Montessori homeschooling resources

Lisa Nolan Montessori - I have used her Montessori activities. Great for a beginning Montessori mom!

Former Montessori teacher.
Designed for parents, homeschoolers & teachers who want to incorporate Montessori into their home, classroom, or daycare setting. These activities are easy to download & save to your computer. The programs and activities are homeschool friendly.
Lisa is happy to give email consulting to parents and guardians who want to teach Montessori at home or as an addition to their other curricula.

http://http//www.montessorifortheearth.com/

Montessori teacher with Montessori lessons on video and many pdf files for your use for home!
http://www.montessorimaterials.org/

Montessori teacher who offers all of her pdf files for a minimum price. I use her pdf files!
http://www.montessoriforeveryone.com/

Montessori homeschooling resources

Lisa Nolan Montessori - I have used her Montessori activities. Great for a beginning Montessori mom!

Former Montessori teacher.
Designed for parents, homeschoolers & teachers who want to incorporate Montessori into their home, classroom, or daycare setting. These activities are easy to download & save to your computer. The programs and activities are homeschool friendly.
Lisa is happy to give email consulting to parents and guardians who want to teach Montessori at home or as an addition to their other curricula.

http://http//www.montessorifortheearth.com/

Montessori teacher with Montessori lessons on video and many pdf files for your use for home!
http://www.montessorimaterials.org/

Montessori teacher who offers all of her pdf files for a minimum price. I use her pdf files!
http://www.montessoriforeveryone.com/

What is Montessori Education

“And so we discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being. It is not acquired by listening to words, but in virtue of experiences in which the child acts on his environment. The teacher's task is not to talk, but to prepare and arrange a series of motives for cultural activity in a special environment made for the child.”

Dr. Maria Montessori: The Absorbent Mind

A Montessori education is designed to take advantage of sensitive periods between the ages of 3 to 6, when the child is most able to absorb information from his environment. Although Montessori education focus on the sensitive periods in childhood, especially early childhood, very early learning is neither the norm nor the objective in the Montessori philosophy. Montessori philosophy also continues in the upper elementary, being 6 to 9, 9-12, and 12-18. Education always flows from the concrete to the abstract in each area. This is a very organized way of learning.(much easier to).There are distinct areas in the Montessori room. The room is divided into a Practical life area, Sensorial, Geography, Mathematics, Language, Music and Art areas. I'll go into these areas in more detail in a later post.

Dr. Montessori spoke of 4 Planes of Development: birth to 6; 6 to 12; 12 to 18; and 18 to 24. During the First Plane the child incarnates the immediate environment; during the Second Plane, the child uses his creative imagination based on reality in order to psychologically conquer the world. Two sensitive periods during the Second Plane were discussed by Dr. Montessori: imagination and abstraction.

Maria Montessori developed materials based on each sensitive period. These materials are called the didactic apparatus. These materials were used with children all over the world and the children naturally gravitated to these materials on their own. The children worked with these materials with great concentration not usually seen. The reason children gravitated towards these materials and were able to work with such intense interest was because they were constructed around the children's natural inclinations or sensitive periods for that age.

HOW DOES MONTESSORI WORK?

Each Montessori class, from toddlers through high school, operates on the principle of freedom within limits. Every program has its set of ground rules which differs from age to age, but is always based on core Montessori beliefs-respect for each other and for the environment.
Children are free to work at their own pace with materials they have chosen, either alone or with others. The teacher relies on his or her observations of the children to determine which new activities and materials he may introduce to an individual child or to a small or large group. The aim is to encourage active, self-directed learning and to strike a balance of individual mastery with small group collaboration within the whole group community.

The three-year-age span in each class provides a family-like grouping where learning can take place naturally. More experienced children share what they have learned while reinforcing their own learning. Because this peer group learning is intrinsic to Montessori, there is often more conversation-language experiences-in the Montessori classroom than in conventional early education settings.

MONTESSORI PHILOSOPHY-

The Montessori method of teaching is founded on the premise that all young children pass through a well-defined sequence of steps to maturity, but at different rates of growth and in different ways. Growth is as individual as each child. Advancement within a child varies from skill to skill. Presented with the proper instruments and direction, however, a child's curiosity and eagerness to comprehend the world will motivate him/her to move from mastery to one task to another with tenacity seldom seen in adults.

The Montessori philosophy believes that before children can take advantage of a good education, they need to know how to learn. We need to train the senses in order to perceive and acquire knowledge through experience. Only then can we aid children in the development of basic skills and the ability to judge, think and create. The child is introduced to the joy of learning by providing a framework in which intellectual and social discipline can develop. When children learn how to think and reason, they can give intelligent responses.

