The School Year

I suppose it's ironic that when everyone is starting school we are taking a break. We've been doing school over the summer in anticipation for this moment - another cross-country move. *laughs* According to my sons' lesson plans, we have clocked in 34 days of full school. That's roughly 7 weeks done. 29 more weeks to go. *laughs* We will be in temporary housing for about a month but I hope to knock off a few weeks then. Why? Because there will be another disruption with moving into the permanent house and also a baby coming late this year. *laughs* I'm used to this much disruption so when I have the opportunity, we school.

Anyhow, figured since we've been consistent for 7 weeks, it's safe to say I won't be changing curriculum for the rest of the year so just for fun, this is what we are doing.

For the most part, I'm using the same curriculum for both boys but at their levels. I like it that way because I'm already familiar with the pacing and how to use the resource. I personally have become less interested in what people use and more in how they use the curriculum and how it has met their goals. So listing the curriculum here is only half the picture. The other half is how we built in mastery & review. This list is basically a continuation from last year. The big difference is that we dropped a formal science program and experiments. Instead, the boys choose whole books to narrate and I gleam science memory work from Everything You Need to Know for Science, Biology4kids and their various websites & Montessori For Everyone 3-part cards (though I don't buy them). This new method has gone over very well. I am less stressed and the boys are free to explore interests while basic scientific facts are still covered.

Schedule

C- Fourth Grade

Day:_____
Checklist	Subject	Book	Lesson
	Spanish	Salsa	1 video
	Chinese	Chinese Game	1 lesson
	Spanish	Getting Started with Spanish	1 lesson
	Math	Math Drill	Time:             Score:
		Math-U-See - Fractions	2 worksheets Score:     /100
	Chinese	Chinese Made Easy	Old & New Lesson
	Memory		Go through memory binder
	Spelling	How To Teach Spelling	1 page
	Grammar	First Language Lesson	1 lesson
	Writing	Writing With Ease	1 lesson
	History	Story of the World 3	Listen 1 section. Narrate
			Coloring page or Mapwork
	Read 1 hr	Just Stories	1 Story
		Bk:	Literature
		Bk:	Science
Day:_____
Checklist	Subject	Book	Lesson
	Spanish	Salsa	1 video
	Chinese	Chinese Game	1 lesson
	Spanish	Getting Started with Spanish	1 lesson
	Math	Math Drill - Fractions	Time:             Score:
	Math	Math-U-See	2 worksheets. Score:     /100
	Chinese	Chinese Made Easy	Old & New Lesson
	Spanish	Getting Started with Spanish	1 lesson
	Memory		Go through memory binder
	Spelling	How To Teach Spelling	1 page
	Grammar	First Language Lesson	1 lesson
	Writing	Writing With Ease	1 lesson
	Science	DK Living World	Read 2 pages. Narrate
	Read 1 hr	Angel Food	1 Story
		Bk:	Literature
		Bk:	History

B - Second Grade

Day:_____
Checklist	Subject	Book	Lesson
	Spanish	Salsa	1 video
	Chinese	Chinese Game	1 lesson
	Math	Addition Facts	Pg:     &
		Multiplication Facts	Pg:
	Chinese	Chinese Made Easy	Old & New Lesson
	Spanish	Getting Started with Spanish	1 lesson
	Memory		Go through memory binder
	Spelling	How To Teach Spelling	Review Trouble Words. New section
	Grammar	First Language Lesson	1 lesson
	Writing	Writing With Ease	1 lesson
	Reading		Mom reads to you
	Science	Charlie Brown Encylopedia	2 pgs.
	History	Story of the World 3	Listen 1 section. Narrate
			Coloring page or Map
	Read 30 min	Bigger Stories for Little Folks	1 story
		Bk:
Day:_____
Checklist	Subject	Book	Lesson
	Spanish	Salsa	1 video
	Chinese	Chinese Game	1 lesson
	Math	Addition Facts	Pg:    &
		Multiplication Facts	Pg:
	Chinese	Chinese Made Easy	Old & New Lesson
	Spanish	Getting Started with Spanish	1 lesson
	Memory		Go through memory binder
	Spelling	How To Teach Spelling	Review Trouble Words. New section
	Grammar	First Language Lesson	1 lesson
	Writing	Writing With Ease	1 lesson
	Reading		Mom reads to you
	Science	Charlie Brown Encylopedia	Read 1 section.
	Read 30 min	Living God's Law	1 story
		Bk:

Best Blue Knights Ever!

