Welcome to Montessori Creations @ StarLitDay.com
I’m Claire. Mum, business owner, dance teacher, Montessori enthusiast, and a potential homeschooler.
As part of my business as the owner of a children’s arts education company, I’d been in and out of Montessori preschools for years and instantly fell in love with the philosophy. When my own children were old enough, although they attended a local non-Montessori preschool part time, we supplemented with at home Montessori inspired activities – most of which I made myself. I discovered we had a local public Montessori elementary school – and we got in! We had two years of wonderful teachers, but changes in the school meant that our third year wasn’t so smooth. At home, we’d been supplementing my oldest child’s Montessori education with more homemade materials, and I spent a lot of time delving deeper into Maria Montessori’s books, album studies, Facebook communities. I was the resident parent “expert” for many families, explaining what their kids were getting up to in the classroom.
Enter COVID-19.
With a fairly thorough understanding of what my children needed, we jumped into a Montessori homeschool. I made new materials like crazy, read more, researched more, joined more Facebook communities, and watched a lot of YouTube video lessons. I thought I understood Montessori fairly well before, but as I actually guide my children through the methodology full time I continue to be amazed at how logical and globally all encompassing this education is.
So – with the next school year’s schedule looking uncertain, but more staff changes at our school quite definite, and the probability that my business will not be able to resume even when preschools reopen…homeschooling looks like a great option.
This blog will document an experiment already underway – first shelter-in-place, followed by a summer of homeschooling – and weigh up the pros and cons of continuing with this experiment in the Fall. I also want to document how I make my materials, proving that Montessori doesn’t have to be about a room full of expensive items. Yes, it may also become a platform for selling patterns and printables.
Along for the ride are my two children:
Funball is about to turn 8 and has just finished 2nd grade. All her life I’ve been playing catch up with what she can do. At 13 months old she signed that the traffic light we were standing by was red. In disbelief I ascertained that she really did already know her colours! At just under 4 I had an inkling she could read. She read the first 4 BOB books and declared the rest boring. We certainly went through a period of adjustment adjusting to homeschool during shelter-in-place. The more involved the she is in her education, the better we do. I love sharing this journey with her as we move through the Great Lessons and delve deeper into new topics.
Daisy is 5.5 and just finished preschool. For the record, she also signed her first colour at 13 months – at the exact same traffic light her sister did! She has adjusted to a Montessori work cycle well, and is really thriving with all this. I love teaching her to read! It is a brand new experience for both of us, and I’m honored to be on this journey with her. Being able to experience some of the Montessori curriculum threads with her from beginning to end is a pleasure.