Guest Blogger~ Ms. Shelly

Today we are so excited to present you with our very first guest blogger!!!!! Ms. Shelly is here today to give an overview of how the Montessori Method is used in the home! Maria Montessori developed a beautiful method of education that follows the child as they learn according to the inner need. She discovered, through careful observation, that the child is capable of great discipline and great learning at a very young age due to what she calls the absorbent mind. Children learn differently them we do as adults, and can easily absorb large amounts of information when it is presented in a concrete hands on way!!! I personally love this method to education and it is the method of education that I am using with my children in my home!  It is an amazing thing to watch young children learning with great joy in their discoveries, and this is exactly what the Montessori Method is all about!!!! So, without further ado, we welcome Ms. Shelly!!!

To teach Montessori at home, you’ll need to find a place within the house to have “school”—a place where the child cannot become distracted by television, pets, or non-Montessori playthings. This is where the child will do language, mathematics, and some sensorial activities, but the entire home will become a classroom for some exercises. If you’re going to teach Montessori at home, be sure not to isolate the child—take him or her on outings and play dates so that he or she can develop the necessary social skills and niceties.

Remember to use as few words as possible when presenting lessons to your child, you want them to focus on your actions, not on your words. Also remember that you are the observer in the Montessori Method, not the teacher—the child will guide you in his or her learning by the activities he or she chooses to engage in. The child may use any lesson for as long as he or she likes, but may only have one lesson at a time.

Teaching Montessori at home requires patience! It will take a while for your child to develop the concentration and order necessary to focus on one lesson at a time, as well as for them to understand that only one lesson at a time is appropriate. Having lessons at the same time each day and establishing a routine will help your child become accustomed to the Montessori Method, and if he or she is having a difficult day or is feeling sick, they may take a day off from “school” and then continue the next day.

Eventually your child will grow used to the “freedom within limits” that he or she has, and will be eager to do her Montessori “work.” If you do need to discipline your child, use “logical consequences” instead of harsh words or time-out punishments. For instance, if the child doesn’t put his or her socks in the laundry and the next day has no socks, then it is a “logical consequence” that no socks are left; they will make the connection and put their socks in the laundry the next time.

Make sure that everything in your prepared environment in the home is low and easily reachable by the child. This includes hooks, cupboards in the kitchen for practical life exercises, and all your Montessori materials can be kept on a bookshelf, preferably a low three-shelf bookshelf...

Thank you so very much Ms. Shelly for visiting us today and for your wonderful post!!!!!
Ms. Shelly is a Mommy of two and an AMS certified pre-primary teacher! She blogs over at At Home Montessori and has a lot of great ideas and videos about how to use the Montessori method at home! She also has an ebook that looks wonderful!  Please stop by and check out her work! 
If you want more information about Montessori and using it at home, John Bowman has a wonderful book called Montessori at Home! and he also has other ideas online.
You could also visit Deb at Living Montessori Now who has TONS of ideas!
Finally, if you want to see what I am up to in my Montessori classroom, visit my blog Discovery Days and Montessori Moments!!!!  Thanks for stopping by to read our guest post for the day!!!!!
Happy Schooling!