montessori works - Page 2 of 9 -

a compilation of free montessori resources!

For the last few years, at the end of the year, I reread Julie Volkman’s The Promise of Fall. It’s not because I am a super teacher that is constantly thinking about how I can improve, or what I can do better, it’s just that I finally realized it is the perfect time to reevaluate and think about your classroom, your homeschool routine, your co-op. At the end of the year we can see and remember “what’s going well” and “what’s not going well, and honestly driving me crazy.” Come September, the summer sun has faded those thoughts and feelings, everything has a rosy glow and I can’t even remember how I have the shelves arranged.

To that point, I wanted to share this article so you too can also start thinking about next Fall. I also complied of some of the best and free Montessori resources I could find on the internet. I purposely kept this list not based on free downloads and printables and more philosophy/albums/lesson plan based.Continue reading “a compilation of free montessori resources!”

wildflower seed pods

I’m running about 2 weeks late. My original plan was to have these ready to send home with our Mother’s Day gift, well, it’s May 12th and we just started them. While these seed pods are designed for guerrilla gardening (similar to seed bombs, but easier to make) I imagine most will end up in a pot or planter at home.

This was set up as an independent stationary activity in my classroom, but it can easily be a group activity or an individual at home project.

wildflower seed pods

Continue reading “wildflower seed pods”

monthly bread, may — it’s the experience, not the product, right?

April flew by without bread, whoops! We will aim for two loaves this month to make up for it!

So, I was feeling a little nostalgic when we were planning this loaf of bread, and I went to an old recipe that I remember making about 7 years ago with my stepdaughter (she went through a bread baking kick). I thought it was the first loaf we made together, but looking at the date on Soulemama’s post, I know there were loaves before that!

My nostalgic memory is of a delicious perfect loaf of bread. Unfortunately, I don’t know what happened, but I imagine in was our fault and not the recipe’s. And really, I’m the only one that even noticed the overly dough texture despite the extra long baking time, and super strong honey taste — the family inhaled it!

Continue reading “monthly bread, may — it’s the experience, not the product, right?”

fundamental needs of worms – a montessori science work

In late March, I had the great opportunity to attend the American Montessori Society’s annual conference in Dallas. It was wonderful, inspiring, overwhelming and so busy! It was hard to figure out where you wanted to be, because there was too much to see and to hear.

One day my coworkers and I wandered into a session labeled “Teacher Networking”. AMS had invited local Montessori teachers to set-up some of their best and most interesting works — it was like a live Pinterest. This is where I met Loree Birkenback, head of St. James Episcopal School in Dallas, and saw her Fundamental Needs of the Worm work. She was kind enough to allow me to recreate it at my school, and post it here to share with you all. She also forwarded me her original extension printables (What do worms need? and papers for measuring worms), and you may download the PDF’s here (Earthworm documents). I have made a few changes to the lessons to make the lessons fit my school and my group, but for the most part it stayed the same.Continue reading “fundamental needs of worms – a montessori science work”

montessori silence game & variations

I love lessons that, at their essence, require no materials — just some space and the children. Lessons that are the fundamentals to the Montessori classroom, but by Spring, can often be forgotten by both the children and the teachers.

This week I made an effort to play the Silence game at group and to reintroduce individual silence works as materials on the shelf.

Why silence? Can’t you just tell the class to be quiet? Dr. Montessori’s main goal in her education philosophy is the development of internal discipline and self-satisfaction. Bringing the entire class to self-imposed silence, everyone working together to a common goal, is a beautiful thing. As she said in her essay from 1930,Continue reading “montessori silence game & variations”

simple last minute egg decorating

Do you know when your dreams just don’t line up with reality? That’s what happened in our house this week. My dream was to make beautiful, vibrant, and natural Easter egg dyes. Imogen and I were going to chop and boil vegetables, soak the eggs, and still have time to experiment with mixing the natural dyes. I was planning on rivaling Martha Stewart.Continue reading “simple last minute egg decorating”