Across the street
What used to be our scenic view
Another puddle in the driveway.It all started promisingly enough. I finally felt well enough to continue reading That Hideous Strength with Tim after the other boys were in bed. It had been a late night, since we stayed up to watch the Olympics. But it was Friday night, and we could afford to sleep in. I especially was looking forward to getting to bed by 1am (early for me) and get some extra sleep to help with recuperation. During our reading, I made a mental note when I heard someone in the bathroom. That meant one of the other boys, probably J, wasn't asleep yet.
Tim and I read the part in That Hideous Strength where the guy on the horse shows up at the door (this is after the part where we finally find out who the Head of the N.I.C.E is! That's not too much of a spoiler, is it?) We talked for a few minutes, and then I went to see that both boys were in bed.
Nope, L was missing! He was in the bathroom. Still? It had been awhile since I'd heard him in the bathroom earlier. I waited, and when he finally came out, I found out why he wasn't asleep. He was sick. I'll spare the details, but we spent an hour and a half getting him back to bed. By the time he was asleep again, it was 3am and we were all up and wide awake. Then Miss M woke up, wide awake and ready to play after her nap. So much for extra sleep. J offered to stay up and play with her, so I dozed off for a few minutes in between thoughts about the sick son and the cleaning chore that still lay ahead.
An hour and a half later, sick son was up again and needed tending. Miss M was still going strong, happily playing with brother J. She finally tired out as it started getting light. Snow was falling - finally, our first good snow! But we were all too tired to enjoy it.
At 9am, sick son popped out of bed, chipper and wide awake, and came out into the family room where the rest of us were camped out on the couch, chair and floor of the family room. He felt great and wanted to know if, since he was sick, he could watch videos all day!
The snow really is beautiful, and we're supposed to get a couple more inches tonight.
Maria Montessori Her Life and Work by E. Mortimer Standing
Chapter 21 - Montessori, Froebel and the Junior School
Around age 9 or 10, the enclosed Montessori school environment is no longer enough for the child. He wants more; he's entered his next phase of development and longs to explore again, but this time he wants to explore the wide world. Traditionally, this is the age when boys escape, run away, play hookey from school, form gangs. This is the optimum time to prepare students to go out into the world. Boy scouts, which teaches survival skills, is one workable solution. But what about school? Ideally, scout-type activities should be part of school. Froebel's students learned about nature (in a way that sounds like CM's section on 'Red Indian lore' in volume 1). Froebel's students explored terrain and then made their own maps from their explorations. But preparation for the real world involves more than survival skills and map-making. It means moral training to choose between right and wrong.
The herd instinct becomes strong at this phase, and can be harnessed so that students form groups that have moral goals and standards. Froebel liked organized sports for this purpose. Montessori liked scouts, but preferred to have something attached to the school. Schools in each culture would find their own solutions.
Children at this stage begin to Reason. So Montessori's junior schools switch from isolated skill lessons with color boards and graduated cylinders to a more wholistic approach, teaching about related interests with a unified center that were similar to but not quite like unit studies that squander too much time on unimportant subjects. 'Seeds of interest' are sown about lots of different subjects (sounds like CM's varied curriculum in all different fields of knowledge). But the whole class isn't dragged through lessons in the same subject - learning is still individual and child-led yet still guided by the teacher. Before, the young child child was taught skills so that, if he chose an activity, he was free and capable to do it - he had the skills to do what he wanted to do. It's the same at this age. The teacher has to be able to help the student pursue information within his interest, which means she has to know a LOT! (I imagine this aspect of Montessori would be a lot easier in our computer age!) It sounds like this phase of education was never fully worked out and still had some problems to be worked through - the expectations of the teacher's file of knowledge, for one!
Montessori felt that the child's imagination should be inspired from the wonders of the universe, not fantasy, because fact is more fascinating than fiction.
The book closes with more hyperbole about how recognizing the inner light of the child would create a Christ-like-ness in children and lead to world peace.
To start at the beginning of this series, click here.
I changed my mind about skipping the Froebel chapters. In an e-group I'm on, we're just about at the part of CM's volume 1 where she says what she likes and doesn't like about Froebel. So this suddenly became more interesting for me. :) There's still one more chapter in the book, which I'll post this weekend. Then the book will truly be done.
Chapter 19 - Montessori and Froebel: Similarities
(Froebel was the father of Kindergarten)
Both Montessori and Froebel love and reverence the child as a spiritual being (CM also agreed here).
Both felt that the vital element in education and learning was the child's own activity, and that shouldn't be interfered with.
Both use teaching materials, although Montessori's are more closely related to Gestalt and Froebel's are called 'gifts' and are more spiritual and metaphysical (this sounds more like a difference than a similarity).
