Category Archives: reading

Montessori modified for home education.

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abacus

Well, while we do not have a multi aged classroom of 30-60 children with 4-8 trained Montessori teachers, we can modify Maria Montessori’s method of education for our home.

What we’re doing together is NOT “The Montessori Method”. Maria made it clear that each Children’s House was to have a complete set of equipment and set up in such a way that, if you moved about from school to school, you couldn’t find any substantial difference, with either the physical room or the teaching staff. If her Method was to be held up as a ‘scientifically provable’ method of education, then each room needed to be almost like a ‘science experiment’, repeatable and identical in every detail possible.

 

We are not able to replicate her model here. We can modify the main principles to suit our continuing journey with learning though. We do this because we LOVE Montessori… it just ‘fits’ well with how we behave and how we relate to each other, our family and friends, and to the learning process. So we have some guiding principles from the Maria’s writings to draw upon, which are:

  • Follow the child.
  • If a child demonstrates observable concentration when learning a new skill or mastering a skill, do not interrupt.
  • Do not help the child with something they feel they can succeed in.
  • Ignite interest but let that interest be free to develop.
  • Freedom is the matching of Liberty to work, and the Will to work. Liberty comes from having a prepared environment where choices are available, Will comes from within the child’s desire to learn. The prepared environment includes a ’3 hour work cycle’, usually in the morning, where the children know they won’t be interrupted. Where learning is progressively introduced and also where they experience the highest amount of Will, or desire, to learn.multiplication board

Every change we have made has been based on our discussions, where both M and D have had the Freedom to choose, always.

Although I’ve ‘ticked off outcomes’ in both the Board of Studies NSW curriculum and the Montessori curriculum, we haven’t always followed a routine or used the materials during a work cycle. During our meetings and discussions both M and D wanted very much for us to have routines, to use the Montessori materials more and to have definite ‘computer use time’, as all three of us have spent far too much time on computers over the past couple of years. Do you have that problem in your home?

Here are some  more samples of the work we are currently doing.

Stomach modelcakeheart modelroutine

So far we’ve enjoyed one whole month of gently, at first, moving back into a regular daily routine. Last week went exceptionally well. After they follow a morning ritual of getting their bodies ready (bathroom, breakfast… you know lol), they then start a three hour work cycle. Food is eaten when required, but we stop for lunch after those three hours. Two more hours is then devoted to projects and what Montessori called the ‘Great Work’, which basically means ‘learning something they’re obsessed about’. After 2pm it’s free time, and computers can go on (if they weren’t already used for research etc). At 5pm we stop for a 30 min cleaning roster where everyone chooses what room they start in and we all have jobs that we can do independently. Night time brings dinner, bath/book/bed and then I have time to write, and prepare for the next day, before retiring myself.

writing

It’s still a work in progress, however, we’re definitely on a good path. No one is resisting the change, in fact they hold me to task and remind me to NOT be on Facebook before 2pm!

All the best!

 

 

First day of School?

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first day of school 1980As THOUSANDS of children head off to school today, it’s a great time to remember what that institution is… it’s ONE of the venues your child attends where they learn. Your home, the world, their friend’s house, the shops… the park, the beach, the *insert here* is another. LEARNING happens regardless, no matter where they are.

However, schools deliberately try to make children learn, and this doesn’t always work… which would be fine except schools ALSO test your child’s learning. That brings stress into learning. Tutoring YOUR own child can help to reduce that stress. It can improve test results, make learning easier and school more enjoyable. Tutoring is ‘assisting a student to understand what HAS been taught’, not teaching from scratch.

As you kiss them goodbye and then wait until you see them again, see if you can remember what it’s like to be excited to go school…. remember that first flush of new pencils and new school bag…. those new books!!!! The anticipation was INTENSE, hey!!!!

Then came the stress and then the boredom…. between the stress and boredom IS WHERE YOU FIT IN!!!! Catch them at the first sign of stress and help them to cope… that’s what tutoring REALLY does.

Happy to answer any questions you have, your questions may help others. Hope today is AWESOME for everyone!

Why on EARTH would you ‘homeschool’?

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Well I wouldn’t actually!

Staying home and ‘schooling’ my children would be worse than sending them to school! What I’m doing is providing my children with choices. You see a long long time ago a little 4 year old girl got disgusted with being treated as though she was a fool! Being told to stop reading so much, watching other little children being sent back out into the rain after coming to school late, just to get a ‘late note’, listening to peaceful happy children become bossy as they imitated the teachers, well that little 4 year old girl just got more and more angry!

But she had a choice. At first she chose to change the teachers and let them know what they were doing wasn’t right. Of course this didn’t go down well. There was a very sympathetic Librarian who cried over this little girl and told me she was a ‘heroine’ of hers and inspired her to remember what it was like to be a child.