A big applause for the best blue knights costume ever! Can you guess what B. is going to be for Halloween? I wonder whether we can the rest of the clan to dress up in a Narnia theme? We are finally finishing The Last Battle in the car. Even M. has been known to drive slowly so that we can listen to one more chapter. Truly a series that grows with you and one that I will be using my Audible credits on.

Daily Independent Checklist for a Second Grader

I've uploaded the newly updated daily independent checklist for my second grader. Like the title suggest, this is work done independently. I found over the past year that school was much more consistent when he wasn't waiting for mom to be not nauseous, busy with toddlers, packing, unpacking.... *laughs* And I think he prefers working without interruptions, in a separate room with no toddlers trying to their hands on his science experiments, paint supplies and drawing on his books. *grinz* I know he's involved in his school work because he often shouts to me the little interesting tibits in his books or how

What you can't see is narrations as described in my previous post. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same.

In another post, I'll share what happens when we do get together.

Getting from the Big Picture to the Daily Assignment

Now that you have seen my Big Picture and Daily Assignment sheet, I hope to share how I got from point A to point B.

When developing my Big Picture, I benefited from Laura Berquist's recommendation to sit down with different homeschool curriculum and figure out how they progress through the subjects. I created similar spreadsheets to chart the different curricular. It helped me see how different schools developed different plans to reach their specific academic goals. Seeing different roadmaps helped developed mine. There's no right "Big Picture" but I am more dedicated to homeschooling when the journey is logical to me.

My Big Picture is an excel spreadsheet. It doesn't include what books I would use but what subjects I hope to cover. Across the top are subjects similar to Mater Amabilis. Down the column are the grades. I try not to change MA's curriculum too much because I do generally like it but there are definitely changes. Every once in a while, I tweak the big picture as my goals and my understanding of my children changes.

When the new school year rolls around, I look at the year's goals and pursue my personal library before even looking at a catalog. I realize that if I can't use a good but not perfect resource on my shelf, it really doesn't belong there. For example, last year, I was pleasantly surprised that my Childcraft encylopedia was a perfect curriculum for us that covered a wide range of subjects as advocated by Charlotte Mason. So my son read a chapter in each of the volumes and I didn't buy anything new.

After I have the books in hand, I switch and plan bottom up. Instead of taking a book and breaking it into 36/38 weeks assignments, I figure how much my son can read and retain in a single seating. Sometimes it's a page, sometimes it's a lesson or a chapter. It just depends. Whatever he can handle is assigned and he goes through the book until he finishes it. Then that book is replaced by another that fits that particular genre.

I break the work into daily work and alternate day work. So daily work are subjects like math and foreign language. Alternate day work are subjects like history and science. Alternate day work isn't dependent on the actual day of the week but on what he has accomplished the last school day.

And the final tweaking is to see how long it takes for him to finish a day's work and whether he can focus for that long. If he can't, I drop or reduce the assignments.

It doesn't take so much guesswork now because I'm working off what he has been doing last year. And as the year passes by, I very slowly challenge him with harder readings, longer readings, more challenging narration etc.

So there you have it. The hard part is figuring the Big Plan but I don't worry too much over it because it changes frequently. I think of homeschool as a journey. It's okay to take detours.

Simple Daily Assignmet

I've uploaded the present daily assignment sheet for my 7 year old. He's a strong reader and all this work is done independently.

The "T" correspond to days when I "test" him. So for his math test, I ask him to tell me how he solved a particular problem. For his Primsleur test, I listen into his lesson.

What doesn't show on this sheet is that the day before when we have our one-on-one time, he rolls a dice which corresponds to a book reading. I highlight the corresponding box to indicate that I will be asking him to tell me about his reading the next day.

Should a book be finished in the middle of the lesson plan, I simply replace it with another book either from the same genre or another.

