"Where, Oh Where, Has My Little Toddler Gone, Oh..."

Where's my little toddler who says, "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy!" Or who insists on doing everything himself! My toddler who used to take long naps, and eat like a horse (a small horse, OK, a pony, a small pony).

He's turning into a three year old preschooler! (THANK GOODNESS!)

Yes, I can really see the difference in my growing tot, longer and leaner, and do I dare say, he listens to me now (sort of). Shorter naps, which means he falls asleep earlier at night!

He's still a monkey, running and climbing and throwing and jumping all around, but how can I say it, he's becoming more wily: he waits until I go into the bathroom, for example, to climb over the gate into the kitchen!

And he now shows a strong and growing interest in numbers and counting, a sure sign the toddler year(s) are going, going, gone.

Did I say THANK GOODNESS! Yes, I did!

Bye, bye tantrums and fights over changing diapers and clothes (well, almost!).

Is It Too Late to Start Montessori?

I get asked this question a lot: "Is it to late to start Montessori with my older child?"

Usually the mom tells me she is not happy with the local public school and or her child is not doing well, and that she has heard great things about Montessori, but feels it is too late to start it at home!

Some moms have read books on Montessori and realize their child has missed out on the foundation of the Montessori preschool years.

These moms are in a quandary as to what to do! So they come to me because they trust my judgement and wisdom! I am a mom, too, after all.

You can worry yourself sick trying to figure out the best educational choices for your child!

And boy do I know the feeling! I think about the best educational choices for my son ALL THE TIME due to his Down syndrome! He's only 3 1/2 and I'm already thinking about high school!

So here is what I tell these moms: I think you can begin Montessori homeschooling at any age, and the 6-9 curriculum offers a lot of choices for math, language, history, and the sciences, choices that are superior to traditional approaches.

The "foundation" will be different since you are started a little (or a lot late), and this is not uncommon. I always tell homeschoolers getting a late start (using Montessori) not to dwell on it! You want your children to love learning, that should always be your bottom line! Always!

What many homeschoolers do is use Montessori along with OTHER homeschool curriculum... and you may want to consider this for your 6 to 9 year old.

Still other homeschoolers are attracted to Montessori 6-9 but are Creationist, so they will only use Montessori math and language; or they are OK with the Montessori sciences (which includes the theory of Evolution) but cannot afford the math materials so they will use a different (homeschool) math program...

So I guess what I'm saying is, it doesn't have to be all or nothing!

Be open to whatever you find "out there" for your children, including Montessori!

Children Who Won't Ingage in Activities

Do you have a child who is a challenge in the classroom or homeschool: the child does not choose work activities; or does not want to come to school or stay in the homeschool area?

Here is what you do: find out what the child absolutely LOVES. Trucks? Cats? Worms? Barney? Elmo? Art? The color red? What ever it is, make activities that include them! Matching cats, sorting colors, scrubbing a truck, dressing Elmo... activities the child cannot resist!

This is one of the greatest lessons you can learn! And you are learning from a young child!

So find out what the child loves! And call them "games" if that helps (instead of work).

It is the children who become our teachers, and the best ones are the most challenging!

Spaghetti Heaven!

Like some preschool aged children, my son is fixated on one food for dinner: he'll eat the same thing each night, for months at a time.

Gone is the Italian turkey meatloaf! Now my son eats plain buttered salted pasta (angel hair to be exact--it takes three minutes to cook!).

But what a mess!

Sometimes I just can't watch.

However, isn't observing your child part of the Montessori philosophy! Well... yeah. So I have to watch my son eat his messy meal. Darn!

And guess what! By watching him suck down his noodles, I caught him trying to pick up the spaghetti strands using the pincer grasp--a very hard task for children with Down syndrome! Dinner has become a great fine motor activity for him!

Now I look at his messy meal as an educational feast!

I must come up with some more pasta dishes for my little guy to practice his fine motor development!

Too bad he won't eat peas! Hey! Wait a minute... if I stick some green peas in his pasta, he'll have to USE HIS PINCER GRASP to pick them out!

I'm off to the store to buy some frozen peas! (And more pasta!)