Hello,
Late last month, I wrote a post stating that I will be returning to the classical liberal arts and classical education. After a long talk with my husband, we will be more Montessori focused. I know, I know, before you mind wonders and say, she is saying again she is changing methods. Again! Her poor children, they can't get a break. She can't stay with an educational approach and stick with it. Well, for those who don't know. Montessori's method IS actually a liberal arts approach.
Ave, our daughter, now seven (then five) working on Montessori Counting sticks (similiar to Cuiseniare rods) addition sheet.
What? Yes, Montessori method is a liberal arts/ classical approach to learning. Alot of her methods have been done and suggested before by Classical theologians before her and her time. Today's society is not aware that Montessori method of instruction of educational subjects are classical and liberal. We see her method of instruction, her material and witness how different her approach is to Traditional, i.e Jesuit education, Prussian education (public schools today), Modern Classical Models (TWTM, Classical Conversations, Memoria Press & Charlotte Mason) and Progressive, i.e, Froebel, Waldorf, annd Reggio Emilia, schooling and instruction. But if we take a step back and look more depth to her instructional approach, her materials and her writings, you will find that her approach wasn't new so to speak and most of what we call hers is actually borrowed and repackaged as her own. I will need to write up about this in another post. We have come to this road in our lifes because I was thinking about each educational approach I have come across. I wasn't satified because of what I have been observing from my own household. From this first sentence, I am already sounding like a Montessorian. Monessorians, observe their environment and their children, to "Follow the Child". (Enough of side note). The Montessori approach address every aspect of bringing up a child. Dr. Maria Montessori addresses the spiritual and religious points, intelligect and knowledge points, physical, dietary and disciplinary points as well. You cannot have one area cover with out the rest, to result in the True Authetic Montessori child, The New Child. I was trying my hardest not to go down this journey becuase I was concerned about Montessori and Theosophy ties. But I have no provide she was a Theosophist. She died a devout Roman Catholic and buried as A Roman Catholic.
Update: Late night, I was doing research and I came across a document I haven't seen before while reaching the subject/topic. This document was well resources and the woman's document has documented sources provided. Dr. Montessori was a Theosophist and applied for membership in 1917 after Anne Besant's speech, held at Casa mi Bambini, glowing remarks on Montessori work. Her application was later dropped but her original application was founded. Yet, the George Arundale new head of the Theosophy stated that Montessori wasn't an official member yet her application was approved. Membership date May 23, 1899. The date of dropped membership is unknown. She was over the Montessori department of the Theosophy society, by request after Anne Besant death. This is in WWII. She had read Blav. Writings which has prophesied Montessori school's future, 1889, with great detailed several years before Montessori began set up her school in the slum in Italy. She was impressed or moved by her reads due to the similarity between her writings and her own. With this findings, we will continue working through our Mater Amabilis Syllabus for this year. I will not seek any other approach. We will stay put with the Charlotte Mason approach. Thank you My Lord.
My children are drawn to Montessori and are doing things naturally that are described in her writings. This can be said by parents who follow Charlotte Mason approach. We have very little Montessori materials here in our home. In fact, we have to purchase all of her materials and AMI albums. I haven't been using her approach in our home or homeschooling journey consistantly. This year haven't been using her methods/approach at all. But, what most Montessorians have found is that their children are naturally doing the developmental activities Maria Montessori has observed of the children of Italy's slums of her time. And shared her discovery with the world through her educational approach and her writings.
It is because unknowingly to me and my husband we have natural and unconsciously created an environment for our children to natural gravitate to Montessori developmental activities. And this has been going on for awhile despite that fact that we are still remodeling and renovating our home we purchased 8 years ago. Why fight the current? Just go with it. Stubborn as stubborn does. You would have thought I would have learned by now.
Here is a few examples:
Our one year old loves pouring drinking liquids into drinking cups from its respective storage bottles or a pitcher. He has been going this for quite a while. I need to purchase a Montessori pouring activity for him, like yesterday. I will have to use our old Rubbermaid plastic pitcher and a mug we aren't using any longer to fill his needs.
He has also been picking up clothes, towels and pillowcases and putting them in the laundry pile or basket. I needs to get him his own laundry basket and go farther and get a Montessori laundry washing activity with dry rack. He also places dishes in the sink. Montessori dish washing activity any one? And he picking up trash and putting the trash in trash bags. He sweeps and wipes his own messes. Especially if his urinae still overs over his Bjorn potty's splash guard.
Our 1 year old, Immanuel writing O's and also scribbling. He has been writing like this before he turned 1 years old.
Our 1 year old, 15 months actually, about to lift up a 5 pound weight. He actually did lift up and carry more than once.
Our 5 year old, Peter likes to draw and color. He naturally took three plastic shapes from a Fisher Price Shape Sorter toy and traced the shapes and colored inside each shape he traced. He did this of his on accord without influence. With joy, like Montessori wrote about in her writings the joy in the child discover of writing in this age group, he show his father what he had done.
All of our older children love Cuisenaire rods (which is not Montessori by the Gattegno Math textbooks we use is very similar to Montessori math Approach. Dr. Gattegno was a Mathematician who underwent Montessori training and built from were her work left off, inadvertently.) More on this later. The homemade math facts exercise books, phonogram cards, and math facts tablets and answers, they love and can't get enough of it.
All three of our son sleep on floor beds. For those of you who don't know, floor beds are well known in Montessori community. Floor beds are used instead of cribs so babies can learn when the mattress ends. The baby is safe because he/she is close to the floor and if fall the baby well be not that far from floor/rug. Where as a baby in a crib falls there will be a greater result of injury. A crib baby will also need child proof rails when grown into a toddler bed. Yet, the floor bed baby would not needs child proof rails by time he/she sleeps in a toddler bed. It is because over the time the baby has been sleeping on a floor bed, the baby has been adapting his/her surroundings. Over time the baby has memorized where the bed ends and where the floor begins. Not all Montessori parent get a toddler bed for their toddlers. Floor beds are also a Louisiana Creole tradition, we know them as trundle beds. My generation knows what trundle beds are due to Pottery Barn kids bringing trundle beds back to Main stream attention.
I am not the only parent crossing the road of Classical education and Montessori and merging these two ideologies. The Walshes have used Montessori materials amd classical framework to educate their children. They have written a book and named it "Natural Structure". Countless mothers have questioned if mixing the two together can be done. And most of used used Montessori for their preschool children and then switched to modern classical education. Others have turned Classical Conversations memory work into Montessori 3 lesson cards. Jessica at Montessori trails have written about her thought of Montessori leading to Classical education in the middle school and high school levels of Montessori education at her blog. But no one is talking about the fact that Montessori education is Classical education. Montessori education IS Liberal arts.
We are comfortable choicing Montessori approach because this approach covers more than a curriculum of knowledge to be studied, practical life skills to be mastered, or religious elements to embody.
The New Children "The Seven Liberal have, in fact, been stretched by Dr. Montessori to include everything that God has allowed man to do. Since school hours are limited, the function of a school that is to include everything is, obviously not to teach the subjects, but to assiste the factualities to growth."
"The Montessori child, with this idealistic education, is the most practically efficient person on earth."
- Sheila Jamieson Radice (1920)
Food for thought
"Instead of what we call 'Liberal' education, they receive a liberating one- the personality is brought into right relations with life and "liberated into free action."."
- Education Under Freedom, the Literacy Digest, Vol. 43 Liberal Education
Source : http://www.kelpin.nl/fred/download/montessori/english/theosophist.pdf