Botany Cabinet: Focus on the Essentials

An excerpt from the elementary biology album that reminds us why we use generic shapes in the botany cabinet, as opposed to leaf names specific to a particular region:

Once the child gathers a large body of knowledge from sensorial exploration, she can then begin to order and classify it.

An example of how this happens is by giving the child the name of the new shape rather than just giving the name of the plant from which the leaf comes. For example, the child can see that this plant has obovate leaves and so does this plant. That plant over there has sagittate leaves. When you give the name of the leaf shape, you give the children a tool to classify leaves and plants alike. Just giving the names of the plants, does not provide a basis for ordering and classification. This base of information is also built up through the use of nomenclature material in the primary. The nomenclature material is used by children who are reading and also those children who are not yet reading. Through the use of the nomenclature material, children learn the names of plants, parts of plants, names of animals and names of parts of animals. Eventually, all of this information can be ordered and classified. Another source for building up the child’s store of information comes from the stories, the poems and the songs that the teacher introduces about plants and animals.

All of this work becomes a foundation from which the children will launch with her work in the elementary.

Keys at Every Plane of Development

Consider how the following words apply to EVERY plane of development. 

John McNamara as quoted in NAMTA Journal 23:3 Summer 1997:

Like I did when I taught at the Elementary level, I am still trying to help the students' passage to abstraction, to stimulate their interest, to capture their imagination, to meet their need for group work, to respect their growing moral awareness, and to give precise keys so they can proceed to make discoveries on their own. 

He refers to the adolescent age, but how does this apply to every age?

Montessori: Keys Approach to Life - 2

In Montessori elementary, we have work contracts (or work charts or work agreements or other names can be used). The concepts used for them, can be adapted to primary, and can readily be applied to the entire life of the family. Montessori didn't set out to establish an educational system; she observed, and found a way of life.

• You provide the keys (given in Montessori albums); 
• you provide your own requirements (local educational requirements, family culture requirements); 
• and you provide the child time to explore those ideas as well as his own ideas generated by them.

Did I just say "requirements" ???? YES! The children should have requirements (responsibility) balanced with personal choice/interest (freedom). Life is full of requirements, and we need to know how to work with our personal time too. So we start young and provide the children with (drum roll please) *REAL LIFE*.

SO. If you present the keys to mathematics, the child has LOTS of time to explore mathematical concepts, principles and history beyond the "requirements". Do they need more practice with their facts? then put in their weekly work contract that they will be working with the facts. As long as the child is showing responsibility, they have freedom of choice within the limitations you set (perhaps they have a choice about HOW to practice those facts). Not capable of the amount of freedom they have? Cut back to where they can have success; then give more freedom as responsibility is proven.

So.... can a workbook or textbook be used? Yes. But in *balance*. In the ordinary way of things within a Montessori classroom, textbooks are used as resources - not as the teaching manual or the set of requirements or even the main tool. But textbooks can be used as a tool; grammar books are specifically mentioned in the language album for elementary (mostly upper elementary) - we say "Let's see what this grammarian has to say on (a particular matter)". Workbooks are generally frowned upon, but that is fodder for another Nugget ;)

Caveat with textbooks: they are usually not primary sources. Get the children using primary sources as much as possible, but sometimes the children will be studying how different people interpret the same event or concept - therefore, textbooks make sense.

Or sometimes there is just no Montessori material available for something that a particular textbook or program covers very, very well (learning particular languages comes to mind - especially ancient ones). Combine the textbook with lots of real experiences and outings.


But remember: focus on the keys for what you the adult teach to the child.


Give them the tools they need to explore and have their own projects.

And if you have a requirement for their projects, then place it. It's ok! It's called living up to responsibility for fulfilling the local educational requirements (even when those local educational requirements come from mom and dad!). They should have lots and lots of time and opportunity for their work, such that the outside requirements can reasonably be met as a small part of their work cycle.



Then let them explore!

Montessori: The Keys Approach to Life - 1

Do not think of Montessori as a curriculum.

Think of it as a set of keys.

You present a key to the child - this key unlocks a door, a treasure box, a suitcase full of travel gear, so much more!

