flash cards??? what the??????

[vaw]

My son is in a public school montessori class, that over the school year I have come to terms with that it is not what I am calling pure/true Montessori.


But I sort of feel like this is even beyond the public school still has to meet state standards, etc


The teacher put on the weekly newsletter that they would like is to buy flashcards (they are $1 from walmart or target) and work with our kids each day. Even 2 mins can make a difference in their math knowledge . . .



Since when does Montessori encourage flashcards!!!

[MattBronsil]

Originally Posted by vaw

My son is in a public school montessori class, that over the school year I have come to terms with that it is not what I am calling pure/true Montessori.


But I sort of feel like this is even beyond the public school still has to meet state standards, etc


The teacher put on the weekly newsletter that they would like is to buy flashcards (they are $1 from walmart or target) and work with our kids each day. Even 2 mins can make a difference in their math knowledge . . .



Since when does Montessori encourage flashcards!!!

News to me. I learned math in Montessori by continually working with the materials. Then I would also have application in math other ways at home - cooking, etc.

[mtnhighmama]

My kids used all the materials, and did it in real life application, and we worked on flash cards too. I consider it just another version of a material, and as long as it's not the exclusive use of flashcards, but rather a supplement after mastery of the concept, I don't see how it hurts.

[snowmom5]

For some kids flash cards may work fine, but not for others. A couple of my kids are visual-spatial, right-brained learners, and it is thought that they learn anything better when there is meaning attached. Flash cards, used in the usual way, are known in particular for not being helpful for visual-spatial learners; "drill-and-kill," as in kill the desire to learn. So for some kids, I do think flash cards are a bad thing. I guess at least they're not doing them in the classroom. In addition, time pressure, like that attached to flash cards, often produces poor results with these types of learners. The tough part is that math facts in general are the type of things that visual-spatial learners have a hard time with - and dealing with that is something else entirely, but flash cards aren't the answer for them.

There may be other types of games to play with flash cards that aren't quite as detrimental to these types of learners, though I'm not sure how effective they might be (one example might be spreading the cards out on the table, and asking the child to pick out the ones they know the answer to; then the problems gradually get harder and harder, but it's important not to have time pressure).

that's my two cents on flash cards

[Lingmom]

For activities over the summer, my daughter's Montessori teacher suggested addition or multiplication fact flash cards. I love the focus in class on number sense and work that truly helps kids understand math, but a little memorization of multiplication facts can make life easier in the long run...

For me, I think I care more about whether a certain activity is beneficial for my child and less about whether that activity is*truly* Montessori... but I'm not really a purist by nature.

[BCFD]

I agree. We don't use flash cards in the manner where I sit my kids down and drill them with them. Sometimes I'll buy two sets and they match them, we do have some sight word flash cards and pocket chart inserts, but I haven't done much with them only because I don't want to drill them and flash cards in general seem boring. I'm trying to come up with a more exciting way to use them. They are just laying around our job area at home and from time to time I'll pull out a few and show them to DD1 (like for 1 or 2 minutes). She likes to "play teacher" and we sometimes use them for a quick "job". In general, I do not like having anything timed and I really hope I never see this happening in their school once we move them to a Montessori charter.

ETA: I just remember I did buy some number flash cards and we used them for counting objects so I didn't have to use our printer ink and laminator. We got them from the dollar store and they were just plain # cards (no Elmo or Dora), so I was looking at it more of a $ savings.

[OnTheBrink]

I volunteer one day a week in my daughter's 6-9 class and have noticed them using flashcards. They use it in pairs (two children) and it's some kind of game. I watched my daughter and her little friend doing it and they seemed to be having a good time. I'll have to ask her about that lesson.

I don't see anything wrong with flashcards at all. I'm a visual learner and flashcards have been helpful for me. As long as there are other ways to learn the same information, I don't have a problem with flashcards at all.