First things first. If you are not sure even where to begin in your Montessori 3-6 homeschooling, download and read this pdf. It quickly and simply outlines the major components of the 3-6 curriculum (Practical Life, Sensorial, Mathematics, Language and Culture Studies) examples of what fits into those categories.
Next, print off this free comprehensive objectives list for the 3-6 Montessori student that Maitri put together. It’s conveintly put in a 12-page form that provides room to write dates of when that concept is presented to the child.
Do you want an easy way to see what Montessori materials correspond to the state governed learning standards? Maitri has made a chart to make it easy for you!
By now, you realize that there are a billion different Montessori tools, lessons, and printables out there. You know that you need to cover certain topics and objects, and THIS is going to give you the order of how you should present the materials/lessons in each category to your child:
The Sequence of Order For:
- Sensorial Materials
- Practical Life Materials
- Language Materials
- Math Materials
Maitri Learning offers free downloadable mp3’s that explain the theory behind:
- Reading Road Map (overview of the main steps on the road to reading)
- General guidelines for giving Montessori lessons/presentations
- Building vocabulary
- I Spy
- Phonetic Reading Cards
- 3-Part Reading Cards
- Zoology/Natural World Cards
- Foreign Language cards
- Definition Cards
This may be your most VALUABLE piece of free information on how to do Montessori at home. This is a series of 30 college lectures entitled “The Montessori Approach to Education,” taught by Margaret Homfray, who was a student and colleague of Maria Montessori. Each lesson is approximately 30 minutes in length…which is just under the equivalent of a 3 credit hour college course–for FREE!
These lectures aren’t particularly designed for the homeschool environment, but the information is still relevant, valuable, and necessarry for you to learn! They cover topics such as an introduction, how to introduce a lesson to the 3-6 age range, specific tools such as the knobbless cylinders, color tablets, and sound cylinders, topics such as practical life and walking the line, the “silence lesson”, and even how to start your teaching year off.
Maria Montessori’s Own Handbook. Yes, it’s the meat and potatoes, describing each key manipulative and concept right from Maria. There are multiple ways to download this for free, thanks to Project Gutenberg
eHow has an entire Montessori section with 56 videos that demonstrate and explain a variety of activities/manipulatives that are part of the 3-6 curriculum.
Many of the Teacher Albums and individual printables that will be featured in the next post will also outline specifics of teaching the Montessori way!