The number of the empty check boxes is determined by how many I can squeeze into one spreadsheet.

As of now, he's half way done with this sheet and some of the books have already switched out. I plan to have the next daily assignment sheet to have more expanded genres and also more activities but the layout should be the same.

The Current Big Plan

I thought I'll share my big picture curriculum plan. It's just a sketch and I tweak it every year or so but it helps me visualize the journey. Happy browsing!

Conviction & Fear

With the new baby, simplicity is still on my mind and my attention is turned towards my 7-year-old son with regards to language arts. The problem isn't about consistency but with necessity.

This is what has worked in the previous year.

For spelling, my 7 year old has been practicing his spelling words daily by himself. When he reaches the fourth day of independent study, he lets me know that it's time for a spelling test. Spelling test can happen on any day of the week but always on the fifth day of independent study. This avoids over-complicating things when our weekly routine is out-of-sync. I did have to teach him how to practice his spelling words for himself. I simply gave a few self-test techniques and he chooses among them. I do expect mastery by the fifth day so he is responsible for his own work. I hope this lays down the foundation for him to be more responsible for the rest of his memory work.

For grammar, I correct it when I can, usually 2-3 times a week, but the workbook is self-explanatory so he doesn't have to wait for me to correct one exercise to proceed to the next. I just make sure that I do corrections frequently so that any mistakes are addressed before they take hold.

Now that's what we do when we do spelling, grammar & handwriting. However, I'm planning to drop them because his time can be better spent elsewhere. He doesn't complain about the exercises but it's not something he picks up when he doesn't have to. That to me is indicative of how much he enjoys it. However, he does work on his solar system model all the time and frequently I have to remind him to do his other homework assignments first. Otherwise it'll be two hours into school and all he has worked on is his solar system. :)

What I am coming to realize that a good indicator of what to add is my intuitive sense. Often I regret adding something because of my fear of incompleteness. It may not be the same for you. It was this fear that caused me to buy into that "comprehensive"and "intensive" package. I am now weary of myself when my explanation to my husband is along the veins of "Aren't you afraid he would miss out on xyz?" On the other hand, I have yet to regret anything that I felt strongly about on first glance. It's akin to "love-at-first-sight". There have been some treasures that I have uncovered on deeper inspection but not enough to warrant the time spent looking for the hidden gems. So for example, you don't have to argue with me on the merits about reading fluency and math competency. So for the rest of the summer, I intend to drop anything that I feel uncertain about. I would address whether this decision is indeed wise in three to six months. I'm not stating that grammar and spelling is not important. However, we will attend to them formally when it is appropriate.

Preschool for this Season

I have to laugh when I read all the preschool posts I have made in the past because they simply were plans. None of them came to fruit. This past year, I've had to let go of my Montessori materials and my Waldorf ideals. But now, now this post is different. This post is about what is working and happening in my household. Not what I hope to do.

For a bit of a background, preschool happens in the morning. During that time, my 7yr does his independent work in a separate room. So I work with the 5 yr and the twin 2 yr on two sets of Ikea children tables and chairs in the kitchen.

This is generally the routine -

I work with my 5yr on the Angel phonics program, memory book and Chats with God's Little Ones.

I have the twins work dependently on jigsaw puzzles and art materials. I don't rotate the items in them. I find that they really don't need variety; It must be my adult misconception. They are slowly mastering the same six jigsaw puzzles. The art materials consists of a large sketch paper and they tend to go through their art materials in the same order - washable markers, stickers, watercolor pans (I add drops of water directly into the pan) and scissors. They have happy scribbling, sticking, painting, fingerpainting and lastly making little fringes all along the border. By that time the paper is well-spent and they join us for for songs, fingerplays and nursery rhymes. I do have a tub of play-doh but they haven't touched it for the past two months. Prior to that, that was all they ever wanted to do. I find that these art mediums are a perfect substitute for Montessori practical life activities. We do have baking day and cleaning day so those other areas of practical life activities are naturally incorporated into the day.

