Our Montessori mornings
I wrote in one of my last posts, that one of the new things in our lives are Montessori play-mornings (for some reason we have named them Montessori mornings, I guess they happen in the morning, for us sleepyheads at least), that we have started together with a couple of friends/acquaintances, with whom we have met mostly through interest in Montessori. Yes, a year ago I didn't know any of them yet!
I have always thought that Adelaide is quite a social child, she seemed to like, when we met someone or visited someone, so much, that I thought I have to make sure that she gets enough of it. And so I said to my Montessori friend, whom we met, but rarely, as life gets in the way, that I would like to have regular play-dates, ideally in a Montessori spirit, where children could play together, get to know each other, learn to socialize, become friends eventually, and do all that in a Montessori-friendly environment, perhaps with some Montessori work offered to them as well (even though that was not my initial goal, as the children are still young, under 3, but eventually.. for the 3-6 age my dream always has been to have a homeschooling friend group, what they call a homeschooling co-op), and we, the parents, could use this time too, to discuss Montessori and parenting.
To my surprise, she was all for it! And we agreed almost immediately to start these meetings, and one of the main rules was, that they must be regular, we agreed on once a week, as children need a good routine in their lives. (And frankly, it's also easier to stick to it, if it's almost like a must-do, rather than something, that.. maybe.. might happen.. sometime. This proved true already this week, only after 3 times. We have had quite a busy week and I was a bit tired, almost eager to postpone the meeting.. But glad that it was in the plan and we didn't postpone! It was so worth it!)
We invited 3 more, who we have met through the small Estonian Montessori circles, and who we felt that might be interested in this, and they seemed happy to join. I think at the moment we have kind of a perfect amount, we couldn't include any more people, as it would get too crowded. Even though my friend's home in Tallinn, where we are having these mornings, is nice and spacious, it still feels like there's enough of us.
So, if everyone shows up, we have.. A 4-year-old, four children about Adelaide's age, meaning under 3-year-old's (Adelaide being the youngest of these), a 1-year-old and 3 babies (from which Jasmiina is the oldest)! Quite a party, isn't it? :) 8-9 children (as one can't always make it).
So far we have met 3 times, quite regularly even. We always have started the morning with children preparing a snack for themselves (a smoothie, chopped up fruit, but we're ready to move on to some more difficult recipes), while we are having a coffee ourselves. ;)
This is some beautiful Montessori practical life.
Then we have let the children to play and explore freely. There are some nice Montessori-friendly toys available. The friend, who's house it is, is the one with a 1 year old, so the things there are for that age, but they are found to be fun and interesting by all the children, no matter the age. She has some beautiful things for gross motor - like the Pikler triangle and the Rainbow rocker - which all the children love.
However, we were wondering, should we offer something more for them - either some organized activities from our side (not much of those, though, as in Montessori environment the children are mostly free to choose, what they want to do, and it's more child-led than adult-led), or at least - what toys or work should we offer them, so they would have some meaningful and interesting choices to engage in.
And! This is not even all. I have been lucky enough to find another Montessori mentor! :) (Apart from Aubrey, who is leading my homeschooling course.) Montessori society is amazing, globally, indeed! People, who have been captured by the amazing spirit of Montessori, are often so kind and generous and welcoming, and interested in helping and guiding others. So, funny story. Mr. Husband's work has turned out to be quite international lately, and he has met some of his international colleagues in real life a few times. Talking this and that at the dinner table, where he is, apparently, telling about me and our children, and how I'm at home with them, teaching them by the Montessori method.. Turns out, that one of his colleagues is the head of the board of one Montessori school in USA, that he has had his children attending the school, and is a passionate advocate for Montessori education. He was so thrilled to hear that someone in Estonia is interested in Montessori, and offered his help, any help, that we could use. Wow, right?
I was so thankful for this opportunity, but for a long time I didn't know, what to exactly do with it. But then, together with my Montessori friend, we figured, that it would be useful to just get a hang of a real Montessori-person, with an education, possibly working in this school, to meet-up through a voice call, ideally more than once, to ask any questions that we might have.
And now, thanks to this colleague of Mr. Husband, we have one! I have a mentor, who I already talked with once, and she is one of those amazingly kind and enthusiastically helpful Montessori people. She has a Montessori education particularly for the ages 0-3. An hour sure goes quickly, when talking about Montessori, but I asked her advice on our Montessori play-mornings, and already got some good one!
First of all, I got real live suggestions on what work could we offer, that would be interesting to all of these children of the various ages, that wouldn't be too dangerous or unavailable to anyone (of course, babies are off the list here, but they are just happy to explore the toys that are around there).
The answer was - practical life! Yes, it's something, that even the 1 year old wants to and can do (at least partly), but that is really interesting for the 2-3 year old's, and even the 4 year old.
Her first suggestion was, for example, watering a flower (or taking care of a plant) work. And I immediately decided to set it up for the next day.
