Online Montessori & homeschool activities & e-mail consulting! Since 1998!

Lisa Nolan Montessori (formerly Montessori for the Earth) Home**Bookstore

 
Do you think [a Montessori] homeschooling program would work for me and my daughter? She's a bright child who loves learning, the only thing she lacks [is] personal responsibility for care of environment.

It is worth a try if that is where your heart is at and where your intuition is leading you! That's half the battle!

Can a homeschool mother with little training like me expect get from point zero to the Montessori method in a reasonable amount of time?

You are going in the right direction, just thinking about it and looking at all your options is a plus and you should stop and pat yourself in the back!
You are not losing time! What you want to do at the preschool and Kindergarten age is indirect preparation, through hands-on experiences.

If you can afford Montessori preschool for the next two years, that is good choice, and volunteering will also give your more understanding and experience!

In the mean time, the most important thing to do, and it will only take you a few days, is change your home environment. In Montessori, be it a classroom or home, the environment comes first. Then, and only then, after it is rearranged in "Montessori fashion" you can add some Montessori lessons/materials for home schooling or after schooling, including your outside environment.

How do I compliment the Montessori school program at home?

Set up a time to meet with your teacher(s). Tell them you are taking a Montessori distance learning course which includes philosophy and methodology... Ask how you can be CONSISTENT with the school program, including meals, clean up, putting things away, having toys arranged neatly on shelves at home like in the classroom, verbal and social skills they teach and how can you use the same terms/words. The key is to be consistent!

I am a mother of a 3.5 year old daughter and I want desperately for her to learn through the teachings and philosophies of Marie Montessori.  I would love to have her attend our local school but just cannot afford the tuition.  I can, however, afford one of the distance learning courses that I have researched  for teacher certification (not interested in teaching in a school though) and was willing to do so to teach my daughter until I found your site.

I am very interested in what you have to offer as an alternative to my original idea and I would appreciate your expert and honest opinion as to what I should do to afford my daughter the best education possible.

Should a mother who is willing to invest the time and money attend a distance learning course?  Or would it be truly beneficial for us to utilize your experience and expertise in this field?  I am not without an education as my backround is in Child Psychology (B.A) and Librarian Science (Masters degree).

However, I feel that I do not have the knowledge and experience that a Montessori professional who has been in the field for years has obtained.  No matter what "certifications" I earn I will never get the years of experience that you or anyone else who has been teaching this method has obtained in time to benefit my daughter.  I am sorry to be so long-winded in my message but I truly want the best for our daughter and would value an expert opinion.

Should I save my money and use your program?  Or should I take the time to educate myself to teach if I have no intentions of ever working in a traditional school?

Thank you for your e-mail, know that a lot of moms are in your position, but cannot afford any Montessori training--If I were to get Montessori training today I don't know that I could afford it!

I have been doing this since 1998 and have helped a lot of families and educators world wide--I don't do it for the money, it's not a lot anyway.... And I feel that in the seven years since I started, there are enough resources for Montessori homeschool on the Internet, including mine, to enable you to do it at home, without the training. And it's not the Montessori training, but the experience doing it (be it at home or in a class) that is valuable.

You could take a $2000 training course, and still be at a loss when you are ready to apply it. And Montessori training is really only valuable in that you would be working in Montessori school with an experienced teacher!

And since that is not your intention, it is not of value--does that make sense?

And yes, members are lucky in that they have someone (me) with 20 plus years of experience (and my director had 25 years of experience--that's 45 years total, and I'm not even including our co-teacher Lauren who taught at our school for over ten years!).

My advice is to first try it with the resources you have at hand, books you can read on Montessori, websites you can visit, Yahoo Groups you can join, the Montessori List Serv, there is SO MUCH out there, now! And if you so choose, my site as well.

I think of what mechanic guy friends tell you when you have trouble with your car, start with the least expensive solution and work up from there! Not at the other end!

If this were 1998, when I first started, I would have said, take the training! Back then, there were very few Montessori homeschool resources, let alone, affordable materials; now, even that has changed!

Hope this helps in your decision--it is the experience of doing it (even if it is at home with your child) that is valuable--no training can change that!

Best,

MEARTH
 

Continue reading: Whether to Montessori Homeschool (Part Two)