MONTESSORI EDUCATION -

Montessori Education is both a philosophy of child development and a rationale for quality in that development. The special method, named for the Italian physician Maria Montessori, stresses the importance of the development of a healthy self-concept. Education, she believed, is a preparation for life, not merely a search for intellectual skills. The child has one intuitive aim - his self development. Maria Montessori has said" The child works to perfect himself, while the adult works to perfect his environment." He desperately wants to develop his inner resources and his ability to cope with a strange, complex world. The child who accomplishes this moves into harmony with his world and becomes a full person. The Montessori method pursues the fact that the mind of the very young child is absorbent and thus the environment should be prepared carefully to train his senses, to stimulate his curiosity, to satisfy his need to know and to protect him from unnecessary failure. Montessori's philosophy and psychological principles led her to devise carefully graded series of self-teaching devices that are now commonly accepted and supported by current research.

MONTESSORI ENVIRONMENT-

Each Montessori school provides a precisely prepared Montessori environment which fosters satifaction in learning by discovery and a joy in achievemet. The climate and selected activities are prepared to interest and motivate the child and to protect him from unnecessary failure.

All Montessori materials are self correcting. The montessori guide or teacher never corrects, she only observes and continually models the propper way through lessons. In the Montessori environment you will not see correction or praise. The child does an activity for the joy and satisfaction of it, not to please the adult or for the adults approval. We must be lovingly careful not to interfere with praise and or criticism. Just observe the work, ask questions about the work. If we are not careful, we can cultivate the need for approval. The child must be free to experience the joy of the work for himself not because we like it. He must be allowed the opportunity to learn how to confidently discern himself whether a work is right or wrong.

The Montessori materials develop basic problem solving and observational techniques. The child begins in the concrete and manipulative materials and gradually works toward the abstract. Montessori's recognition of the importance of a stimulating environment as a means of "freeing the child's potential" is now supported by a multitude of studies in early learning. The classroom is equipped with specially designed and sequenced materials which Dr. Montessori devised. These materials, together with highly trained and administrators, provide a classroom where the child is stimulated and challenged, but never pressured. In such a climate the child learns to feel good about himself. His right to dignity and worth are protected.


*Some excerpts in the above passage taken from The Montesssori group*


Additional Resources for further study of the Montessori Philosophy

http://www.montessori.org/sitefiles/Montessori_101_nonprintable.pdf

What is Montessori Education

“And so we discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being. It is not acquired by listening to words, but in virtue of experiences in which the child acts on his environment. The teacher's task is not to talk, but to prepare and arrange a series of motives for cultural activity in a special environment made for the child.”

Dr. Maria Montessori: The Absorbent Mind

A Montessori education is designed to take advantage of sensitive periods between the ages of 3 to 6, when the child is most able to absorb information from his environment. Although Montessori education focus on the sensitive periods in childhood, especially early childhood, very early learning is neither the norm nor the objective in the Montessori philosophy. Montessori philosophy also continues in the upper elementary, being 6 to 9, 9-12, and 12-18. Education always flows from the concrete to the abstract in each area. This is a very organized way of learning.(much easier to).There are distinct areas in the Montessori room. The room is divided into a Practical life area, Sensorial, Geography, Mathematics, Language, Music and Art areas. I'll go into these areas in more detail in a later post.

Dr. Montessori spoke of 4 Planes of Development: birth to 6; 6 to 12; 12 to 18; and 18 to 24. During the First Plane the child incarnates the immediate environment; during the Second Plane, the child uses his creative imagination based on reality in order to psychologically conquer the world. Two sensitive periods during the Second Plane were discussed by Dr. Montessori: imagination and abstraction.

Maria Montessori developed materials based on each sensitive period. These materials are called the didactic apparatus. These materials were used with children all over the world and the children naturally gravitated to these materials on their own. The children worked with these materials with great concentration not usually seen. The reason children gravitated towards these materials and were able to work with such intense interest was because they were constructed around the children's natural inclinations or sensitive periods for that age.

HOW DOES MONTESSORI WORK?

Each Montessori class, from toddlers through high school, operates on the principle of freedom within limits. Every program has its set of ground rules which differs from age to age, but is always based on core Montessori beliefs-respect for each other and for the environment.
Children are free to work at their own pace with materials they have chosen, either alone or with others. The teacher relies on his or her observations of the children to determine which new activities and materials he may introduce to an individual child or to a small or large group. The aim is to encourage active, self-directed learning and to strike a balance of individual mastery with small group collaboration within the whole group community.

The three-year-age span in each class provides a family-like grouping where learning can take place naturally. More experienced children share what they have learned while reinforcing their own learning. Because this peer group learning is intrinsic to Montessori, there is often more conversation-language experiences-in the Montessori classroom than in conventional early education settings.

MONTESSORI PHILOSOPHY-

The Montessori method of teaching is founded on the premise that all young children pass through a well-defined sequence of steps to maturity, but at different rates of growth and in different ways. Growth is as individual as each child. Advancement within a child varies from skill to skill. Presented with the proper instruments and direction, however, a child's curiosity and eagerness to comprehend the world will motivate him/her to move from mastery to one task to another with tenacity seldom seen in adults.

