between Montessori homeschooling and a Montessori classroom (in a school). As an AMI trained Montessorian and dedicated homeschooling mom, I am bound to see and miss different things than those with different backgrounds, so please let me know! :)

• 30-35 children in a 3 or 6 year span vs. 1-8 or so in a 1-16 year span. 

1. observation - positive "peer pressure"
2. availability of materials
3. inspiration and direction of interests

• Dedicated space - ramifications in both settings
• Longevity of materials - amount of use and durability requirements
• Resource availability
• politics - administration
• amount of time needed
• (ADD MORE!)

Our first year co-op room -
designed for homeschoolers ages 3-10, attending once a week

Homeschooling Mistakes and Montessori

I found this link for Landry Academy recently with many homeschool articles. One in particular caught my eye and I thought, "Let's fit this in with Montessori homeschooling".

The original article in its entirety:

Top 10 Homeschooling Mistakes

copyright by Greg Landry - written in 2012

Through 15 years of working with thousands of homeschooling families, teaching 4th-12th grade homeschooled students, and teaching university pre-med students who were homeschooled, I have unique insight into what we're doing right and what we need to work on as homeschoolers. This article is particularly geared towards college-bound students but much of it would apply to all students. Since science is my area of expertise, the article is also slanted toward students interested in science.

1. Not doing enough testing and not doing timed tests.
2. Schooling year round or schooling too far into the summer. Students need to know that they can work hard for a prescribed period of time and then have a complete break from classes for a while. I believe it's actually counterproductive to school year round or with very little break.
3. Being squeamish on the science of Creation. Science is on our side - God created it. We need to boldly teach our students all the ways that science and the world around us support biblical creation.
4. Not starting to prepare for college early by beginning to take the ACT and SAT early - in 7th or 8th grade, along with other preparations.
5. Not starting serious high school sciences early enough.. especially if a student may be a college science major. Critical decisions should be made going into 8th grade.
6. For younger students, call the sciences what they are (chemistry, physics, biology, anatomy & physiology) rather than "physical science" and "general science" and teach them that way. This makes high school science more familiar and far less intimidating.
7. Not giving students a structured academic environment early. Beginning in 6th or 7th grade, provide a structured academic environment for students that includes deadlines that have to be met. Inability to meet deadlines is a critical deficiency in most homeschooled students.
8. Not looking for colleges early - most families end up doing this in a last minute frantic rush - not good for many reasons.
9. Not allowing students to take some of their classes as "outside" classes in the middle and high school years. Students need to begin the process of taking classes from others / being accountable to other teachers as they prepare for collage.
10. Losing our focus - all we do should glorify God. Press on! :)

Greg Landry is a 15 year veteran homeschool dad and former college professor. He is founder and director of www.LandryAcademy.com

Now again, with Montessori connections: 

Top 10 Homeschooling Mistakes

copyright by Greg Landry - written in 2012

1. Not doing enough testing and not doing timed tests.

      Montessori does not encourage timed tests to be used very much as we would ordinarily think of them. But it is great to play games with timers, introduce the time challenge when the child is ready and wanting, in order to build a foundation of success. In latest elementary is the time to introduce timed tests as we ordinarily think of them, with some practice runs - low-stress. If you anticipate your child going to college, yes, it is VERY good to get used to the stress of such tests, but a little at a time ;) The author of this article advocates starting in 7th/8th grade, even with plenty of time to finish the test, but just with that time limit; as a Montessorian, I personally advocate introducing little bits of it at a time - baby steps. So a game with a timer - totally non-pressure. Learning to do mental activities with lots of noise and distraction (as well as complete silence) - just do those things throughout your normal day. Once in a while have the child sit at a table with a hard chair and do a bit of work there (if they usually work on a low table on the floor, or snuggled on the couch). It doesn't have to be every day or even every week; just enough to be familiar and functional. 
     EDITED TO ADD - another thought: We have work-plans and work-journals. So there is a sense of responsibility in-built already. Sure, those time requirements are more of "sometime today" or "sometime this week", but there is also scheduling of times to meet for a presentation, and giving specific deadlines along the way. These skills contribute to "timed tests" skills because they lay a foundation early on. 

2. Schooling year round or schooling too far into the summer. Students need to know that they can work hard for a prescribed period of time and then have a complete break from classes for a while. I believe it's actually counterproductive to school year round or with very little break. 

     Montessori says YES! Part of a childhood is having "endless time" - time to become BORED! LET YOUR CHILDREN BECOME BORED! Boredom begets creativity, problem-solving, tests a person's character, provides fodder for fantastic grace/courtesy lessons! Avoiding boredom throughout all of childhood creates in children an internal sense of "gimme" and "gotta have" and absolutely no sense whatsoever of delayed gratification. There are times and places for fulfilling "needs" in the moment; but we *need* to differentiate wants from needs and also develop a sense of how to wait or work appropriately even for needs. The elementary years are the place to hone in on these skills - NOT the emotionally roller coaster adolescent years, when they NEED those skills in place already. 

     We can have school year-round, but take decent breaks that are clearly labeled - BREAK. VACATION. Some children will choose to work anyway - and that is *their choice*. 

     As elementary children get older, there comes a time we also have to say, "We are on vacation and while we know that the subjects we study are directly related to our lives and our world, we are not going to take any of our Montessori materials with us. 

     It is tough as Montessorians not to count everything our children do as school - because of the cosmic education nature of life and our Montessori-styled studies. But let's put it this way: there should be built-in times of the year, with NO work-plan, NO work-journal, NO major academic responsibilities. Just USING what has already been learned and just exploring the world. 
     EDITED TO ADD an additional thought: in some places, summer IS when we homeschool because it is SO HOT! Snow days are days that everyone else is at school and the weather is perfect for building snow men and making snow forts all day long! As homeschoolers, we have that flexibility to work on school as well as enjoy life according to the weather. Use these opportunities while they last :) 

3. Being squeamish on the science of Creation. Science is on our side - God created it. We need to boldly teach our students all the ways that science and the world around us support biblical creation.

     Within Montessori, it is very important that the family address their beliefs in lower elementary (and primary). Lay a strong foundation. Introduce other belief systems in upper elementary. Do not be afraid to address these emotionally-filled topics in all directions, *at* the appropriate time. 

     Intelligent discussions; RESPECTFUL discussions and sharing; and at some point, the ability to agree to disagree until we are all standing before God and can ask Him face-to-face. 

4. Not starting to prepare for college early by beginning to take the ACT and SAT early - in 7th or 8th grade, along with other preparations. 

     If college is the goal, then yes, you must be preparing for those requirements. See number 1 above. 

5. Not starting serious high school sciences early enough.. especially if a student may be a college science major. Critical decisions should be made going into 8th grade.

     Within Montessori, they should have a very strong foundation in the sciences by the end of elementary; with lots of time for personal research and exploration. Thus even by 6th grade (age 12), the child typically knows where their interests lie. By age 15 (end of adolescence), they should be ready to embark on their high school journey, with firm footing. 

6. For younger students, call the sciences what they are (chemistry, physics, biology, anatomy & physiology) rather than "physical science" and "general science" and teach them that way. This makes high school science more familiar and far less intimidating.

     YES! Montessori has the albums divided into geography (study of the earth sciences) and biology (study of life sciences). However, within the presentations and when doing their own research and projects, they should be learning the terminology appropriate to what they are studying, including what the study is called, be it physics or chemistry or taxonomy. 

7. Not giving students a structured academic environment early. Beginning in 6th or 7th grade, provide a structured academic environment for students that includes deadlines that have to be met. Inability to meet deadlines is a critical deficiency in most homeschooled students.

     While Montessori shares many characteristics with un-schooling and can be utilized with minor modification by un-schoolers. the fact remains that children must learn responsibility. Thus we utilize a work-plan/work-journal system that evolves over time to address the changing needs of the children and the family situation. 

8. Not looking for colleges early - most families end up doing this in a last minute frantic rush - not good for many reasons.

     This is a personal family matter. Not Montessori related, other than, for the most part, the Montessori model emphasizes

9. Not allowing students to take some of their classes as "outside" classes in the middle and high school years. Students need to begin the process of taking classes from others / being accountable to other teachers as they prepare for collage.

     This could begin in elementary as well. Online or co-ops. Or at first, simply anything with another adult in charge. This is one of the many reasons I do NOT join my son's tae-kwon-do class, despite his strong invitation. 

10. Losing our focus - all we do should glorify God. Press on! :)
    Yes! No particular Montessori response here ;)