I have not, almost ever, prepared a practical life work like this. Usually at our home, practical life is more just - the real, normal life, and Adelaide taking part in it, helping me. I don't set out practical life work as such, as a Montessori work, specially prepared. (Quite a long time ago I did maybe a few attempts.) So this was a first for me. I googled first for ideas and what other people have done, what I might need, I found the items the work will need - a tray, a small pitcher, a funnel, a small bowl, a sponge, a cloth for cleaning up. And a plant (which I bought specially for this). I thought it through - set the items on the tray in a logical, sequencing order, from left to right, placed neatly. I even played it out once myself before - how I'd get the pitcher and put the funnel on top of it, get the water, remove the funnel and place back on the tray, pour the water into the bowl, take the sponge and clean the leaves of the plant with it, first squeezing the excess water out from it, then water the plant, then take the bowl of the remaining water and pour it down the sink, and in the end wipe everything up, place the tray and the plant back in it's place.
Wow! That's quite many steps, isn't it? (This work also could include scissors to cut off any dried leafs of the plant, but all the children are not maybe familiar with scissors yet, so I left those out, also it seemed like enough already.) That's how Montessori work is - it has many very precise steps, that the child has to execute, and they are demonstrated very slowly in this order, so the child can remember them better and has a better chance at replicating the process himself. And that's why it's a bit different from casually taking some jug around the house and just watering the plants - that's great too, and that's what we have been doing! - but this kind of set work, where you have to concentrate on completing all these little steps, really helps children to perfect themselves, their skills and concentration. And they can repeat this work many times. (I guess we only have to switch the plants, or choose ones that really like to be watered. :D)
I prepared all this and almost couldn't sleep at night, feeling anxious, like before having to perform, because it really is performing - so much is up to me and my modelling! It's so important, how you do it - that you do it slowly and surely, carefully and gently, and do not use too many, if any!, words. (It's all about modelling and not distracting by talking, children observe and learn by observing, not by teaching them directly and verbally.) And I had never modeled like this to any other children besides my own, so I was really worried, how will it go and will I be able to be successful in this.
And - it. was. amazing. I almost want to stop here for a second and have a special moment. Because, I think.. We saw some real Montessori magic today. It's something special, that you can hear.. and read about.. but until you see it, you can't really believe it.
It might seem like - ok, some children watered a flower, what's the big deal?
But when you see with what attention (and a little bit of impatience, but still managing to wait) they wide-eyed follow my modelling.. And then immediately want to do it too. And then one child is so carefully repeating all the little actions, doing it like I did, deeply concentrating, following through all that has to be done (not perfectly! And we, adults, do all our best to not interrupt and not fix their little mistakes!), the other child simply watching, almost frozen from the wish to go next, and then the next one doing it.. And then the third.. It truly is amazing. It is something wonderful and almost unbelievable, that happens in the children during these moments. They perfect themselves and are doing the most important work.
I have always thought that Adelaide is quite a social child, she seemed to like, when we met someone or visited someone, so much, that I thought I have to make sure that she gets enough of it. And so I said to my Montessori friend, whom we met, but rarely, as life gets in the way, that I would like to have regular play-dates, ideally in a Montessori spirit, where children could play together, get to know each other, learn to socialize, become friends eventually, and do all that in a Montessori-friendly environment, perhaps with some Montessori work offered to them as well (even though that was not my initial goal, as the children are still young, under 3, but eventually.. for the 3-6 age my dream always has been to have a homeschooling friend group, what they call a homeschooling co-op), and we, the parents, could use this time too, to discuss Montessori and parenting.
To my surprise, she was all for it! And we agreed almost immediately to start these meetings, and one of the main rules was, that they must be regular, we agreed on once a week, as children need a good routine in their lives. (And frankly, it's also easier to stick to it, if it's almost like a must-do, rather than something, that.. maybe.. might happen.. sometime. This proved true already this week, only after 3 times. We have had quite a busy week and I was a bit tired, almost eager to postpone the meeting.. But glad that it was in the plan and we didn't postpone! It was so worth it!)
We invited 3 more, who we have met through the small Estonian Montessori circles, and who we felt that might be interested in this, and they seemed happy to join. I think at the moment we have kind of a perfect amount, we couldn't include any more people, as it would get too crowded. Even though my friend's home in Tallinn, where we are having these mornings, is nice and spacious, it still feels like there's enough of us.
So, if everyone shows up, we have.. A 4-year-old, four children about Adelaide's age, meaning under 3-year-old's (Adelaide being the youngest of these), a 1-year-old and 3 babies (from which Jasmiina is the oldest)! Quite a party, isn't it? :) 8-9 children (as one can't always make it).
So far we have met 3 times, quite regularly even. We always have started the morning with children preparing a snack for themselves (a smoothie, chopped up fruit, but we're ready to move on to some more difficult recipes), while we are having a coffee ourselves. ;)
This is some beautiful Montessori practical life.
Then we have let the children to play and explore freely. There are some nice Montessori-friendly toys available. The friend, who's house it is, is the one with a 1 year old, so the things there are for that age, but they are found to be fun and interesting by all the children, no matter the age. She has some beautiful things for gross motor - like the Pikler triangle and the Rainbow rocker - which all the children love.
