Daily life Montessori style

I've received a few comments that I don't post much about my son's actual daily work and it would be nice to see how it all works together.


The trouble is - I don't monitor everything he does. I wish I could! But he has his work plan, his work journal, times to meet with me, and he does a LOT of independent researching; a LOT of building with Legos; a LOT of reading high-quality literature (re-reading Fellowship of the Ring as I type this); and as much snuggle time as we can get in. Within there somewhere are the Montessori math materials, the language materials and some geometry yet. But mostly at this point he is working with materials that are not specifically Montessori in nature, but are used in a Montessori way.

That is the result of a Montessori education ;)

We start with the Montessori materials and presentations and totally branch off from there.


For example, this past year we delved into the Montessori botany album heavily again, re-discovering eco-systems, parts of seeds and plants, classifying leaves, etc. A friend offered some space in his not-so-great-but-better-than-nothing-at-all garden space and we planted beans, broccoli, squash and watermelon. We didn't get much (in fact we got a bit more off our balcony space and that wasn't much either!) but it did provide lots of all-too-real lessons on sunlight, wind, soil, gravity and nutrients. We also had a variety of plant leaves to explore; flowers to dissect; unripened and underdeveloped fruit/vegetables to explore the various stages of growth (did you know certain squash, if under-developed, can be treated as though it were zucchini - just chop it up and add in with mixed vegetables where you would have zucchini. ???)

This same friend gave us some mint to grow in our home. Noone can kill mint. HAHA! I did! Three times over in fact! And then, suddenly, it lived! And we have had our own fresh mint tea for several months now! This, along with references to natural poultices in his literature as well as his Young Man's Handybook, led to some interest in plant usage for more than food and fun tea.

mint, dried, laying on the stove
because our counters were full at the time. 

grinding mint leaves with mortar and pestle

Somehow or another we discovered a children's herb book on Amazon. I finally purchased it and it arrived. My son was interested but not overly excited at the time of its arrival. Perhaps that is because the order also included the long-coveted Minotaurus Lego game ;)

But he did sit down to read it - and now he is devouring it! It is so nicely laid out for children, including silly songs, interesting information, decent size font, with non-cluttered pages.... recipes, remedies, history, and more; it even gets into the best materials to use for tea-making (earthenware and the like is best; stainless steel if metal must be used, but preferably not) and all the reasons why. It far exceeds my expectations! And he has started a list of herbs he wants to start growing this winter inside - just a few for the most important things.

He gets a kick out of this one:

He said to me, laughing,
"Just give me this when I start whining, Mama -
you'll never have a problem with me again!" ;) 

I could get used to this song ;) 

All this, from starting with the Biology album again!

So, in a nutshell what happens in elementary Montessori is that the albums are used heavily at first - but then you SHOULD BE MOVING AWAY from the albums. Mathematics is relatively continuous, but all the other albums keep moving away and coming back, moving away and coming back. The albums are touchstones to personal and practical research, daily learning and personal growth. We don't need an album presentation every single day, because we are taking advantage of a multitude of learning opportunities - branches off from the album presentations.

American History

Now that my beautiful baby is a great big 8 year old, he is now responsible for meeting the 3rd grade requirements of the state in which we live.

Ok. Let's put it all out there: 

• Our state's homeschool laws require "180 days attendance" starting at the 7th birthday if the child will be private schooled (homeschool here counts as a private school), or 180 days of instruction at a public school starting in the school year that a child turns 7. Public schools MUST follow the state standards. Private schools (including homeschools) do not. The state cannot impose such definitions. Neither can the state impose a definition of attendance on private schools; public schools can only count full days, half-days count for nothing. 
• That's it - no reporting; no other record-keeping; NOTHING. And we can define our attendance - so 5 minutes counts. 
• But *I* am a Montessorian, and just because the state doesn't care what we do, doesn't stop me from teaching my son to be a responsible citizen. And part of that is following the Montessori practice of introducing the local education requirements (public school requirements or state standards) at 3rd and 6th grade (or the grade ending at age 9 or 12 in your local region if grade levels are marked different). 
• I also want him literate in what the other children are learning. It is hard to be a responsible citizen if you don't speak the lingo - in a healthy way (I am not referring to negative issues). 

