Confessions of a Montessori Mom

I have many questions regarding teaching cursive letters. My three-year-old son is in a Montessori school now. However, the teacher is using print letters for teaching him. I personally want my son to learn cursive letters because I know it has many advantages. I have discussed this with the teacher, but she insists on using print letters. Is my son going to be confused because his teacher is teaching printed letters (ball and stick) while I'm teaching cursive letters? Any disadvantages to my son? Also, how can I start? Developmentally, your three-year-old son might not show any interest in cursive letters, so, be careful. The cursive letters are very abstract, more so than print letters (stick and ball as they are often called). And also, cursive letters are taught for writing. And remember, writing comes BEFORE reading in Montessori. The window to begin writing is age four to five (and is highest usually at age 4 1/2 and is called "The Writing Explosion" in Mont...

How to talk with children is a lesson we all seem to need. Even as infants they learn from how and what we say to them. We are thrilled to have Simone Davies back with us to walk us through the How2Talk2Kids method of communicating with our children. It ’ s a pleasure to be back guest blogging here. I love the energy of this group and your passion and interest in incorporating Montessori into your homes. I ’ m exactly the same. When my children were born  (already 12 and 13 years ago!), I wanted to learn a different way to be with them. I didn’t want to force learning on them; I wanted to discover and explore the world together and guide them along the way. But I found my communication skills lacking. A repertoire of “good girl/good boy,” “what a great job,” or “don’t worry, it’s just a scratch” came flowing out of my mouth in the same way we had been raised by our parents. The words I used just didn’t seem to be consistent with the way I wanted to raise my kids, for ...

As a Montessori 3-6 and 6-9 trained teacher, I have a lot of respect for Waldorf education, even though I was drawn to (fell in love with!) Montessori at a young age (23). And as a Montessori teacher, I have recommended it for a few children (usually two students per year) who were graduating from our 3-6 classroom, because I (we) felt it was a better choice for those particular children. Their interests, or should I say passions, were not with the Montessori materials, and certainly not academics like phonics and simple math, but instead, they loved arts, crafts, practical life, the outdoors, and botany. One of the attributes I like about Waldorf is its sensitivity to the development of the WHOLE child: mind, body, and spirit. Also, there is a lot of emphasis on fine motor (like weaving, knitting, sewing), nature, cooking, playing, arts and crafts, large motor play, storytelling, poetry, songs, critical thinking, and literature. Speaking of large motor, children really benefit from ...

If I had to pick just one type of work to stock my practical life shelves with, it would be sewing. I am NOT an accomplished sewer. Actually, I think it has been over a year since I pulled out my sewing machine, and then I prefer to make clothing with elasticized waists. But, when it comes to the classroom, I think nothing beats handwork. Maria Montessori stated that the activities of practical life should be meaningful, looking around my classroom, I wanted to find activities that still had meaning for today’s children. Polishing is great, but how many children really see their parents polishing the silver place settings? Spooning, tonging, pouring, and the like are quickly mastered when we leave the lessons simple and isolated on the tray. What materials could we use that would appeal to the 3-year-old and remain enticing through age 6 or beyond? Sewing. A child’s engagement with practical life materials is what prepares him for later success in the classroom. These handwork acti...

"If Dr. Maria Montessori were alive, would she suggest baby sign language?" I used to ask myself that question a lot! I do not think she would be against it since she worked with handicapped and special needs children early on in her career. But I don’t think she would have included it into her infant toddler curriculum, either—just a hunch. I was opposed to it for my son, who has Down syndrome until I watched a DVD for parents of young children with Down syndrome. And it had to do with auditory skills. For example, if I were to say to my son, “juice,” he might hear “juh” or “u” or “s” but not “juice.” Now, let’s say I hold up a cup of his juice and I sign “juice,” he would understand me by seeing the sign and the juice, but he probably would not hear the word correctly. (It later turned out my son had hearing loss.) So now you sign to him “juice,” and he has a mental picture of “juice” and can sign it back. After I watched this DVD and they talked about sign lan...

