Why we chose Homeschool

When the kids started to approach school age my hubby and I started to talk about what we wanted to do as far as education. We knew we didn’t want to just put them in a school simply because we lived in that school district. It was important to both of us to really put thought into what suited our kids personalities and learning styles best.

 Growing up I moved around so often sometimes attending 3 or 4 different schools in a year. Not only was it difficult for me to make friends but I also found it hard to learn. Schools learn different curriculums at different times from city to city and state to state. I remember in 4^th grade going to one school where they were starting to learn their times tables and then several months later moving to a different school where they just finished their times tables leaving me not knowing any of them. I didn’t learn them till 7^th grade. Even though going to live with my dad from m7th grade to 12^th grade gave me more stability in my education and I went on to do very well in school, I feel I missed out on some of the most important parts of my education, the foundation for the Jr. High and High School years.

My hubby’s education was much more stable but he told me he still found himself bored by the 11^th grade. Because of his boredom he was starting to hang out with the wrong crowd, started doing poorly in school leading him to fail in the end. He later got his GED but to this day he still regrets not getting his diploma.

With such different education styles I thought for sure we would have different ideas as to where the kids would end up in school. It seems that somehow we learned the same lesson and agreed on and education style very quickly.

We had never heard of Montessori until we visited a friend who had a little girl who was getting ready to attend a Montessori school. She had a brochure on her counter and after I went through it and showed it to Nathan we knew we wanted to research more. Needless to say we researched our bums off; we visited countless Montessori schools and even hired a Montessori tutor to come into our home 3 days a week to see how the kids took to the Montessori style. I noticed that many Montessori schools were different since the majority of them in Arizona are privately owned and I didn’t like that. We want to have full control of their learning environment and we want them to have more one on one contact with the teacher but mostly we want to be as involved as we possibly can in their education. The best way for us to do that is to home school. So we now home school with a Montessori and child led learning curriculum.

WHAT IS MONTESSORI?

"I have studied the child. I have taken what the child has given me and expressed it and that is what is called the Montessori Method." Dr. Maria Montessori.

The Montessori Method is a way about thinking about who children are. It is a philosophy that respects the unique individuality of each child. Dr. Montessori believed in the worthiness, value and importance of children. Her method does not compare a child to norms or standards that are measured by traditional educational systems. It is founded on the belief that children should be free to succeed and learn without restriction or criticism.

It is also an approach to education that takes to heart the needs, talents, gifts, and special individuality of each child. It is a process that helps children learn in their own way at their own pace. The main concept of Montessori is to promote the joy of learning. This joy of learning develops a well adjusted person who has a purpose and direction in his or her life. Children, who experience the joy of learning, are happy, confident, fulfilled children. In essence, Montessori helps bring forth the gift of each child.

Another important skill it teaches is self-reliance and independence. It helps a child to become independent by teaching him or her life skills, which is called practical life. Montessori children learn to dress themselves, help cook, put their toys and clothes away and take an active part of their household, neighborhood and school.

Montessori works in a methodical way. Each step in the process leads to the next level of learning. When a child plays, he or she is learning concepts for abstract learning. Repetition of activities is an integral part of this learning process.

For young children Montessori is a hand on approach to learning. It encourages children to develop their observation skills by doing many types of activities. These activities include use of the five senses, kinetic movement, spatial refinement, small and large motor skill coordination, and concrete knowledge that lead to later abstraction.

For a grade school child, Montessori encourages a child to proceed at his or her own pace onto abstract thinking, writing, reading, science, mathematics and most importantly, to absorb his or her culture and environment. Culture includes interaction with nature, art, music, religion, societal organizations and customs.

A Montessori teacher or instructor observes each child like a scientist, providing every child with an individual program for learning. Phoebe Child (Head of the Montessori trust in London) said "we must be prepared to wait patiently like a servant, to watch carefully like a scientist, and to understand through love and wonder like a saint."

Most of all, Montessori wanted to help free a child's mind to be unfettered to learn without any negative input. It is success oriented in that almost everything is self-teaching and self-correcting. The children learn by doing and by experimentation. The environment is specifically prepared for the children to allow them to interact with it freely and unfettered, everything is child sized, and safe for children to touch and use. In fact, Dr. Montessori called her center "The Children's House".

The main goal of Montessori is to provide a stimulating, child oriented environment that children can explore, touch, and learn without fear. An understanding parent or teacher is a large part of this child's world. The end result is to encourage life long learning, the joy of learning, and happiness about one's path and purpose in life.

Montessori education is characterized by an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural physiological development. Although a range of practices exists under the name "Montessori", the Association Montessori International (AMI) and the American Montessori Society (AMS) cite these elements as essential:

§  Mixed age classrooms, with classrooms for children aged 2½ or 3 to 6 years old by far the most common

§  Student choice of activity from within a prescribed range of options

§  Uninterrupted blocks of work time

§  A  Constructivism or "discovery" model, where students learn concepts from working with materials, rather than by direct instruction

§  Specialized educational materials developed by Montessori and her collaborators

In addition, many Montessori schools design their programs with reference to Montessori’s model of human development from her published works, and use pedagogy, lessons, and materials introduced in teacher training derived from courses presented by Montessori during her lifetime

Human tendencies

Montessori saw universal, innate characteristics in human psychology which her son and collaborator Mario Montessori identified as "human tendencies" in 1957. There is some debate about the exact list, but the following are clearly identified

§  Self-preservation

§  Orientation to the environment

§  Order

§  Exploration

§  Communication

§  Work, also described as "purposeful activity"

§  Manipulation of the environment

§  Exactness

§  Repetition

§  Abstraction

§  Self-perfection

§  The "mathematical mind"

In the Montessori approach, these human tendencies are seen as driving behavior in every stage of development, and education should respond to and facilitate their expression.

Prepared environment

Montessori's education method called for free activity within a "prepared environment", meaning an educational environment tailored to basic human characteristics and to the specific characteristics of children at different ages. The function of the environment is to allow the child to develop independence in all areas according to his or her inner psychological directives. In addition to offering access to the Montessori materials appropriate to the age of the children, the environment should exhibit the following characteristics

§  Construction in proportion to the child and his/her needs

§  Beauty and harmony, cleanliness of environment

§  Order

§  An arrangement that facilitates movement and activity

§  Limitation of materials, so that only material that supports the child's development is included

Throughout this blog I will be sharing any ideas, DIY education tools, crafts that we do, recipes, field trips and how we have set up our home to suit our kids Montessori needs.