Crystal Madrilejos

Q is at a stage (he’ll be five next month) where he is very, very… challenging. Andrew and I feel we’ve tried so many ways of helping him cope with anxiety and frustrations, and sometimes it feels like we’re failing miserably.

The other week, Andrew and I attended a Montessori parenting group discussion at Q’s school that had a lot of great ideas that I thought would make a good blog series, with the first post introducing the general concept of Discipline vs. Punishment.

As I mentioned in my previous post on the Montessori Method, the teaching techniques are very centered around the child being self-motivated. So, it makes sense that the Montessori parenting style focuses on “internalizing in order to self-discipline”. By emphasizing discipline rather than punishment we’re teaching our children the “what to do” and not just the “what not to do.” Part of the internalization process requires them to experience the consequences of their behavior and learn how to make better choices. (more…)

Andrew and I have been thinking about homeschooling our kids for a little while now. I’ve definitely been more the champion of the cause than Andrew – but the more we talk about it, the more he is on board. When we first had kids, we just thought of their education as a bridge we’d cross when we got there. We figured, we’ve got time. But it creeps up fast, let me tell you. Now it’s here, we’re crossing that bridge in the very near future. Before we started considering homeschool as an option, we figured they’d go to Montessori for pre-school/kindergarten then on to public schools – the same route that both Andrew and I took growing up. We turned out okay, right? ;) (more…)

Quil started showing some interest in using a camera a little while back. (Sorry for the blurry iPhone photo above. He’s a photographer on the move!) Most of his baby photos were taken with this very camera he is using in that photo, but unfortunately, we don’t break it out that often now that I have an iPhone. But we’ve been bringing it out more so that he can explore with it. Neither Andrew and I are photographers, so we don’t have a ton of knowledge to pass on in that area, but right now he’s still really young and couldn’t grasp the concepts of shutter speed and aperture (I still struggle with this too). If he’s still interested in the future, it would be a fun thing to learn together. Right now, he’s just content to take photos of things that he sees.  (more…)