The future of education is constantly shifting. Hybrid models that split the students’ time between the Montessori classroom and homeschooling are giving way to entirely virtual homeschooling models utilizing the Montessori method. Christine Sithichai, a veteran Montessori guide with 20 years of classroom experience, is sharing all about her journey from a brick-and-mortar school to virtual teaching, how she keeps students engaged virtually, and the skills that she prioritizes to instill in her young students as they prepare to enter the elementary classroom.
by Letty Rising
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Christine Sithichai currently works as a TK/K (primary) teacher at Springs Charter School in the Montessori Voyage program, a public Montessori homeschool program with a live virtual component. Students attend online in small groups for about an hour a day and engage in active learning at home when not on screen.
Christineās career started in a brick-and-mortar classroom 20 years ago. She then accepted a role in one of the original homeschool/school hybrid teaching programs where she worked for many years, in both primary and elementary classrooms, before transitioning into Montessori Voyage in 2021.
Christine recently joined me to chat about her teaching experiences and her time as a Montessori student. This is the edited interview:
Christine, you attended Montessori school as a young child. What do you remember about your Montessori preschool experience?
I remember that very home-like setting where teachers and administrators personalized my education early on. I still have friends from that Montessori school! And when I moved back to my city, my youngest child started going to the same school.
I never forget that experience, mainly because everything was so hands-on. When I first took my Montessori training, I got flashbacks of the experiences I had. I love that the school really followed the Montessori philosophy of everyone learning at their own pace. Even when my son went there decades later, they still continued that mission and philosophy.
Did any of that inspire you to become a Montessori teacher?
Yes, it did. I was a business major in college. But upon graduation, I got an internship in Silicon Valley. However, that life didnāt seem like something I wanted to pursue. So, I went to volunteer at a school near my apartment for a semester. Thatās when I realized that teaching was my calling. I then had to figure out what type of teacher I wanted to be, which led to me becoming a Montessori teacher.
I chose this path because my childhood experience in a Montessori school stuck with me so much that it was appealing. I did my research, and that’s when I discovered there was an Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) training in San Diego not too far from where I lived. I immediately knew that was the type of training I wanted to do.
What was it like going from a brick-and-mortar classroom to a virtual setting?
When I was teaching in the brick-and-mortar setting, it was Montessori philosophy and method. Although there was a homeschool component (the students homeschooled 2 days during the week), we still had a class schedule for the 3 days the children were on site. On the days when I was in the classroom, my sole responsibility was to be with the children. So, I worked with each child to personalize their education.
When I transitioned to distance learning at the start of the pandemic, things changed drastically because parents could now see everything. In the virtual setting, children still needed assistance. So, although I didn’t see the adult at home with them, I knew that they were side by side with their child. That was something to adjust to, although it didn’t bother me. And so, that change was very different.
With virtual learning, the children are sitting in front of the computer the entire time they are with you. This means you’re constantly trying to find ways to engage the students so that they maximize their learning while also remembering what is developmentally appropriate.
You want to make sure that the children are not just staring at the screen. They must be doing hands-on and tactile learning. You’ll lose their interest if you’re just talking the entire time (particularly for the Kindergarten age!). That was one of the things I had to figure out early on.
When I shifted to the permanent homeschooling position, I had already gathered a lot of experience doing this virtual format during COVID. So I understand what length of time is adequate for the children and how to pace myself. Now I can easily tell when children are getting jittery or losing interest. Iāve learned the topics that are of great interest and more relevant to the children, as well as the materials I can implement to keep them engaged.
You see your students for about an hour a day. Have you found it hard to support parents from afar in that way? Would you say this has been fun and rewarding or challenging?
It’s definitely been rewarding. When I first started working at a brick and mortar with a homeschool component, homeschooling was relatively new to me. So, trying to figure it out and understanding why parents homeschool and what’s required was new to me 20 years ago, and now recently shifting to a homeschool program with a virtual component required new learning. But I’ve seen the benefits and rewards of homeschooling from all perspectives over the years.
Iāve learned that most parents are homeschooling because they want to be involved in their child’s learning. These parents devote a lot of their time so they can benefit from this hybrid setting of getting virtual support from me, but also having the freedom to homeschool their child using a curriculum of their choice.
They go on field trips or have real-life experiences to supplement the curriculum for their child. I’m seeing a lot of support and questions from parents because of my grade level. Most parents who donāt have older children are still learning how to structure their days and how much time they should devote to specific subjects.
I try to provide a lot of guidance and support while also reminding parents they can decide what they want to teach their children. There is no one perfect model for homeschooling. There is a variety of schedules and curricula, and you have to find one that best fits your family.
Are you seeing your students becoming more independent at home and in your classroom from your guidance and support?
