I am thrilled to see interest in SWR in Asia. Did you know that in my twenties I lived for about six months in Korea? Part of my heart stayed behind there. It hasn’t worked out for me to return, but it means so much that my materials are being a blessing to others.

I just wanted to commend you for helping others.

Wanda: Thank you for dropping by and comment. I have been using the “My Wise Grammar Book” that prepared by Nicole Cull. Yes, I know about the little grammar readers and planning to get them.
Thank you for putting this excellent materials together and sell them at affordable price that us in Asia can afford.

I emailed you the links.

I need ur email. Thanks!

Leah: I made mine from sandpaper and very thick poster board. I made them in 3 different sizes, 5″x 4” for horizontal letters, 4″x5″ for vertical letters and 6″x 4″ for wider letters i.e. m and w.

Leah:SWR teaches more than Phonetics, it actually teaches the approach to teach English the multi-sensorial way.

May I know where is your school? I am looking for a Montessori school in Malacca.

I sent you an email.

The idea of extended day or full day is so the children can have another 3-hour work cycle in the afternoon. 3-4 yrs old usually still take nap, so probably will interrupt the full 3-hour cycle. Plus, 3-4 yrs old don’t do that much academic work, may not need another work cycle. The 3-hour work cycle is another important thing to look for, coz it’s the basis of “normalisation”.

Let me get back to you guys later, I am looking to see whether we can bring the “real” trainer from US to conduct a seminar. They are having one in China end of this month leh…

I would be teaching a weekly adult SWR classes at Malacca Tze Chi on voluntary basis this coming July. I expect to see a few mothers of my existing students to sign up as they want to be able to guide their children at home.

Just have to remind myself not to add on more stress in my children.

Children are not formed with a cookie cutter. Parents have to recognize what is best for the child and try and let them rise. Some can do in mass schools. Other need home schooling. No one should scold a parent for “their” decision.

I try not to spend too much time in front of the computers in front of the kids.

If you do not have this yet:

The book “How to raise an amazing child the Montessori way” by Tim Seldin is an excellent starter book that give you lots of ideas for your newborn baby, toddler and preschooler.

The free catalogue filled with ideas on http://www.michaelolaf.com is also another excellent resource.

Of course the books written by Maria Montessori are good, they will help you to understand the philophy and rational behind every activity, but her books are not always easy to read.:-)

Nope, you don’t correct, you show the right way again and again.

If he is not picking up the right way means he is not observing, if he is not observing, usually mean he is not really yet, leave it for a while, do lots of PLE and sensorial to develope spatial awareness, small motor skills, concentration and ability to observe the details .

Let me congratulate you on your wonderful blog. I am working with the World Sports Alliance and we are working with the Montessori Initiative to develop a sports based curriculum.

I chanced upon your site while wanting to learn more about the Montessori system, and really liked it.

Kudos for a good job!!

- Padmini

here

Also, his 0 is traced in a clockwise instead of anti-clockwise manner. Should I correct him or leave it alone? I tried correcting him but after a while he would resume tracing in anti-clockwise manner.

sure, it’s ok to link to my blog, by all means.:-)

If you would like to support your child at home on top of her school.

http://www.michaelolaf.com and this book by Tim Seldin - “How to raise an amazing child” have various ideas and resources.

Thanks.

Freedom and responsibility, two BIG ideas handled with patient insight here.

Thank you again!

I used the cursive fonts from http://www.schoolfonts.com, I downloaded the free demo version, the “a” will show as “demo”, so I cut around the “d” to get an “a”. HTH.

Thaks for sharing this.

After reviewing so many preschools to send my daughter (even considering home schooling), we found a Montessori based preschool that she will be attending in the fall.

Looking forward to reading more of your blog.

Thanks for sharing

Thanks for visiting my blog. Thought it only polite I return the visit.

Montessori it very good. Both of my kids grew up in Montessori. I think it really helped them develop their thinking capacity. Money and time well spent.

Thanks for sharing the video. It is beautiful.

I am a Singaporean mum based in the UK and have been an avid reader of your site for about a month. I chanced upon your blog through links. I would have loved for my boy to attend a montessori school locally but there is only 1 in the area and it’s too far for me (since I don’t drive).

I have resorted to teaching him montessori-style on my own, best I can. Your blog entries are very helpful, in particular with instructions and also with alternative ways I could make the materials.

Thanks for sharing! :)

Cheers,
Dory

I shared with her about changing the environment at home to allow him to explore and experiment, i.e. have a matress on the floor that allowed him to go to asleep when he is tired instead of forcing him to sleep when she wants to do some work

Now she finds herself leaving him the pots and pans to play while she cooks and he is able to play alone for a long hour while she does work beside him.

