help with montessori kindergarten....

[Mandy]

A friend of mine is considering homeschooling her daughter in kindergarten before enrolling her in a Montessori charter school in her community for first grade. The school does not offer kindergarten at this time.

 

What suggestions would you have for this mom?

 

Thanks for your input,

Amanda

[...................]

I don't know a whole lot about Montessori but I know the dc are expected to work independently, often on little mats which they carry around and roll out, then they are expected to not interrupt others when they have their mats rolled out and are working on something.

 

Learning centers usually include things that are tactile, such as blocks, felt, cloth, lauri letters, etc. The things also are supposed to lend themselves well to self-directed play and learning.

 

Also I know there are tons of montessori homeschool items on ebay, pretty inexpensively. Montessori activities focus on independent learning and discovery with a minimum of teacher interaction. The teacher does interact and do some teaching, and most modern montessori schools have some circle time and story time.

 

There are yahoo groups devoted to montessori homeschool, and I think that would be the best place for your friend to start.

[Closeacademy]

I can post links for Motessori resources that I have found online.

 

http://www.montessorimaterials.org/ This site has a lot of free materials and links to articles.

 

http://www.montessoriforeveryone.com/ I love this site. It is like homeschool e-store but for Montessori.

 

http://newchildmontessori.com/ I found this site through the Link and it basically a seasonal curriculum that you can buy.

 

http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfsjy/mts/_link.htm This site has pictures and ideas on how to do Montessori.

 

http://www.michaelolaf.net/ This one has articles on Montessori education.

 

http://ebeth.typepad.com/serendipity/ This is a great blog that has ideas on using Montessori and Waldorf ideas to teach math, the alphabet and grammar.

 

Hope this helps.:)

[Dawn E]

Teaching Montessori in the Home: Preschool Years by Hainstock--This book is a great place to start.

 

Basic Montessori

This book is great and has the Montessori activities laid out in the same fashion as Montessori training manuals.

 

Workjobs...for Parents

This book has some great ideas for making your own materials. It is an older book, probably from the 70's by the pictures. You can find a used copy at Amazon or another site with used books. It is very useful, but I wouldn't pay more than 5 before shipping for it. Try to find it for less than this link.

 

Two more:

Montessori Play and Learn

How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way

 

She may want to get her a mat to use on the floor as a workspace when she is not doing table activities. This will help get her accustomed to using one every time she is on the floor. They unroll the mats, use them, then roll them up and put them back. Cycle of work is very important: pick an activity, work with the activity, place it back on the tray as you found it, place the tray back on the shelf where it was. I taught at a Montessori preschool for a couple of years while dh was in law school. PM me if you have any specific questions.

 

HTH,

Dawn

[Mandy]

nt

[Guest Lorna]

Maria Montessori's original books are a great place to go for inspiration.

I was inspired to home-educate by a woman who used Montessori to teach her children. The book is called 'Anything School Can Do You Can Do Better' by Maire Mullarney (terrible title I know, but an out-standing book). I had my friend read it and she decided to home-educate her children too. It is an atrocious price on Amazon sadly and out of print. I went onto read all of Maria Montessori's books and study for a qualification by distance- learning on her method. I didn't like 'Play and Learn' much. I find that many Montessori Schools cherry-pick ideas from the method and consequently miss the point of it and lose the benefits. Luckily Montessori's books are very readable.

Patience is very important. A child must be allowed to do as much as possible for themselves.