SO. Here we are. And this is how we address the fact that Montessori children DO speak a different lingo and DO have different foundations in their education. For those people who want to add things to the Montessori curriculum, THIS is the place and the mannerism it fits into Montessori.
(See? Montessori covers ALL the needs of the child - including the needs of the child entering into larger society, whether going on to a non-Montessori public or private school, or simply interacting with other people in society). 

As for our current situation: 

One thing we noticed right away is that despite my son's love for all things ANCIENT history - modern history is a bust. Now, I could SO easily wait for this interest to perk up - and I have faith it will - but the corresponding goal is responsibility - even if we really don't have an interest. 

The public school requirement is United States History. The requirements are loose enough to have plenty of wiggle room - and I LOVE that they actually WANT the children to make their own timelines! How Montessori!

So, NO, I will not be purchasing United States history timeline. I am sure they are beautiful - but this IS the child's work after all. 

He balked at the idea of studying such a topic. He has NO interest. Again: responsibility. So we do the work together. He will learn how to get over hurdles of things he is not excited about and still get the task done. We've been leading up to this for a long time and now here it is. 

The ADULT'S PLAN: 

(insert laughter!)

• Reader's Guide to American History - available from a variety of sources, but this is where I got mine. It is NOT overly Catholic or even Christian in nature - I can't find any specific references anywhere. It is simply a fantastic resource guide to the main eras of US History, with book lists, date lists (very short - and we can turn those into our timeline cards!), list of names to be familiar with, suggested extension activities, and a list of educational standards the era addresses. There is a bit more but that is what I remember off the top of my head. Each era has only 2-4 pages, with lots of white space. It is a FANTASTIC framework! 
• A History of the United States and Its People by Edward Eggleston. I have to admit I was not overly excited about this book at first. But it seemed the least terrible of the worst (and only) options available. The fact is, that history books come with a bias. Good, bad, indifferent - it's a bias. And I want my son to have a fair amount of balance. So, while we are devoutly Catholic, NOT ONE Catholic history textbook has ever or will ever cross the threshold into my house - unless a truly balanced one comes into existence (a possibility, however slim). Anti or Pro a particular religion, group of people, political correctedness, lack thereof - all are unacceptable - just give the facts please - and let the reader form his own opinion. BUT I did want an overview story of the history; then use the above guide for more specifics on topics so we can research the original sources.  I am surprisingly pleased with the first two chapters of this book. While the emphasis is still that Columbus "discovered" America, it does not unduly toot his horn either. It lays out the facts as they were known at the time of publication. This leaves us so much room to explore the meaning of the word "discovery", the Vikings, the early monasteries present on US soil, history of the Native Americans (called Indians in this book for obvious reason of publication date). I can handle the few idiosyncracies present. 
• Use the story-based book together to read the chapters corresponding to an era in the guide book; visit the library to select a few books; perhaps watch an appropriate video; and create a timeline with notecards with the pertinent dates (use the notecards to either mount or copy onto actual "timeline paper" (banner paper)). 
• Read the Little House series along the way. 
• Call it good. 

The CHILD's RESULT: 

• Read the chapters aloud to mom on car drives; working on pronunciation, speech, diction and more - all while extrapolating where needed right in the moment. 
• Child creates a list of research ideas (before even seeing the guide!). 
• Timeline materials are already being gathered.
• Family time; lots of discussion; child finds a way to meet the requirements while minimizing cutting into personal work time -- if we're going to do it might as well enjoy it along the way, he said to me today! 
• He is really getting into it! 

(ETA he's still not "excited" about it, but he is responsible and thorough in all that he studies)

So yes, sometimes requirements are good things. Everything in balance.

Elementary Practical Life

Primary level practical is so beautiful - all those trays, with neatly laid out items.

The Exercises of Practical Life can be such a conundrum though!



Most of society does not eagerly embrace the idea that a 3 year old can safely and appropriately utilize a very sharp utensil (the sharper, the safer!) to chop carrots. Among other beautiful practical life activities.

