Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Setting up Montessori inspired homeschool

I think that a lot depends upon the child. My DD has never been very "tactile" in a large-motor sense, and has clearly always thought about things symbolically-- starting from as early as she could talk, she wanted to discuss abstract concepts, etc. Some of this was innate, and some of it was produced by a combination of factors that made it so that we had little choice but to alter her normal developmental impulses (to touch and pick things up, for example). She also had (has?) major sensory OE's such that slippery/slimey or rough textures are anathema.

So manipulatives simply didn't make much sense to her as models/proxies. She never really "got" sorting toys, either, for whatever that is worth, though she has excellent spatial/relational awareness anyway. We did do some large-motor stuff-- that's what I used the Peggy Kaye books for, developing games like letter lily-pads (made with painter's tape on our hardwood floors, which drove my poor DH insane, btw), number hopscotch with sidewalk chalk, that kind of thing.


DD had more or less learned phonemes and the mechanics of decoding as a method before we switched to CM methods from Montessori. Maybe that means that she learned to read at 4 and not closer to five like I'm recalling. Hm. We definitely didn't use flashcards with her-- she was not flash-card tolerant. LOL. She did like computer games like Reader Rabbit, and because of her aversion to manipulatives, we used them. IN no small part, this was because otherwise she talked with others NONSTOP. So it was kind of self-defense and a way to get 'quiet time' with her. There was virtually NO 'formal' instruction the way most people think about it. She just sort of... learned. I'm not sure how else to explain it. CM seemed to suit her curiosity and verbal tendencies better than methods that assumed written skills that she didn't have and wasn't ready for... but it allowed higher order thinking at younger ages, if that makes sense.

I have something that I copied from some Facebook page where people were talking about teaching Montessori math. I hate to just copy her advice without giving credit, but it's really good...


Also, if you're open to alternatives, a few people have recommended RightStart to me. It's developed by a Montessori teacher and uses an abacus.

Lilmisssunshine, thanks for posting that. It is helpful. Here are a couple of sites that may be helpful
http://www.montessori-home-schooling.com/montessori-homeschool-program/materials.aspx

http://vibrantwanderings.com/2012/11/setting-up-a-montessori-classroom-the-essential-materials.html

Mana, I agree 100% on the need to spend 1,000s of $ on montessori materials to learn basic stuff. I am thinking of just following the basic principles and creating a beautiful child sized room with natural materials and toys with maybe some carefully selected montessori materials. I want my child to continue to learn by just asking questions and being inquisitive. I did not sit her down to teach her math operations, adding negative number, or the concept of infinity. She just figured it out by thinking about it and asking questions when something didn't make sense. So I believe she needs my time and attention more than $$$ materials.

For my boys it would most certainly be a waste of $. They don't like to be taught anything. They learn by absorbing information and observing. DS4.9 first learned math from Vtech V.smile games and later got into higher math with Leapfrog Leappad games and DS3.2 went straight to the Leappad and now Kindle apps to learn math. As for reading DS4.9 isn't reading yet, just knows a lot of sight words but he has no interest in reading. I am pretty sure he would get it in a day or two if he actually wanted to. He's very ready, just unmotivated. DS3.2 self taught himself how to read. He loved watching Leapfrog, Super Why and Wordworld videos, knew phonetic sounds very early on and just figured it out. Actually spending money on learning material for them would truly be a waste. Unless it's video games they get for birthdays and other occasions. I do have a Dreambox and Ooka Island subscriptions for DS4.9 but he hasn't touched the computer in over a week. He loves both and loves computer games but takes days / weeks worth of breaks, which I'm happy about.

DS3.2 doesn't talk much yet and keeps to himself and learns mainly by observation but DS4.9 never stops talking and asking questions. Even when he's playing games, his mind is still going in 3 other directions just so he doesn't miss a thing.

So I would probably see what you can make or imitate for a lot less money than spend so much $ not knowing if it will be worth it??

Yes.

Do try out Peggy Kaye's two books, if you haven't looked at those. They mostly use free/super-cheap materials (if at all) or available surroundings, and my DD loved everything that we ever used out of those. She actually used to ASK to do some of those games, which-- if you knew my DD-- is astonishing, given how much she LOATHES drill-and-kill. They were just fun.