By presenting these keys to the primary child, you are giving them the world - to explore, to understand, to be part of, to be a steward over.

By presenting the keys to the elementary child, you are giving them the universe - all history and future and present, all people, places, things and ideas. And above all: you are giving them *time*.

Reading Development in Montessori

FOCUS ON THE KEYS - reading is not a curriculum or a tedious chore, but communicating with oneself and with others. It is a connection between people without spoken word.

At all ages, give the children life experiences so that they have something to write about.

Reading aloud: At primary and most of lower elementary, children learning to read should NOT be expected to read aloud - we give "commands" (such as "get a mat") and see if they have read it correctly because they have followed the command correctly. This is a fantastic game to play with all children learning to read - especially giving them "commands" they would not normally get to do ("run in the hall", "step on a mat", "share a sweet with a pal"). If you want children to read aloud, give them plenty of time to read it on their own first - and come to you when they are ready. 


Primary: Children will *write* before they will read.

Keys at primary:

• language games 
• sandpaper letters
• movable alphabet (wood)
• sandpaper phonograms (digraphs, blends)
• puzzle words
• phonogram cards
• 3-part cards in areas of interest (4-part cards, definition cards, definition strips are extensions)
• From there, reading has developed and further materials are used in reading analysis and applying that reading to other areas of life and learning: word study, science explorations, geography, music, mathematics, parts of speech, function of words, punctuation

Elementary: Children just learning to read in elementary, typically *read* simultaneously with writing. We have remedial reading and writing to give a new child to elementary who does not have these skills, so that they can function within the classroom. We do not withhold cosmic education from them - we introduce all other aspects of the classroom despite the lack of reading skills.

Keys at elementary:

• grammar boxes
• sentence analysis
• good literature from which to pull samples (no worksheets here!)
• Age 8: begin reading aloud during family read-aloud time
• UPPER ELEMENTARY: Can be reading aloud frequently - dramatic tellings, speeches, reports.

Remediation: If a child does not learn to read by the age of 5, the next most natural window is 8-9.

At these moments (either 4-5 1/2 or 8-9), learning to read will progress quickly from little/no skills to at least a 3rd grade reading level in a matter of weeks, sometimes days. 5th or 6th grade reading level can be expected in less than a year of learning to read. Children CAN learn to read at other time-frames, but it will be more tedious and easily thwarted.

• Keep it light, keep it interesting. 
• Reading should NOT be a chore. 
• Think 3-5 short bursts (5-10 minutes TOPS) of practice throughout the day, instead of 30 minutes all at once. 
• Do not withhold other subjects or hold back in other subjects due to lack of reading ability. 
• Interest and practicality fuel reading ability and desire. 
• Let them go ahead to something harder when they need to - this can encourage them to want to continue learning to read. 
• Turn off technology until the child is a confident reader. 
• Continue other studies as normal, including language studies. 
• Continue reading aloud to all children. 

Keys - Montessori Principles

The Montessori Method is based on KEYS.

These keys unlock doors of wonder, exploration and joy of life.

There are specific keys for each subject area as well as each plane of development; today we will look at the over-arching keys:

• Follow the Child
• No duplicate materials to teach the same concept
• Control of error (now, how this looks will change with each age)
• Only give the child enough to entice his imagination and desire to learn more
• Assure a solid foundation is provided (provide all the basics)
• Freedom with Discipline and Responsibility (only give what they can handle)
• The environment forms the child (but the adult controls the environment)
• The environment includes the people, the physical components and the attitude
• Responsibility for one's work (this needs varying adult guidance/requirements at each age)
• How do you discover these keys? Observe. 

First Plane: Give the child the keys to the world

Second Plane: Give the child the keys to the universe

Third Plane: Give the child the keys to his vocation.

Fourth Plane: Give the child the keys to the future. 

Keys to knowledge are significant in our work with the children during both of the first two planes of development, keys open up possibilities for the child’s own work and therefore they allow some change to take place within the child.

Mary Hayes, Montessori's View of Cosmic Education 

How have you seen these keys at work in the child and in the adults? How can you re-focus your approach to focus on the keys?