Those who embrace the Montessori way of observation and response, DO see this ability and strive to respect it in the best way each person can (with personal limitations). Thus we provide this necessary work for the child's development - with all of its benefits that go far beyond knowing how to cut a carrot. We embrace it, we love it, we multiply to the point it no longer is "practical" just because we can! It is almost TOO easy! I've been there too, so I am not condemning those who might "EPL" that are not really truly practical life ;)


On the flip side, most of the society recognizes that elementary children are capable of chores and some responsibilities, thus there is recognition of the value of "exercises of practical life" in that regard. Still there is little to no recognition of work for work's sake, or work for the sake of developing the inner person.

And us Montessorians do not have a pretty laid out practical life section in our elementary albums. There are lots of lists of ideas - and all are fantastic! But gone are the nice, neat trays - replaced with supply shelves that look more like real life; gone are the nicely laid out album pages - replaced with presentations that look more like grace and courtesy style and can (and sometimes SHOULD) look like a LOT like you're teaching on the fly. Which is ok! Because that is real life!

but it so hard for us to let go.

YES. We need to think through as much as we can (analysis of movement; hence the umpteen steps in the primary EPL); but if your child is ready and has the necessary background to make you scrambled eggs and cheese in pita bread for breakfast... might I suggest you NOT  (meaning me) hold him back because YOU (meaning I) have not been able to analyze the 327 steps in preparing such a meal not to mention clean-up - he's probably ready. If you've given the foundation, then HE knows how to analyze movements and slow down and think through what he is doing (imperfectly perhaps - but we all start from somewhere) and he has confidence and just enough skills to challenge himself on something that is just within his grasp.

Enjoy the moment! Seize the day!

Eat the eggs! Have the courage to ask for more!

;)

A VERY delicious breakfast! 

Infants and Toddlers at Home

How do we provide a Montessori environment for the littlest ones?

It is so easy and simple - that it is complicated.

Your best bet is start with nothing and add what you need; but most of us do not have that luxury. Instead we have to wade through the *stuff* to purge what we don't need. Ugh.


First, learn about your child's developmental stages - read Montessori's writings and attachment parenting books about this age, before really looking at other resources (even if you don't plan to attachment parent - the information is very sound). These writings will be based on observation and responses given to children of this age for the last 6000 years at minimum.

Train yourself in observation and response. Subtle cues. Environmental. People. Temperature. The sounds of silence.

Establish a peaceful home. A joyous home. Filled with love and light.

For materials - consider what you REALLY need. Babies need very few contraptions - on the contrary, they need room to explore.

Consider human needs and tendencies as they will be displayed in a very young child, even one in the womb. How can you meet these needs and tendencies? Fulfill them?

Through simplicity. Focus. Yes there are mobiles and images that are strongly recommended, but in the end, YOU can come up with most of what you need with only a small nudge for the rest. Trust YOURSELF, trust YOUR instincts. Develop your instincts. Follow your gut.

Observe and Respond.

(NOTE: Blogger is being funny with the photo arrangements - if you see a HUGE blank space below, please keep scrolling down for the rest of the post!)

Start with one piece puzzles and large knobs
(geometric shapes best to start with -
see the top puzzle of the stack on the left)

So happy to be at the table with the big people :)

booster for at the table
(doubles as high chair with detachable tray;
also tilts back for infants
and has 2-3 height settings)

booster that doubles as high chair when needed.
Less furniture and smaller. 

Attachment parenting
confidence that mom is always there

Real food; real utensils
the bowl was in my hands at the time of the photo

Time with family, participating with the family

Drinking from bowl of cereal for the first time!
This photo: about 12 months
visiting at a friend's house
their kids thought the toy would neat
he ignored it ;) 

Building and exploring
does not have to be Montessori materials
although plain colored blocks are best,
if you have colored, have 1 color for each shape

Concentration

Visiting at friend's house - no glass tumblers available
plastic is ok from time to time, but has no weight
plastic is easier to knock over than heavy glass
glass encourages control of movement
This photo: 12 months
start with glass tumbler: 7-10 months

Lots of real experiences in natural spaces

Experiences - get out with baby!
In this photo: pointing at the birds around St. Peter's Square
shouting "Duck! Mama look! Ducks!"
(birds, ducks... well... he *was* only 23 months!)

Freedom in nature

Controlled exploration

Floor-mirror next to bed. 

Floor mirror
I'm not excited about that duck thing.
But sometimes you have to compromise for family peace ;)  

Freedom of movement as much as possible
get in or out at will most of the time
then stay in seat during regular family meal time,
church services, prayer, etc. 