Yes. During parent orientation, we always remind parents that the Montessori method is not going to be a worksheet-workbook type of experience. We have practical life skills, sensorial, and various other subjects because any experience we have can be a learning opportunity.
The assignments we provide allow students to get involved in so many skills. It can be something they do at Grandma’s house, a museum trip, a trip to the dentist, cooking dinner at home, or a chore that is part of their daily learning.
We recently took out the moveable alphabet for the first time with some of my students. And it was so wonderful to see them complete the lesson with the materials in front of them.
What skills do you think are essential for children to have before they enter into first grade?
Having experience as a lower elementary teacher helped me become a more prepared primary teacher because I saw some of the skills that were beneficial before they transitioned into the lower elementary years. A big difference in some of the students was their ability to hold a pencil.
Having that proper holding grip in writing is key before children move on to the lower elementary years because it’s not just needed for writing. It’s needed for several things, including practical life skills. At that primary age, their minds are like sponges and their hand muscles are starting to form. And so, emphasis must be placed on writing and prewriting skills before entering first grade.
Did you find that children were coming in even less prepared in that regard over the years? And would you say thereās a correlation between kids not always engaging in practical life at home and poor pencil grip?
We’re in this advanced modern age of technology where children as young as 18 months know how to use a phone, tablet, or computer. However, they don’t have that muscular development of their fingers. That’s why I place a lot of emphasis on writing and prewriting skills because I know so many children are not doing it at home.
Kids have such modern devices that they donāt do activities that require a lot of finger muscles, like weaving, lacing things, or even coloring. In class, we color quite a bit, and they donāt spend time enjoying it as we did as kids. Now they just want to be done and move on to the next thing.
Everything is so quick now, and I have a feeling it has a lot to do with technology. Holding a pencil correctly and the muscle development required to do that are definitely being lost. So, it’s important for any teacher of the primary age group to place an emphasis on that because it’s still very important, despite the technology.
Is there going to be a time when children just drop writing, even in kindergarten?
It could happen. As things are submitted on the computer even in the lower elementary years, no one’s turning in hard copies anymore. So, it’s definitely something that could occur. But there’s still a lot of importance we should place on the traditional form of writing.
I ensure that the children write during every lesson. They have a dry-erase board and marker that keeps them engaged. I like to see where they are so that we can see the progress. We also have a writing lesson every week, and we always use paper and pencil for that. I want to see them physically using a writing tool on a piece of paper because the emphasis has been placed there.
Are there certain reading skills you hope children would have before they go into first grade? Are there goals you set with your kindergarten-aged children?
Yes. I like to prepare my kindergarten students so that they are beginning to read before they move on to lower elementary. This can range from a variety of different stages, and my goal is for them to be able to read a short phonetic sentence independently.
Most of them usually do that before they enter the lower elementary years, but itās a spectrum, with some students reading chapter books already and others still finishing up their letter sound knowledge. We like to make sure that they all know how to independently read at least two phonetic sentences by the time they reach elementary.
We want our students to be a lot more independent in that age group. We also want them to be able to write a sentence independently. It doesn’t have to be spelled correctly because they’re still learning their sight words, but they must be able to put their thoughts into a sentence format.
What social or executive functioning skills are you hoping they have when they reach elementary?
At the primary age, I try to make sure that children understand respect. So, the ability to take turns and understand when it’s your turn to speak or understand the format for requesting to be called on is important. Those types of social skills allow children to understand what listening really means. In a virtual format, this also includes using your microphone correctly and turning it off on Zoom or Google Meet.
We also create courtesy lessons focused on being kind, showing respect to others, and putting your things away. In Montessori, the whole work cycle of taking out your materials, doing the work, finishing the work, and putting your things away is very big. It’s a little harder in the ritual format, but I try to get as much as I can out of that. When I was in a brick-and-mortar classroom, there was a huge emphasis that I placed on the entire work cycle.
You probably talk to the parents about having the children pull their things out and put them away instead of doing that for them. Is that a huge shift for parents?
Yes, definitely. You would like your students to be prepared for that independence. There are definitely families who want to do everything for their children, and I always remind the students that it’s their responsibility to have their materials every day. I remind them that they are just as responsible, if not more so than their parent, especially at this age.
Letty Rising has been involved in Montessori education for over 15 years. She holds a B.A. in Sociology, a California State Teaching Credential, and an AMI elementary diploma for ages 6-12 and an M.Ed from Loyola University in Maryland. She has held positions as a Homeschool Education Specialist, Montessori Elementary Teacher, School Director, Principal, Montessori Coordinator, and Consultant in several public and private Montessori school communities throughout the years. Letty currently supports schools around the world through professional development offerings, consulting, and mentoring.