I am not a Montessori teacher, nor do I have Montessori training. What I do have is a love of learning and passion for teaching my children.
The first few years I was blogging (starting way back when we were still etching our posts on the walls of caves back in 2006) I was completely against technology and preschoolers. I believed it had no place at all for kids this age. Then someone gave us a LeapFrog alphabet toy and after playing with it a few days, Mordecai has suddenly learned his letters and sounds. Another friend gave us some LeapFrog videos her kids had outgrown (a video! for kids! even worse…) and after just watching it a few times he had them all down solidly. It’s hard to argue with success like that, you know? So slowly, bit by bit, technology began to edge its way into our home.
Chuck and I are huge fans of the traditional Montessori method. We love the simple approach of teaching things step-by-step, giving children real tools to work with (not toy tools) and creating a prepared environment. We love the method so much so, that thirteen years ago when we found an ad on Craigslist about a woman selling all of her Montessori supplies after closing down her school, we bought the whole lot. All of my children (except for Keziah, Ezra, and Boaz who were adopted as teens) have benefitted from that purchase. They have learned the alphabet with sandpaper letters and learned to count with spindles.
Now Apollo is four years old and in the pre-reading stage. He knows all the letters of the alphabet (and the sounds) and can scratch out a pretty good approximation of his name on a piece of paper. He knows that reading is really just combining letter sounds and is getting very close to making the leap into reading. Apollo can count to twenty (and beyond with help). The relatively big age gap between Apollo and Tucker (4.5 years) means all of our preschool materials have long since been given away or packed away.
I have recently set up a “school table” for Apollo where I can spread out a  variety of learning activities for him to do. He loves having the prepared environment and I love that he has something constructive to occupy him. I have also found that combining Montessori and technology has been easy and seamless. Putting the sandpaper letters out with the LeapReader means the materials are self-correcting (something Maria Montessori considered essential).Â
Here is Hezekiah using. the sandpaper letters back in 2007! Hezekiah went on to learn to read independently at the age of four years old.
When Maria Montessori was doing her original work, the idea giving kids hands-on activities was absolutely cutting edge. At that time kids were taught everything (including reading) by rote memory. Many people doubted her method could work. Technology for kids has been a bit like that for me. Over they years, I have come around to see its value (especially our technologically driven culture).
Apollo, like most four-year-olds, loves hands-on activities. He can’t resist his little table set up with learning activities. I’ve found, for us, the answer is balance: some hands-on activities, some Montessori activities, and some LeapFrog activities. They now go hand-in-hand in our house.
You can read more of my thoughts in this Mercury News article I was interviewed for recently.
We would live to win this! Thanks so much for hosting the giveaway. I think this would be perfect for my very active 4 yo
I would love for my 3 yr. old to have this, we have a WII for the older kids but this seems much more suitable for pre-schoolers.
Some things I loved for homeschooling: The Calvert program’s pre-school stuff–mine loved the connect-the-sounds and also the phonics books. I also loved the (now vintage) Electric Company–it’s something to see a young Morgan Freeman teaching kids their sounds and letters. I really think Apollo would enjoy that.
My niece is 4 and would love this.
I would love this for our 6 yo and newly adopted, severly delayed 6 yo.
Because of your review on the leap pad TV I’ve seriously been considering buying it for Elli. Which I can’t believe. 🙂
My daughter!
I’d love to use this with my son Judah!
Very cool! Liam (5) and Della (4) would love one of these. Della is also right on that cusp of understanding how the sounds make the words. She loves books and I can’t wait for that switch in her! So exciting!
It’s a bit early for my daughter but she could use it I’m a couple of years.
I’ve also had to find peace with my Montessori dreams and the kids’ technology. There can be balance! My 4yo is a screen lover and is one of those kids who learns best from them, as much as it pains me 😉
My 3 and 4 year old foster kids would surely benefit from this. Thanks for the opportunity.
Oooooh, I would LOVE this to use with my two kids, but primarily with my four year old daughter Jubilee!
Very informative post.
oops, I might give it to my niece and nephew just starting to homeschool.
This would be wonderful for my grandchildren, who are all going to be homeschooled. They are still young, 3 and under, but learning begins at birth 🙂
Our Four year old would love to have this under the tree.
I have 3 boys, all under 5! Two we are adopting, and one is biological. This would be a big hit in our household!
