Thoughts on Reading the Montessori Way.
I have recently been reading “A Path for the Exploration of Any Language Leading to Writing and Reading” by Muriel Dwyer. This Journal is sold through NAMTA (click here to see their website). I was on What DID we do all day? and she has a REALLY great set of blog post all about the Dwyer approach to teaching language as opposed to the Pink, Green, Blue series. Both follow the Montessori method and are very good, but after reading the blog posts I saw that the Dwyer approach is a little easier to do at home. The Pink Green Blue series requires a lot of printing, prepping, and boxes, while the Dwyer approach is less stuff. The booklet is a good read and very step by step. Again hop on over to What DID we do all day? and read her very well written posts to see more about this.
The other inspiration that came from reading Dwyer’s work was her life story at the beginning. She was a Montessrian who went to Africa and taught training program to women there who could help teach the children in the villages. Her program was extremely successful. The one thing that I really was impressed about was that she and her associates made all of their material from things that they could find easily and that were almost free around where they were. She wanted to be sure that the women she taught would be able to make their own materials when they returned home. This made me think that if she could do that with good preparation and no money materials, then I can do it too. So long as the works give the child the same lessons and control of errors, they will work out fine, even if they aren’t the same things used in a School. I don’t know why, but I really want everything in my school room to be perfect. This thought really allowed me to look at the works I make in a different way. I can make them myself and do it with what I have. The kids will still get the same great education. Its not what the materials are made of, its how that material is presented. This is also pushing me to take an online certification course to really give myself that information that I need to be the best teacher for my kids. If anyone has a thought to add I would love to hear it! Also has anyone take an online course/ courses? Is there one that is better then the other? I would love to know what you think! 🙂
April 20, 2011 @ 11:01 pm
Hi… First time at your blog! Now I am a follower. I do a combination of dwyer & PBG. This is because we started off with PBG and my daughter is done with the Pink level and is onto the Blue now. I have started introducing the missed sounds among the 40 needed. I will post about our way of learning this month on my blog.
I am taking the Karen Tyler course. she has amazingly detailed albums, plus responds to any questions we might have in a very detailed fashion. all for 150$! best deal ever i think!
one thing i’ve learnt so far is that.. irrespective of the material quality (wood vs card stock), if I present the material the right way, identifying the sensitive period for it, it always works!
April 20, 2011 @ 11:44 pm
Thanks for joining and for your thoughts about the reading! I really have been working only with the eye spy game right now because I really think Bunny is still not quite interested in reading or writing. I have been working on reading as much as I can to make sure that I am presenting it right! For now I am just encourageing her to learn a few more sandpaper letters and palying eye spy all the time! I am hoping one day she wakes up and wants to do more!
Thanks for letting me know about Karen’s course. I was going to do it in march, but family issues prevented me from going ahead. I was really interesed it the NAMC 3-6 course too. Did Karen’s course come with printed books or is everything online?
Thanks again for stopping by! 🙂
April 21, 2011 @ 2:54 am
Everything is online. If you enroll in the fast track and pay upfront, she emails all her albums to you. This was especially helpful to me as D is 4 already and I want to work on more than a couple of albums with her, which is definitely much faster than even the fast track. For me the NAMC course was way too expensive. I’ve heard mixed reviews about NAMC, some love it, some don’t. The advantage with NAMC is that you get certified, with Karen, it is just a certificate that she provides that you have completed the course.
The advantage of homeschooling is that we can play all the aural prep games with them anytime of the day! D is so into games that she initiates most of the playing and we play through out the day with all our activities. I cant say enough about aural preparation, the more you play the better the kid gets and absorbs and connects the information faster when we get into the actual phonetic work. Good luck and keep us posted on the reading journey with your kids!