Next the exceedingly grumpy now 5 year old became just like the other children and changed who she was in order to fit in. This was followed by a distraught 5 year old who realised that she was being nasty to her little brother and mother, who she loved very much… but she was free to make new choices.

We knew people who went to other schools, but they had the same problems that she en-counted; parents not comforting upset children once on school property, teachers yelling commands and ushering children like cattle, children being told to stop learning so that the class could do the same things at the same time and move on to the next activity, and the next and the next etc. There was no going back to the Montessori preschool to do extended day… and the regret of choosing Kindergarten was deep.

But the little girl had another choice…

Now, you may think that children need to ‘adjust’ to school life. If she kept with it she would get used to it and learn to fit in. You may even think that if she was older she wouldn’t have reacted this way.

So we did a bit of ‘school at home’ but she was a child who wanted to learn, she didn’t want to be told what to learn! But wanting to learn wasn’t enough… she had ‘lost’ her ability to self educate. She had been programmed to follow orders, not to generate her own ideas. Not being able to be told what to learn and not being able to decide what to learn herself meant that NO learning was happening. From being a four year old child who could read a newspaper she was going BACKWARDS fast! What a horrible catch 22 she was in! We HAD to de-school her! We found a ‘Montessori like school’ but the teacher lost his smiles once the parents left and he often yelled, was frightening and the materials were not presented correctly because no one had the proper training. So we had to school at home again…

Eventually we got into a really good rhythm… learning went from forced to spontaneous and we began introducing much loved Montessori materials, which I was trained in presenting.

The once 5 year old turned 7. You might say well that’s great, but don’t turn your back on schools! What about socialisation?

Through the broad range of home educating families we were developing a network of playdates and playmates for her, her younger brother and her mum! Together there were some 25 people we had regular contact with. Four of those children she had known through the Montessori preschool and one of those was starting at a local school after home educating for some time. The school would hopefully start a Montessori Class! 1 year of normal class then onto a Montessori class WITH her best mate! Too good to be true. It was not without risk. If the class didn’t go ahead at the end of the year would she stay at school? Would she go back to home education and have to become an independent learner all over again? What about Socialisation? She had SO MANY friends that she would hardly see and her memories of children being bossy in schools was still there.

We found out the best friend was moving and the Montessori class would never begin. After such a negative memory of schools we discussed the pros and cons and then she made her choice.

For a year she went to school. She turned 8. She was often frustrated with the fickle nature of friendships made and broken over slights and misunderstandings. She was also frustrated over the immature nature of the children, perpetuated by teachers who made choices over what the children learnt, when and for how long. Programs that sounded exciting were segregated up according to age so that some children played drums for the whole year of performing arts while others got more varied instruments.

Scientific experiments while exciting were rare and given as a display… too many children for each to have a go… easier for no-one to have a go.

I never chose for my daughter to stay home and be schooled. I never chose for her to not go to school. I chose to respect that it was my own choice to have my two children so my life must be about honouring their lives: To be the mother they need and want, to be loving, responsible, kind, caring and courageous for them.

Both of my children have now chosen NOT to attend a school. They will always be free to change their minds but their minds are currently fixed. They have several reasons for this, here are a few.

  • They want to learn and you don’t get as much time to learn what you are interested in in a classroom
  • Teachers always tell you how to behave but people know how to behave when they are with their friends and family… you learn manners from each other and it’s more gentle for young children then being yelled at.
  • Children who don’t go to school get more time to be out and about and learn how to be part of the community. We get time to talk about lots of stuff with heaps of people; in shops, at parks, with friends and their parents and their brothers and sisters. You get to talk more and it helps you to grow to be more aware of other people’s thoughts and feelings
  • If you really want to lean something you can learn it right away. It’s easier to learn things when you are interested in it. At school you have to learn what the teacher wants you to know and everyone is hurrying up to be the fastest one finished the work. It’s not really as good for learning.
  • When you learn something and understand it you can use it right away, like maths or knowing how to spell a word. At school you have to do the same work over and over again and you end up getting bored of it. Also you can forget to use it in real life. It’s much better to learn how to do something and then just use it! Worksheets with the same questions on them are not as good as learning it in real life.
So I set up a learning space in the house, use some common values that we have discussed together and agreed upon, organise for sports, science, art, music, nature, playdates, excursions, library visits and other outside the home activities, spend time with them discussing what they are interested in and supporting them in every way I can. I read the board of studies requirements and observe that they naturally learn most of it themselves! When they don’t I point out what still needs to be covered and we discuss the subject, Google for information, a game or what other relevant and interesting way to learn that information or skill and then they have finished what ‘the other children are doing in schools’… well what subjects they cover. Usually it takes about a third of one year to do a whole years work learning this way. Still they are attentive to learning on average 45 hours per week, although they are required to only do 25 hours. Apparently in schools children have on average 90 minutes of quality learning per day… 
It’s not stressful, it’s a privilege that they want me to be part of their lives and this time moves fast. To watch them learn everyday and become more confident, willing and able to be themselves is nothing short of amazing! I mean, I chose to have them but they choose to love me and all because I respect them and put their needs in the forefront of my choices. I don’t ‘homeschool’ them… I house their bodies but not their minds! They are self educating beings driven by their own curiosity and passions. My dd is obsessed with reading and science and my ds loves to create buildings, machines and factories in his mind, on paper, on the computer, with lego, with math materials… with the cat if he stays still long enough!
They are learning from within themselves that their desire to learn has a theme and they match that theme to the world around them, bringing their imagination to it, watching how others have created and discovered ideas and solutions; learning about scientists, architects, authors and engineers. They learn about the childhood’s of these creators, what they thought about and felt, what other things they were interested in and how their life’s work made a difference to others. They know that a small child playing with crayons can be the making of a designer, a small scale home movie can teach you something, just be a fun activity, can entertain others or be be a Tropfest junior entry!
No… I don’t see why ANYONE would ‘homeschool’ either! Keeping them indoors and making them do worksheets from 9-3? Actually… I don’t know anyone who DOES do that!

