For those of you that have followed my blog for awhile you know that I absolutely LOVE the Montessori approach to teaching young children. The materials, the structure, the scope/sequence of activities... it makes my teacher heart sing! During the beginning stages of my Montessori experience I was on my own reading books from the library and googling Montessori activities and lessons to do with my toddler. While I found there were some good resources, I still felt like I had no clue what I was doing.
Until I had the opportunity to read John Bowman's Montessori at Home! book.
It is a one-stop shopping Montessori experience. John explores the world of Montessori by first explaining WHAT the Montessori approach is all about. Things like the three step lesson, how to choose activities for your child, and preparing/displaying/demonstrating learning materials. This was SO helpful for me as I was starting out!
After thoroughly introducing the Montessori approach, John lists several activities for the following areas:
Everyday Life
Sensory
Science
Mathematics
Reading and Writing
Digital Life
Art and Music
Geography and Culture
This section of the book is filled with so many wonderful and detailed ideas to teach your child. Many of these activities use everyday items, which is great for those of us on a budget! When I first was given a hard copy of John Bowman's book last year, I marked so many pages of ideas and lessons to do with my little girl that my book ended up looking like this:
If THAT didn't convince you that this book is incredible, check out this list:
Top 10 Things I LOVE about Montessori at Home!
1. John Bowman was actually a preschool Montessori teacher and director. He also started three Montessori preschools! With those qualifications, I KNOW that he is very familiar with the Montessori method and the best way to teach it.
2. Montessori at Home has is a very well-rounded resource when it comes to Montessori activities. It doesn't just focus on sensorial activities or Maria Montessori- it has it all.
3. It is a very easy read with lots of pictures. There are also links to other materials- which makes having an eBook very convenient.
4. Did I mention there are lots of free printable materials at the end of this book? So you can start your Montessori experience right away!
5. I love the appeal this book has to ALL of us working with kids- whether you are a daycare provider, preschool teacher, tutor, home teacher, or a parent/grandparent. We can all read and glean ideas to better help our children understand their environment and master skills such as reading and math. And there is such a variety of activities that I am positive you will find ones that work for you and the children you work with!
6. As mentioned earlier, there are massive amounts of ideas. Many of these are collected from other amazing Montessori teachers and moms found in the blogosphere! I can tell that John has spent hours researching engaging activities and quality lessons for his book.
7. This is a GREAT resource for Montessori beginners- like me. I don't feel like I have to spend hours googling the different aspects of Montessori because it is all found here!
8. I love the fluid organization of this book. It's easy to locate information and the sequence of materials is logical and practical.
9. It is now available on pdf! Which I love for two reasons: first, there is no wait time for the book to come in the mail, and second, I can use my pdf reader to bookmark pages so I'm not going through as many post it notes! You can always print the book once you have received the pdf.
10. The price is CRAZY good! It only costs 8.95! An amazing deal if you think about how much it would cost to send your child to a Montessori school!!
I also have to add that our Montessori Jar is included in this book which I am pretty excited about!
Montessori at Home is partnered with another amazing site: Montessori Print Shop. This site has over 1,000 Montessori-based pdfs- some are free while the rest are available at a very reasonable price. There is a special bundle of resources that include activities from most areas of the Montessori at Home book.
GUESS WHAT??? Two lucky readers will get:
A free copy of the Montessori At Home! Second Edition eBook from John Bowman
The Montessori at Home! bundle of 21 printable materials from Montessori Print Shop.
And GUESS WHAT else? EVERYONE who enters will win a free download of the Mom Bloggers Talk Montessori eBook. Pretty cool!!
Want to win? Here's how:
Leave a comment and tell me your favorite learning activity you do with your kids!
You might be wondering, can I have extra entries? Why of course! (Just leave an additional comment for each of these)
Like the Home Teacher on Facebook
Like Montessori at Home! on Facebook
Like Montessori Print Shop on Facebook
Good Luck! The giveaway ends one week from today- Saturday, March 24, at 11:00 P.M. (Mountain Standard Time)
Good Luck! This is an amazing giveaway and I can't wait to see who wins!
Happy Teaching!
My favorite activity to do with my kids there are so many. I homeschool 3 out of the 5, the other 2 are too little. But I love sorting with the little ones, we made some of your quiet kits. Healthy Food sorts was a great one! Along with the games. But we did a dino week and made some dirt clay dino eggs, hatched them and built our own prehistoric habitat, while learning about them. Super Fun those are my recent favorites. Watching your kids learn is so much fun!!!!
ReplyDeleteKrista
I Liked Home teacher on FB
ReplyDeleteKrista
Liked Montessori at Home on FB
ReplyDeleteKrista
Liked Montessori Print Shop on FB, hoping this is my lucky day thanks for the chance
ReplyDeleteKrista
Pick me! :)
ReplyDeleteFavorite activity with my daughter is our shared journal.
Liked Home Teacher on FB.
ReplyDeleteLike Montessori at Home on FB.
ReplyDeleteLike Montessori PS on FB!
ReplyDeleteReading is my favorite learning activity to do with my kids.
ReplyDeleteWe love exploring different elements on our light table.
ReplyDeleteI like Home Teacher on FB.
ReplyDeleteI like Montessori at Home.
ReplyDeleteI like Montessori Print Shop.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite learning activity I do with my son is usually science activities. He loves to explore and see what cause and effects will happen!
ReplyDeleteI liked the home teacher on facebook!