Both saw the child as soft wax to be molded. And both saw the development of humans as stages of metamorphosis - infant, toddler, child, youth, man. If anything is missed at any one of these stages, it becomes like a 'dropped stitch' in life and can't be made up for later. This is related to sensitive periods, such as the 'absorbent mind' stage of preschool. (This sounds to me like 'windows of opportunity.')
Both saw the child as an explorer, collecting data to build his mind with, and both felt that more was gained if the child discovered and figured things out for himself. But both felt that adults could offer some help. For Montessori, that help was providing a prepared environment. For Froebel, the help was more direct (by answering questions, I think.)
Macrocosm/microcosm - both felt that the child sought to recreate the order and knowledge he saw in his world, which reflected God's order and knowledge as manifested in Creation.
Both felt that too much interference and not enough opportunity to allow children to develop according to their own nature is the cause of deviations, abnormal behavior and bad habits.
Both understood that, for children to know the right thing to do, they needed more than to be told what to do. Their bodies and muscles needed to practice doing it. Froebel used 'drill' to teach coordination. Montessori put more emphasis on this wih her focus on life skills. (CM emphasized training the muscles to do tasks excellently, but she didn't feel that training the muscles had any impact on the mind as Froebel and Montessori did.)
Both were profoundly keen on freedom and autonomy - but only in the sense of being free within the law, never as a license to do wrong.
Chapter 20 - Montessori and Froebel: Differences
Although both aimed at education through self-activity, the differences between Montessori and Froebel may explain why Montessori was more successful.
Froebel's 'teaching unit' consisted of 8-10 children, so that would be an ideal class size. Since Montessori's 'teaching unit' is one child learning independently, larger class sizes of 35 students are more efficient.
Montessori puts more faith in the child's 'inner light' to choose what and when to learn within the confines of the prepared environment, so the teacher's role is merely to direct in the background. A Froebel teacher teaches. (CM said that, in a Froebel kindergarten, everything rested on the teacher's kindliness, enthusiasm and cheerfulness.)
In a Montessori school, children learn through self-initiated work. In a Froebel school, they learn through play.
Montessori didn't think it was healthy for children to hear fairy tales before they were old enough to sort fact from fiction - around age 5. While they were still in the exploring and data-collecting phase of their development, presenting fantasy would only confuse them and scare them with thoughts of witches and goblins that might stay in their minds into adulthood. There are enough fascinating real things in the world to spark preschool children's imaginations--nature itself offers lots of real fascination. Montessori found that children tended to role play about being independent. In a Montessori school, they are independent. They set real tables for real meals and clean real messes - so they don't need to act it out in play. Froebel focused on play and the imagination, even suggesting activities to act out (the 'flapping like butterflies and frisking like lambs' that CM criticized). Montessori focused on work and intellect and believed the imagination would take care of itself because people were designed to be creative. It is as true for children as adults that work brings the greatest satisfaction, and all play and no work makes recreation boring. Montessori felt that much of children's playing was an attempt to escape the authoritative adult world where children didn't fit and mastery is frustratingly impossible. Under the right circumstances (prepared environment, freedom to work) Montessori hd no objection to play. She even sometimes had them role play situations or scenes in stories. Froebelians objected to Montessori's insistance that teaching materials be used only for their intended purpose. Froebel would have praised children using them imaginatively, but that was contrary to Montessori's purposes. If the child wants to wash something, let him wash real (child-sized) laundry. If he wants to build, let him use real building materials, not the graduated cylinders.
Froebel was pantheistic (Nordic, the book says) while Montessori was Catholic and believed in one God.
Froebel emphasized 'making the inner the outer' through self-expression, while Montessori focused on the child internalizing and ordering the outside world in his mind - more like 'making the outer the inner.'
To start at the beginning of this series, click here.
Read the final installment.
Thanks to The Common Room for pointing these out. The Bookworm took a field trip to Ambleside and posted these pictures of Scale How (Charlotte Mason's training school for teachers) and CM's grave.
I did a search and found more Scale How pix here.
And pictures of The Lake District (which includes Ambleside, England) here.
Today was one of those beautiful days that make you want to play music or paint a picture. It also makes one wonder why it feels like spring in February. But no matter, it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed it. I tried both composing and drawing, but neither attempt turned out well. I think that it would take talents far beyond mine, if it is possible at all, to capture in a painting or piece of music the feeling that stirs this creative impulse. It seems to be a desire to create, a desire to preserve, and a simple enjoyment in the the thing to be preserved (in this case a Spring-y day) all rolled together in one feeling. Or maybe they only appear one feeling because they are rolled together?