For songs, fingerplays and nursery rhymes, I have gather six different books and stick paper clips to mark the days' selection. We sing about two pages of materials in each book before moving the paper clip to mark the next day's selection. This frees me for having to pre-select the material and gives my older child variety. After repetitively cycling through these books, my 5 year old has memorize everything. The books consists of children songs, Catholic songs, fingerplays, nursery rhymes and poems.

The last segment of our preschool program is independent work for my 5 yr. He works on MUS, a handwriting book, a phonics workbook and an art project of his choice. I, in turn, start lunch. :)

Just before bed-time, I read-aloud to the twins from their book basket. Once again, I find that variety is more for the sake of the adult than the child. So in keeping with that, the books are only rotated when they lose interest which is about 6 months! And I only have two rotation of board books!

After putting the girls to bed, I join the boys in their bedroom and read picture books they have selected. He has his collection of favorite books in the bedroom and I'm appreciating the importance of re-reading books. A few well-written books with worthy thoughts and inspiring tales memorized is better than many books quickly forgotten. I must remember this for my older child!

And that, me dears, is the honest-to-goodness truth of our present homeschool preschool.

Simplifying Homeschool Teaching Resources

I mentioned my criteria for keeping my homeschooling resources. After much thought, I've decided to keep the following books. These books refer to resources that are directed towards the parent. The criteria I've defined for myself is:-

They must inspire and educate but not overwhelm me.

They must be easy to use and self-contained, i.e., not require too many outside resources.

They cannot be too repetitive in nature with regards to each other.

Lastly, but most importantly, they must fit into the vision that my husband and I have for our children's education.

The chosen few are:-

Classical Education
Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum by Laura Berquist

Charlotte Mason
For the Children's Sake by Susan Macaulay
Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
Real Learning by Elizabeth Foss

Unschooling
Homeschooling with Gentleness by Suzie Andres

Montessori
How to Raise and Amazing Child by Tim Seldin
Michael Olaf catalogs

Waldorf
Mittenstrings from God

Selecting Books
A Landscape with Dragons by Michael O'Brien
For the Love of Literature by Maureen Wittman

Catholic Perspective on Homeschooling
The Catholic Homeschool Companion by Maureen Wittman & Rachel Mackson
Four Mater et Magistra issues ( I have since stopped my subscription. I am undecided whether to renew it)

Seasonal Traditions
Mrs Sharp's Tradition by Sarah Ban Breathnach
Moonbeams, Dumplings and Dragon Boats by Nina Simonds

Liturgical Year
The Adoremus Hymnal
Around the Year with the Trapp Family by Maria Trapp
A Continual Feast by Evelyn Vitz
The Holyday Book by Francis Weiser

Inspiration during Homeschool Burnout
Please Don't Drink the Holy Water by Susie Lloyd

Running a Household
Mother's Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot
Zen Habits blog

Looking at this list, I'm still not satisfied with my paring down. However, I want to give myself time before tacking my homeschool teacher's resources again.

Simplying Resources

Cheryl has been pondering what it means to be a minimalist homeschooler. Doesn't that sound like an oxymoron? She has written another great post that echoes my experience.

In the beginning, I couldn't read enough about homeschooling. And the materials I purchase was a reflection of that mindset. At the same time, I wanted perfection. I wanted completion in the curriculum I would design for my children. Again, the materials I purchased is a reflection of my fears that I wouldn't do a good enough job.

Now, I am more confident in my abilities. I don't completely reject the education I was given. My family is also bigger. I am now more concerned in neglecting my younger children than putting together the perfect curriculum that incorporates all that I find good in these resources.

I really like the article that Cheryl linked to. It reflects what I've been trying to incorporate in our school. And so I've been selling my resources. It's not a matter of space anymore - my bookshelves have space. I'm trying to de-clutter my time, energy and mind. The more I read, the more I am attracted to the same ideals. Do I really need ten books to inspire me on the same concept? And as my husband said, if our children's education is dependent on me instead of teaching/reading to themselves, then they are better off at school especially as our family grows.

So anything redundant is for sale. Anything that is not open-and-g0 for the non-reader is for sale. Anything that is not self-teaching for the reader is for sale. Funny thing is as I purge I end up with the same set materials for my subsequent readers. And like Kim said, since we already know the layout, we become more efficient learners and able to use the curriculum as a tool.

