Time for a Pre-Reading Giveaway!
*********This contest has ended. Thanks to all who participated!***********
I’ve been thrilled with the response to the giveaways so far. I absolutely love reading your answers! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog.
This week’s giveaway consists of all the PDF files in the Pre-Reading materials. Files include Initial Consonant Blends, various matching cards, opposites, and more!
As usual, the giveaway will be open until Sunday night, with the winner (chosen at random) posted on Monday.
Just leave a comment sharing one lesson you’ve learned from Montessori. I will share mine first: I’ve learned that kids have an innate sense of the kind of work they need to do. That was not something I knew before Montessori.
Take it away!
While maybe this isn’t just specific to Montessori I have learned to examine the reasons behind behavior that I would normally just squash. Too often I have asked a child to stop what they are doing (for fear of them ruining something, hurting themself or another person etc.) and their curiosity is stopped as well. Instead I have learned to tell kids what they can do instead–”You can make a catapult over here with these things, let’s put the red rods back where they belong.”
Oh, yes, that’s so important. You can never be sure what a child is thinking just from observing their behavior. They are little scientists, always testing and experimenting
I have learned that when students have input into their learning plan, they will likely challenge themselves more than your original plan would.
Kids are much more capable than they may first appear!
When I went through my elementary Montessori coursework in math, (I’m rather embarrassed to say) I had an a-ha moment in which I really and fully comprehended long division for the first time.
I have learned to stop and watch my children. Just sitting there watching them. Before Montessori I was always jumping ahead of them. Trying to do it for them. So I have learned just to watch.
i’ve learned so much. i guess the biggest thing is to let my daughter try things on her own. i’ve allowed her to do that from the beginning, with the occasional gentle reminder to ask me if she needs help. she’s very independent & i love it!
I have come to realize that kids love to do things that I had previously found mundane. They have definitely brought those boring tasks back to life for me!
I am new to your blog and Montessori and love it, i can believe i miss the first giveway, but i will start posting my answers from now on, who knows. I am a mom, going to Montessori training, and LOVE IT so far. My kids go to Montessori school, and everyday is somethig new, is very exciting as a mom to see them blossom this way.
The thing i learn is that you need to let the child work alone and dont disturb the child to try to “help” if they are having trouble(in your eyes), let them ask for help if they need it. It is still hard for me as a mom to see my daugthers strugling with sometthing, my hands are always trying to reach them to help, but i keep reminding myself to stop this “bad” behavior, LOL. I lov your blog by the way.
Montessori has taught me that I shouldn’t let school get in the way of my children’s education. I am going to try homeschooling my three elementary aged children using an integrative approach that includes Montessori methods. I am thrilled to have found your blog. Thank you!
Ooohhh tough one as we have our second child in Montessori right now and everyday there are things I learn from Montessori as well as our children. The first thing I learned and it always amazes me is that our children are more capable of doing than I first thought or was taught to believe. I love to watch them every day.
I’ve learned to capture each child through literacy first, it’s what they already feel comfort with (at home), then using images from those books create, make, find works that connect back to it through the classroom.
I’ve learned, or rather had confirmed, how important these early years are.and how deeply they form us. As students I knew as 3s and 4 year olds are now college aged, I’m amazed at how clear some of their memories are of interactions with the materials and how that has stayed with them. The knobbed cylinders seem to kindle a strong memory!
one lesson I learned from Montessori is that the child can lead you to what he/she likes to learn and most of the time this sensitive period come unnoticed by parents.
The most important lesson I learnt (and the one I am still learning) is to respect the different ways in which children learn. There is usually no immediate and visible result when giving lessons, but the the child’s mind is absorbing all the new knowledge and stores it away. And then, after some time, there is a click. This moment is still magical to me, when you observe the child proudly applying his/her new skills for the first time. I guess that my most important lesson is to be patient and to trust the child, and the Montessori Method.
I’m learning that through work with children I am challenged every day to be a better, kinder, gentler, more humble human being. It is the easiest and most difficult work at the same time.
To trust my child – this is one of the most important lessons I’ve learned till far. Once again, a very difficult question, as there are so many lessons I learn from Montessori with every single day passing by.
I have learned that with the Montessori Curriculum there is not cap on what a child can learn. Regardless of the grade level or age if the child is comfortable with a skill s/he can advance to that skill.
I have learned to let go—to follow the child. In traditional teacher education the teacher is compared to an actor-performing, presenting, etc. The focus is on what comes from the teacher. In the Montessori environment it is not about me. It is about the child and by not hovering, not pushing, I am able to follow the child. And it is amazing where they lead!
I can only pick one thing?! I’ve learned so much from Montessori. Children do not need to be “taught”, they can teach themselves. They just need us to provide the right environment. Children are brilliant little beings!
