Author Topic: Activity and Montessori - some observations I've been making w/Natalie  (Read 1680 times)

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Offline deb

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As many of you know, Josie has been going to a Montessori school the past two years and is preparing for year #3 by being there ALL WEEK this week from 9-3!!!!! :D (hence my having time to be here while Nat naps LOL) I'm also going to be assisting (for PAY - remember PAY? ;D) in her school's new 2-year-old program this Fall, and I'm planning to get my Montessori certification next summer through a local program that's 8 intensive weeks (the inrony being that I'll need 8 weeks of child care b/c I won't be at home during the daytime from 8-5 for 8 weeks over the summer  :-\). Meanwhile I've been reading up and preparing and observing kids, especially my own.

My mother's helper gets a kick out of watching Natalie do repetitive things like climb up on a chair, then climb down immediately, only to climb up again and again, or take things out of a drawer, put them into a box, and then carefully replace them in the drawer, which she then closes, opens, and begins again. It looks almost obsessive-compulsive, but it's exactly the sort of learning Montessori writes about. Basically, when Natalie does this stuff, she's refining and ultimately perfecting her motions, her large- and small-motor skills, and her hand-eye coordination; other activities help her use other senses, like shaking different plastic bottles full of beads or pebbles or water for hearing and so on. In essence, the magnificent computer which is the brain is programming ITSELF. How COOL is that?!?!?!?  :D :D :D :D :D

And then in Montessori schools, at least the truly Montessori ones (the term is public domain and can legally be used by anyone  :-\), there are LOADS of different materials in a "prepared environment" (Montessori's term) where kids can familiarize themselves with what's available, get the activities themselves, DO them themselves (once they've been taught how), and put them AWAY themselves. I was skeptical about this, but now Natalie, at 14.5 months, likes to wip eup her spot at the table when she's done eating AND she'll bring her dish to the kitchen sink for me to wash once I get her down from her chair. Sometimes she'll eat at her own small table with her own child-sized chair she can get into and out of herself too! Natalie comes with me when I drop off Josie at school and makes herself right at home, and I can hardly wait to turn her loose in a 2-year-old classroom with new things for her to manipulate for 3 hours a day! :D

It's just so eye-opening for me to observe her behavior at such a young age looking through these Montessori glasses - I had to share. :)
« Last Edit: August 04, 2006, 18:32:11 pm by deb »

Offline Erin M

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Re: Activity and Montessori - some observations I've been making w/Natalie
« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2006, 17:10:06 pm »
Thanks Deb for sharing.
I've noticed how cool it is too in a "real" Montessori school how they carry that through all the grade levels too.

Offline Ennypen

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Re: Activity and Montessori - some observations I've been making w/Natalie
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2006, 12:50:50 pm »
Thats fascinating!

William does lots of things like this.. unloading the animals from his ark and putting them all back again.. getting up and down.. etc.. its really good to understand why he is doing it that way!

Thanks Deb!

Helen x

Offline Sylvia.

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Re: Activity and Montessori - some observations I've been making w/Natalie
« Reply #3 on: August 21, 2006, 03:43:14 am »
your girls are sooooooooooo lucky, i am keen on montessori schooling have been since teacher training many years ago, just not sure if we will be able to afford it for our girls, so very expensive, we will see, thanks for sharing, always interested