How to Teach Reading Easily: Montessori Homeschooling Tips

Rachel Peachey
September 17, 2019
Blog / Education

Montessori homeschooling looks different for everyone. But one popular and common goal among Montessori homeschoolers is teaching reading. It’s a beloved part of the primary or 3-6-year-old curriculum and one area that I, like many other Montessori teachers, cherish. The beautiful sound pouches, the sandpaper letters, the moveable alphabet, the Montessori language curriculum for kindergarten aged children is amazing.

But, beyond the materials, as guides and parents, we must remember a few key Montessori ingredients. In my personal journey to teaching my kids to read, I’ve been reminded of them quite acutely. In this post, I’ll share how you can teach reading easily using the Montessori method and also share some of those key often forgotten nuggets of Montessori wisdom we mustn’t forget.

Follow the Child: The Secret to Reading Success

“Do you want to try writing some words with the letters?” I asked eagerly. Peanut had been working on letter sounds since the age of 3 and he could easily write a few words like “sam,” “sat”, and “cat”. But, it seemed he NEVER wanted to.

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Screen Time: What Would Montessori Say?

Little faces lit up by the glow of a screen. Chubby fingers adeptly swipe this way and that, choosing emojis, selecting videos, or maneuvering through apps.

Today’s world, full of devices in just about every home, is vastly different from what Maria Montessori knew over 100 years ago when she developed her education philosophy.

So, what would she have to say about this new addition to many children’s lives?

Many Montessorians swear off screens, claiming that they don’t fit in with the philosophy at all. Others welcome screens for children with open arms, believing that children must interact with technology from an early age in order to succeed in today’s world. Yet others take a more moderate approach, allowing some screen time for certain purposes, but limiting its use.

But, what would Montessori herself say?

Montessori: The Scientist

Before she became a teacher, Montessori was a doctor who followed the scientific method. In fact, that’s how she developed her philosophy in the first place: by carefully observing children.

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3 Ways to Do Montessori at Home

Rachel Peachey
May 15, 2019
Blog

You cringe as your kid pours milk in their bowl of cereal. Their arms wobble under the weight of the jug. As expected, a bit of milk splashes onto the table.

But, in a perfect demonstration of responsibility and independence, your little one grabs a cloth and wipes up the spill. Not only does your child demonstrate independence, but they also practice their motor skills when serving their own food and cleaning up.

This simple moment shows one way you can use Montessori principles in your home. Here are three other practical ways you can incorporate Montessori in your home, along with the principles they follow:

Offer Choices

In the Montessori classroom, children are allowed to choose their own work. This helps ensure that kids are motivated while working, making their efforts more effective. It also offers children the chance to practice decision-making skills, an important life lesson.

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How to Handle “Bad” Words with Your Kids

Rachel Peachey
February 5, 2019
Blog / Uncategorized

As soon as I heard the words “A la gran pu%#!” (the Spanish equivalent of “Holy Sh*&”), I wheeled around in shock. Had my ears deceived me? Could it be that my son had said that? From the looks on the other children’s faces, I knew I had heard correctly.

My immediate instinct was to giggle. After all, there was no way my 6-year-old had any idea what he was saying. He’d just started going to school the week before and had no doubt heard the new vocabulary word from one of his classmates. “Here we go…” I thought.

It’s normal to expect your child to come home with new behaviors and vocabulary once they go to school and start interacting with other kids. Now, it was my job to deal with it.

So, how did I deal with it? What’s an appropriate way to approach “bad” words in the spirit of Montessori parenting? Here’s how I approached the topic:

Bad Words: What Are They?

First, a note on “bad” words. I’m not an anti bad words person. I don’t use them myself, but I don’t mind if other people use them. For me, bad words are words that have very strong meanings that can also be considered rude and offensive by others.

Montessori believed in teaching grace and courtesy to children. Social skills are important! Without them, we can’t get along well with others, create friendships, help others and enjoy a sense of community. These are among the most important things in life!

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How to Keep Your Angry Mom (or Dad) in Check: 5 Strategies

Rachel Peachey
July 3, 2018
Blog

Maria Montessori, creator of the Montessori method, believed in the spiritual preparation of the teacher. We should be calm guides, ready to walk with our children through not only their academic learning but also through learning grace and courtesy. And of course, we are the main example to follow.

For parents, that seems like an impossible ideal, right? Between the spaghetti flinging, temper tantrums, mud-slinging, butt wiping, snack begging, whining and crankiness (of course there are some smiles in there!), you’d have to be a saint to stay calm in every moment. There are those days when things seem to run smoothly and you’re sure you could easily win a parenting trophy. But, as any parent knows, the next day is most likely to be the complete opposite and full of not so proud moments.

