Planning the year

Okay...I posted about this topic today. You can find it here:

http://whatdidwedoallday.blogspot.com/2009/05/planning.html

I wrote it so as my family could understand it, so there is a lot of info in there you don't need. But, you should get an idea of what we do and why.

Hi :)

Thanks for forwarding this comment on to me as I had missed it!

Well, let me start by saying that I'm not Montessori trained (though I wish I was & am in the process of deciding if I will undertake the training... I *really* want to but I've got to be sure that in the end I actually want to use the qualification in schools - as opposed to just using it at home with my own children ;) so there might be things that you would feel differently about, but here's what I know:

There are 4 seasonal guides. Each one is about 150 pages long. You start with the Fall guide (which works in your 'part of the world'. It's a little more confusing here in Australia as our seasons are mixed up ;) & there is a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... etc. page for all 5 days of the week / 4 weeks a month / 3 months per guide.

As the weeks pass & you progress through the guides, the Montessori materials are presented in order... but obviously every child / classroom is different so it is designed so that you can pick and choose what you will present. You might have noticed from the sample pages that there is more than realistically be presented on each day (well, there certainly is for us!!) but when I spoke to Gini who created the guides she just said to be led by the children... present the elements that are appropriate for your children / that will be interesting to them.

As the Montessori format is cyclical the idea is that the guides can be used over the 3 year time period (and there are instructions for adapting for the 6-9 age group too) whereby you return to the Fall guide again the next year at the start of school & start again but there might be different things that will be chosen for presentation &/or new layers of understanding will be gathered by the children when you re-present things. I can already see this will be true for us - Hug gets something different out of each lesson than Lovely does & I will imagine that next year Lovely will get something else again.

In regards to the scope, it does seem to cover all areas (please remember that I'm only just starting to use the guides). There are Practical Life activities/ Art activities/ Cooking / Language (including sign language) / Yoga / Songs / Circle time discussions points / Lots of different 'work' like suggested 3-part cards, Language & Maths presentations in regards to the Montessori materials.

And, as you noticed, there is also a HUGE list of library book *suggestions* each week! I know that my local library isn't going to have all of these books (if any!) & that I don't have the budget to order them so I will just make do - search our bookcases (I do this once a week & put all of the relevant books regarding that weeks focus topic in one basket) and then add similar titles from the library. I think lots of people have been overwhelmed by those lists (!) but I think that if you see them as a really wonderful resource (there might be books that you really like the sound of & decide that you would like to purchase them for your classroom) & realise that the guides can be approached flexibly then it isn't overwhelming.

I just decided that they would give us a good backbone - something I could refer to & know what we'd be looking at next week while leaving me to focus on strengthening my understanding the Montessori materials themselves. Of course, I could make up my own monthly plan but this is so comprehensive & really makes it easier - oh, & fun too! There are lots of things that I wouldn't have thought of.

In regards to the samples on-line, each season guide has 4 sample days so you can print all 16 pages out & test-run it for at least 3 weeks & even though it won't really be in the sequence of the guides you should be able to get a feel for how it would work for you. I find I need to look at the day & write out the activities / books that we will be using & it just helps to gel those ideas in my mind. Other people might be able to do that straight from the guides but I like to process it a little.

Wow. I've sure written more than I thought I would! Maybe I should copy this & make it a post of my blog in case any one else is interested! If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask me - or email Gini. I found her really helpful.

Amber :)

Hi Amber,I have thought and thought some more about purchasing that same curriculum, but have had mixed reviews. Does it include all areas or mostly culture and science? Do you have to get a ton of books each week from the library?I would love to view a bit bigger sample than what they have on the site....I would love your opinion about it all!Thanks for the post!

Hi! I just purchased the Curriculum Guides from New Child Montessori & am really excited about them.

Have a look ( http://www.newchildmontessori.com/ ) and see what you think. They have 4 seasonal guides that also incorporate the introduction of the Montessori materials.

I just decided that I needed to simplify things for myself (or else I end up surfing around Montessori sites at length trying to decide what to do rather than actually doing anything! ;)

I'm looking forward to seeing what other tips you get :)