Sure, you are welcomed to visit. NS is not that far from Melaka, I am sure you can make it a weekend trip.

Mei Shi

Contented mum: it’s not easy to be less protective, else, people aroudn you will think you are lazy/bad mommy.:-)

Your school looks really nice with full equipment. Can I visit one day?

A little boy I knew can recite his Chinese text books from first page to the last page without looking at it, but can’t write any one of them out from memory. His mother won’t believe that this intelligent son could be anything other than being lazy, it’s sad!

You can get them at USL Educational at Summit USJ. The metal insets are quite expensive, cost about RM200, you may want to make them from board? I made them from poster board and use for a year before I have the budget to get the metal ones.

If you need specific instruction on to make them, pls email me.

May I know where to buy this metal insets. I think it is good for my Kelvin. That day he cried for nearly half an hour, because he is not able to write so many difficult chinese characters. Pity him, but my husband want him to attend chinese primary school.

Going to link your site :)

I wonder that’s why gardening is therapeutic for many people? :-)

Actually many Montessori/ Waldolf/ Sudbury Valley (http://www.sudval.org) schools in other parts of the world are run on farms.

My hubby also grew up in the kampung & estate in Malacca. He used to go longkang to catch fish etc etc…but now when comes to his own kids, he would always say…”dont go outside and play, it’s hot, you get sick. Or when the kids start digging the soil.. he protest and says it’s dirty bla bla bla” he’s very unhappy when the kids have too fun outdoor play (when they turned red and sweaty)…my kids were not allow to touch/smell the plants and flowers (though I secretly do it) because my MIL says that children who touch flowers would play with their own shit. These are so call “modern parents” who prefer air con shopping complexes, TV and video games than outdoor activities….sad.

Maybe in Western countries, Australia/New Zealand, you can still find parents that agrees to outdoor play and having school in a farm…but certainly not for the kiasu Asian parents.

I used this type of acrylic paint is because it’s water based. IMHO, it’s easier to handle than an oil based paint. Plus, oil based paint usually need evaporable solvent which can be very volatile or toxic.

Since the acrylic paint is water based, it need to be water proof by painting another layer of glaze or matte.

I used mostly rubber wood, can’t afford any other hard wood:-), they are like gold. You are in Sabah, land that still produce logs, situation maybe different?

You are welcomed!

Thanks, Shelly

Thanks, yvonne

May be you can look at shops that frame pictures/painting, ask them for non fancy simple wood frames that are not painted? Or, since you don’t really need the frames to last for 20 years, my favourite place to look for inexpensive things is the RM2 stores. (call me cheapo….:-))

The ones I have are really nice, and my cousin sold this frames to me RM10 each, if you want, I can email you his phone no and you get in touch with him.

Do you plan to make and sell??? (argh…me thinking of the easy way out again)

My understanding is: the large movable alphabets are mostly for building pink level words, thus are colored coded consonants and vowels. And the medium and small movable alphabets are in one color only. Use later to “write” sentences and story that may have multiletter phonograms.

ps. Would there be much different if I make a SMA instead of LMA? would appreciate ur opinion. Thanks

BTW, how long it usually take for your ebay product from US to arrive in M’sia? I have placed the SWR order earlier this month, but still haven’t received it yet

mbzy: Yes, we mostly used the plain ones, when I was taking the pictures over the weekend, the plain ones were in the washer, so I used this. When I first started, I have difficulty finding plain ones, so I bought a few checker and a few with motifs. Later I found inexpensive mats at Mydin, we now have more than a dozen mats in plain colours i.e. white, blue and cream.

They are made from plastic folders. Yes, I bought brand new plastic folders and cut them up!
My mother said “what a waste!” Little did she know I saved a couple hundred ringgit by doing that.:-)

Currently I have them stored in plastic tackle box. But, I just asked my cousin to make me a proper wooden storage box.

contented mum: I’m afraid, about 1 1/2 hours drive from you.:-) I am in Melaka!

With the internet, you will find all sorts of resources to raise your child the montessori way, start from pregnancy! Unlike in the past, circle of influence is limited and make it more like a secret society kind of thing.

When I was little (ages ago), I was trained by my mom (a teacher.. duh!) to practice to write using the cursive letters. I realised that nowadays children will use the ‘print’ letters instead of cursive..

I do have an activity that I have children match the cursive with the print letters(the “uncursive” is called print:-)), but it doesn’t seem like children need it much, they seem to recognise the prints as the unglued version of cursive letters pretty easily.