# Opinions on Montessori?



## Elizabeth (Jun 4, 2002)

I did a forum search for "montessori" and came up with very few results.

We have just started doing some Montessori activities with our 2yr 8month old daughter, and we are already seeing some positive results. We are going to do a lot more of them with her, at least through the pre-K stage.

I am curious to know what other homeschool parents think of Montessori?


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## KentuckyDreamer (Jan 20, 2012)

Elizabeth,

Over 30 years ago my first two children entered Montessori Children's House. I was so impressed I earned my Montessori teaching certification. I LOVE it. I love the philosophy as well as the method ( it is possible to have one without the other ). The only books left on my personal educational shelf are all the Montessori books.
Since then, I have had two more children. Both entered Montessori Schools; one stayed until mid fifth grade , the other completed Children's House. We then "unschooled" using the Montessori philosophy.

I cannot say enough about it. A significant part of my training was designing and constructing my own "work". It is exciting to use items from around the house making beautiful work for children. You do not have to spend a fortune to have beautiful work. 

Some important thoughts;
-children deserve the best. Items should be color coordinated, clean, in good repair. 
-As soon as a child finishes with his work, make sure it is ready for the next use. It is so important that a child find everything they need ready for use. 

Oh my....so sorry to go on and on. You can see were my heart lies.

Terri


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

I think the peacefulness of Montessori is awesome. I've been following a few blogs about it and hope to implement some of it into our world. Sadly, we aren't a peaceful kind of folk, though.


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## Whisperwindkat (May 28, 2009)

We used Montessori for quite some time with my little one. I liked it a lot and she did well with it. Yes, you can save money and not have to spend the big bucks by making your own works. That gets more difficult and more time consuming as they progress. I also found that the works take up a good deal of space and our school area of our den always seemed cluttered. It would have been much nicer if we had a room to designate just to school. Our little one is older now (7) and while we still do some Montessori (moveable alphabet for spelling, etc.) we have transitioned more to Charlotte Mason. The transition actually goes really smoothly and the two complement each other quite well even though Charlotte Mason didn't have a high opinion of Montessori. There are loads of blogs out there to find out how others made works. And there are two large Montessori sites that had more information than you can imagine. I used those frequently. However, like I said we did have to start moving into Charlotte Mason because I was spending loads of time trying to keep up with making the works. If you buy them then they can get quite expensive, especially the older they get and the more advanced they get. I will try to find those sites for you. Blessings, Kat


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## Whisperwindkat (May 28, 2009)

Here are just a few of my links: http://www.montessorimom.com/
http://countingcoconuts.blogspot.com/2010/04/must-read-montessori-blogs.html
http://whatdidwedoallday.blogspot.com/
http://livingmontessorinow.com/
http://www.montessoriprintshop.com/

That should get you started. By the time you move through those and the blogs that they link to you will have so many ideas your brain will be spinning and you won't know what to start with first. But you will be excited about starting. Blessings, Kat


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## southernmom (May 1, 2013)

The little bit that 3 of my 6 kids went to *school* it was Montessori. It was wonderful, fabulous, all that and more and I loved it. Then they got bugged by the local schoolboard to start teaching the FCAT (I'm in FL) and all the warm fuzzies got replaced with 'teaching the test'. and a lot of repetition and worksheets. 
So we moved back on the homeschooling/unschooling. 
But yeah, loved Montessori.


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## DEKE01 (Jul 17, 2013)

I have a friend who has owed a M school for decades. She will tell you that M school can be terrible or fantastic, it depends on the kids and parents. Some kids need a rigid routine that M doesn't provide. IMO, those kids are a much smaller population that what the standard public school expects.


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## backwoods (Sep 12, 2004)

You might want to check out http://www.oakmeadow.com/


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