Hmmm…I’m just a mom of two fabulously joyful and ferociously stress-inducing wee ones and the wife of the most charming, giving, loving husband a girl could ask for. (No, he’s not perfect, and our relationship isn’t perfect – where’s that marriage therapist’s number? – but you better believe I’m going to lift him up through this!)
What is this blog about? Who knows? I’m setting it up as a distraction from doing things on my to-do list, and when I post, it will probably be for the same reason. I certainly don’t have TIME to blog!
I’m calling it Our Montessori Home because we do all kinds of wacky and wonderful Montessori-inspired things in our home. (People are always stunned to learn that our kids didn’t sleep in cribs as babies – they slept on a round crib mattress on the floor.) I have previously been both a public school teacher (3rd grade) and a Montessori teacher (Primary level, which is 3-6 year olds). At this point, I’m in my first year of officially homeschooling, doing a blend of Montessori and Sonlight.
I’m sure some of the posts will be about what’s going on in our homeschool experiences. Some will be about great children’s books (no twaddle allowed in this house!), or books that I read just for me that really challenge or inspire me. Some posts will just be about whatever random thing happened in our Montessori home. The identities you will read about within the blog are The Brain (my way-too-intelligent husband), Drama Queen (my exuberant 5YO daughter), and Mr. BANG (my 4YO son who really enjoys making sound effects.)
I am constantly being asked about Montessori-related things, and I could talk Montessori all day and all night. I’m no expert by any means (I didn’t even read the huge stack of Dr. Maria Montessori’s book that I was required to read as part of my Montessori training!), but I like to discuss it anyway!
I also love discussing theology, although it does intimidate me a bit. I’m REALLY no expert on that topic, but I know that I always work to grow more in my understanding of who God is and who He created me to be. If you’re interested in learning factual and historic reasons for the Christian worldview, here is an excellent series of short videos that clearly lay out the cosmological, moral, and design arguments for the existence of God; reasons for believing the Christian God is the one, true God; historic info behind the creation of the Old and New Testaments; etc.
SOOO…all that being said (I’m apparently much wordier than I realized), feel free to start a discussion with me on Montessori, homeschool, God/theology, or…whatever you want, really!
Please feel free to “talk” with me through the comments. I would love to “meet” you!
2 Comments
Our Montessori Home 
So I have read your entire blog, and I just want to say thank you for sharing all of your thoughts. But I just am looking for some advice. I am going to begin homeschooling this fall and I want to do Montessori. I have been slowly buying materials and reading loads of blogs and books including Maria Montessori’s collection. But I still feel like I need more information and direction. Do you recommend getting Montessori training? I just feel like it’s really expensive and I have no intention of becoming a Montessori teacher. I know there are curriculum books out there…I haven’t purchased any yet and maybe that is the direction that I would need. But for example I purchased the cursive sandpaper letters and I didn’t know that the touch boards were first. I plan on purchasing most of the materials (at a slow rate) but I just need to know what the best approach is, what to buy first etc.. If you could offer any advice or thoughts I would so appreciate it. Thank you for your time.
Hi Megan. Wow, you read the whole blog?! That makes me feel good that you would you use your precious time reading so much of my blog! How old is your child/children? For the primary age (3-6), I highly recommend getting the e-book Montessori At Home. (http://www.montessoriathomebook.com) It’s only $11, and I really think it provides an excellent plan of how to get the Montessori experience in a home setting. As for the touch boards, I will tell you that I skipped those with both kids. Yes, I think their initial experiences with the sandpaper letters would have been better if they had already used the touch boards, but one thing about doing Montessori at home is that you just can’t do everything. You have to pick and choose which materials are the most important. That’s one nice thing about the e-book – he tells which actual Montessori materials are worth buying, and gives more practical alternatives for others.