My Montessori Classroom Observation
Another thing that I really spent quite a bit of time observing is the Language area. One of the teachers was working on lessons with a bunch of different kids, so it was a great time to see what was going on. I really got to see a bunch of ways that the movable alphabet was being used. One child was using the alphabet with five pictures, and he was spelling words. Another group was working on words that had the letter sound “g”. This was done with alot of hands on with the teacher. She gave them about 5 or 6 letters to work with, then she said a word and helped them sound it out. They, then picked out the letters that they thought made the word. This was a new idea for me on how to use the movable alphabet! After they laid out their 5 words, the teacher wrote them out for the kids on a paper. I did this with Bunny when I got home, and I got a totally different result then I normally do. She did great with this method! Neither one us ended up frustrated. The other thing that I saw that I really liked was the object box. The teacher asked the child to pick out one object and then she would write out a “secret message” (the object word). The child then sounded it out and placed it under the object. The teacher then asked for two objects and then wrote another secret message. The child then sounded out the word and placed it under the correct object. After all the messages were written, the child then stapled it into a book! Finally the other activity that I really thought Bunny would like was a rhyming box. It is full of objects that rhyme. For example: Rake, steak, Sock, rock, Pan, fan, etc. The child then matches the rhymes.
The next thing that I observed was the math area. Seeing all the bead material made me realize why I loved Montessori’s math! Its so hands on and offers a really limitless learning! It is also something that I really didn’t know where to start with it. So the teacher offered to show me some things and it was SO helpful! She showed me how to have Bunny line up the numeral cards 1-9 and 10-90 and then to put the correct unit beads and tens bars beside the numbers. She also showed me how to play the exchange game. It was a different variation on what I had heard of before. The child rolls a dice that has the numbers 10-90 (they don’t use the unites for the game because it takes too long to get to 1000). The number on it is how many tens bars they get. When the the tens column of the board get up to 100 or more, the child get to exchange for a 100’s square! They play until they get to 1000. It was fun, and I think that Bunny will really like to play it! The other thing that I loved in the math section was the math cards they had. They started with simple numbers 1,8,6,10, 4. The child pulls out the correct numeral cards and bead for each number. The next card introduced double digits. 11,17,20,25,52. They did the same thing. The cards worked their way up to large numbers, then they start adding 3 digit numbers by isolating each place value as they go on. Finally they cards have 4 digit numbers that need to be added. This progressive method allows the child to work alone, but it also gives them some really big things to learn! I love it! The teacher also told me about a book that she used that wasn’t really expensive. It was called Math Works: Montessori Math and Developing the Brain. It looks like a great book to add to my shelves!
So these are just some of my observations and learning moments while I was at the Montessori school this week! It was a wonderful experience and I really appreciate the teachers that took the time to show me SO much! They also invited me back as much as I want to so that I can keep absorbing all the amazing things that they do there! If you are still trying to figure out the fine details in your Montessori homeschool, I really encourage you to ask at your local Montessori school (if you have one) to see if you can observe. Most of the time they are more the happy to show you around!
October 21, 2011 @ 1:13 am
Wao!(a spanish expression.) This was so interesting and a great, great idea!! Thanks!!
October 21, 2011 @ 2:20 am
Thanks Wally. I really enjoyed my visit and I am planning on going agian soon! Thanks for stopping by and commetning! I love to hear what people think!
November 3, 2011 @ 3:19 pm
Loved your post about about visiting a Montessori class – one picture is definitely worth a 1000 words! As a Montessori coach and mentor, I’d be happy to talk more with you about Montessori, and especially the Language area. The Movable Alphabet was always one of my favorite pieces of material. Let me know if you’d like to have a conversation sometime. Andrea
November 4, 2011 @ 2:58 am
Hi Andrea,
I love to chat Montessori! Anytime you want, you can use the email on the contact tab at the top of the page! I would love to hear your thoughts about the moveable alphabet. I think that, starting so late with Bunny {she was 4 and a half}, she was already in a sensitive period for using a pencil by the time she was ready to write! 🙂 So we mostly skipped much work with that. I am hoping for a different path with Pup! 🙂 I hope to talk with you soon!
December 15, 2012 @ 7:40 pm
After answering a certain amount of question the equipment turns into a catapult that will fling, or throw, the teacher across the screen.
classroom observation
October 22, 2015 @ 2:05 am
Dear Stephanie,
I am also a Montessori Teacher from Philippines and i read your observation in the Montessori classroom. Thank you so much for sharing your observation. Just got my first Montessori Observation.