My son and I started our Montessori journey in October 2015. He was four months old when I dropped him off at the baby class that morning. Even though the school was on-site at my place of work, I felt sick to my stomach walking into the main building swallowing back a tidal wave of tears.
It wasn’t that I was specifically looking for a Montessori school – my motivations were much more selfish than that. I felt guilty and helpless that I wasn’t able to afford a longer maternity leave, and was dropping off an infant with complete strangers at a school whose philosophy I didn’t care too much about at the time. I just wanted them to keep my child alive and happy for the day.
They ended up doing much more than that. I have never met a team of more loving, caring, nurturing, intelligent and professional educators. From Day 1, they treated my son like he was the most important, most special human being in the world, and I marveled at his development under their care.
Fast forward to March 2020. South Africa went into a hard lockdown. Schools closed. I was alone at home with my then four year old. I was in online meetings for most of the day. My son was having too much screen time. We were both frustrated. I cried a lot. (That’s the very abridged version.)
And then I turned to Montessori … for structure … in my home.
Going back to the basics provided a treasure of coping strategies for peace and harmony to be restored in my life.
So here’s the deal … Montessori does not give structure – you do. Montessori is a philosophy. You are the parent. You create the boundaries, and allow freedom within those boundaries.
Structure and routine are important for children because it makes them feel safe. I have also noticed that when we stick to a routine, my son is able to concentrate on a task for longer because he isn’t thinking about what might come next. He is also more co-operative and calm, because routines reinforce self-discipline.
Here is an example of a typical weekday for us:
08.00am: Wake up, wash, brush teeth
08.30am: Breakfast
09.00am: Circle time (it’s just me and him, so it’s not really a circle, but we chat about the weather, today’s date, nursery rhymes, and some other items I may have prepared for us to cover)
09.45am: Math, reading, writing (hands-on activities, printed worksheets – prepared and printed for the week ahead)
10.30am: Snack
11.00am: Free play (but in the learning area, choosing from the boxes laid out for him. He normally starts with blocks, then ends up bringing dinosaurs into the story somehow. I sit nearby, whilst starting some work or doing my own reading)
12.00pm: Lunch
13.00pm: My work day officially starts, and he goes to his grandparents for the afternoon. They do all things non-Montessori, but that’s ok – I appreciate the time to get my stuff done.
18.30pm: Supper
19.00pm: Bath / Shower
19.30pm: Downtime, Bedtime story
20.00pm: Lights out, but my day continues …
Your routine will be different, because you will do what works for your family. Where I spend an intense 90 minutes of academic time with my son in the morning, you might need to break it up into two 45 minute chunks or three 30 minute chunks. Experiment and see what works best for you.
The schedule is also flexible – if I have a morning meeting scheduled on a particular day, I flip the schedule around and schedule all my meetings in the morning that day, then spend my 90 minutes of academic time with him after lunch.
Some days it doesn’t work at all! Tomorrow is another day.