My littles would love this! And let’s be honest…some other may too 🙂
My 4 year old would love this! I am able to work part time instead of 2 jobs for the first time in his life. I would love to have these tools to share with him!
All 5 of my children would use this my oldest is 5 and doing a mix of Preschool and Kindergarten level activities
My 3 year old would live one!
my 3 year old would love this!
I felt the same way about electronics and young children. Then my son came around. He has blossomed so much using our kindle. I would love to have products designed for children and educational.
Would love this for my five year old daughter.
I would love this for my just turned 4 year old son Noah. He loves language. Constantly rhyming outloud on his own. He can count too, write his name and spell it out loud. He does not have his letters down however
We plan to homeschool and this would be a great tool for our family!
Would be great for my 2 youngest!
My son who is 4!
We have a few of the Leap reader products and love them. I know my youngest would love this!!
We would love this!!
EEek! What a good giveaway!
Would love this for my youngest son and daughter
Would love to be able to use this in my preschool classroom with my 4 year olds as a special treat! Big fan of Leap and their educational products!
For my own baker’s dozen in the making, ages 5, 4, 2, 1 and 1 and another on the way!
I also very anti technology and am still working at finding the balance of how much we’ll allow in our home and home school. I’m very curious about the Leap stuff because you endorse it so heartily.
I would love this for my 2 and 5 year olds!
For my Grands. Ages 4 and 2.
My almost 3 year old would love this. She is always trying to “help” her older brother and sister with the games they play.
WOW, what a fun thing to win!
and this would be for my almost 3 year old son!
Would love to win this for my 3.5 year old twins 🙂
We LOVE Leapfrog products. On your previous recommendation, I ordered my five year old the Leapfrog Letter videos. The Leap TV would be for her, too, though I expect my son would play it when he gets a little older.
I mix technology with Montessori, too! My children attend a local Montessori school, and the school’s so against technology that they won’t even put in digital clocks. We use technology (mostly leapfrog and apple products) at home with the Montessori math materials I had as a kid.
My boys would love this!
My four year old would love this!
My 4.5 , 3 & 1.5yr olds would love this! It would make winter cabin fever more bearable too!
Would love it!
I would LOVE this for my 4 year old!
My 2 little ones would LOVE this. Your review was honest and helpful and I’ve almost got my DH convinced that it’s worth the money!
We too started off anti-technology for kids but things have come so far from where they were 14 years ago. I think this would be fun for my 4 year old and was on our christmas consideration list.
I couldn’t pin it because it said the link went back to “inappropriate content”.. who knew you were so edgy?
This would be for my “twin” 4 year-olds. One biological and one adopted. ( : Best friends, nonetheless.
For my niece. 🙂
Both my kids would love this at 5 and even my 7 year old would have fun with it for a little while. 🙂
My 5 year old son would love this!
My four youngest (6,4,3,2) would love this!!
I’ve come full circle on the technology. Some of my kiddos excelled in the classic Montessori environment, but my 6 yo daughter gravitates towards technology and we are always exploring new ways to teach her.
We have found similar results with one of ours who struggled learning to read – using a fun phonics program got through where using traditional print formats at school and home did not. We love the LeapFrog videos and use them frequently.
My LD daughter could benefit greatly from this and when she is done my 5gragrandchilren would be blessed to have it. My keyboradd is malfunctioning so i hopemyouncan read this. I havw had a weekmlike your day.
Loved Leap Frog for my last child…this would be for my Godson.
My seven year old son is Autistic and is really struggling to learn his letters. We would LOVE to have this!
This would be fun!
My nephew J would love this!
My grandchildren would love to have this when they come visit Grammy!
It would be for our 4 and 5 year-olds.
My girls would love this! My daughter Ella had DAA surgery in July like Apollo & loves learning! He baby sister loves to do anything she does & at 2yrs old she loves books and counting!
What a great combination of education and technology!!
Our 5 year old suffered from an undiagnosed hearing loss and is still struggling to catch up! We’ve just started watching the LeapFrog videos from the library – thanks to your suggestion. Thanks for your very real, helpful posts!
My 3 year old nephew would love one!
This would be for my 7 year old still working on learning to read, and my 12 year old with learning disabilities.
Would love this for my Goddaughter! Wish my kids were still little 🙂
I first saw this on your website and would love it for my pre-readers along with my children that are already reading. Thanks for offering this!
This would be great for my youngest son. He is 7 and still working to read…he has some special needs and this would be great fun for him to learn this way.