We love coming to see what Dominic is learning at school. His school has two of these "previews" each year and I was sad to think that this might be our last one :( As much as we want to continue sending Dominic to ACS, I think we've discerned it will be better for our family to pick the elementary school in our "backyard." He loves his school, it has become a second home to him and a very nurturing place for him to explore and learn academically and socially...but...maternal instinct is sensing it is time to move on.
Back to what I was saying...the moveable alphabet and the consonant blends are some of his favorite jobs. Here he pulls out a picture on a card and then pulls out the letters to spell those words. So he was working on "snap, snack, snip," and words like "glass, gloss and another 'gl' word I forgot. We were impressed by this, he is doing a great job of sounding out words and spelling them phonetically.
Even Milo got involved!
A year and a half ago, I couldn't see the fruits of choosing a Montessori early education for our child, and honestly, I started to wonder if a more relaxed atmosphere was better for Dominic. Many people think that Montessori is a synonym for some rule-less, hippie society, as I might have thought too until I observed a Montessori classroom in full swing. As I've described before, it's like a mini- office of children working on jobs. Everyone has a place, everyone has a role, everyone is aware of what they need to be doing and where they need to be going. There's no fighting, there's no "two against one" and contrary to popular belief, there are consequences for not following classroom rules. There is order and structure in spades, but with enough flexibility for children to feel like they have choices.
Looking back, I don't see how anything else could have worked for him. He is very independent, but he has a desire to understand what his parameters are supposed to be because he doesn't want to cross those. He needs to be challenged, but he won't always cooperate with being taught. He can be EXTREMELY hyper in group settings, and therefore easily lumped into an ADHD category (which isn't going to fly very easily with a mother who studied Psychology). All of his needs have been met, and he has been stretched beyond his comfort zone appropriately as well. I am proud to say that we have seen the fruits and I have become a fully-fledged Montessori proponent :) I'm glad to have been re-educated!
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