Maria Montessori was a passionate advocate for fostering peace among people through the power of education and use it as a tool to eliminate war on the whole planet once and for all. “Peace is a goal that can only be attained through common accord, and the means to achieve this unity for peace are twofold: first, an immediate effort to resolve conflicts without recourse to violence—in other words, to prevent war—and second, a long-term effort to establish a lasting peace among men.” The whole … [Read more...]
Hands-on Learning About Plants In Our Montessori Classroom
As Maria Montessori said, "Nothing should be given to the brain that is not first given to the hand". We embrace hands-on learning in our Montessori homeschool classroom. I use every opportunity to make learning practical. My 4-yo Blossom told me that she would like to plant something in our garden. Truth be told at this stage our garden is non-existent, however, we started looking into the life cycle of the plant and learn about seed germination. The whole Plant Unit I plan contains several … [Read more...]
Sensory Explorations Outdoors – Touch With Nature Hunt Printable
Children discover the world using their 5 senses. They connect to it by absorbing sounds, textures, smells, pictures, tastes, emotions. At a young age, children are incredibly sensitive. Learning occurs naturally when they have an opportunity to utilise as many senses as possible. In the Montessori classroom, there are several areas of development, one of them is sensorial. Montessori sensorial aims to establish a strong connection between brain and senses in the process of learning, … [Read more...]
The Silence Game In Nature – Empowering Children with Mindfulness
Many of us probably didn't know how precious moments of silence are until we became parents or teachers. We all can agree that our world lacks silence today more than ever before. The noise we create is not necessarily produced by loud sounds. Noise can be made by clutter, unnecessary overload of visual and sensory information and stimulation. Noise takes away focus from what truly matters and distracts attention. Children react to overstimulation in their own way - through emotional outbursts, … [Read more...]
Montessori Inspired Explorations At The Beach
Taking Montessori classroom outside creates great opportunities for hands-on learning using minimum materials and effort. Sun, fresh salty air, sound of crashing waves - what a perfect setup for fun explorations for kids. We headed to the beach to do fun Montessori activities as a part of preschool homeschool program. Before allowing children to play and simply have awesome time in nature, I prepared and organised Montessori inspired activities taking advantage of the natural outdoor … [Read more...]
Homeschooling Preschooler The Montessori Way
Our homeschooling journey is something that consumes my heart and mind these days. I guess because it is unknown territory that we are walking into. So far it brought great fruit and I feel that our everyday life is bursting in colours like never before. My daughter's "whys" have got completely new dimension, and I love, love, love how excited she got from receiving a magnifying glass by mail the other day. I would like to share what happened when we emerged into our Montessori work 3 - hour … [Read more...]
Routine For Our Montessori Home Preschool
It is not a secret that child needs stability in life in order to feel secure. Order in life creates inner order and peace, something that lays the foundation for successful learning, smooth transitions and happy kid. One of the first tasks for homeschoolers is to establish their own rhythm, set up a daily schedule that is the backbone of the whole process. Establishing a routine for our Montessori homeschooling days was the best thing I could have done for my young Montessori preschooler. I … [Read more...]
DIY Montessori Inspired Activities and Games for 3 – 5 year olds.
The Montessori method offers such a wide range of amazing experiences for children. Child's work is their play. Generally, children do not need stimulation or encouragement; they naturally gravitate to activities that reflect their interest and enrich passion for learning. Senses play such a huge role in their learning. All materials and activities that are presented below have a goal to make learning hands-on, connect hand and brain, provide an opportunity for discovery. Our Montessori … [Read more...]
Meeting Special Needs in a Montessori Classroom.
Many wonder if a Montessori education is appropriate for every child with varying needs and abilities. Renae - a Montessori homeschooling mother of four special needs children with developmental, emotional, and cognitive disabilities. She is here to say YES! All a child needs is a Montessori teacher who observes, understands, and then follows the child. The key is interpreting specific behaviors related to classroom activities correctly and appropriately. The teacher can then formulate a … [Read more...]
40 Must-Have Books for Preschoolers
Children are very curious by nature, therefore, I consider this list of books to be perfect for preschoolers. With absolutely gorgeous illustrations they give a wonderful presentation of the world surrounding kids. As a Montessorian, I picked mainly books with realistic content that represent the real world and open children's hearts and minds towards understanding people with different culture and traditions. Every single one of these books is on my "must have" list. I chose books that also … [Read more...]
Montessori Inspired Activities and Games For 3-year-olds.
The Montessori method presents such an incredible amount of learning experiences for a child. These experiences are born from child's natural desire to explore, curiosity and passion for the world. I am delighted to share with you what has been happening during our Montessori cycle at home - a classroom I set up for my three-year-old preschooler - A. May I say that I have never felt so strongly about the benefits of the Montessori method until I started to implement it with my child at home. It … [Read more...]
AUSTRALIA / OCEANIA MONTESSORI RESOURCE PACK
Australia and Oceania are one of the most mysterious and fascinating parts of the world. It is has incredibly rich flora and fauna, wonderful people, breathtaking landscapes, and ancient culture of Indigenous people. Even though I will remain Russian in my heart forever I am very grateful to be a part of this great country - Australia - which became my home. The most beautiful part of Australia is its people, their genuine kindness and generosity which represents the whole beauty of natural … [Read more...]
PROCESS ART FOR KIDS INSPIRED BY CLAUDE MONET
Child's imagination and perception of art at a young preschool age is often a blank canvas. It is wonderful to be able to spark inspiration using creations of great artists, like Monet. My little artist is only three, this means that she benefits the most from art experiences that allow her to create through discovering and exploring without adult direction and the final result is not as important as a process. I prepared her art space - which a part of our homeschooling routine - and … [Read more...]