Children Learn What They Live By

Dorothy Law Nolte

If a child lives with criticism

He learns to condemn.

If a child lives with hostility

He learns to fight.

If a child lives with ridicule

He learns to be shy.

If a child lives with jealousy

He learns to feel guilty.

But if a child lives with tolerance

He learns to be patient.

If a child lives with encouragement

He learns self-confidence.

If a child lives with praise

He learns to appreciate.

If a child lives with fairness

He learns justice.

If a child lives with approval

He learns to like himself.

If a child lives with security

He learns to have faith.

If a child lives with acceptance and friendship

He learns to find love in the world.

Casa Kaede home page

Information about Dr Maria Montessori

MONTESSORI IN THE HOME

Bringing Montessori into your home

The Wonder Years – A Montessori home environment

Parenting for independence blogpost

Practical life in the home - a good list of undertakings that a child will appreciate

Summer vacation – a practical life approach

Summer reading ideas

Montessori at home: the senses

Montessori prepared environment at home

How to create a prepared environment

MONTESSORI AT HOME WEBLOGS

Lavenderandlimes.blogspot/kids

Montessori for everyone – Montessori home schooling

Moose Huntress – Montessori at home website

Happy Hearts home schooling blog links

Adventures of a rainbow mama

Chasing Cheerios - a homeschooling weblog

INFANT TODDLER YEARS

The Montessori Merthod for the Infant Toddler

Parenting books for the infant years

Secrets of childhood – infant center

Baby’s Montessori room

The first three years of life

WEBSITES

Montessori videos on You Tube

Montessori videos on Vimeo

Montessori for infants and toddlers

A general Montessori website

Montessori content on Blogger

Montessori images on Flickr

SUPPLIES

BST Montessori Materials

Montessori Research and development

Nienhaus.com

Comprehensive list of Montessori materials resources

Infant toddler supplies

Little Red Riding Hood: Supplies for infants and toddlers

Montessorimaterials.org

Etsy stores with Montessori tags

Goose Designs on Etsy

Spore: A modern Montessori material

How to make homemade material

Michael Olaf Infant and Primary years supplies

Montessori for everyone supplies

Montessori books on Amazon.com

MONTESSORI TEACHER’s BLOGS

Itty bitty love

Montessori on the shelf

Moveable alphabet

Montessori Secrets

I have heard high praise about the writings and research of Tim Seldin from my colleagues in the education field and decided to order his book How to Raise an Amazing Child. For more information about the work of Tim Seldin’s organization see www.montessori.org

Tim Seldin speaks about Montessori education:

I own a copy of Sylvana Montenaro’s book Understanding the Human Being, which focuses on the 0 – 3 age group from a Montessori perspective and have had the opportunity to attend a workshop Dr. Montenaro held in Japan. I wanted to find some recent contributions to body of work about the infant years from a Montessori perspective so I chose the Child’s Play activities based book shown above and the following book by Clare Healy. Volume 3 focuses on the 0 – 3 age group.

I received high praise about the book from a new mother and decided to have it on hand as a resource. Apparently it works well with the five principles of sleep (as described in the following link) and in the Happiest Baby on the Block book. Thoughts about babies sleep are varied and often contradictory. So I hesitate to commit to any one principle too quickly without a period of trial and error and observation.

The following book appears to be a good modern version of a Dr. Spock type primer.

If you cast your mind back to your school days, you will remember the brightest sparks in your class – the math whizzes, the artistic creatives and the sports titans, for example. As you struggled along in your own way, you may have wondered how their talents had so greatly surpassed your own.

In my case, by the time I finished high school I had attended 11 schools in Europe, North America and the Middle East, Eastern and South-East Asia. This meant that I had all kinds of educational experiences under my belt, and plenty of learning knowledge gaps. After switching to yet another new school, I entered my new math class feel more than a bit confused. As I struggled to keep myself afloat, I cast my eye about and saw that my friends brought strong math and science skills, for example, to the table. Were they gifted students? How did they get to be so talented in these disciplines? I soon understood that the schools they had attended placed a strong focus on these areas and on the need to spend time developing the necessary skills.

