WTD if your child is going to a good Montessori school and you still WTD EL

Next term my eldest DD is going to a very good MOntessori school and while i ma ecstatic that she is going Im really sad because I feel at a loss as to what to do in regard to her early learning because I still want to teach her stuff but I don’t want to over load her? Miss S will be going 3 days a week from 9-12 and she is tired when she gets home. So here is what she know

How to read in English at approx grade 1-2 level ( I have not done a reading assesment on her but she does fluent readers with 900 words easily)

  • Knows her numbers to 30 and can add numbers like 1+2, 29+1 etc etc now working on plus 2 and then moving on to numbers bigger than 30 with the kumon work books
    Is currently working on K-12 grade 1 spelling list we are currently on spelling list 5. She is zooming through.

Loves puzzles and can complete puzzles with little help with 25 pieces orr more (Providing they are floor puzzles) will not do small puzzles

  • Is writing and we are currently working on Kumon book Long vowels and she has approx 20 pages to go and then move on to writing words

  • We are currently moving through the Artistic Pursuits program
    Also working on practical life skills such as cleaning and cooking.
    [list] We also do yoga once a week and swimming

The question is where do I go from here. I would love to homeschool her but my Husband insists that they go to school, Luckily it is a Montessori school. I was thinking it is time to get really serious about Music and a second language. I was teaching her chinese but I know so little about the language and feel like I am in over my head that I just gave up. I do know some french from my school days so thought about a switch and music I know nothing about. What would are your suggestions?

How old is she?

I have one in Montessori and one starting next year.

We still do lots of work at home, and I probably will for many years.

For my oldest (4), I do

handwriting (he chooses usually, or I just lay something out…we have dot to dot and maze books, handwriting without tears kindergarten book and tools, tv teacher number beats and book, and kumon write and wipe letter and number cards)

Math (MathTacular DVD and associated games, home-made manipulative adding games, board games using two dice reinforce adding). I think an important thing to remember about math and montessori is that it’s a constructivist philosophy. The child handles the material over and over and over and then it’s in their head forever. And I do think it’s etched a little differently in a child’s mind than if they had only memorized facts after minimal manipulation of material. I’ve had a hard time finding the perfect supplement, so I mostly make my own. But, practical life math is good…cooking while talking about fractions, my kids always do math with their breakfast cereal (the oldest gets three bowls to manipulate his Kix in and a stack of addition flash cards to discover the answer…he made this up himself). We also have a large laminated 100 board on a wall ($2 at a teacher store) and he points while I count since he hasn’t mastered this yet. But we can also use it to make skip counting patterns, etc.

Reading: he reads to me everyday and I read to him everyday. I monitor his progress carefully and make sure he’s always stretching.

Spelling: we’re using All About Spelling 1 and I LOVE it.

Latin: Song School Latin, occasionally

Spanish: Whistlefritz, and just us attempting conversation in Spanish (he also gets it at school, and I only had 2 years in high school…we’re about the same level but his pronunciation is better).

Science: We’re reading Usborne Chemistry book and doing the associated experiments. He also watches bill nye, they might be giants videos, beakman’s world, and we go to a science museum weekly.

Geography: I show the kids a famous landmark every morning until they both know it, I also do this with other things (like Presidents and Animals, and our Van Gogh bits), we put a sticker on a state on our big map everyday and talk about that state.

Time/Date: we have a kids calendar and pocket chart to show analog and digital times and events of the day.

Vocabulary: we do a new word from Vocabulary Cartoons daily

History: we are listening to “Childrens History of the World” audiobook.

Critical Thinking: he’s going through Critical Thinking Skills:Primary from Critical Thinking Co

Practical life: Regular house life provides plenty. I make sure he puts things away as he goes (I rarely remind him now), he is in charge of his own things-makes his own bed, brings his lunch box to the kitchen to clear out and put in the dishwasher, helps with other various chores–all stages of laundry, sweeping and mopping, washing dishes, getting mail, etc.

Music: we are doing a slow composers study. If he’d allow it, he’d be taking an instrument class as well, but it has not worked out so far.