I’ve learned to lighten up!! When i read a deliciously old copy of The Montessori Method, I realised that she had experiemented to get things right for the children she worked with. It made me see that I could flex and adapt to suit my children without worrying that I was diluting ‘the vision’ because the vision is just that… follow the child!!!
I teach in a toddler classroom 18 months to 3 yrs. I have been reviewing my teaching methods for this classroom to make every transtion smooth for these children!! I have come up with no trastions and do everything during the worktime of 8:30-11:30 . It has worked out wonderfully!!! My thought for this blog and the contest is : LOOK AT THE CHILD”
If a child need to jump let them jump do an activity that enhances this for them. I believe that if they are jumping, hopping, walking, summersault etc there is a need for them to do this, at that moment and we as teachers need to “FOLLOW THE CHILD”. We have an area where the children may come and do all kinds of activities there.
One of the many lessons I’ve learned is to slow down and give my children time to do things for themselves. I actually feel much calmer when I do this and not try to hurry them.
i learned that my kids have wonderful minds that have the infinite potential to explore
i have learned that children have their own special times when they are ready to learn something. no need to rush, they will get there~
My fave age has to be the infant/toddler stage, as such i have learnt that ‘analysis of movement’ is vital. I need to think of what i want to teach and then break that down into smaller, clear and concise steps. The child is then able to follow each step and therefore perfect the whole.
thanks for your generous heart! It has been heartwarming to read what each one is inspired by! dx
Montessori ASSISTS an inherent nature to learn. I’ve seen this in our second child who is not in Montessori yet. He already is transferring, on his own!
It also taught me to bring everything down to their level. Assist them to do everything on their own.
I discovered Montessori when I was searching for better ways to teach my oldest son. Montessori allowed him to focus, be self-driven, and remember in ways that traditional styles failed him. I have fallen in love with Montessori methods and am constantly learning better ways to teach all my children.
I learned that intense periods of concentration effect the child’s overall behavior. Children who learn to concentrate are better behaved, less-aggressive children overall.
My big learning is to trust children, we really don’t do that enough!
I’m SO inclined to jump in and help my kids out, sometimes before they even ask for help. Montessori is STILL teaching me to sit back, watch them, and let them try it for themselves without having me jump in and show them/do it for them!!
I’ve learned that children are capable of many things than don’t involve an adult. In a prepared environment, magic happens. Busy bodies make social connections. I hear “I did it”s & sparks of learning. All without an adult enlightening a child with knowledge.
I think you hit the nail on the head with your comment about the fact that they have an innate sense of what work they need to do. I never knew that or the fact that they will continue to do something over and over again to work on the process of the activity and not just to complete an activity. I would have been pushing my child in all the wrong directions with only one goal in mind: to finish. How sad would that have been! We would have missed out on the joy of the exploration.
The most rewarding lesson I have learnt from Montessori is that the spiritual life of the child can be nurtured and fed starting as young age of 3. As Maria Montessori said, the young child is naturally spiritual, moving easily between the concrete and the spiritual. The free choice, the hands on, and the independence the children are offered in the prepared environment mean they really love to slow down, learn about their faith, and learn how to pray (what I call the chidren’s prayer room, is formally known as the atrium) I have completed the 3-6 and 6-9 training in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (program of formation in the Christian faith and contemplative prayer). What I have learnt and have begun to do in this area has brought so much life and richness to my children, to our family and to the other Catholic children that have been coming to sessions I have been running.
Children will challenge eachother in learning, was the lesson from todays class. Each day we adults learn something from the children, if we take the time to listen and observe.
I have just found your blog and I love it! I have been teaching for many years, but only doing the Montessori teaching methods for 3 years. I love seeing how much information a young child can take in and use from day to day! I prefer the Montessori method because it seems to really enhance the child’s own desire for independence and internal growth. I seem to be teaching their parents more than I teach the children at times because the parents have the need to coddle and baby their children, and I am constantly reminding them that the more independent their children become, the happier and better adjusted they will be as adults! I love watching children’s faces when they master a “job” and the way they then are excited to “teach” someone else how to do that “job”. I think having multi-age classrooms versus the traditional classroom settings really helps perpetuate respect and compassion, patience and overall kindness within the class. It’s too bad more parents/teachers don’t realize the benefits of allowing children to teach what they have learned rather then just expecting them to be taught all the time.
I have learned that children are capable of much more than people realize, and that they are always learning.
The most important lesson I have learned is the importance providing opportunities in the earliest years of life. I like that thinking that the preschool years are more important than the university years!
I’ve learned to follow the lead of the child, the individual child. They are all so unique. There is no “normal”.