One of my biggest struggles with doing Montessori "at home" for the elementary years is the lack of group work. The ability to work together in groups and feed each others interests seems to be an integral aspect of a Montessori classroom. We've been able to blend a more classical education with our Montessori inspired activities but it still seems a little forced on my part as "guide."
When our friends told us about diy.org I was super excited. The best way to describe it would be boy scouts without the actual meetings. Kids can learn new skills and share them with friends in a safe online environment. They can earn patches for accomplishing skills and receive feedback from other members of the community.
Parents get notifications when things are submitted and can log in online on their parent account to monitor conversations. I've been a little nervous about allowing my little guy some social media interactions but it seems to be a great way to learn internet safety in a safe, monitored environment. It has been free (and still is) but they just added a subscription service where you get the patches for free, feedback, insights and even mentors that push them to do a little better. We had a mentor ask for a closer shot of an activity and Barrett was so proud to do it over I was amazed at the whole experience.
Barrett has loved participating with his real life friends in an online environment and they seem to encourage each other in their passions and skill sets. I encourage you to check it out!
I wrote this review for myself. We pay the monthly fee for this service and it has been well worth it.
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