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.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Why is Elementary Montessori Less Popular?

Short answer: it's less "available" on the blogosphere; elementary Montessori homeschooling has been even more eschewed by Montessori trainers than primary; and the options available are overwhelming at best.

Something else that has been difficult to pinpoint: you canNOT DO Montessori in any subject without the theory behind it. 


You CAN DO Montessori without any subject albums, if you have all the theory. 

That is enough to ponder right there. Montessori is not a SUBJECT; it is not entirely a philosophy or even a methodology;
it is Education as an aid to LIFE.
Therefore, the theory is CRITICAL.




The following is MY personal experience. Your experience is just as valid, even if you have an entirely outcome than I do  :)

For families who did primary and consider doing elementary, but choose against it:
  • theory albums are not readily available for either age; nor are they encouraged as much as they should be
  • primary was overwhelming enough - all those materials, and all those differences available online (which one should be chosen for any given family? too many questions!)
  • again on the materials (few parents realize elementary has FEWER materials; and the CHILDREN can help create them! Indeed many materials the children SHOULD be making, especially if they are homeschooled - there are far too many elementary materials available for sale that are not necessary to be "sold" -- and many materials available for sale are more follow-ups, for interested children, and are not going to be for "every" child). 
  • there are few/no "state expectations" for preschool/kindergarten, so parents feel freer
  • parents always intended to send their children to a school environment in elementary, so elementary Montessori at home has never been on the radar
  • there are SO many options for (non-Montessori) elementary that all are quite enticing
  • there is a SEVERE imbalance on the amount of Montessori information - not just primary versus elementary; but AMS, AMI, etc. And with AMS being more open, AMI being so closed-mouthed, and bloggers/families making their own adaptations, it becomes difficult to see through the modifications (which are necessary!) to see what is actually the key presentation and what is follow-up, what is a particular child's interests, what is a particular region's educational requirements, what is a particular family's requirements. 
  • the elementary albums that are available are overwhelming all by themselves. Seriously, if *I* as a Montessori and CGS trained adult tried to use any other elementary albums with my own son, we would be doing nothing but my own requirements for him; his own interests would be seriously stifled and our enjoyment level would plummet. There is no way those other albums can be used when a family has children of other ages too, without a lot of things being lost (and sanity almost being the least important of the lost things) - time, quality, ability to take care of other household responsibilities, etc.
  • hence many people I've spoken to that started elementary OR just looked at the albums - and stopped - tell me it was too much. It was impossible for them to achieve. I can't disagree. 
  • AMI has been so close-mouthed about things, that Montessori has an unbalanced appearance out "in the world" - I am not opposed to other ways of doing the same way, I am just opposed to the lack of balance. 
  • interesting tidbit: elementary Montessori covers 6 years - and should not be arbitrarily divided into 6-9 and 9-12, because then we are trying "finish" something before going into upper elementary that is actually a continuation and a deepening of 6-9 - not a BREAK - but a CONNECTION. Any given presentation is not upper or lower elementary. There may be logical times, but if a child gets it early or late - SO WHAT!? FOLLOW THE CHILD
  • The albums I tried to use previously; the samples I can access now; the pages that people share with me asking my thoughts/feedback - they are all overwhelming, detailed to the point of "hole-in-the-head" syndrome for both the kids and the adults.
  • I've seen others that are just too plain. Not enough to even spark a kindling of interest. And/or they don't provide all the necessary subjects. 
  • Few know how truly FREEING Montessori at elementary can and SHOULD be. 

So call me Goldilocks ;) I've got to have it just right, or I am NOT doing it in my home with my son or with any of the children I teach.


My motivating factor for offering my albums to the public:
  • yes, families of all shapes and sizes CAN do elementary Montessori. 
  • the curriculum is not intended to be overwhelming, but FREEING (AMI albums provide this - I have not yet seen ONE elementary album that provided this freedom, without a serious dumbing down of the material or cutting out critical presentations, while leaving a lot of the "extras" from other albums). If you have one that is perfect in this regard, I am very happy to peruse it and will happily point it out as a suitable option. 
  • my own experience has been that we use those other albums for particular follow-ups, but if I didn't have them, we would find other sources for the same information. 
  • the children should be working to both outside expectations AND their own interests, developing research skills, analytical skills, relationship skills, and more, along the way. Not following any one curriculum to a T and leaving it there
  • AMI albums (this is my favorite part of them!) allows us to provide the KEYS; then utilize ANY other resource that fits with our learning at any given time - that includes methodologies like Charlotte Mason and living books and nature walks, particular textbooks, time to do endless science experiments/demonstrations, add in Living Math books and games, whatever we NEED at the time. 
  • When I tried to use other albums, I hit a brick wall. I hit it hard and fast, just like some other families. I almost burned out. 
  • I want to share the JOY and the FREEDOM of elementary Montessori. 

Here is a key my child. What door would you like to open? Oh, you would like to save that one for another time? Ok. Ah! That is the key you would like to use! This key opens these doors - which one shall we start with? 

And we are off on our journey. 



TRANSLATION:
Here is a key my child (a new presentation for which they are academically ready - straight from a keys-based album).

What door would you like to open? (follow-up work - can use any resource, including other albums, books, videos, Goings Out, visitors, etc)

Oh, you would like to save that one for another time? Ok. (they've done some follow-up or not; fulfilled any requirements; the interest just isn't there, or they have an idea for something but would like to finish up some other project first).

Ah! That is the key you would like to use! (they have an expressed interest)

This key opens these doors - which one shall we start with? (you provide the guidance as needed, but are ever-developing the child's own planning skills; you provide requirements as needed for family/state requirements, but the child does most of the planning and the material creation). 

And we are off on our journey. (Freedom, responsibility, cosmic education, living life together, joy)


Is this why you are interested in Montessori? For the freedom? For the JOY? 

It IS possible!

Pick up a proper theory album for the elementary age - the FULL elementary age. You don't need materials to make it happen! I promise!



Friday, May 4, 2012

Our Journey to Reading


What did we use for learning to read?


The longer post: ;) 

I originally found the pink/blue/green series before I went to AMI primary Montessori training. I printed out all the cards from a site that offered them for free (thank you to all you WONDERFUL resource providers out there! low-cost or free - I owe each of you so much!). I had some instructions for their use and several blogs and sites with further ideas; but since I couldn't combine that information with anything in any of Montessori's writings, or any other Montessori-topic books I could purchase at the time, I was LOST. It just didn't connect with any Montessori experience I'd had and I didn't have a chance during that time period to get into a school to see what it was I missing.

So I took the printed words and sorted them out by the lessons I did have in books like The Advanced Montessori Method - and tried to adapt them to fit what I could grasp at the time.

It worked, but I still found myself combining it with learning-to-read series like Catholic Heritage Curricula's Little Stories for Little Folks, graded readers and other non-Montessori reading lessons. I was not entirely satisfied. And I was SO looking forward to learning to use the "real Montessori learning-to-read materials (aka pink/blue/green series)" when I got to primary training.

Was I in for a shock!? They didn't have it! NO pink/blue/green!? I asked about it and my trainer said, "Well, I have looked into it and considered how to use it within our environments, but we find it to be too curriculum-like, too scheduled, too much for the child; therefore too slow and inappropriate." Well, that explains why it wasn't in any of the writings I'd read - because Maria didn't develop it! It was developed later to deal with our English language rules; and AMI considered it and passed it by. Interesting.

I couldn't discuss it in detail with her to get more specifics, because I still didn't have much experience with it at the time. And I had to set it aside because AMI training is intense (and I was a single mom and working part-time at my son's school). What I DID discover while I was in training is that my daycare children had received from me something that looked VERY much like the AMI layout for reading. Both my methodology and Montessori's methodology as laid out in the AMI albums were based on careful observation, providing the keys, and providing real life experience - no dumbing down, no graded stages.



So where did things go askew with my own son? ;)

My son followed the AMI way perfectly his first year in primary. He began reading (and writing) at home and at school, until a little girl told him, "You can't read; I'll read this book for you." She was playing around, he took her seriously. And told me at home, "I can't read yet." Uphill battle until the following summer we worked through some of the issues and he was reading again.

The following school year, we were far away from any Montessori school and he was attending a part-time very non-Montessori preschool. The children LOVED that he could read to them. Until one girl said, "We're not supposed to read until we're in Kindergarten!" So he told me just that line at home (he did not know I was in the room next door to the preschool and heard the whole interaction). We spent Thanksgiving RE-training his confidence. But it just didn't really pick up again.

