Montessori-uninspired

Well, I'm officially Montessori-uninspired. No offense meant to those who are into the Montessori approach. However, as I've been reading more and learning more I've come to realize that I don't really believe Montessori is the best approach for me and my daycare. There are some aspects of it that just don't appeal to me.

That being said, I've been reading the book "Raising and Amazing Child the Montessori Way" and I will continue reading it. There are some great ideas in the book even though I'm not a fan of the whole Montessori approach.

What it comes down to is that Montessori feels too rigid to me. For example, a work is presented to a child. The child is shown how the work should be used (there is one way) and the child is only allowed to use the work in that one way, clean up the work, put it away, and then get a different work. So if a child wanted to combine a couple of works, that would not be allowed. For example, if a child had a cylinder work (it's a work that involves cylinders that vary in depth and circumference) and decided to stack it like a tower, that would be incorrect and a child would be instructed to use the work correctly. If a child wanted to use the cylinders with a dollhouse in order to create furniture, that would be considered inappropriate use of the work. Granted, I'm sure that is not everyone's experience of Montessori as even Montessori schools vary to the degree as to how they interpret Montessori method. However, that approach would be true to method.

Maria Montessori created her program to help children who were horribly disadvantaged, many being street children. It's easy to see why a highly structured approach did them a world of good. However, for me, it seems as though it would inhibit imagination.

Montessori also was not a fan of fantasy play. Pretend play that imitates real life is encouraged in the Montessori environment. But fantasy play that revolves around imaginary animals, characters, and places would be discouraged. Maria felt that children should be involved in real world activity and that time spent in fantasy play was actually damaging for children. I could not disagree with Maria Montessori more on this idea. Fantasy play is a wonderful part of childhood and it would make me incredibly sad to think of children not creating imaginary worlds, animals, and characters.

I'm actually relieved to be so uninspired. I think that I was feeling a lot of stress as a result of my previous decision to be Montessori-inspired. So much of Montessori revolves around having appropriate works for this or that sensory experience, practical life skill, and other tasks. I don't believe children need a special set of cylinders to learn depth perception. Children are sponges and learn so much from the natural world around them. It seems silly to me to put so much emphasis on works that have isolated single concepts.

So anyways, goodbye Montessori. I will continue with what I was doing already. I try to get the children outdoors as much as possible. I think that in our culture spending time outdoors is undervalued. There is a special sense of well-being that comes from being outdoors, feeling the warmth of a summer breeze, touching the grass, digging in dirt, and watching the birds fly here and there. It's peaceful, relaxing, and exhilarating. I try to get the children out for a nature walk once a day. Additionally we go out for playtime outside in the morning. And provided everyone wakes up from nap and gets through afternoon snack before parents pick up, we go back outside for the afternoon.

Another thing that I will continue with is quality literature. I have poetry collections for young children as well as plenty of board books. Children are captivated by the lilting rhymes in well-written poetry. I use a lot of books from the Barefoot Books collection. They have books that emphasize quality storytelling, multiculturalism, green concepts, as well as many other wonderful subjects. I adore these books and would encourage their use in any home daycare program. There's a link on the right for anyone looking for books to add to their library.

Music is also something that I incorporate into much of our day. I LOVE using music for transitions. It really is effective to put a music CD on while I try to clean the kitchen up after snack or lunch. I have some instruments that I've purchased for music time. I have a drum, tambourine, shakers, and coconut clave sticks. I got my instruments from Nova Naturals and I love them. I also have my piano and the children love to sing and dance to piano music.

Well, anyways, I guess this has been a long post. But it's been awhile since I've updated and I wanted to share my new approach to my daycare.

The Rest Mats Have Arrived!

After searching around I found a much cheaper alternative to cots. I found rest mats that several home daycare providers rated 5 stars. And they were only $10 a piece. Woo hoo! They came in the mail today. They're nice and fluffy looking. They fold up and take up less space than the cots did for storage - a big plus. I need something that easily stores since the sleeping area is right in the middle of my living room!

Excellent Daycare Books

I've found a line of books that is absolutely wonderful for daycare. The focus of their company is on providing quality storytelling with quality art. I can tell you firsthand that the books are amazing. I'm working on building up my own collection. They also carry some wonderful music CDs called Putamayo Kids. I use them on a daily basis in my daycare and LOVE them. The music CDs feature music from different cultures that appeal to children and they're nice because it's great music and not that jarring, abrasive sound sometimes found in children's music CDs. I've got some of their board books and love them. A paperback that I bought is "Magic Train Ride" - LOVE it, LOVE it, LOVE it. Kiddos loved it too. Boo, my little one, asked for it "agaim" and "agaim" and "agaim". I'm actually considering basing the theme of his second birthday party on it as there's lots of room with the book to work in crafts, activities, etc...

Anyways, I'll stop gushing now. They've got free shipping this weekend. There's a banner on the right you can click on if you'd like to browse and get free shipping this weekend. Enjoy!

Water Play!

We did some water play the other day. Fun times. I put some water toys in a dish bin and added some dishsoap and food coloring. The kiddos had fun using whisks to make bubbles and playing with the water toys. Needless to say, they were soaked afterwards and needed changes of clothes. I would've stripped them down to diapers, but my house felt a bit cold that morning!

Pudding in a Bag

We made pudding in a bag for afternoon snack one day. I put the instant pudding mix into a bag with a slider zip thing. And then I added the milk. I zipped the bag shut and let my dc kiddo mush away. My own LO was still sleeping.

He mushed and he mushed until, voila - pudding!

Whipped Cream Art

We did whipped cream art the other day. Oh so fun and oh so edible. Edible is a good thing for toddler art! I put dollops of whip cream into an egg carton and then mixed in a bit of coloring in the different compartments. They had a great time smearing around the different colors. A nice sensory experience too. I was quite proud of my dc kiddo who happily smeared away as he's sometimes a bit hesitant to get messy! My LO is ALWAYS all too happy to get messy...lol!

Seed and Bean Mosaics

I found this idea on a yahoo group that I belong to for home daycare providers who lean towards natural living and childcare. Here's a link to the group.

Natural childcare yahoo group

Anyways, seed and bean mosaics were really fun. I got an assortment of lentils, dried beans, etc...out of my pantry. Since I have a young crowd I put the glue on their paper for them. Older kids would have fun making designs with glue on their paper. Then just place the beans, seeds, etc...Fun.

This activity took all about five minutes with the ages that I currently have as they pretty much just dumped all of their seeds and beans onto their paper right away. But I tried to get them to mush them around on the glue. I have one that's a bit resistent to touching glue. So I had to work with him on it a bit. But he eventually did smear it around a bit. My own little one just wanted to eat all the beans and seeds...lol.

I long for the day that I have a digital camera so that I can take pics of stuff as we do it and post it for all to see. Someday!