Montessori Homeschoolers...

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When did you start "school"? I mean, at what age did you start setting aside a time to do Montessori activities instead of doing just practical life activities throught the day?

[lotusblossom9]

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[freistms]

Well we just started Montessori homeschooling, so I'm not sure if I'm the most qualified to answer this question (though my ODD has been in Montessori school for almost two years now). But my first thought was why would you do it any differently than you would in a Montessori classroom?

Montessori discussed the sensitive periods, and they don't really change just because a child is at home instead of in an institutional setting. You should be following your child's lead, but your child will probably be most interested in practical life and sensorial work around age 3 to 4. They generally become more interested in letters and numbers during second year (age 4 to 5), and continue those efforts during third year (age 5 to 6). Those ages are, of course, approximate and may vary significantly for different children. Also, Montessori geography and science are very much appropriate for young preschoolers, so there isn't any reason to avoid them with a three or four year old.

[IntuitiveJamie]

My son just turned 3 and we have begun setting aside time to do work. My 17 month old is also doing his version of work in his chair at the same time. It's pretty cute

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Originally Posted by takebirthback

My son just turned 3 and we have begun setting aside time to do work. My 17 month old is also doing his version of work in his chair at the same time. It's pretty cute

Thank you! That's exactly what I was looking for! How much time do you set aside, what time of day is it, how does it work into your daily routine (what do you do before, after), how do you separate the time for your son (how does he know it's "school" time)?

Thanks!!

[freistms]

Sorry, I misunderstood what you were asking.

We're doing school for two hours in the morning right now. We have a school room, so we go into that room for our school time. We usually start between 9 and 10 (after breakfast, a little bit of cartoons, getting dressed, and ready), and then go up to lunch time. This time is just for specific lessons. We incorporate other Montessori aspects into our whole day (care of self, care of environment activities, reading, plus DD is always working with writing in her notebook these days, and younger DD is always interested in art, too).

I think ideally school time would be 3 hours, based on the 3 hour work cycle, but my DDs don't seem interested in working for that long yet. Of course, we're not working with a full set of materials yet, either.

I guess we chose mornings because the girls had been in a Montessori classroom in the mornings for awhile, so it seems natural to them. Also, my little one still naps in the afternoons and is a grump when she wakes up. We'll probably start spending after-naptime afternoons outside as soon as it warms up a little.