Some days, he is tired and we just watch educational videos or I just read aloud to him. I try to do handwriting everyday right after school while I prepare a snack (if he finishes quickly, he’ll help too), then we can sit at the table together and either do All About Spelling, Latin, or Chemistry. Some days I’ll skip it because I know he just can’t. Some days he begs for more. You’ll know.

For us, the two most important things have been to maintain his “put things away as he goes” like he does at school. It’s just (mostly) automatic now. My almost 2 year old is doing fairly well in this department too. And usually manipulatives in math (unless my child himself says the whole thing without…I am never the one to say let’s try it without).

Good luck! There is still lots you can do, you may just need to be more flexible. :slight_smile:

I forgot to add that I work everything around routines. Certain things at breakfast, in the car, after school, before/after an outing, before dinner, before desert, before bed. You get the picture. I don’t push, but we just do things routinely. If he isn’t feeling one thing, I switch it up (hence, why I have so many handwriting programs).

I love love love this post! I am in the same situation because my son has been in a good Montessori school. He is in Sr. preschool class and we are planning to keep him there until he goes to Grade 1. Then we would decide either to put him in the same school or a language immersion school.

Maquenzie, what you have been doing with your LOs is soooo amazing! Thanks for sharing lots of tips, ideas as well as tools.

I am still using LR to teach my son to read, phonics, and EK.
We just bought a German version of Rosetta stone and is planning to use it to teach him to speak German.
I also bought RS math and now we’ve started level A.

I try to set a routine so he knows what to do next. My son responses to schedule well so as long as I am consistent with the teaching routine, he’s okay with it. In the meantime, I also keep close eyes on him, look for signs of confusion, and make sure that he’s happy at school.

Elle

Macquenzie,

Thanks for the ideas.
How to you keep up with all this? I know some other moms manage curricula well too.
do you do all the subjects daily? My son goes to Montessori too and I teach him some at home, but I have not been able to come up with a good ‘schedule’ to do the subjects etc. I guess, I should go step wise instead of time wise (just thinking aloud).

Any ideas to keep up with ‘what you are teaching and what to teach next’ would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Shaman

Oh yeah, I totally don’t do all of that daily.

Before school is typically easier, and I do calendar/time schedule, vocabulary, geography, “EK” (landmarks, etc. Like I said above), and critical thinking daily before school.

I always have both kids read to me at dessert time every night, and then I read to them.

Those are the only sure things.

We frequently do handwriting and AAS, and the rest just gets fit in around our days when we can, if we can.

Like I said before, some days he’s just tired and we’ll cuddle up and watch educational videos or I read aloud.

Thanks for that Maquenzie,

I just need to sit down and hae a look at what I am doing. Miss S is drivingme up the wall lately soI need to engage her in more things. I also think she is ready for a more structured day. I hae not really structured my day much with her but I think it is definetly time. She just will not leave her younger sister alone at the moment and I need to keep her busy so Miss A can have some free time.

At home I am aiming to do as many Monte practical life skills as possible but I am a little concerned about having too much monte at home (ie equipment) because I want school to be an interesting place for her and not get there and go hmm I have that at home, I have that at home. I want her to engage in the materials at school.

I just want to keep up with EL because I really enjoy doing it with her.

Hi! I’d like to ask if someone was thinking about buying Montessori packages for home (at discount prices) I already found some online shop (from USA and one from China) someone knows the cheaper online store? and how much could it cost (shipping to Europe from China) I saw that all package (about 300 items) for sensorial, practical, math, language, botany, zoology, geography and others costs there about 5000 dollars, it’s not bad? As I’m non working and we can’t send our son to a private Montessori school I was thinkign to spare some money and buy Montessori materials. If you can give me some advice where to look thanks!

If I were going to Montessori homeschool, I’d get this package and add to it seasonally: http://www.montessori-home-schooling.com/

it looks fine but I was thinking about complete package (cover into elementary school) like this list:
http://www.montessorioutlet.com/cgi-bin/item/SP-0804/1001/Montessori-Outlet-Special-Offer-%234
but the price and the shipping is too much
I’ve found already this site:
http://www.montessoritoy.com/
but I have no idea if quality and all things is ok, someone has tried it?

Thanks Maquenzie :slight_smile: