Late harvest

Sean attended a summer camp this year. Not sure we will do it again, but that's another story for another post.
There was a bit of gardening and composting at camp, and Sean has loved gardening since he was really tiny. I think I have a picture of him with a watering can before he turned 2 years old.
Sean brought home four tiny plants from camp this summer, which we planted in our little garden. He didn't remember what they were, and I couldn't tell by looking at them. A couple of months ago we realized two of them were chard. I had never eaten chard so I had to do some research to see what to do with it.
It has been raining for days, some days constantly, and in a downpour. Sean mentioned the chard last night, and we decided if it wasn't raining today it would be a good day to harvest. Now for deciding how to eat it...

Some extra change and a few tips

We live in a part of the country that is a bit more open to homeschooling, but there are still looks, stares, and the occasional condescending tone of "Oh, is school OUT today?" And when we say we homeschool, there's that, "Ooh. Wow, I couldn't do it."

Recently I went to get my hair cut. I first went to a salon school, because it is so affordable. But the wait was way too long, and they wouldn't let Sean come back and sit with me while I got my hair cut. We went to a different place, at the Mall. I hated the thought of paying that amount, but decided it was worth it. And I've had previous good experiences there.

The girl was probably early, early 20s, and she was really nice. In fact both of the ladies working that day were very nice, and let Sean sit in the vacant chair beside me. He had his book with him, and he was fine. When the conversation turned to school, and I told her we do homeschool, she didn't really react at all.

But when we got to the cash register, she said she was giving me the teacher discount, because hey, I was a teacher too!

I got 20 percent off!

Some days are just good.

Here are some Montessori tips:

I have come across a few more sites that are worth exploring for Montessori materials.

Wikisori.org has albums, teaching resources, etc. Some of it isn't strictly Montessori as far as I can tell, but as with anything, take what you like and leave the rest. They ask that you contribute, share and collaborate. I don't have a lot of time to make materials, or come up with much, so I don't expect to use it very much either. But for those who have the time and have things to share, I think it's a great idea.

I stumbled upon montessori-omi.org.  For those of us who, for whatever reason, cannot or choose not to homeschool with Montessori, the next best thing is a really good accredited Montessori school. Cost is always a factor. Take a look at montessori-omi.org. They offer scholarships, and I love the idea that more children could benefit from a Montessori education.

I was looking for a way to make a grammar box, and someone in a yahoo group directed me to this.

lifestylesystems.com. They have polystyrene drawer dividers that I think could do the trick, and they're not very expensive. I haven't bought them yet, so I can't vouch for it yet.

freemontessori.org is a great resource, as well as the many blogs that are out there. A lot of homeschool Montessori moms post downloadable three-part cards, etc. I'm finding that I get a LOT of stuff through blogs, and I get great ideas too.

I'm always looking for more 3-part cards, and other self-correcting work. I have found a lot of worksheets, etc. but I want to stay away from those as much as possible.

I love the people who can post photos of the kids working, but I find that it is very distracting for Sean. After reading more about Maria Montessori and her observations, it sounds as if what I'm doing is probably best. I help get him going by encouraging him to choose a work, then I get to my own work and try to silently check in once in a while.

We're still struggling with maintaining a work cycle and he still isn't using the materials very much. He prefers to read his reptile books, and he paints a lot. I told the "God with no hands," story in September, and we did some experiments that go along with that on the solid, liquid and gas. Yesterday I told "The Coming of Life," story. We looked at the timeline chart, and when I was finished with the story, I encouraged him to choose a work.

He decided to paint an amoeba.

Ah, those Montessori moments are so SWEET! Makes the whole month for me, and each time I think I'm just not doing this right and worry he isn't gaining anything from homeschool, I see that I'm worrying for nothing.

Godly Play is a hit

 Sean LOVES Godly Play. His comment when I picked him up that first Sunday morning was, "That wasn't long enough. We should stay there for six hours."
I took a peek at the room one day and it is very inviting and warm. I was impressed, and hoped Sean would enjoy it. I kept in mind that if he didn't enjoy it for some reason, we could always choose the regular classroom that is like a traditional school environment.
Looks like it will be Godly Play for this year at least.
Homeschool is going good. I'm learning a lot, as I'm not a Montessori trained teacher. Luckily, when I get a bit too "regular school teacherish," Sean reminds me.
This week he decided to make his own book. I pulled out paper and card stock for him, got the hole punch, etc. He watched for a minute and then said, "Mom, I have to tell you something. This looks more like it's your plan, and this is not what I had in mind. I have my own plan for the book."
Oops. I handed everything over to him and said, "I'm sorry. You are right. You should do this your way."
So he did. I suggested things he COULD do if he chose, such as include a little information about himself as the author.
What he did was similar to some things we've found in books he has gotten from the library that show the life stages of insects, etc. He drew snakes in various lengths to show their life stages.
Friday afternoon I asked him if he felt he had done enough work for the week. He said he didn't really think so, and that was why he was bringing two library books with him to his dad's for the weekend.

I'm reading two Montessori books right now that I wish I had read before. I recommend both.
"Montessori The Science Behind the Genius," by Agneline Stoll Lillard,  and "The Montessori Method," by Maria Montessori.
In my opinion, these are a must for anyone who wants their child to have a good education. Even if someone didn't choose Montessori, it is important to compare it with other educational models. The first title is important because it gives scientific findings that support Montessori's. Some of it is a bit dry for those who aren't really science people, but I find it all fascinating, having a psychology degree. It really is worth reading, even if you skim over some of the dry scientific stuff. It provides great examples of how choice really does lead to better learning, etc. and how a Montessori room is set up. What I've gotten from it so far is a feeling of relief. I was worried I didn't have enough materials for Sean to engage with, but what I'm reading is that the classroom is filled with materials for all age levels, so some children are not using some of the materials, and there are usually 20 + kids in the class, and only one of each material. So the choices are limited by design.
With only one child, I am seeing that one shelf unit with 3 levels is enough, and I will rotate the materials out when I see that he has mastered something or no longer uses it.
Interesting too the way the choice leads to more peace and less aggression.
I'm seeing some things I'm doing right, other things that I do are flawed, so I hope to fix those. I tend to say things like, "You need to do some of each work, so you have to choose some math and some language arts" or whatever the case may be. Instead, I'm seeing that I should say, "When do you plan to complete the language arts lesson. Can you tell me what day you are planning to do that?"
Wish I had known these things when I had my first two children.

Godly Play

I am so excited I can barely contain myself. Just a couple of weeks ago I was thinking about our church Sunday school and wishing there was a different way of teaching it. The reason I started thinking was because I received a call asking if I would teach again.  I said no to teaching this year because this is my first year of homeschool teaching and thought I would be overwhelmed. I've been a Sunday school teacher, and followed a curriculum and did what the book said, and it was fine. But after experiencing the Montessori way of learning academics, I wished there could be a Montessori way of learning about Christ and the Bible.
Well, I had no idea!
There is such a thing, and our church is starting Godly Play Sunday School this weekend!!! (There will also be traditional grades Sunday school.)
I am so excited for Sean.
And when I mentioned it to my friend Shane, she said her little boy Jacob-Joshua had been in a Godly Play Sunday school in Germany and she was looking for one here. She tried one in another city that didn't quite get it right, she said. So I think they are going to visit our church soon.
I feel like it is a validation for me in a way, on my decision to Montessori homeschool. Sean's academic and faith education will be based on the same philosophy of learning.
If you want more information about Godly Play check out this site.
Here is a description from our Sunday school letter:
The Godly Play classroom is designed so that children can use and explore everything in it. It is a safe, engaging and loving environment where what children say and do is valued and respected. The walls of the classroom are lined with shelves, each containing baskets of stories made out of beautiful, natural materials. Children are thus surrounded by the biblical story in the classroom.
And this:
During the "work" time children are invited to use the enrichment materials of the classroom to further explore the story. These include books, maps, and art materials, as well as the stories themselves. During this time, besides having fun, the children are linking up the religious language of the story with their own inner understanding, which helps them understand the story and makes it come alive. This makes sense, because in so doing they are entering into relationship with God--opening themselves to grace.

Beautiful words, beautiful work

After our work today, Sean said, "I am a very lucky person, I am so lucky." I agreed, and asked what he thought made him so lucky. He said: "Because I have so much work."
That is what he calls his school lessons, his work. And to be so happy to have work to do is a beautiful thing to me.
We recently received our box of beads. I was quite excited because the possibilities are endless with that box of materials. He already knows the value of each bead bar from his time in school. He decided to pull out a bunch of different bars and give me a math problem. He had a lot of 10 bars, and a few of each of the rest, all the way down to the unit beads.

I turned it into a math problem for him by asking him for help.  He finally realized he was counting by 10s and quickly had that up to 100. Then it got tricky again, until at 120 he realized he was counting by 10s again. But he also had 9 bars, so we weren't counting by 10s anymore. He had to start adding 9 to the numbers, then 8, and we stopped at 325. He cut up little pieces of paper that I called "tickets" to make it fun, and he did the addition and I wrote the number on the tickets to place next to the bars. 

I was surprised at how long he stuck with it. Toward the middle of the work he decided to go to his thinking spot and have me tell him the amount and how much to add to it. So he sat there with no visuals, and it took patience on both our parts to do it that way.

At dinner tonight he said it can be very challenging when you don't have your mom to help, but he thought he could probably do it on his own tomorrow.

We left everything where it was and he will continue the work tomorrow.

Yesterday we went to a Meetup Group of homeschool families. I always hear that homeschooled kids aren't socialized, and even worried about it myself when I first made this decision. That meeting was packed with parents and kids. I don't really think the socialization that takes place in most schools is very healthy anyway. I'll save that rant for another post.
Today we had a play date at the park with Shane (my friend) and Jacob-Joshua. They use the Waldorf curriculum for homeschool.
Sean and Jacob-Joshua had a great time playing for a couple of hours. The weather was perfect, the park was so nice, and I enjoyed the break and some adult conversation with Shane. It was nice to talk about something other than work for a little while.

We were ready to leave and they decided to pose for a goofy-face picture.

This was a favorite for a little while.

Thanks for coming out to play Shane and Jacob-Joshua. We both had a great time and enjoyed your company very much!

A beautiful thing

Our first few days of home learning proved to be a time of adjustment. As much for me as for Sean. I'm still trying to get the hang of a schedule.
I'm finding that the learning is fluid, and we don't have a set time to end it, but I'm definitely trying to encourage him to work on specific materials at certain times so we are sure to get those fundamental things in the day.
One of the Waldorf ideas I'm incorporating is finger knitting. Though Sean has had plenty of practical life materials at his Montessori school that strengthen the fingers and help hand-eye coordination, it doesn't hurt to continue with some fun work that also helps improve his writing skills.
I missed a great photo op when we went to our local yarn shop. We were out on an errand when Sean spotted the sign for the shop. I hesitated, because the yarn there is quite pricey and very high-end. But he was excited, so I prepared him and said we might not buy anything.
We touched a lot of very nice wool yarns, and I decided wool is what I wanted him to have anyway, so we did buy his choice. The photo op came when he got to wind the yarn into a ball with the machine there. I forgot that my memory card was still in the card reader, so maybe next time.
We watched a video on YouTube about finger knitting, and it was presented by a Waldorf mother/teacher and her son. We tried it, and once Sean started, he couldn't stop. The first thing he made was a short rope, and he decided it was a lizard with a long tail and tongue. He continued with the work last night, and in fact, it was the first thing he did this morning when he woke up. Last night he made a very long rope that he decided was a necklace, and he made me a shorter one to be used as a bracelet.
I am ecstatic. I have gotten so much joy from watching him take such delight in this work, and I love that he is so excited about it. He is thinking of making gifts for the family for Christmas.
I know it is so simple, but he is so proud of himself. To me, that is what it's all about. The fact that it also helps develop his hand muscles for writing is secondary.

First official first day

As with any new experience there will be a period of adjustment, but our first day of home learning went really well. I was very patient, expected some problems that really never arose, and we had a beautiful day of it. Mostly because I was very open and followed his lead.
I'm using past tense here, but the day has not ended for us yet. We still have banana bread to make which will incorporate reading, exploring liquids, and measurements.
Our big adventure was going outside to make observations and record what we saw, heard and felt. Right off we heard a cricket, found it, and Sean spent some time trying to track it down to catch for his bug container.
It alluded us, so we moved on to other things. We found a spider, and we also noted that the leaves are still on the trees, and are still green. Sean climbed the cherry tree looking for snakes, but didn't find any.
Our language lesson came in the form of a Fairy Tale. We talked about Hans Christian Andersen and I told Sean the story of "The Wicked Prince." While I told the story with handmade dolls that I whipped up at the last minute last night, he drew pictures on printing paper to go along with the story.

I know these look really crude, but I purposely made them crude so he could use his imagination. He decided the prince needed a scary face because he was so mean and tried to fight God. The white thing is the angel from the story.

So far, I realize, this isn't looking like a Montessori classroom day. And it wasn't. We practiced drawing straight lines, and curves, and the only Montessori material he used today was a calendar puzzle that I printed, cut up and he arranged in order.
I believe the Montessori idea is behind all of the activity he chose to do today, and to me that is the key to it. Allow the child to choose. Now when he got on the computer and wanted to research lizards, I allowed that, but when he clicked over to Cartoon Network, I said no. Freedom with limits.
As he adjusts to home being a work place as well as play place, I believe he will get busy on the materials.
I'm not big on TV, but we did watch a Mr. Rogers DVD and later he found the Math DVD I got from the library and he popped that in. It's on fractions, but he seemed intrigued by it.
We had to run an errand and be somewhere by 4 p.m. so unfortunately I had to interrupt him during a work he chose.  He cut pieces of paper in various shapes and used colored pencils to color different areas of the shapes. Not sure, but I think he may have been trying to make his own fractions boards.
He's taking a break and playing with his neighbor friend.
I know I will not have time to blog this every day, but hope to hit the highlights each week.
I need to fix dinner, and then do some research for tomorrow. (I also have some work to do for my JOB.) I believe we will begin with the study of North America for our first continent. Sean is fascinated with Corn Snakes, and they hail from my stomping grounds.