We started again that summer just after he turned 5. He was picking it up. Then for 2 1/2 months he attended a lovely AMS Montessori school that used a very nice combination of reading strategies, but my son's confidence was shot at this point, so he would do the minimum requirements for the day and no more - he was busy in other areas. When we were back home full-time and I was actually home with him full-time, we delved into the reading sequence, starting at the beginning of the AMI language album.

There were some struggles - because he was honestly far beyond the work I was presenting; but his confidence and BELIEF in himself needed to be nurtured, as well as conquering his insistence that he would not be "ready for Kindergarten until I'm 9 or 10" (a bit of confusion set in when the one girl told him that children don't read until kindergarten). Yes, he told me that when I told him he would be starting Kindergarten at the one Montessori school. He has his hand up, palm-forward, and everything - so serious! Speaking to me like I was the child! Well, he got over that in a hurry!


The first "book" he truly read independently at this time was not a booklet from any of the reading activities (AMI, Dwyer, etc.), but it was the first of the Biological Classification booklets - about living and non-living matter - he just went in to his room (the school room was in his bedroom), picked it up and started reading it. Prior to this, during his bouts of reading, he had made up some words as he went along, but it always sounded good, even if not correct. The story or narration made sense. But now he was really reading! Word for word, entirely accurate! And it wasn't lesson time!
(interestingly enough, his "mis-read" words from before not only made sense in context but were ALWAYS a synonym-of-sorts of the same word - so he would exchange feline for cat; God for Jesus; Jesus' mother for Mary; fled instead of ran; leap instead of jump - usually using the more "complicated" version of the word - this was EVERY TIME he mis-read a word --- clearly he could truly read the words in his mind).

But by January of that school year, the frustration level was high, because he just kept having an attitude about "I can't read" (even when he was!); attitude was a serious issue. Then he really wanted to read Magic Tree House and I kept holding him back, because I wanted him to be successful with them (and I didn't like them to begin with). And the attitude continued, until finally I said (not so nicely, I must be humble and admit), "Fine. You may read one chapter. You may not ask me for pronunciation, you may not ask me for help. If you want to read any additional chapters you will need to work through x-amount (I actually specified at the time) of the other work, including y-number of the booklets."

He took the book into his room and I sat in the living room wondering if I was really cut out for this. Whatever "this" is.

He read his chapter.

He calmly returned to me and requested the next booklet. He completed the expectations I laid for him. He read the next chapter. Within 48 hours, he had finished the book and 4 months of typical language album work.

After finishing everything else in the primary album over the course of the next week, he picked up The Oz Chronicles Volume 1 (set of 7 Land of Oz stories written by L Frank Baum - 5th grade reading level - NOT the paperback Oz Chronicles you might find on Amazon). And ate it up.

He then proceeded through the Narnia series.

He then read through a pile of books I can't even list.

And 2 1/2 years later - he hasn't STOPPED. At last "testing" he was reading at an 8th grade level.

For his 6th birthday, just a couple of months after bursting into reading, he received a set of "readers" from 2 friends of his, that were far below his reading level (they'd read them at age 7 so thought they'd be at his reading level ;) they meant well! and the stories were lovely! But the readers were read in a matter of an hour or so). 

This experience is typical. Children who learn to read the Montessori way, will READ. There aren't levels; there aren't experiential steps; they just READ. They need some additional cues now and again in specific areas, but when they start to read, they READ. This happened with my daycare children, my tutoring children, other children I've worked with; it happens throughout Montessori's books and books about Montessori. They go from no reading level to 3rd grade in less than a week or two; then steadily increase from there.

Mama's lesson learned: don't hold them back. Yes, build the foundation; but don't let strife enter into the picture. BEFORE strife sets in, allow them to move forward while making an agreement of continuing to build the foundation.

LESSON FOR EVERYONE: do not make the child read the words aloud until they are ready. There are times it is natural to read the words aloud (phonetic object box, the child will end up saying the name of the item while placing the ticket with the object, for example), but even then, the child has "read" the word in his mind at least a few times before saying it.


If I had it to do all over again, I would utilize the AMI sequence to a T, supplementing only with the Little Stories for Little Folks because of our family's faith, OR (with other children) utilizing a series of books I need to re-find. One Montessori school I worked at had them, and they are the perfect supplement for those who need the "comfort" of a graded reader without unduly burdening the child. I'll post them here if and when I find them!


