During my Montessori training, Miss Child used to tell us the most interesting stories. After the war, she and Miss Homfray would take their knitting needles to government agencies and wait hours on end, days on end to start the St. Nicolas Training Centre for the Montessori Method of Education. What strikes me about these ladies was their sincere desire to help the world using Montessori’s philosophy and methods for education. They were so generous with their time, motivation and knowledge. Miss Child didn’t think it should cost people dearly to be a certified teacher or to run a Montessori school. She believed Montessori was for everyone.
This article brings tears to my eyes, “Margaret Homfray died on March 7 this year [1996] aged 88. She shares a grave with Phoebe Child her companion in her life’s work.” These two ladies did indeed change the world for the better. They changed mine!

My children loved using the red rods and number rods like interger bars. They could look at a red rod and tell immediately how many 10 centimeter units there were. One game was matching a long red rod with different number rods. My son called these fractions. It’s very similar to this lesson. With the Montessori rods, the fractions are tenths. My children enjoyed using Cuisenaire Rods or Interger Bars in addition to the number rods.

Check out the Sellers Blog for a great idea for a basket of planets and labels. Sellers Montessori Inspired Homeschool is back! The ideas are easy to do and fun too!

My son has been taking several electrical engineering classes in college. He’s noticed that Montessori was correct about introducing concrete lessons before abstract ideas. He has to do the lab before he can read his electrical engineering book and understand the lectures. Montessori’s approach seems to work very well with hands-on engineering, even in higher education.

This shows the difference between a metaphorical, logical and absurd use of an adjective. This can be read or a fun, verbal guessing game.

Logical — Metaphorical Use — Absurd Use—
A big house— Big news — A big hair—
A furry cat— A furry cloud— Furry lips—
A level field— A level head — A level dog—
A thin person— A thin soup — A thin truck—
A tall woman— A tall tale— A tall mitten—
A good girl— A good heart — A good doll—
A narrow road— Narrow mind— A narrow boy—
Sweet cream— Sweet dream — Sweet bed—
Slow cooker— Slow hand— Slow sweater—
Happy face— Happy day— Happy sneaker—

My son is a junoir in college. He’s a math and engineering student, typical of a Montessori education. He’s working at a local tech company for his university’s work program. He spent much of his homeschooling years learning different computer programing languages. He can write almost any computer language. One of his co-workers was impressed and asked him what high school he attended with such a great tech educational program. My son laughed and told him he was raised by wolves, or homeschooled.
His co-worker seemed shocked.
The wonder of Montessori homeschooling is that your children can really pursue their talents. Once your children have mastered the basics of math, reading, science, and history, they can take off in any subject matter.

I’m from the 60’s generation that was concerned about American’s image abroad. I read The Ugly American and was concerned about my behavior in a guest country. I even put aside my red polyester paint suit and wore more conservative clothing during my stay overseas. I had to learn to be quiet and listen more. It’s amazing how abrasive our culture can be compared to others.

Besides google earth and moon maps, there is a new google mars. Here are loads of links and lessons for Mars.

Here are some more Montessori printouts from Lisia’s Home Page!

Montessori printouts-Decimal Fraction Board
and Montessori Maths Paper