Fine Arts Friday

It's time to start a new term for our Fine Arts Friday. Fine Arts Friday idea was borrowed from Simply Charlotte Mason website. I've added a few more activities but the point is that on Fridays, we do something different and fun.

We start off with Music Appreciation. This term we are focusing on the Orchestra. We are using the book The Story of the Orchestra and will be focusing on three performances as suggested by Mater Amabilis. The next two terms will be on Ballet and Opera.

For Artist Studies, we are studying Renoir. I've downloaded six of Renoir's art prints that have high resolution and sent them to be printed at the photo center. The results are spectacular and the kids really enjoy adding the little 4x6s into their individual sketch books. I usually give a brief introduction to that particular piece and we just talk about it. Next week, we might sketch what we see, trace over the photo or color a coloring page. We have borrowed the book Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artist to read over the twelve weeks.

For handicrafts, they choose a project from Ray Gibson's book. Love this book.

For Liturgical year, we will follow Catholic Mosaic's book suggestions, do a coloring page from Fenestrae Fidei and sing a hymn. We might also do something more crafty in the afternoon. For example, today we dyed Easter eggs and will have a Easter egg hunt in our backyard. Next week is the Feast of St George and the kids have always loved making Dragon bread - bread shaped into a dragon with almond slices for scales. *grinz*

Last but not least, we write a letter to be dropped off at the mailbox. The kids chose the stationary and off it goes.

You might have noticed that we haven't gotten around to Nature Study. *laughs* I'm a flop and I'll admit it. So we try to go to the local nature center once a week and I have a professional take over. Nothing shameful about outsourcing! *grinz* We also do Poetry daily not weekly. Nothing elaborate just read a poem from our Childcraft encyclopedia.

Note to self, it is so much easier to have everything you need in a one bag. It was a little chaotic today but next week should progress a little more smoothly. I love Fine Arts Friday. It's something different to look forward to at the end of the week when we are all a little tired of the regular routine.

What Worked - Minimized Planning

Last summer, I read a life-changing book. I was particularly fascinated with one of its messages to do more and plan less. I've applied it to some aspect of my life and I'm convinced of its validity.

Minimized Planning in the Kitchen

For breakfast and lunch, I have a specific type of meal for each day. So on Mondays, we have scrabbled eggs and toast for breakfast and spaghetti with meat sauce for lunch. I have a breakfast pantry and a lunch pantry. These items can be mixed and matched to create the meals that most of my kids like. :) My breakfast pantry consist of eggs, milk, cheerios, oatmeal, bread, hot dogs, flour, butter, honey, yogurt and seven days worth of fruit. My lunch pantry consist of pasta, marinara sauce, Alfredo sauce, Chinese noodles, sesame oil, oyster sauce, ground meat, frozen mixed vegetables, frozen pizza and dinner leftovers. :) For dinner, I buy seven meals worth of meat, vegetables and serve them with rice. I don't think about what I want to do with them. I simply try to buy a variety of types and cuts. I do have a pantry of dinner seasonings and flavorings. The night before I simply grab a portion of meat from the freezer and mentally think of its preparation - grilled, stir-fry, baked or stew and the basic ethnic theme I want to go for. So say I grab some chicken and think stew! I could do Oriental and add soy sauce, cinnamon stick and star anise. I could do Italian and add canned tomatoes, basil and oregano. I wing the proportions. Sometimes I need inspiration and I go to Allrecipes, Ina Garten or my cookbooks. Sticking to the minimalist theme, I do not have a large collection of cookbooks. My husband jokes that I never cook the same meal twice. And this was back when I did plan out our meals extensively. So now, I just scribble the recipe on scrap paper and throw it out when the meal is done.