The geoboard is one of the most beneficial materials in a Montessori classroom and at home. It is both a Practical Life activity and a Sensorial activity, depending on how you use it (present it to the child). Practical Life "All the practical life activities, in addition to improving hand-eye coordination and muscle control, are designed to increase the child's ability to concentrate [and to also go from left to right, and from top to bottom]." Montessori on a Limited Budget by Elvira Farrow and Carol Hill Practical Life Introduction from my Montessori training manual: "Exercises in Practical Life are given the greatest importance. Exercises in Practical Life help the child mainly in his efforts to adapt to his limited space, and his group, and to achieve independence. They answer his need expressed by "Let me do it by myself." They are excellent for the toddler old who is struggling to bring his psychic needs in accord with his physical development by de...

There are all sorts of reasons for bringing Montessori home. And there are all sorts of ways of doing it. There doesn't have to be   a divide between working moms and stay-at-home   moms (who are, of course, also working). There really are just moms, and we’re all just doing our best. Let’s have a bit of grace with each other (and ourselves), shall we? With that said, there are some practical differences.   Those of us who go out of the home to work have to focus our efforts on shorter time slots and more specific times of the day. There may not be as much time for themed trays and seasonal artwork, but there can be simplicity, respect, and a prepared environment. Here are a few ways we try to bring Montessori into our home: 1.  Focus on the environment.  Maybe you can’t give your child all of the time you’d like to, but you can prepare a space in the home that is his own. It doesn’t even have to be a lot of space. By creating a welcoming environment for the und...

I have a child in the class who just turned three. Very smart. His parents are bilingual. Repeats words, phrases, or sentences you say in the third person. He can sit down and do work but when he is done he would start screaming or running around the room wall to wall. Then would have a hard time going back to work. He has a fascination with fans and makes fans out of most of the materials. Recently he has been pulling hair in random no apparent reason and no show of emotions toward the child. Are these signs of something about the child or just simply a child lacking communication skills that will come soon. Thank s. "When he is done he would start screaming or running around the room wall to wall..." I suspect he gets away with not putting his belongings away at home, too, and uses tantrums to get his way. Ask for a good time to talk with the parents over the phone (try not to talk in front of the child) and find out what their child does when he is asked to put s...

In a Montessori environment, the study of a continent (for ages 3 to 6) entails introducing activities in Geography, Zoology, Botany, and Culture, to name a few. Today we are going to look at the continents of Arctica and Antarctica. When we think of these continents at both ends of the world, we think of ice and snow. So the very first day or week of activities to introduce to your home school or classroom environment are Sensorial activities and should include ice (and snow if you live near snow in wintertime). FYI: The links on this page were updated on 12/10/2023... The following are Arctic animals and ice cube and snowflake activities from the My Montessori Journey blog:  Snowflake Matching Cards Snowflake Cut and Paste booklets "Iceberg" Activity Arctic Animals Books Melt an Ice Cube Game Don't live near the snow? Try this "Make your own Fake sensory snow that feels real"  activity. The second day or week  the set of activities to introduce would be  Prac...

I get a lot of questions about how to do Montessori at home with infants and their toddler siblings. So I created a Montessori Infant and Sibling Series. This is part one. Questions How do I organize the workroom areas (where all the Montessori-related materials are going to be) including a two-year-old area (such as [an] art section, math section, etc.) and an 11-month-old area of the room? What about their bedrooms and the living room? Which room should I start with first? It's just overwhelming. Should I make up a daily schedule first, or organize (plan, shop, and display) all the materials first? And how do I decide what I should put on the shelves for each of my children? A Montessori infant and toddler school (and non-Montessori school) will have two classrooms, and the toddlers can be in the infant classroom (like before and after school like at daycare time) but the infants do not go in the toddler classroom. So you will have circle and or storytime and s...