So, I mentioned a few weeks ago that I have become enamored with Montessori education. It started because it fit so well with my vision of what early childhood should be like–into the TJEd vision of Core Phase. The Core Phase curriculum should be right/wrong, good/bad, true/false, relationships with God and family–all experienced and internalized through work and play. Montessori taught that children need excercises in “practical life.” Things like dressing themselves, preparing food, cleaning, caring for their bodies, gardening, caring for pets…the list goes on. It creates self worth, confidence and independence. It is real work. Just what Core Phasers need. Child sized tools are essential so that little hands and bodies can easily master this work of everyday life.
In my reading, though, I read about all the modern Montessori excersizes of practical life: using spoons and tongs to transfer beads or pom-poms from one bowl to another, pouring activities, using bulb basters and eye droppers. I started feeling like I was short changing my kids by not having a array of handy gadgets. In my reasearch of the minute details of how Montessori philosophy is applied in modern Montessori schools I lost vision of the principles that had drawn me to the research in the first place.
The principle is that children learn by doing REAL things. It is in doing real work they learn the real lessons of living in a family and community, respecting their bodies, that everything we do has consequences.
Last week, while my kids were vacuuming and sweeping the floors with their child sized vacuum and brooms, I read Meg’s post on practical life. It got me thinking and examining my recent obsession with needing to obtain all these cutesy ‘things’ to really apply Montessori principles to my homeschool.
So, today, my kids dressed themselves then came downstairs to set the table for breakfast. Jonah and Logan unloaded the dishwasher together. Brenna made scrambled egg and cheese sandwiches on toasted bagels for us all for lunch. We’ve had a very Montessori day!
In applying Montessori practical life principles in our homes we do NOT need various tongs, tweezers and bowls. We need chairs to stand on so kids can help make meals. We need dishes in child-reachable places so they can do the dishes and set the table. We need to teach them to dress themselves and brush their teeth (and let them do it over and over if they feel the urge). We need real shoes with real shoe laces to tie and untie, tie and untie. We need real animals to feed and care for–real gardens to weed and harvest.
There is really no better place to learn the lessons of practical life than in the home. It can be hard sometimes as a homeschooling mom to feel like I need to be doing something more–like I need to be orchestrating things, demonstrating gadgets to enhance fine motor skills or something else academic sounding.
But I just need to remember that my kids need real experiences with real work–and real life is centered in my home.
Because I can’t bear to make a post without a photo, here’s proof my kids dressed themselves:)