Minimized Planning in the School Room

Beginning the school year, I list the core subjects that we are to cover - reading, writing, math, Chinese and fine arts. Beside each subject, I list the resource I will use. This is where I use great restraint. What I do not do :-

• I do not intentionally cover more than my core subjects.
• I do not list more than one resource. Yes, there is no perfect curriculum or book list but I limit my choice to only one. I figured that if I finish with that one resource and have finished all other subject, I can pick up the supplementary resource later in the year. So for example a lot of people I know mixes Story of the World and Connecting with History. Side note: I have not used either programs. So if I were to cover world history this year, I would choose between one of the programs. Should I finish Volume 1 in either resource, I might consider repeating Ancient History with the other program. This forces me to choose the program that is better suited for my needs, reduces my time planning to combine program and naturally re-enforce repetition in the subject.
• I do not have daily plans. Most of my resources are straight-forward and require little preparation time. We simply do one lesson a day and move to the next tomorrow. The same with reading lists. If the reading list is already in a theme format, great. Otherwise, I don't bother to compile thematic studies.

Better

Excited about the prospect of a "new life", I asked my husband what can we can do to improve our homeschool curriculum. I was thinking that finally he would say science program, history timelines, lapbooks, hands-on activities etc. Instead the conversation went like this -

So how can I improve our curriculum? Perhaps add some hands-on activities like science experiments, mummify carrots when we study Egypt? Is it time to add Spanish? Piano?

No, just keep on doing what you are doing. Only do it better.

Better? I thought it was the best year ever??!

Yes, the kids have made more progress but now we need to work on execution. Waking up on time. Helping themselves to breakfast. Start school without whining. Habits. Consistency. Independence. Promptness. Just better.

Of all the things you could have chosen, this is possibly the hardest to work on. I'm not even that good.

Then you know how important it is. How fundamental it is. Stay the course. Just do it better.

So, instead of searching for a good curriculum to add to our school. I'm pondering about habits from places like these

How to Teach Your Kids about Good Habits by Leo Babauta

Top 20 Motivation Hacks by Leo Babauta

Homeschooling with Children's Cooperation by Laura Berquist

Character Building by David Issacs

Smooth and Easy Days with Charlotte Mason by Sonya Shafer

There is a lot to absorb. Many habits to form. But like I'm overwhelmed with curriculum choices, I'll follow my husband's lead and simply focus on execution. My routine is already laid out following the guidelines in Mother Rule of Life. I know that the routine reflects our needs, beliefs and desires.

This is all going to be simpler said than done.

What Has Worked - Stickers

With the move around the corner, I thought it would be fun to document what has been beneficial to our family this past year.

One word - stickers! It started with me just wanting to record the days when we schooled. It was the one of the best things I ever did. I place a small sticker for every session we completed on the wall calendar. Some days we had two stickers - one for the morning session, one for the afternoon. Some days we had one or even none.

It was great! At first, it motivated me to just start the day regardless of moods. Then I became aware how much could be done in just a two-hour session. So even on days when we had something schedule in the morning and in the late afternoon, I was motivated to squeeze in a session knowing it only took two hours. As time went by, we could complete more sessions in a week than a year ago. This is despite having similar outside commitments.

As school became more consistent, so did our routines. In order to complete school regularly, we realize how important routines were. We couldn't focus if we weren't well-fed, the house not reasonably tidy and the twin toddlers not gainfully occupied. All these were simple, if and only if, we stuck to our routines.

I did worry that such an emphasis on routines would suck the joy and the spontaneity of life. What I found out was routines become more important as our family grew larger. It was comforting to everyone to know that there was a designated time for work and play. It was comforting to me to know that the schedule we drafted to include the needs of all the individuals in our family. No one would be lost in the busyness of a large family.

Yes, all this because of a 500-sticker pack from the dollar store. I might have to revised my opinions on the phrase "punished by rewards". :)

Montessori-Inspired Preschool

Montessori Preschool is a mixed-age group from around 2.5 years to 6 years. I believe ages matters less than the stage the child is in. More self-control. Cognitively ready. Once again, Meadow Montessori has a good overview of the activities presented to a child in the Montessori preschool. Presented is the key word here. Nothing is required of the child. Some activities resonate more with one child than another. This is where observation of a child is key. And if I had one word of advice, it would be to avoid interrupting a child when he is in deep concentration even if he's simply trying to put on a shirt again and again. This is Montessori at its finest! This is my adaption of a Montessori preschool

Memory: Nursery Rhymes, Fingerplays, Songs

Religion:

Treasure Box Series – Make a Prayer Book alongside

Catechism of the Good Shephered - This resource does require some time to make materials. They have also doubled the price on the Mass kit since I bought it.