Our local homeschool teen group had a get-together this Monday which Brother J and I went to. That was fun--ping-pong, card games, pizza, foosball, and such. I observed that when a ball is thrown into a crowded room, the boys all try to catch it, and the girls all duck. I wonder if this is just training, or if the difference goes deeper? (I'm sure if I were Freud I could come up with some sinister subconsious reason for it.) The pizza slumber party lastnight was great fun too. But the happiness of late nights with good friends is not something I can describe here. I hope it does not need describing.
The men's figure skating has just ended. We don't like the new scoring system: it puts too much emphasis on jumps and the designated elements that have to be done. And getting a higher score just for attempting a quad? Not good. I thought Matt Savoie and Evan Lysacek had the best performances tonight, and (bad as it may sound) I'm glad Johnny Weir didn't medal.
And I saw my new favorite commercial. Actually, my first favorite commercial in memory. It's a stop-frame animation sequence (with a dragon!) for United Airlines. You can see it (and a nice making-of video) here.
How often do we look at our own homeschools and feel discouraged by what didn't get done?
This post from CM, Children and Lots of Grace is titled Gardening, but it's about more than that.
Such a nice little vacation.
Then I came back - sick! Everything hurts - my legs are sore, back is sore, headache, even chocolate sounds disgusting. I think I'm still dealing with the same virus from three weeks ago. The boys have been great, taking care of things, entertaining Miss M. She hasn't been so great - she woke up at 4:30 am and SCREAMED for an hour and a half because I was too sick to carry her out to the family room, get her juice, read her books and play with her.
Then, later today, she put peas up her nose. One in each nostril. I know, someday I'll laugh about this. Actually, we laughed when it happened! But it scared her. I'd like to think she learned her lesson, but I know it doesn't work that way. Not with two-year-olds.
(Update - it's Friday, and I'm better!)
I had hoped to take dh out to dinner for Valentine's Day - we have a pretty rigid diet at home, and I know he misses steak and lasagna, so I wanted to take him somewhere and let him order whatever he wanted. The problem is Miss M. I was pretty sure I could figure out something with the boys, but I couldn't leave her home, she'd have to come with us, which would make any meal out . . . well, kind of wild. ;)
As it turned out, he surprised me by taking a day off from work to take me out for the day! He arranged for a friend to stay with the boys so we could spend the day out in town (with Miss M; she's still too young to leave without a lot of distress for her and for whoever she's left with!)
After we'd been out for awhile, he informed me that he had reserved us a hotel room and arranged it so we could just stay away all night! So we did a little shopping (mostly for stuff we needed - he tried to pack everything we'd need for an overnight trip, but didn't think of everything, so we had to get a couple of things - like a toothbrush - but at least he remembered the important things - like chocolate!) We ordered dinner to go (he got his lasagna!) and took it to the hotel room with us. Miss M was so excited with her new surroundings that she stayed up opening drawers and trying out all the chairs and running around the room - until midnight!
The boys had a great time, too - it turned out to be a pizza slumber party for them!
Maria Montessori Her Life and Work by E. Mortimer Standing
Chapter 18 - The Montessori Directress
A Montessori teacher needs to undergo religious/spiritul preparation in order to properly understand the child as a dignified person. This is the most difficult and important part of her training. She must learn to analyze and correct her own faults rather than looking for and trying to fix a child's faults. She must cultivate humility and patience and get rid of pride and anger. Adults who act angry or arrogant are received coldly by other adults, but children don't know any better and, instead of reflecting it back, they absorb it all and it affects their self-esteem. She must seek to serve children instead of tyrannizing them as an authority. She should be interested and enthusiastic without being too energetic or too forced and turning the children off; she must move gently, calmly, delicately, naturally. She must be interested in what she's teaching and know how to present it in a fresh, novel way if she hopes to interest her students. (I guess that implies that she'd need to be constantly improving herself as a sort of parallel to CM's model of mother/teacher culture?) She must encourage the child without giving so much praise that he begins to do his work for her instead of for his own growth. She should give enough guidance and direction to get the children working, but she must practice non-intervention (which sounds like CM's masterly inactivity).
The two final chapters are about the similarities and differences between Montessori and Froebel. I might delve into that someday, but I think I'm ready to be done with this book for now and move on to something else. I changed my mind about skipping the chapters about Froebel.
For all practical purposes, I've finished the book, and there never was any mention of books or instilling any kind of ideas to inspire children's minds. I gather that, in Montessori's view, children's 'inner lights' and work to create themselves didn't need the outside influence of other people's ideas. Maybe that would be seen as an intrusion into the child's development?
To start at the beginning of this series, click here.
To read the next entry, click here.