As flawed parents that we are, we are on a continuous journey of learning and improvement. Montessori’s observation that teachers and caretakers of children must prepare themselves spiritually and emotionally to do their work is spot on. We’re much better guides when we’ve prepared our spirits to be excellent models. To become better guides, we must seek out strategies that help us keep our anger, impatience, and frustration in check. But, also remember, it’s impossible to pour from an empty cup, so all of these strategies must be coupled with regular self-care and time for yourself.

How can you keep the angry mom or dad at bay? Here are a few tricks and strategies for helping you keep your calm:

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How to Respond to Defiant Behavior the Montessori Way

Rachel Peachey
March 27, 2018
Blog / Parenting

“No!” my five-year-old declared, “Cleaning up toys is boring.” He’s usually pretty helpful cleaning up his room and enjoys helping around the house, but sometimes he gets in a mood. When that happens, it can be tempting to turn his defiance into a power struggle. Should I force him into cleaning his room, using my power over him as his mother? It’s certainly tempting. But, what’s the Montessori way to approach defiance?

Here’s how we try to respond to defiance the Montessori way:

Show Empathy

Don’t we all feel frustrated or upset when we are faced with doing something we don’t really want to do? I know I don’t always feel like cleaning or doing work, but, I don’t always get to do exactly what I feel like doing. Sometimes I like to vent to my husband or friends about a task in front of me.

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Montessori Discipline At Home

Rachel Peachey
October 27, 2017
Blog

Parenting and discipline go together hand in hand. As parents, we must guide our children towards respectful behaviors and interactions with others. But boy is it tough! Creating a balance so that our children feel close to us, but also follow rules and respect boundaries is tricky. The Montessori philosophy offers a wonderful way to approach discipline in a loving way that meets both the children’s and parent’s needs.

This post is going to offer a basic explanation of Montessori discipline and examples of how you might use it. But, before we get to that, I want to take a moment to affirm ourselves as parents. Just about every parent that I know whether they are familiar with Montessori or not (myself included), struggles at times. Perhaps we have a philosophy and ideas for how we’d like to interact with our children and deal with discipline, but, man does life ever get in the way! Emotions, stress, overstimulation, extended family and more can make it seem impossible to stay on track. That doesn’t mean you’re failing! It doesn’t mean you can’t always try to improve either. What I’m getting at is that you should have confidence in yourself as a parent. Since the day you welcomed your child into your family, you became an expert in your child and your own parenting style.

That being said, let’s take a look at how you might make use of a Montessori discipline approach in the home:

Prevention

The child who concentrates is immensely happy. – Dr. Maria Montessori

The first step of Montessori discipline is avoiding the issues in the first place. Montessori noticed that children were happy when they were concentrating and had an opportunity to contribute to the classroom (or in this case, your home). That means that children need important work to do in the home that they’re interested in and excited about. Whether it’s practical life projects, an art center to enjoy, the ability to engage in a dance party or work in the garden, being busy is the antidote to poor behavior. Permitting independence is another essential part of the method.

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Montessori Math for Kindergarteners: Part 4 in a Series About How to Teach Your Child at Home

Rachel Peachey
March 6, 2017
Education

Montessori math for kindergarteners is an exciting world of impressive, well-developed manipulatives. This is a material intensive area of the curriculum and one that is often a bit intimidating for those who aren’t familiar with the materials.

We started out with very few of these materials in math, and so far are doing just fine. But, if my Peanut made this subject area his favorite, then I’d have a lot of work to do making more materials!

What did we start with?

Spindle Boxes – A Variation

The traditional Montessori math spindle boxes lay flat and use rounded sticks. But, with a lack of resources, we went ahead and made our very own set featuring toilet paper rolls and popsicle sticks! Simple, yet effective.

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Montessori Language for Kindergarteners: Part 3 in a Series About How to Teach Your Child at Home

Rachel Peachey
February 20, 2017
Education

Montessori language for kindergarteners is an addiction of mine. It’s one of my favorite things to have fun with, adding in new activities and shaking things up as much as possible. Lucky for me, Peanut loves it too! He’s been flowering, really showing interest in learning letter sounds and even starting to write them on his own.

To be honest, we started working on this months ago. You can see how we started learning the ABCs in this post here.

So, when I started homeschooling more officially, I knew Peanut would be into it. Here’s what I included to get started:

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Montessori Geography for Kindergarteners: Part 2 in a Series About How to Teach Your Child at Home

Rachel Peachey
February 9, 2017
Education

Montessori geography for kindergarteners is such fun! Kids love the hands-on approach to learning about their world. Montessori designed the primary or preschool program to help answer children’s questions about the world we live in.

Quick note – this is part 2 in a series about how to begin Montessori Homeschooling. Click here to see part 1!

Peanut has really enjoyed our first geography lessons. What did we start with?

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