Celebrating the liturgical year

A child's bible.

Coloring books

Each day the student should say the rosary and on Friday, say the Stations of the Cross.

Literature:

1000 books’ Picture Books

Arithmetic:

Counting songs & counting

Number games (dominoes, number lotto)

Board games with dice

Make and copy sequences and patterns

Time (clock with moveable hands)

Measuring (ruler, weight scale)

Cooking (measurement)

Money (learn different coins, count pennies)

Living Math’s Early Concepts readers

Hands-on Learning:

Traditional Montessori materials are notoriously expensive. The Practical Life activities are the exception; They can be easily done with things around your house. I did eventually make all of them using cardboard, everyday materiaols and laminated paper but it is extremely time-consuming. So, below I've listed two general groups of resources. The first are Montessori-inspired activities. They are not as time-consuming to gather nor as expensive. However, they are just as effective and your child will not be missing out on a traditional Montessori environment. I, then, went ahead to list traditional Montessori lesson plans found free on the web. Each Montessori album (set of lesson plans) differ slightly from teacher to teacher. I have simply highlighted albums that best match my needs. Feel free to choose from an alternative option but I caution against trying to combine albums. From my personal experience, it simply becomes too overwhelming.

Montessori-Inspired Activities

Jigsaw Puzzles - We have quite a few Melissa and Doug jigsaw puzzles.

Do Touch

Preschool Power

My Montessori Journey - a blog that showcases some home-made Montessori-inspired materials

Kim’s Friday Funschool - another blog that showcases home-made Montessori-inspired activities arranged according the alphabet.

Traditional Montessori Activities

Practical Life lessons - If you have trouble visualizing these presentations, MWEI's is more user-friendly.

Sensorial - You could get traditional Montessori materials from cheap sources like Montessori Concepts. However, for our family, I tried to adapt everyday materials that fulfilled the aim of the lesson. For example, different sized dolls to illustrate big and small. Books like Do Touch and Hainstock's Preschool book might also gives you some ideas.

Montessori Language - Once again, I prefer Shu-Chen's language lessons, but have benefitted from MWEI's photos and Montessori Materials for printouts.

Montessori Culture - Montessori Materials and mm2-Culture, MM_Science, mm2-_zoology, mm2_geography, all have free printouts.You can also purchase from Montessori for Everyone. You can get world puzzles from Timberdoodle. I've also mounted laminated continent maps on corkboards and hot-glued laminated flag printouts to push-pins. Science experiment materials can be purchased individually at Home Science Tools.

Infants & Toddlers

With the philosophies elaborated, I want to share with you activities I have planned for my twins. For an overview, Meadow Montessori School have two good articles which set the stage for this phase of life - Infants and Toddlers. For activities, I turn to the Table of Contents of NAMC Infant and Toddler manuals. Combined with lots of read-alouds, fingerplays, outdoor time and hugs, it's a full life!

Elaborating on the Philosophy

With the 25 Characteristics of a Montessori education in hand, I thought I would share with you other resources that elaborate more on the philosophy. These resources do touch on specific Montessori materials but more importantly, they show me how to alter our lifestyles and environment to reflect Montessori's insight.

My absolutely favorite source is the Michael Olaf catalogs. Although they do showcase items that you can buy from them, a lot of the suggestions can be easily adapted with materials you have in your house. The articles above the product description are particularly useful. I am always learn something new when I re-read them. Montessori is about a way of life. Observation. Self-control. Freedom. Confidence. Joy.

Another good resource is How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way by Tim Seldin. I like the beginning chapters in preparing the parent and the environment. Once again it's not about stuff. It's about following the child and the family.

25 Characteristics of Montessori

I love how this list frees one to look beyond Montessori materials. It's so easy to get caught up with stuff. Yet when I try to describe what I do with my children, outwardly it doesn't look any different from a traditional preschool or even grade school. This list, however, penetrates to the heart of the environment, teacher and child. The whole website is full of insight.

