Childminder Monkstown
My wife and I are looking for an experienced and reliable Childminder for our three girls – toddler aged 3 and twins aged 1 in our home in Monkstown. It’s a part time position for 24-23 hours a week. Times, days, length of days are negotiable.
If interested contact Padraig: paudiewilliams@gmail.com
Read MoreMontessori Teacher Blackrock
Little Apples Academy are looking for a full time Montessori teacher to start with us in September/ end of August. We are a small school in Blackrock village. We take children from 2 onwards and really want someone who loves to work with children.
Contact Gemma on: 0867792578
Read MoreChildminder Cabinteely
I’m looking for a kind, energetic person to help mind my three children Monday to Friday after school and full days during the school holidays as our current minder (who is Montessori trained!) is starting maternity leave soon.
I have 10 year old twins and a six year old. The twins are a boy and girl and thee six year old is a little boy. I
need someone who can drive and has their own car. The first school collection is at 1:20 and the second is at 2:20. My daughter is dropped home by a school bus every day at approximately 3 o’clock. I need someone to help with the homework, after school activities, playing and preparation of a simple evening meal. Some light housework is required and every second Friday is free. I come home by 5:30 every evening and there is an earlier finish on Tuesdays and Thursdays usually around 4:30.
We live in Cabinteely near Kilbogget park and playground. If interested contact: nicolamccurry@gmail.com
Read MoreHow to Use Montessori Materials with Older Adults
By Jennifer Brush
Engaging, beautiful and purposeful, Montessori materials are great for everyone. Just as Montessori classroom teachers guide and support students instead of lecturing to them, Montessori staff guide and support older adults instead of doing everything for them. Staff and elders work shoulder to shoulder as equally valued members of a shared community. Older adults and people with dementia are invited to take on leadership roles in their areas of interest, such as leading a book discussion group or planning the menu for a holiday meal. Montessori materials for these activities are neatly organized, labeled, and physically accessible all throughout the living area. Staff guide elders with these roles and activities until they build new routines, and their skills improve to the point that most are able to enjoy these activities on their own.
So, what do Montessori materials, roles, and activities for elders look like?
Plant Care
Once learning that an elder enjoys gardening, we may invite her to take on the role of watering and caring for the houseplants in the community. This role allows her to make a meaningful contribution to the community, while also encouraging her to move freely and maintain her balance, allowing her to work on fine and gross motor skills, and participating in something familiar. In addition, staff may introduce this elder to other related activities, such as flower arranging or using nomenclature cards with images of flowers.
Nomenclature Cards
Nomenclature cards are Montessori materials that are often used with children for building vocabulary and concepts in all subject areas. Also known as 3-part cards, this Montessori material consists of pictures and matching labels; using the material helps elders to maintain their ability to read, identify and name objects, and sequence the steps of an activity. Nomenclature cards use something called control cards as a way to help the individual to self-correct without interference from staff.
Metal Insets
Metal Insets, a cornerstone material in Montessori classrooms, can also be enjoyed by elders. In tracing the various stencils, elders practice their fine motor control, hand eye coordination, concentration, and sequencing. The artistic component of creating different designs with the stencils, drawing lines, and shading is a creative outlet. Elders often use the metal insets to design stationary to use for correspondence with family and friends, and can build the skills necessary for more sophisticated art projects, as well as maintaining independence with activities of daily living that require fine motor control, such as buttoning and spooning.
The Montessori philosophy for adults gives older adults the opportunity to grow, engage, love—and most importantly, live.
Dr. Maria Montessori wrote that “joy, feeling one’s own value, being appreciated and loved by others, feeling useful and capable of production are all factors of enormous value for the human soul” (Montessori, 1987). Montessori is more than an educational model; it is a philosophy of life for people of all ages.