Now the main point is not for the child to parrot back the story; but to have a logical discussion about it. They should be able to not only tell what happened, but think through the story or the reading - how does this apply to another experience, or what can we learn from it, or how was it interesting/boring/funny/mind-boggling.
  • When children are free-reading, we let them just read; but bring up something from the book in a casual conversation at another time. 
  • Use sentences and phrases from their reading selections when doing language work (sentence/reading/logical analysis, etc)
  • Use artwork in other ways throughout the room - bring out materials to create a particular art form seen in a book. 
  • Experience something in the book (does it have a new food? Redwall books are GREAT for that!)
  • Talk about the author and his style. 
  • Etc. etc. etc. 
  • Keep it natural and integrated into the rest of life. 

Now the funny thing is, he loves to read the Clifford books at the library. Right now, he has taken a break from his bird studies (he drew out some birds he saw, brought the drawings and notes to the library to use bird books to identify their names, what they eat, and types of nests; wrote up some charts on them - some serious deep work), and why take a break from such excellent work? to read Clifford's Christmas. It's "candy" - it's a fun break ;) And he's elementary so I don't have to worry he's going to confuse reality with fiction (no dogs bigger than human houses around here!). I just think it's funny that my 8 year old wants to read Clifford books. 

;) 


Thursday, May 3, 2012

Celestial Almanack - AVAILABLE NOW

Celestial Almanack is available for this month!

I've posted about it before - it continues to be a fantastic resource for us as we study the day and night sky, explore the world and universe Montessori-style and just plain have fun with learning something our ancestors knew intuitively.

Perfect Montessori astronomy - multi-age, minimal equipment except one's own capacities, pertinent to the current time, yet entirely timeless.

Just like Montessori history and the way we present everything in stories, this astronomy resource helps connect us with our ancestors' knowledge of the cosmos as they could experience it; as they LIVED it. It gets reconnected back to something that has played not just an important role, but sometimes THE foundational role in historical events and ways of life of humankind.

No equipment is needed for most things, though binoculars and eclipse shades come in handy; the author also sells eclipse shades (MAY 20!!!!), a homeschool curriculum text, storybook, moon chart and more at  http://www.classicalastronomy.com/.

Unfortunately, production of the almanack will cease after June, so get the current and back issues while you can over at CurrClick - the sole distributor of the Celestial Almanack.

Don't have an account with CurrClick?
Perhaps if CurrClick didn't charge so much for selling items on their site (30% or so for being the sole distributor, they keep something like 60% of the sale price if they are NOT the sole distributor), the author of the Celestial Almanack could have utilized a wider variety of outlets, gained a wider audience, and made his time more worth it - he works full-time and needs time with his family too. In any case, setting up an account is easy, very safe, you can use Paypal OR use your own credit card.

International addresses work out great - because it's all downloadable.

$3 for the current issue; $2 for back issues.

Get them now while you can - the information is timeless!




Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Learning to Read - Montessori

I've been asked a lot lately about learning to read the Montessori way.

Well, there are two lines you could follow (and could partly overlap) - I tried both and ended up sticking with just one. It was easier to choose one or the other ;) Besides, with Montessori, you provide the keys, the main tools, and then there is the rest of the world to explore based on particular needs, interests and temperaments, using whatever individual components of anything else that make sense, fit and enhance the provided keys.

We officially tried:
  • AMI (similar, not identical to Muriel-Dwyer)
  • Pink/Blue/Green/Purple
and dabbled in others, including non-Montessori (this was a partial requirement, ie for my tutoring children).

Short post: We do not use the pink/blue/green (now purple too) series; my son never used it, though my daycare/tutoring children were my experiment with it. We used the AMI approach, which is more similar to Muriel-Dwyer but NOT identical, and we used the pink/blue/green cards in other ways.

The AMI way is a combination phonics/whole language that gets the children reading for real, very naturally. The lack of emphasis on 3 letter CVC words is FANTASTIC - as, if a child can read phonetically, he can read 10 letter phonetic words with the same ease as a 3-letter word. And once he knows some puzzle words - he is off and running!

I just could not wrap myself around the pink/blue/green/purple series. I do have some album pages now (thank you to the kind soul who shared them with me :) ), but I've not had a chance to really comb through them as carefully as I would like.

