We took a little break from consistent classroom time in November and December, instead leaning into quality family time while Mark had a rare break. We took it slow, enjoyed lots of cuddles, lazy pajama days, staycation type exploring, and had plenty of time to be creative. Now that the holidays are mostly over, and … Read more
Even When It Means Home Grown Science Experiments Gianna loves experiments. LOVES them. She has ideas for creations and experiments all the time. Seriously. All. The. Time. Last week she was mixing shaving cream and water in a basket on her bedroom carpet. Yesterday, I walked into the kitchen to find that she had mixed … Read more
I love it when the seasons switch. I love, love, love preparing the environment of our classroom. I was blessed to be an assistant to an amazing Children’s House Guide years ago, and she showed me the incredible value that tweaking materials seasonally has on a child. Every season, she would swap out the baskets … Read more
“The exercises of practical life are formative activities, a work of adaptation to the environment. Such adaptation to the environment and efficient functioning therein is the very essence of a useful education.”-Maria Montessori If you walked into a Montessori classroom, you would see many children going about their work. Some would be doing counting, some … Read more
Sitting back and observing the child without intervening doesn’t come naturally to most adults, but it is a cornerstone of the Montessori method, and for me at least, the more I step back and watch my children as they work, the more I am amazed at what they discover. When they make their own discoveries, … Read more
“It follows that the child can only develop fully by means of experience on his environment. We call such experience “work”.”- Maria Montessori (The Absorbent Mind) First let me say that our children are incredibly blessed to have grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, and uncles who support their education and make homeschooling possible for our family. Our … Read more
Last night I found Gianna in the bathroom filling a candle with my skincare products and toothpaste. In a (rarer than I would like) moment of good parenting, I took a beat before speaking and instead of saying a sharp “Gianna Rose!”, I calmly sat down and said it looked like she was working on … Read more
Last year I was starting to feel very pinched in our little house. I was dying to introduce more Montessori into the kids’ lives, but we just didn’t have the space. One night as I was lamenting about this to Mark, he suggested turning part of our unfinished basement into a classroom. Every night for … Read more