25 CHARACTERISTICS OF MONTESSORI

1. respect for the child
2. respect for one another
3. cultural diversity
4. universal adaptability
5. cosmic education
6. individuality
7. independence
8. freedom of choice
9. hands-on learning
10. love of work
11. care of oneself
12. spontaneous concentration
13. self-discipline
14. lessons of grace and courtesy
15. intrinsic motivation
16. initiative
17. prepared environment
18. didactic materials
19. integrated curriculum
20. sense of order
21. heterogeneous grouping
22. refinement of the senses
23. movement
24. auto education
25. teacher as facilitator

* prepared by the Montessori Society of Central Mary

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More quotes I love from this site. "Freedom within limits" reminds of how our Heavenly Father takes care of us. We have the freedom to choose among so many good things. People often ask whether Montessori is religious. And she is! She's Catholic and her faith permeates the method. Did you know that Montessori had picture of our Blessed Mother hung in every classroom? I think her faith permeates throughout her method. It is orderly, loving and vocational.

The child is given what is termed as “freedom within limits.” What are the limits?

... He may freely choose to work only from materials he has been shown how to use.

... He must use the materials properly and return them properly.

... He may not infringe upon the rights of others.

Within this framework the child develops freely in individuality and self-confidence. The child is given the opportunity to become independent and care for himself in a responsible way. He thrives and becomes an inner directed member of his school and family. All of this will happen to the extent the child is exposed to these ideas. The more cooperation between the family and directors, the more benefit the child will receive from his Montessori experience.

Structure & Discipline

An excerpt from Catholic Home Schooling by Mary Kay Clark -

There is no question about the importance of disciplining our children, but what about our own self-discipline? Homeschooling mothers must have self-discipline. We need to ask ourselves questions, such as "Am I able to control myself so I don't use angry words with the children? Or with my husband in front of the children? Do I discipline the children when I should, or is it just too difficult to bother with it?

I would like to add to Mrs. Clark. Am I able discipline my use of time? Do I finish my work and responsibilities before I play? Do I honestly take care of myself or indulge myself in activities that only set myself back. This all sounds harsh but I do find that on the days that I exercise more discipline, I feel accomplised, relaxed and happy. And it doesn't mean that I'm simply checking off the boxes. I've included "bonding and conveying love to my family" as part of the routine. It's about figuring what's important in my life and disciplining myself to live a life I envisioned.

A related excerpt from the same book -

Certain home schoolers and home school leaders believe that the "burnout" experienced by some home schooling mothers is due to structured programs or the structured classroom approach. This is to simplistic. Burnout can be caused by lack of organization, lack of discipline, lack of support by the spouse, antagonism by family and friends, and personal and family problems. It also can be caused by the amount of work required by parents for an unstructured program.

Heaven and Harvard

When homeschooling movement was just started, there were a couple of families that were making waves in the news. The Colfaxes. The Swains. The Robinsons. They all had exceptional children who achieved academic excellence in college and even post-graduate degrees. And I'm wondering how and why. Their philosophies differ. The Colfaxes were child-directed. The Swains used a traditional textbook route. The Robinson used just a lot of books. But I see a unifying theme.

• They, as in the parents, taught the children as little as possible. I'm sure they clarified a few points but otherwise the materials were self-explanatory.
• The children studied for short periods of time. The Colfaxes boys had to work hard on a self-sufficient farm so studies had to be time-effective. The Swains all studied from 8:30-11:30am daily with little time wasted. The Robsinsons spent the most time - 5 hours a day. However, if you compared to the time children are in public school and after-school homework, it's still much shorter.
• The children worked hard. Whether the motivation was internal or external, they worked.

I might argue the finer points of these families but the bottom-line, I agree with these practices. These are study habits you need in college. This is the habits you need regardless of college. Ask any mom with a bunch of kids, a load of laundry and too little time to read. :) Side note aside, I'm beginning to see that you really don't need a lot of the stuff in catalogs that promises excellence. You can keep things simple and still achieve excellence. As for all those fun stuff? Well, if it's so fun, you would be doing them regardless of its educational value. I know we do.