As for beads, etc... check out your local craft store and look into the Perler jumbo beads, or the Pony beads-- which come in a variety of sizes. My mom (and most teachers like her) also used pinto beans glued to popsicle sticks back in the day to teach numeracy. WAY cheaper than Cuisinaire rods. LOL.

The problem with purchasing very $$$$ items for teaching HG+ children using "official" materials?

Consider how many times they will actually USE those items.

Most PG children need only a single repetition to learn it inside-and-out-and-forever.

Then your $75 item has served its purpose and is of no additional use to you.

This also goes for things which take a ton of TIME to develop, by the way. I spent MONTHS carefully coloring/creating math center boxes from shoeboxes, file-folder board games for reading...

unfortunately, my DD used those items maybe 3-4 times at most. Twenty minutes or so each. In other words, her time engaged with the center/game was frequently less than MINE was in terms of labor invested in coloring, assembly, etc.

So true, HK. Your suggestions are really helping me as you have btdt. While I have no idea how gifted my child is, she doesn't seem to need repetition and can understand abstract concepts without concrete representation. However, she also enjoys manipulatives. She wants to touch, smell, observe, use her body all the time. So I am trying to create an environment which gives her a rich sensory experience. Based on your recommendation, I started doing more research on CM. I checked out a book by Catherine Levison from the library. Thanks again for your ideas.

I used an old dresser with good drawers on it and put all of our "educational" materials in there-- one drawer for 'art' materials, her smock, and a dropcloth; one for our dry-erase markers (which work great on windows, too, by the way, and kids find this DELIGHTFUL), pencils, manipulatives (gram cubes-- which are multipurpose and can be used as math sticks, calibrated weights, cm cubes, etc) and our balance, and one for paper and workbooks and more formal "school" stuff.

Later-- during our 'eclectic' phase of homeschooling, I also used a few plastic storage tubs (the smaller size like for shoes) to make theme boxes every few months. One was a fairy-tales box with puppets, scarves, small books, and a few other odds and ends. Other theme boxes included Time, Paper, Measurement, Rocks, and Magnets.

Bear in mind that my mom was a great resource that most parents don't have here, too-- she had 40y worth of accumulated prek through primary materials and a lot of expertise. She didn't understand gifted kids well, and PG ones not at all, but that is another matter.

LOL.

One of my favorite photos of DD from this time is of her laughing hysterically, dressed in her art smock, blowing bubbles into a solution with food coloring and stabilizer (probably gelatin) on a child-height table perched atop a plastic dropcloth (really a clearance bargain plastic tablecloth). She was SO happy. All it took was a large plastic bowl and a long straw (which, okay-- I cheated and used cellophane tape to MAKE one from two drinking straws). The original plan had been for her to take a sheet of newsprint and "preserve" her bubbles as a nice, marbled print... but she was fascinated by the BUBBLES themselves, and delighted herself for an hour or so with this activity. Long enough that I got the picture, anyway. She was about three.

I also allowed her to 'fingerpaint' with a can of shaving cream on that table, which was a great sensory experience for her.

So my essentials are:

sandtray (but you can easily improvise one with cornmeal and kitchen items from a thrift store)
Child-sized table and chairs
Easel-- ours had one side chalkboard, one side dry-erase board, and a place to attach paper.
child-sized (or at least small) household tools like a broom, etc.
Smock (or old adult teeshirts)
dropcloths (I liked the flannel-backed tablecloths because they were soakproof and nonskid-- plus, after any major holiday, they are also dirt cheap-- my kind of item!)
Painter's tape
a variety of different types of paper, adhesives, and art supplies.

The rest is pretty much all amenable to improvisation once you understand the purpose of the activity/item.

HowlerKarma, there should be a LIKE button next to your comment! Those are some great and inexpensive ideas!

Yeah-- it got LOADS better once I just accepted that most learning activities were one-time things with DD. That way, mentally, I could parse time/cost vs. benefit more realistically. I quickly learned not to pay more than a few dollars for something that didn't have at least 3 or 4 obvious uses.

I had to throw out the notions about repetition that most of those estimates are based upon, though. DD viewed activities that were repetitive as... well... challenges to her autonomy, basically. Which is weird, because she was happy enough to do what we asked of her most of the time. Just not when it came to educational activities that she felt she had already 'done' or 'seen.' So when a teacher's tip website would tell me that some item or activity was "used and used" to teach {concept}, I knew to be skeptical.