What did you do this July holidays?

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Welcome to the wonderful world of Plasticine!

M was very industrious today making more objects for mini pretend play with her 6 year old brother. She is a wonderful leader and they have had a very happy, fun filled first day back at ‘school’.

Along with this we also covered telling the time, reading and M also converted fractions to decimals and decimals to percentages. D put a load of washing on while M put away the dishes (that was their ’2pm job for the house’ which has really helped me to keep on top of things as well as including them in maintaining their own space).

Before we launch into a very studious Term I thought I’d share some images from what we’ve been up to this past two weeks. Cold and wet wintery days mostly but we managed to squeeze out some sunny days to go to Town Hall to soak up a Choir concert and then run around in pure excitement,

eat healthy bananas (see the long hair! I’ll save you that drama!) needless to say my fussy eater can handle having to eat bananas to make up for not eating other healthy food… he lives mostly on vegemite sandwiches!

Also during the two week break we got to climb in the Tree Tops, go to the beach, climb a net at Joeys, attend a family wedding, catch up with two very special mates and travel down to Sydney by train with some equally special mates to see Disney on Ice at the Acer Stadium where the 2000 Sydney Olympics was held! D even got wet running under the waterfall that used to be the lit ring of fire during the games.

M blindfolded walking around the circuit… amazing!
Can you see how proud M is of D… their relationship is WONDERFUL!

We’ve really missed our mates… watching M and D so effortlessly slip back into their very easy friendships was inspirational to say the least… real friends really are the ones you don’t HAVE to see all the time, but when you do… ahhh it’s golden!

 
He did it!!! Go you Joey you!!!
 and then he did it again, and again and again!!!!
D has really transformed since turning 6 years of age… it’s reminded me of what Maria Montessori wrote about each age and the transformations that occur at the end and the beginning of each 3 year period. As he is moving from the Absorbent Mind to a more Reasoning Mind we are seeing  how beautifully his personality is remaining intact. I felt the same when M turned 6, taking many photos of her at that age too! Such a happy age for both of them. The only significant difference is that D has no desire to attend school, whereas his sister wanted to try Kindergarten at the age of 4 3/4 years. By the time she was six we were exclusively unschooling her at home (her and I). We’ve continued to ‘work together’ as really it’s more about her education than my experience teaching. She asked me to send her to school, to then home educate her, then to another school and then home again. I did send her to a very good local primary school for a whole year however that only strengthened her resolve to self-educate and use me as a resource. I’m VERY happy to do that for them both. D has had an easier time, knowing all along that he doesn’t want to attend a school. He’s very happy within his family, friends and larger social group and is free to learn how he wants, when he wants.
D is a reluctant reader still but is almost there! He is beginning to decode words and guess what they might say… today we played a quick 5 minute game of ‘eye spy’ where I said “I spy with my little eye, something in this room and it’s a…” then I would write the word on our white board we have in the kitchen… here is a picture of it that I took in Term 1 while M and I were brainstorming a story/script/movie/animation.
  
After being able to work out…   
banana, apple, fridge, pot, rug, bottle, floor, his confidence really shot up…
back to the holiday news!

Three hours on the train down to Sydney, it was the first ever train trip for the youngest one!
The Incredibles with Micky and all of the crew!
 

D and yet another mate watching from our very special ‘suite’. Having the chance to view this from our own balcony, with lunch in our room behind was VERY special!
The pirates were AWESOME!
Then it was off to play in the park before getting the train home. My Friend C and I took turns taking each of our collective four to the toilet! Four trips!!!

D had a blast going in and out of the massive fountain. On a cold winters day!
Tiny Timmy seemed to enjoy the 3 hours back home!
The very next day we attended  a very special wedding… after walking to the beach nearby to take in some air and rest from yet another long trip
I love the water… just seeing it eases me, slows my breathing, helps me to relax completely.
Congratulations to a lovely couple, a wonderful family and now part of my extended family.
Thank you for sharing your special day.
It’s been a very rewarding day and I’m so grateful to be home educating my children. I wonder what tomorrow will bring!?

End of Term 2

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Well we’re winding down to the end of another school term. While there are many people driving around, picking up their children from school or finishing up from work and plan to pick up their children from after school care, I know there will be discussions and phone calls to book children into holiday care programs, people taking time off work and grandparents having holiday time with their school aged grandchildren. Holidays are a very busy time for most people. The two weeks off for our winter break, here in Australia, will mean the roads will be filled with more cars containing more children than usual, shops will be full of people between 9am and 3pm as well as there being ‘more things to do’ at the Art Galleries and Museums etc.

Holidays are a quiet time for most Home Educating families. There is a tendency to stay away from busy places and avoid the traffic. Sport activities are usually on break too
so there is ‘less’ to do with our children. If it wasn’t so bitterly cold we would probably be going camping or at least making day trips out of town to see some sights. As it happens we’ll be continuing on with our academic type of activities and reading a lot. M is busy borrowing and reading books for the MS Read-a-thon while D is really enjoying learning to read. We’ve just visited the local library and have borrowed many books, DVD’s and CD roms that will take care of the rest of the week’s literacy requirements!

On the way home from the library we stopped in at the shops. With mince on sale D could easily see that the higher the amount per kilo the higher the final price and the less mince you could afford. He was able to choose the best pre-packaged deal and both M and D completed the shopping themselves with the self-serve checkout.

Navigating around an already busy car-park we discussed how easy it is for drivers not to see children when reversing, people smoking cigarettes in public places where children are as well as looking forward to going home and getting into our projects. This week D doesn’t have Joeys but we do have a Cubs activity of ice-sledding with a pre-made slab of ice with some rope frozen in it. Should be fun to see the children using these to slide down the grassy hill! Following that we have a sleep over in the Scouts Hall and that will mark the official end of Term 2 for us.

Term 3 will see us doing more learning from everyday experiences, introducing MORE literacy and numeracy into our daily activities for D as well as working on our projects. Most of the learning M and D do is self directed, I just provide the materials and drive them to where they need to be. We all have our ongoing projects which keep us learning and concentrating on big concepts for sustained periods of time.

My current projects are
* GTD – re-reading for about the 7th time as well as listening to pod-casts based on Getting Things Done, by David Allen
*Music – I recently took my girls to see the Newcastle Conservatorium Choir and I’m now listening to more excellent quality singing … this may turn into a project of rejoining a choir, as I was involved with a Welch choir for a while.
*Writing – I’m reading more books about writing, specifically blogging but this project is one that doesn’t have a deadline. I’m quiet happy for this to remain a behind the scenes activity as really it is Home Educating that takes up my time, energy as well and gives me a most profound and satisfying sense of joy!

Watching my children naturally using their manners while playing with children they don’t know in a park when I know that their aged peers in schools would be unlikely to say “Excuse me, are you using this play equipment? I was wondering if I could use the swing please?” gives me chills! Firstly, it must seem strange that children of that age are using their manners but also the comments I get, especially from people over 50 is really enjoyable, especially for my children. They are taken seriously, they are respected, they are listened to by adults. They are ‘part of the community’ and are seen already as contributors of our community. There is no “wait until you’re in the ‘real world’ youngen” for them! They ARE in the ‘real world’, what ever that really means and they are involving themselves on a daily basis with people of varied backgrounds, of various ages and they are doing all of this not with a script or after having undergone some advanced social curriculum but as themselves, completely void of the deliberate interference of peer-pressure, social ridicule, misaligned learning, religious or intellectual dogma and without the need to ‘perform’ to an arbitrary standard that may or may not include rewards or punishments. They are free to be themselves and they are free to learn what they want, when they want. I do organise their activities and have a routine based on how best they learn and also when they are most alert (morning 3 hour work cycle, which is based on the Montessori Method) and also I limit the amount of computer and television that they watch, giving them both free time after 2pm to either work on their computers or watch some ABC kids tv.

As well we continue to enjoy play-dates and get-togethers with other Home Educating families! I’ve very fortunate to have a large social group of other families to interact with. During the holidays I hope to finish off some emails and letters to friends who are not local as well as see some of our school friends during the weekdays when they are usually away from their parents and other friends, who either go to other schools or Home Educate, like us.