Now, I want to be clear - I am SURE it works for others. I think it is SO widely known because of AMS and other Montessori groups utilizing and promoting it. I am SURE it works! It just didn't fit for us, specifically me ;)  For ME, I have to agree with my trainer on this one, now that I'm further down the line (see tomorrow's post!).


Ginni Sacket has a GREAT series of YouTube videos that lead from the beginning activities for language into the first activity with the phonetic object box when the child makes the realization that he can read. I wish it went further than that, but I LOVE the content of these videos.



Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Further thoughts on Cursive

I've been asked about cursive in many places of late. While I have upcoming Montessori Nuggets on the topic, I thought I would share some of my own personal thoughts here. Yes, you may translate that phrase as "soap box." I won't judge your choices if you won't judge mine. I just ask that you hear me out. :)

My son just turned 8. In a regular school, he would be entering 3rd grade this coming fall. In our area, 2nd graders in their 2nd semester start learning cursive. It is a big milestone for the children.

The teachers also complain that academic work in other areas drops. Drastically.

Some random thoughts - in no particular order - hence random:
;)

  • my son has been writing in cursive since age 4; yes we had some print experiences in there too (see Adventures in Writing)
  • by 5 1/2 he could write anything in cursive; he just didn't; I continued to state "I'd prefer cursive and soon it will be a requirement" - one day he just started doing it - and has never gone back. 
  • In January of last year, the 2nd graders (a year older than my son) in his atrium class were just starting cursive and writing on the chalkboard in the atrium. They were still learning and the results were interesting and quite beautiful, if not entirely legible. I loved their enthusiasm! However, all the children were just amazed that my son could already write so well, without thinking about it. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "I learned when I was ready." (can't improve on that answer!)
  • During that time of learning to write, he was in the strongest part of the sensitive period for language. While we were towards the end of the part when re-focusing on the cursive, we were still able to utilize it. 
  • Older children just don't have that sensitive period. 
  • Maria Montessori worried about teaching the children print (she'd taught them cursive first). Then they started reading Gothic words on the calendar. They taught themselves print
  • If she stopped worrying, why should I worry?
  • Since children are in a sensitive period, their interest and focus is right there; they learn easily in a form of writing that comes naturally anyway (curved lines allowing a variation of creation, versus straight lines being a standard of perfection that is hard to achieve). 
  • Again, they learn easily - thus it doesn't take away from their other learning. 
  • But in 2nd grade, it DOES take away from their other learning - because they have to consciously RE-learn everything know, RE-learn a natural instinct that was trained OUT of them in kindergarten and 1st grade (and preschool if they went). 
  • Print is everywhere - but that does not mean I need to dumb down my handwriting for my child. I do NOT dumb down my vocabulary - why would I dumb down the handwriting? 
  • Print is everywhere - more so than in Montessori's time - and the children figured it out all on their own then. Since my son was writing in capital block letters at 3 1/2 (noone taught him, except perhaps the keys on that laptop that Grandma gave him ;) ), it would seem that print is prevalent enough to be learned by anyone at any time. Why spend time teaching it? Time that is best served elsewhere? Like making cookies with my son. 
  • we have to print on forms. Ok. Fine. But we don't fill out forms all day every day. We DO write grocery and to-do lists, letters to friends (e-mails aren't even printed - they're TYPED), thank you cards, all the copy-work my son does, etc. 

And this list doesn't touch the practical reasons of cursive such as assistance with dyslexia, spacing of words, understanding of concepts of words (a word is connected as a single unit), etc. This list only touches on some of the thoughts running through my mind for OUR situation. 

Is it the end of the world if your child learned print first? No! 

But how much more wonderful use of their time to teach cursive first and not bother to teach print at all (since it just comes). 


Ok. So I know at least one reader of this blog will be thinking "why should we *teach* cursive at all if print is so much easier?"
BECAUSE: 
  • cursive is for writing; print is for reading (we type print for books and computers; original printing press wasn't for handwritten books)
  • cursive is actually EASIER at the primary age compared to print because children naturally curve their lines. Straight lines are perfection; variations on a curved line become an art form.
  • Cursive is an art form. It is beauty. It is individual. It is expressive. 
  • Print is actually harder to teach at the primary age, dyslexia or not. 
  • Kids with dyslexia NEED cursive writing to help with the orientation of letters, groupings of words, and general confidence building. 

I hope this information helps! Or at least provides food for thought!