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Posted by Bernadette on April 2, 2006, 10:26 pm, in reply to "Trained vs. Untrained"
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Hi, Cay.
I’ve been reading the message board for a little while now and have just posted one other thing (about training for CGS in the DC area). I am the mother of four and am finishing my Level I training for CGS this summer. My three oldest attend an AMI Catholic Montessori school; my youngest is 17 months. I homeschooled my oldest for kindergarten and sent him to a traditional school (private Catholic) for 1st grade. I have a Masters in teaching for secondary math. I don’t have a Montessori degree although there is a lot of Montessori theory taught together with the CGS training since it is a Montessori based catechesis.
I tried homeschooling my oldest with the Montessori method just based on books that I had read, but it just didn’t work. I ended up doing a mix of different things that year. Having learned about the method through the training, I can now understand why it didn’t work when I tried it. I could list so many things that I’ve learned through the training that I didn’t from a book, but that would take too long even if I could write them all down! To understand why the training is so important, think of what it is like to play an instrument. If you read a book on how to play the piano, it would describe the way to sit, the way to hold your arms, the way to strike the keys. And you could try to play the piano that way. But it won’t be until you’ve had a teacher to show you, to point out how to do it properly, and you’ve practiced, that you will truly understand how to play the piano.
The ‘Montessori’ name was never trademarked, so there are many different training centers. The one that is authentic is the one which Maria Montessori started herself, Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). Their website is http://www.montessori-ami.org. Since she started it herself, they have a clear understanding of her pedagogy. There are so many different aspects of her method that without the true understanding of it, it just doesn’t work the way she designed it. In an AMI school, there will only be one of each material. In other Montessori schools, they will have more than one. Montessori taught that by having only one available, it taught the children how to wait and respect another child’s work. There are definite limits in an AMI school, whereas people often get the impression that Montessori means that the child can do whatever he wants. In an AMI school, if the child is not working with a material properly, then the material is taken away. So, if a child started playing train with the Brown Stair, that would not be allowed.
As for the training with the CGS, it is also very important. One thing that I’ve learned in training is that Sofia Cavalletti is very clear that the materials that the child works with be model-size, not child-size. If the items that the child works with are model-size, the child still has a sense of respect for the materials he is working with. If they are child-size, then the work of the child can turn into play. So, there should not be child-size priest vestments in an Atrium. The vestments of the priest are doll-size (18”).
As for what mothers who have not been trained in either the Montessori method or the CGS can do, that is another lengthy topic. I am currently in the process of beginning the Atrium program at our church. Our program has something that I have not yet found in other programs in the area, and that is Parent Education in conjunction with the Atrium. I am planning on giving a total of 10 talks about the Atrium, the child and what the parents’ role is in their child’s development, both spiritually and physically. The first talk was an introductory talk which included a brief explanation of the Four Planes of Development, which is the basis of her method. These talks will also deal with ‘how to parent the Montessori way.’ The talks are not a training in the Catechesis, but rather what parents can do to help their child in a way that supports the ideas of the method and the Catechesis. To start you, there’s a book out called “Unconditional Parenting” by Alfie Kohn and this website has some good ideas about parenting http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/guid.htm
I do not agree will all the ideas (some of them do not fit with the Montessori ideas), but they are a good starting point.
I hope that I was helpful. I will pray for you and all the mothers who are searching for how to apply the Montessori method and the Catechesis to their lives for the benefit of their children. It is definitely worth the work.
God bless,
Bernadette
P.S. For the von Balthasar and Montessori article, go to http://www.theologyonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21477 (about halfway down the page)
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