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I'm just wondering if anyone has had any experience homeschooling with the Montessori method. I am taking a course right now to learn how to teach it and I have all the albums and everything (for 2-6 right now.)

I am at the part where I have to start buying materials and I'm wondering what I should focus on buying first. I also don't really want to get all cheap stuff made in China (lead, etc.)

I have a limited budget, so I want to spend a little more on things that will be used a lot, but get cheaper stuff otherwise.

Also, if anyone has taught from ages 6-9, where did you get your albums? Did you go past 6-9? I haven't seen albums past 9.

Anyone have experiences with this?

Thought you'd be interested to know about this:

CPSC Announces New Lower Limit for Lead Content in Children's Products

Thank you! It is about time since over in Europe they have much stricter laws than we do here and have for awhile now.

I do use some of the Montessori method, but I found it difficult to use much of the Montessori equiptment because:

1) it is expensive!
2) My children used the equipment for such short time, they don't need many repetitions. It takes me longer to make or find it than it does for them to use it.

I'm still trying to figure out the solution, but I have found asking on the Monti forums less than helpful, because they either think I'm making it up or I get a lecture about them needing the repetitions to get it.

So we try to Montessori-Unschool. It seems to be ok so far!

I use the free online albums a bit - for what I do it isn't worth buying them.

This is exactly what I was afraid of. I am thinking of just trying to get whatever I can used and buy the other stuff cheap and try not to worry about lead or whatever.

How did your kids respond to the way the materials are taught / the structure / etc.?

To be honest, sometimes not well. Some aspects of it are set up that children have to not only understand but demonstrate mastery over a small part of something before they are shown the next step. It's too early to see how DS2 will respond to that but DS1 wasn't too pleased. So for example when presenting sandpaper numbers you were supposed to do three numbers at a time and wait for another day for the next, when they could name those three. Well DS kept askiing what the next one was. He was also disinclined to perform. He hated being 'tested' or put on the spot so he would pretend he didn't know something rather than attempt it. If I waited for him to demonstrate ,astery. I'd be waiting a long time.

So we went with a 'follow the child' philosophy. He was showing us what he needed, just not in the tradtitional way.

I know a lot of Montessorians would be offended, but that just didn't work for us. I wouldn't be following the child if I didn't accept that that isn't how his brain is wired!

We had a brief experience with a Montessori daycare/stage 1 when DD1 was 3.5yrs. It went VERY badly, in two weeks (part time) there damage was done that took 6 months to recover from. I always love the idea of Montessori, and love to think that we just encountered a bad example of Montessori in action, but so far every other Monty school or day care I have visited has set off the alarm bells. I am looking at another one next month, because the idea just seems so right, but am not hopeful.

The rigidity and prescriptiveness, and apparent assumption that the child has no skills or knowledge until it's taught and can only progress in a very linear step by step manner is just not my kids.

I look back at DDs orientation day and realise that I should have known then not to go ahead. Most of the tools that were out were too easy for DD and she wasn't interested. She wanted to look at a tray that had the numbers 0-5 on it but the teacher wouldn't let her because she wasn't ready for that yet (and didn't listen when I said she was definitely ready for that). Half an hour later, while doing another activity, the teacher did realise her mistake and let DD go back to the math activity. She demonstrated once (with very little verbalising) to pick up the correct number of sticks, put a red band around them and put them in the tray. DD then proceeded to try to pick up the correct number of sticks in one go with one hand, put the band around them and put them in the tray. Teacher then made a big fuss about her doing it wrong, grabbed DDs hands and physically directed her to put them back and then made this big dramatic play (still holding DDs hands like a puppet) of picking one stick up in the right hand and saying "ONE", passing it to the left hand and then picking up the next stick with the right hand and saying "TWO", passing it to the left hand and so on until she had 4, then the band then putting them down.

I pointed out to her that if she had wanted it done so precisely and prescriptively and that efficiently picking 4 sticks up to put in the 4 slot was unacceptable then she need to provide more instruction. To which she responded with a lecture than monty children learned to pay attention properly and do as they were taught. Uh. Yeah.

I have been told that Montessori schools should not be so rigid and it was a bad sample, which may well be the case (which is why I keep looking) but on the other hand it was a system developed for teaching delayed children self sufficiency, so being very spoon-fed, process orientated make sense - and is really not suitable for my kids.

But as Geomamma says I can't imagine any one material being used for long if we bought them for home. I wish I could homeschool in a monty preschool, or even my DDs preschool with their materials :-).

Wow. This is all a lot to think about and it is making me doubt my decision to do Montessori at home. I am afraid to invest in the materials.

Do you think it would have been better if your kids started with the materials waaay earlier? Would they have enjoyed pouring things back and forth endlessly from pitcher to pitcher?

I am sorry I wasn't clearer, my youngest is 17mths and I wish I had access to the space and materials of a good quality 3-4yr old preschool, Monty or otherwise, to play in with her now. She wants to be playing with peg boards and other fine motor type toys. So yes I think my kids would love Montessori materials younger than normal, but there is still the issue of not needing each one for long.

Sorry to make you doubt yourself, I'm sure you don't need that. I thought maybe if I gave you an idea of what I do it might help. I am trained as an elementary level teacher but not Montessori trained. I used to try to implement Montessori principles in my classroom as a teacher.

We always used "help me to do it myself" with my children. From a young age, my children fed themselves, served themselves, assisted with housework, were expected to help tidy after themselves, that sort of thing.

For practical life, we used lots of real things, modified to child sized if necessary. These have been the things that have got the most use. My 2.5 year old likes pouring activities for example. We didn't buy any special Montessori equiptment. Second hand shops were/are a good source of pitchers etc that I won't be heartbroken if they get broken. We also bought lots of 'kitchen gadgets' whenever I saw them, things like melon ballers or apple cutters. These are useful, and inexpensive.

We use a Montessori approach even if not specifically Montessori equipment. We have shelves of learning materials, and they have free choice over them, the children are supposed to pack away afterwards. We try to choose good quality materials but they are not necessarily Montessori.

My oldest DS did attend a Montessori playgroup, and that helped us to get the idea. It was also where I realised how short his interest in each material was! We stopped before the age limit when he outgrew what was in that room. I decided not to attend with my second because I felt I could provide the same at home, and I couldn't fnd anything for the older DS to do. There isn't a real Montessori school near us.

I make some sensory materials, and use substute materials (like MABs and cusinaire rods instead of the bead material.) I drool over some the geography materials, but I just can't justify the cost. I wish I could borrow or rent the material! I use ideas from the albums.

My DS is 5 and in most areas is definately into materials from the 6-9 age group.

I don't present material in quite the step by step way that is in the albums, even from a young age, my DS just got bored if I did!

Because of all this, I usually say we are Montessori Unschool, because we are more structured than a lot of unschoolers (and have more emphasis on self sufficency), but we are a lot less step-by-step than a lot of Montessori homeschoolers.

I found a lot of inspiration in the book "How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori way by Tim Seldin and the Micheal Olaf website

http://www.michaelolaf.com/JCcontents.html

I don't know if any of that is of any help, it is just what is currently working for us.