The Montessori philosophy believes that before children can take advantage of a good education, they need to know how to learn. We need to train the senses in order to perceive and acquire knowledge through experience. Only then can we aid children in the development of basic skills and the ability to judge, think and create. The child is introduced to the joy of learning by providing a framework in which intellectual and social discipline can develop. When children learn how to think and reason, they can give intelligent responses.

MONTESSORI EDUCATION -

Montessori Education is both a philosophy of child development and a rationale for quality in that development. The special method, named for the Italian physician Maria Montessori, stresses the importance of the development of a healthy self-concept. Education, she believed, is a preparation for life, not merely a search for intellectual skills. The child has one intuitive aim - his self development. Maria Montessori has said" The child works to perfect himself, while the adult works to perfect his environment." He desperately wants to develop his inner resources and his ability to cope with a strange, complex world. The child who accomplishes this moves into harmony with his world and becomes a full person. The Montessori method pursues the fact that the mind of the very young child is absorbent and thus the environment should be prepared carefully to train his senses, to stimulate his curiosity, to satisfy his need to know and to protect him from unnecessary failure. Montessori's philosophy and psychological principles led her to devise carefully graded series of self-teaching devices that are now commonly accepted and supported by current research.

MONTESSORI ENVIRONMENT-

Each Montessori school provides a precisely prepared Montessori environment which fosters satifaction in learning by discovery and a joy in achievemet. The climate and selected activities are prepared to interest and motivate the child and to protect him from unnecessary failure.

All Montessori materials are self correcting. The montessori guide or teacher never corrects, she only observes and continually models the propper way through lessons. In the Montessori environment you will not see correction or praise. The child does an activity for the joy and satisfaction of it, not to please the adult or for the adults approval. We must be lovingly careful not to interfere with praise and or criticism. Just observe the work, ask questions about the work. If we are not careful, we can cultivate the need for approval. The child must be free to experience the joy of the work for himself not because we like it. He must be allowed the opportunity to learn how to confidently discern himself whether a work is right or wrong.

The Montessori materials develop basic problem solving and observational techniques. The child begins in the concrete and manipulative materials and gradually works toward the abstract. Montessori's recognition of the importance of a stimulating environment as a means of "freeing the child's potential" is now supported by a multitude of studies in early learning. The classroom is equipped with specially designed and sequenced materials which Dr. Montessori devised. These materials, together with highly trained and administrators, provide a classroom where the child is stimulated and challenged, but never pressured. In such a climate the child learns to feel good about himself. His right to dignity and worth are protected.


*Some excerpts in the above passage taken from The Montesssori group*


Additional Resources for further study of the Montessori Philosophy

http://www.montessori.org/sitefiles/Montessori_101_nonprintable.pdf

Valentine's Day ~ February 14th

Ah, the day of Love. Celebrated in several countries with romantic gifts, flowers or confection, it seems that most of us do have a romantic side and want to give and/or receive something on Valentine's Day. Traditional symbols of this day include hearts, doves, cupid and love notes. Over the years I have collected vintage cards, and framed them. Happily I found some beautiful postcards for the store that were created to look like postcards from the early 1900's - they have glitter highlights. I'm sending one to my mother, and hopefully it will evoke wonderful memories from earlier days. Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages. Send them to anyone, it's sure to make them smile.

We also have pretty teapots, jute pillows with Love or Amour embroidered on them, napkins, dishtowels, and little herb gardens for your windowsill. Check out our accessories and gifts for yourself, and enjoy this special day!

Valentine's Day ~ February 14th

Ah, the day of Love. Celebrated in several countries with romantic gifts, flowers or confection, it seems that most of us do have a romantic side and want to give and/or receive something on Valentine's Day. Traditional symbols of this day include hearts, doves, cupid and love notes. Over the years I have collected vintage cards, and framed them. Happily I found some beautiful postcards for the store that were created to look like postcards from the early 1900's - they have glitter highlights. I'm sending one to my mother, and hopefully it will evoke wonderful memories from earlier days. Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages. Send them to anyone, it's sure to make them smile.

We also have pretty teapots, jute pillows with Love or Amour embroidered on them, napkins, dishtowels, and little herb gardens for your windowsill. Check out our accessories and gifts for yourself, and enjoy this special day!

Christian's Creative Thinking

I was pretty impressed with this game Christian thought of. He called this game, letter rocket. The picture is pretty dark so I will explain. He has a rubber ball secured to a string, which he put in between the railings. The other end, hanging down has a cube with letters on each side.

Christian would pull down this string and the cube would bounce up high and then come down. It was like a bungee cord. When the cube stopped moving it would land on a letter.

What ever letter it landed on, we had to find objects in the house that begin with that letter.

Love the creative ideas!!!!!!

Here is another activity Christian and I developed together. One of us would draw pictures of different shapes and the other person had to draw a picture using all of those shapes.

We had a blast and came up with some really neat pictures!