"Plainly, the environment must be a living one, directed by a higher intelligence, arranged by an adult who is prepared for his mission." ~Maria Montessori
Our Montessori approach up until now has been to set up the best Montessori environment we can with an open learning philosophy. Our children have had the opportunity to work on any of the activities we have out, without much routine to the day or many formats to the activities. Now that Samuel is 2.5 years old, we feel like an established routine could do us all some good.
But where to start? What's the best way to complete all the tasks considered to be appropriate for a Montessori school age 3-6? And how do I keep all those lessons, activities, and planning within my small budget? Here's what I found!
After reading through Lisa Nolan's Montessori homeschool e-book, and having some discussion with my husband, we decided that homeschooling is the best thing we can do for our children at this point in our life. So question one answered: YES!
After you answer that first question, you are ready to start some research and work on a routine that will work best for your family. I wanted to be sure to explore all options out there for how to best present Montessori preschool to my children. I listed some of my finds here for you to use in your own research.
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| Photo by Marie Mack |
The Sequence of Work and Scope Websites: Our Montessori Story and Montessori Teachers Collective - These two sites have a by-name listing of all the tasks that should be reviewed during the preschool years. (Also see other tabs on these pages for elementary years.)
The sequence of Work and Scope Books: Counting Coconuts Mini Units- I think this is a great example of how to set up activities for quick availability. With a little planning and some organization, this would make life so much easier! I would use this idea to gather materials to have on hand to present the week's lessons. (She intends these mini-units to help educate her son while they transition from a family of 3 to a family of 4 with the addition of their daughter.)
Counting Coconuts Circle Time and Calendar: I love the idea of circle time with a calendar. We all use time and calendars daily. Circle time would be a great way to focus children before lessons and a great way to end the day.
More Homeschool Planning and Classroom Culture: Grace and Green Pastures Planning and
Ideas about a Daily Rhythm: The Parenting Passageway and Counting Coconuts Daily Rhythm.
Minute-by-Minute Schedule Examples:
- Montessori Teachers Collective- Good description of the presentation and use of materials.
- Lisa Nolan's Montessori For the Earth: Lisa's program is what we used when we started our son on the Montessori Method. It was extremely affordable and she was available to answer personal questions about specific situations.
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| Photo by Marie Mack |
The first question should really be, "Should you Montessori Homeschool?" It is going to take dedication and hard work to set up the correct environment and activities to help your children thrive. Lisa Nolan put together a wonderful ebook to help you answer that very important first question.
I primarily focused my research on setting up a Montessori preschool routine, but many of the links I reference have subsequent links to lower and upper elementary years.
Follow me through some wonderful free resources available to help you with your Montessori Homeschool Routine!
Resources To Use for Planning: Our Country Road - Details on how an amazing Momma plans her days for her four beautiful children ranging in age from 6.5 years to 7.5 months.
Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook by Maria Montessori and Basic Montessori by David Gettman-Both books are very helpful bedside readings from the experts!
I really love the fact that many of these schedules have a devotion period built into the day. I think adding devotions into a daily routine would help children continue the same habit throughout their lives.
"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" Proverbs 22:6
All this planning and scheduling can be done on a budget. Here's a list of sites that offer free printables and downloads.
Researching and preparing is important, but remember your children are only young once so don't push too soon. Splash in rain puddles, curl up with popcorn and a movie and stay up past bedtime to read a good book. Let them the little! There is time for "school" for the rest of their lives.
~Marie Mack of the Child Led Life blog
The original post was published at Montessori on a Budget... and I find the research I did extremely helpful as my children move into different phases of their Montessori journey.
Linking up with Montessori Monday!
The links on this page were updated on 6/14/2023.