However, we were wondering, should we offer something more for them - either some organized activities from our side (not much of those, though, as in Montessori environment the children are mostly free to choose, what they want to do, and it's more child-led than adult-led), or at least - what toys or work should we offer them, so they would have some meaningful and interesting choices to engage in.
And! This is not even all. I have been lucky enough to find another Montessori mentor! :) (Apart from Aubrey, who is leading my homeschooling course.) Montessori society is amazing, globally, indeed! People, who have been captured by the amazing spirit of Montessori, are often so kind and generous and welcoming, and interested in helping and guiding others. So, funny story. Mr. Husband's work has turned out to be quite international lately, and he has met some of his international colleagues in real life a few times. Talking this and that at the dinner table, where he is, apparently, telling about me and our children, and how I'm at home with them, teaching them by the Montessori method.. Turns out, that one of his colleagues is the head of the board of one Montessori school in USA, that he has had his children attending the school, and is a passionate advocate for Montessori education. He was so thrilled to hear that someone in Estonia is interested in Montessori, and offered his help, any help, that we could use. Wow, right?
I was so thankful for this opportunity, but for a long time I didn't know, what to exactly do with it. But then, together with my Montessori friend, we figured, that it would be useful to just get a hang of a real Montessori-person, with an education, possibly working in this school, to meet-up through a voice call, ideally more than once, to ask any questions that we might have.
And now, thanks to this colleague of Mr. Husband, we have one! I have a mentor, who I already talked with once, and she is one of those amazingly kind and enthusiastically helpful Montessori people. She has a Montessori education particularly for the ages 0-3. An hour sure goes quickly, when talking about Montessori, but I asked her advice on our Montessori play-mornings, and already got some good one!
First of all, I got real live suggestions on what work could we offer, that would be interesting to all of these children of the various ages, that wouldn't be too dangerous or unavailable to anyone (of course, babies are off the list here, but they are just happy to explore the toys that are around there).
The answer was - practical life! Yes, it's something, that even the 1 year old wants to and can do (at least partly), but that is really interesting for the 2-3 year old's, and even the 4 year old.
Her first suggestion was, for example, watering a flower (or taking care of a plant) work. And I immediately decided to set it up for the next day.
I have not, almost ever, prepared a practical life work like this. Usually at our home, practical life is more just - the real, normal life, and Adelaide taking part in it, helping me. I don't set out practical life work as such, as a Montessori work, specially prepared. (Quite a long time ago I did maybe a few attempts.) So this was a first for me. I googled first for ideas and what other people have done, what I might need, I found the items the work will need - a tray, a small pitcher, a funnel, a small bowl, a sponge, a cloth for cleaning up. And a plant (which I bought specially for this). I thought it through - set the items on the tray in a logical, sequencing order, from left to right, placed neatly. I even played it out once myself before - how I'd get the pitcher and put the funnel on top of it, get the water, remove the funnel and place back on the tray, pour the water into the bowl, take the sponge and clean the leaves of the plant with it, first squeezing the excess water out from it, then water the plant, then take the bowl of the remaining water and pour it down the sink, and in the end wipe everything up, place the tray and the plant back in it's place.
Wow! That's quite many steps, isn't it? (This work also could include scissors to cut off any dried leafs of the plant, but all the children are not maybe familiar with scissors yet, so I left those out, also it seemed like enough already.) That's how Montessori work is - it has many very precise steps, that the child has to execute, and they are demonstrated very slowly in this order, so the child can remember them better and has a better chance at replicating the process himself. And that's why it's a bit different from casually taking some jug around the house and just watering the plants - that's great too, and that's what we have been doing! - but this kind of set work, where you have to concentrate on completing all these little steps, really helps children to perfect themselves, their skills and concentration. And they can repeat this work many times. (I guess we only have to switch the plants, or choose ones that really like to be watered. :D)
I prepared all this and almost couldn't sleep at night, feeling anxious, like before having to perform, because it really is performing - so much is up to me and my modelling! It's so important, how you do it - that you do it slowly and surely, carefully and gently, and do not use too many, if any!, words. (It's all about modelling and not distracting by talking, children observe and learn by observing, not by teaching them directly and verbally.) And I had never modeled like this to any other children besides my own, so I was really worried, how will it go and will I be able to be successful in this.
And - it. was. amazing. I almost want to stop here for a second and have a special moment. Because, I think.. We saw some real Montessori magic today. It's something special, that you can hear.. and read about.. but until you see it, you can't really believe it.
It might seem like - ok, some children watered a flower, what's the big deal?
But when you see with what attention (and a little bit of impatience, but still managing to wait) they wide-eyed follow my modelling.. And then immediately want to do it too. And then one child is so carefully repeating all the little actions, doing it like I did, deeply concentrating, following through all that has to be done (not perfectly! And we, adults, do all our best to not interrupt and not fix their little mistakes!), the other child simply watching, almost frozen from the wish to go next, and then the next one doing it.. And then the third.. It truly is amazing. It is something wonderful and almost unbelievable, that happens in the children during these moments. They perfect themselves and are doing the most important work.
“The child becomes a person through work.” Maria MontessoriI can't wait to see, what more will happen, and I am in awe of Montessori, again.
Comments
Post a Comment