What the child sees on one of the infant mobiles

One of the infant mobiles
I made some pieces reversible to conserve materials

Lots of reading
as much reality as possible,
but don't mess with Great-Grandma's preferences ;) 

Lots of babies and other children!

A proud happy boy after Thanksgiving meal 

Own table to utilize between family meals

Quality time with godparents :) 

Quality time with godparents ;)
Yes, they are both genuinely asleep ;) 

about 20 months
eating with regular bowl and spoon

Collecting peas that had fallen off of dish during mealtime

Explore lots of textures (not all at once!)

Thinking he is ordering for himself ;)
Probably about 11 months here. 

~1.5 year old at Thanksgiving
Serving self from controlled portions
in small dishes

Real experiences - snow! 

Lots of space to crawl and move. 

Experimenting - this time with a drain in our kitchen floor.
What will fit? 

1 year old at Thanksgiving
Eating with own real utensils and drinking from glass
I love those little lips puckering out in concentration. 

Lots of other children
does not have to be all the time -
enough to learn proper social skills

Toileting when ready
(the attached child seat was
not appropriate for his anatomy,
thus we added the removable one with handles)
Step-stool for toilet
and step-stool for sink

Watching the infant mobile

Climbing on staggered couch cushions;
floor mirror is on back of couch to entice interest
for new infants in my daycare

All those photos and not a good one of our family floor bed. It is hinted at in some of the photos. For the most part, we used a regular mattress on the floor and called it good. And when I was pregnant it was FAR easier to get out of bed off a mattress on the floor than out of any of the taller beds I slept in when visiting family. Roll over onto hands and knees on the floor, then slowly rise from that position - stretches all the appropriate muscles to bring blood flow throughout the body, controlled any possible light-headedness or low blood pressure, and gave a bit of exercise in preparation for a smooth birthing experience. Very nice. And a fantastic transition into having baby on the floor bed, family style.

There are other photos missing as well - such as the coffee tin with the slit in the lid (for inserting poker chips) and the Discovery Toys ship with the balls that roll (we removed the colored rings and the hammer and just dropped the balls in; add the rings and press hard at an older age - no hammer). Too bad I didn't keep a daily diary at the time (ha! in what time!?) ;)


See other Montessori Trails for lists of the items I did utilize as well as practical life ideas.


By 2 1/2 the primary albums can be utilized to work on early language, early exercises of practical life and early sensorial. But don't rush things before that. Don't worry about providing knobbed cylinders - just have lots of exploration with real materials that provide experiences with shape, size, colors, weights, muscle control - and LOVE.

An AWESOME resource for this age: The Joyful Child by Susan Stephenson - available at MichaelOlaf.net. PLease note, this is a book, not a catalog; The Joyful Child, not A Joyful Child; Susan Stephenson, not another author ;) There is some confusion out there. This book is written for parents in a natural friendly tone, specifically for infants and toddlers!


Please see our other Infant and Toddler experiences on Montessori Trails.

Music of the Orchestra - Maestro Classics

My son has had a fascination with the orchestra for many long months now. I've been a bit concerned about how to continue to support this interest without squelching, without making it my own and dictating every aspect, and still encouraging it with limited means. AND at an elementary age level (gone are the 3 part cards! although he will sometimes create 4 and 5 part cards as sets of card games!).

A few weeks ago, Homeschool Buyer's Co-op had a deal I couldn't turn down. My son has been saving up money to purchase more of the CDs at Maestro Classics, but other expenses have always gotten in the way and then we just couldn't decide which ones to get if purchasing individually.

And these things do NOT go on sale!

Well.... Homeschool Buyer's had them for 44% OFF the usual price if more than 50 people bought them. We signed up! Shipping was included (media mail shipping), $1.95 for HBC's administrative fee - and we have the most wonderful CDs for learning and appreciating orchestral music.

10 CDs! One is a duplicate but in Spanish - so 9 unique CDs!

Each CD comes with a little booklet with information on the instruments used on that CD, the composer, the conductor, a word search, another word game, synopsis of the story, music sample, music theory lesson, historical reference... all in one booklet!