As I left my student years behind and reflected on my experiences, I realized that the students who were strongest in grade school also spent more time at their craft in consistent learning environments. While there are the gifted types – like my sibling – who could whip up a winning political science essay on the fly, most people have to put in the time to get the results.

..and so this became one of my strongest pieces of advice to every kindergarten student entering full day schooling. “If you don’t understand your school work, sit down with your teacher or parent and spend time trying to understand. Work hard and spend time on home work in an organized fashion.” Every time I see the young children in my life I ask them, “SO – are you working hard? Are you busting it? Are you taking a serious approach to your homework?” “Oh yes,” they assure me, “I am putting in the time.”

A few years ago research came out suggesting that in recent decades parents have spent too much time praising their children for being geniuses. Unfortunately when these students experienced their first major failures, their sense of self – grounded so heavily in their “genuis-ness” – crumbled. The findings suggest that the focus should not be how clever a child is, but rather on how hard they have worked. Note this is not the same as saying “don’t worry about how they do – just praise their efforts”. These findings helped me to solidify my own focus. My first instinct is to be thrilled when contemplating the results of a young child’s efforts. “Aren’t you clever!”, would be my first natural response. Now I am more apt to say “look how much effort you have put into this painting. It’s lovely. I like how you…..”.

David Brooks article reminds me that there is always a balance between putting in the time and cracking the whip. One hardly wants to jam a child into endless hours of practice if they are not truly passionate about the piano, tennis or an academic discipline. On the other hand adults can help students to organize their time so that they are putting in a sufficient effort in order to build a strong base. Additionally, if they perceive that the child does have an interest in an area, they can help to provide consistent and sustained opportunities to pursue these interests. These considerations must be balanced with the realization that a child’s life should not be over programmed. Free time to be bored, stare at the sky, twirl one’s hair, chat with friends and dream is essential. However this does not amount to “scheduling free time”.

In my own life my mother identified at an early stage that I was keen on artistic pursuits. She took up every opportunity she could find to introduce me to a variety of artistic experiences. Wherever we lived in the world, she took me to classes, arts events and introduced me to adults who shared my passion for the arts. Her resourcefulness in this area was impressive and persistent. Watching how she tracks the pursuits of the young children in her life today, I can see that she is continually putting in the time to support the children in her life, who will in turn also will put time into their emerging interests. I know from experience that this is an approach that worked for me and it’s exciting to see the next generation pursue their own unique talents in a focused and rewarding way.

The Genius Myth: The Danger of Worshipping “Exceptional” Students

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A Putamayo CD is one of the most joyful collections of music that you can introduce to a child. Each CD release has a different theme. The two main categories are world music and music for children, with accompanying multicultural learning packages. For the full catalogue, visit their website. I first noticed their CDs while visiting a textile store in Trinidad. Since then I have noted that children have an open mind to music from different continents and cultures. The early childhood years are an ideal time to introduce children to the joy of listening to world music.

(Click on image to enlarge: Source: Snowcrystals.com & Livescience.com)

“Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind.” Wilson Bentley

Wilson Bentley (1865-1931) was a Vermont farmer in the 1800s who decided to use simple photographic equipment and the natural light of the overcast sky to photograph over 5,000 snowflakes.

Even in colder climates, there is a sense of magic when the first snowfall falls. Now snowflakes can even be created in a laboratory (click here), as seen in this snowflake growing time-lapse movie of a growing snow crystal.

…and who can forget the exciting discoveries made when children learn to cut out a snowflake for the first time? Now you can even create snowflakes online.

A search for snowflakes in photo databases brings up all kinds of delightful results.

Here Comes Suzy Snowflake is a charming 1950s song (and movie) that reminds us of how delicate and beautiful a snowflake really is.

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Subject: Owl Moon by Jane Yolen (excerpt)

If you go owling
you have to be quiet,
that’s what Pa always says.I had been waiting to go owling with Pa
for a long, long time.

[...]

When you go owling
you don’t need words
or warm
or anything but hope.
That’s what Pa says.
The kind of hope
that flies
on silent wings
under a shining
Owl Moon.

I love both the cassette and video tape version of this story. When the children listen to this story, they seem to revel in the stillness that is created.

A boy with hyperlexia does an impressive job reciting Owl Moon

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