structure

[flea]

Casper's first grade class is a lot more structured than any of her previous schooling has been. My own sympathies on education tend towards the Montessori or even unschooling curriculum idea - the idea of self-motivation, the student finding her own interests. Casper's in first grade and has daily homework M-Th, spelling and math tests every Friday. I'd have thought I'd be opposed to such nonsense - but Casper is thriving on it! She does her homework without much prompting, and without too much help. She needs encouragement to do the more challenging parts, but not nagging to sit down and do it - she's pretty proud of that part. She also gets up by herself in the morning, picks her own outfit with no arguing (okay, occasionally she still tries the flip-flop gambit), and is generally a joy to get out of the house in the morning. (Contrast last fall, when granted we had just moved and she was having to get up an hour earlier than she ever had, but there was actual kicking and screaming in the mornings then).

Some of this may be attributable to the new maturity of about-to-be-6, but I think a lot is Casper's positive reaction to the structure in Mrs. C's class. An interesting fact about Casper to file away and ponder for our home rules.

Dillo, on the other hand, is reminding me of the trials of THREE. Oh, three, you are my least favorite year. He's into testing, now.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

A friend of mine, who is a Russian historian/sociologist, says Russian children don't have the "terrible twos." There, it is "the crisis of being three." Sounds about right to me!

Clare

[ellenbs.livejournal.com]

My older nephew did Montessori for pre-school and kindergarten and moved to a public school for 1st grade. He loves it! He's a bit OCD, and having more structure made all the difference. He's so much happier, less anxious, and more productive in a more structured environment.

The younger nephew seems to be enjoying Montessori a lot, but he's a more laid-back kid.