Each CD has the full-length music of note (oh how I LOVE having full-length music!), along with sections on the life of the composer, something more about the music as well as patterns of the music and the moods it creates, "want to have some fun" section and more.


We have listened to several already - probably too much for one day in order to really "get" everything that is on each CD, but we just LOVE listening! And the patterns even in "Sorcerer's Apprentice" - I'd picked up on many of them they noted, but there were several new ones for me too! Very cool!


Now we are currently analyzing "The Story of Swan Lake". With an 8 year old boy to boot! LOVE it!


Thank you Montessori and thank you Homeschooling ;)

Homeschool Montessori

Many people in the Montessori-trained world "thumb noses" at homeschoolers. "You canNOT do Montessori in a homeschool."

I beg to differ. And I have the "nose-up" AMI training ;)


Why can you not do Montessori at home?

• Classroom dynamics. This is a BIG one. Children interacting, sharing interests, encouraging one another - lots of positive peer pressure (and learning to handle the minimal negative peer pressure - a true Montessori school just won't have as many issues in this regard). 
• Environment focused on learning and exploration. 
• Scheduled time. 
• I am struggling to think of more reasons. (please add in comments!)

But children in Montessori schools SHOULD be doing Montessori at home too - because Montessori is not an educational method. It is a way of observing and responding to a child's needs at the varying ages (planes of development). Parents of children in Montessori schools receive guidance on setting up the environment at home in a Montessori-friendly manner, encouraging independence  interdependence, simplicity, exploration, living lots of experiences. 

These families will not have the educational apparatus, but their environments will be imbued with Montessori results of observations. 

So what is a Montessori homeschool, but a blending of the classroom with the home environment???? 

I couldn't resist sharing the day the Montessori shelves
became home to all the critters who live in our home ;) 

So sweet! 

In our small apartment (about 850 square feet), we had most of the elementary materials, along with running two businesses... Yes, at this time a good deal of our materials are at the local church school building where I rent space to run a Montessori homeschool co-op, but it is possible to do in a small space with 1-2 children. Don't get me wrong - the more space you have, the better! ;)




How do you do Montessori at home and keep some semblance of the classroom benefits?

• Classroom dynamics: to encourage additional interests and not having the adult hover constantly (so that the adult does the work and the guiding, the child does NO leading or limited personal work), the adult should do his or her own work when the children are working. Use that work plan to keep each other accountable; schedule some items; then be busy, or in the corner observing. 
• Classroom dynamics 2: Consider very-very select additional resources that help you "keep the story going", keep the conversation going between presentations. In math, consider "living math" selections; in geography and biology, consider a science resource that focuses on conversations (not for the children, but for you the adult), 
• Classroom dynamics 3: Build in group interactions that have a Montessori flair: cub/boy scouting, tae-kwon-do, and the like - as much multi-age and user-led as possible. 
• Environment focused on learning and exploration. This is precisely why most of us homeschoolers chose this path! The only real concern is making your home so "academic Montessori" centered that the free time and real experiences are minimized - so keep that balance - real Montessori is about getting the children working in real life (Goings Out, work plans, freedom and responsibility). 
• Scheduled time. There WILL be rules in your home that are different from school; the younger the children the more you will want to have a specifically school time and a specifically home time, with a LOT of gray-area time. Older children will reveal their needs at various times for this type of scheduling.
• Schedule Time 2: Be sure that you are not "doing school" all day; however your schedule is going to be different. There may be more free time during the typical school hours but the child is working on a project in the evening with dad or older sibling instead. As long as the work plan is a reasonable amount of work and is mostly being accomplished, then all is well. 
• And there are numerous benefits to homeschooling of any kind, pure and simple. The most critical being the family dynamic. 

I frequently wonder (but will NEVER put words into her mouth!) if Dr. Maria Montessori would have encouraged homeschooling if she could have seen where education has gone (or not gone as the case may be). She lived in a time that institutional education was the direction of the model. If she had more time and had seen the movement back towards homeschooling... what would she have said? I will NOT put words in her mouth. I just wonder. After all, the life of the Montessori elementary classroom looks so much like a family environment. Hmmm.... 

These are the thoughts of a woman alone in a car for 2 8-hour drives and then sick for countless hours over the course of three weeks. Please share more ideas and questions!