ReplyDeleteI liked the montessori at home book!
ReplyDeleteI liked the montessori print shop on facebook!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fab giveaway - our favourite learning activity at the moment (this week at least) is colour sorting with water beads using a formula scoop to transfer them into coloured muffin cases.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many things that I enjoy, but I think one of our favorites is cooking together. While cooking we learn about math and science and it's neat to see his vocabulary transfer from cooking to other life situations, too. :)
ReplyDeleteI liked The Home Teacher on Facebook. :)
ReplyDeleteI liked Montessori at Home on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI liked Montessori Print Shop on Facebook, too. :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite activity to do with my child is fine motor and pouring activities.
ReplyDeleteI "liked" the home teacher on facebook
ReplyDeleteI like reading new books to my . They are so excited to hear something new and them read it over and over again. We also enjoy using activities based on books!
ReplyDeleteI "liked" the Montessori at Home book on facebook
ReplyDeleteI "liked" the Montessori Print Shop on facebook
ReplyDeleteI liked the Home school teacher on FB
ReplyDeleteI liked montessori at home on FB
ReplyDeleteI liked the montessori printshop on FB
ReplyDeleteMy favorite learning activity to do most recently is alphabet bingo/I spy!
ReplyDeleteWe love reading in our home. We try to pick 1-2 themes a month and get books based on the theme.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the chance to win.
Caterina
I like Montessori at Home on facebook
ReplyDeleteThanks again,
Caterina
I like Montessori Print Shop on facebook.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Caterina
Like Montessori at home on FB!!!
ReplyDeleteLIKE montessori print shop on FB!!!!
ReplyDeleteOur favorite activity is reading together, drawing, and planting in our garden!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOne of our favorite activities to do is play what we call the 'letter' game you say a word and have to tell what letter it starts with. My toddler especially loves playing it in the car and tries here best to stump us : ) trulyjuly@juno.com
ReplyDeleteThanks, for the offer - had done the 'Like' button for 2 of the 3 already. This looks like a great book.
ReplyDeleteBook activity - for my grandson. He wants to handle them, turn the pages, look at the pictures, over and over - just like his father did at his age, who only consented to let me read the books after his sister was born and I started reading to her - before that, he didn't want any interference with his book activity.
Nancy, nbthompson@hotmail.com
Having trouble commenting so if this is a multiple entry, I'm sorry. I love reading with my children -great ideas get started that way.
ReplyDeleteI like Montessori at home on FB
ReplyDeleteI like mps on FB
ReplyDeleteLove their materials
Today our favourite learning activity is writing sight words (we've also done numbers, letters, and phonics word families) on our driveway with chalk and then jumping to them as we call them out! It's an early summer here in canada and we're milking it :)
ReplyDeleteI like Montessori Print Shop on Facebook!
ReplyDeleteI like Montessori at Home on Facebook!
ReplyDeleteI like the Home Teacher on Facebook now - just learned about your site through Montessori Print Shop and am enjoying exploring it!
ReplyDeleteOur favorite activities are reading, spending time in the kitchen and nature walks.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the Home Teacher on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteAnd I liked Montessori at Home on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI had already liked Montessori Print Shop.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite learning activity to do with the kids right now is play alphabet bingo.
ReplyDeleteI "liked" home teacher on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI "liked" Montessori at Home on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI liked Montessori Print Shop on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite learning activity is a walk in the woods!
ReplyDeleteI liked Montessori Print Shop on FB
ReplyDeleteLiked Montesori Print Shop on FB
ReplyDeleteLiked Home Teacher on FB
ReplyDeleteLiked Montessori at Home on FB
ReplyDeleteLiked Montessori Print shop on FB
ReplyDeleteOur favourite activity at the moment is pouring and spooning. My 16 month old LOVES pouring and spooning so I give her different sized jugs and bowls and spoons and materials and she will happily sit for a hour or more busy working away. Last year when I was nanny to 3 children under 3yrs old, we did lots of puzzles and sorting and sensory play (shaving cream is great fun!)
ReplyDeletewe love to cook together too... the kids love coming up with their own recipes!
ReplyDeleteI don't have just one favourite activity, but my kiddos love books, so there is lots of reading in our home! :)
ReplyDeleteI already like MPS on FB
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm teaching my two little kids to swim, and my daughter (5) to play the piano. But another fav. activity is reading street signs as we drive, or painting countdown calendars to special events, then laminating them and using stickers to countdown (i.e. to Grandma's visit). Makes a great gift or placemat (minus the stickers) after the event.
ReplyDeleteI liked Montessori at Home on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI liked Montessori Print Shop on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI liked Home Teacher on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteOur favorite learning activity is anything that has to do with cooking. Some days we focus on measurement, some days the scents of each individual component, some days it is just the sensorial aspect of kneading dough, etc. Plus we end up with something yummy (usually!) in the end.
ReplyDeleteamandanickie (@) yahoo (dot) com
My favorite thing to do with my kids is making up games and playing together to practice a skill.
ReplyDeleteI liked Montessori at Home
ReplyDeleteI liked Montessori Print Shop.
ReplyDeleteI liked Home teacher
ReplyDeleteWe LOVE to read books, right now the BOB books are really helping my son with reading.
ReplyDeleteI like the Home Teacher on fb!
ReplyDeletefeltyfun at gmail
My son and I love to learn everything we can about a one subject at a time. We are studying the solar system now. We make planets, talk about astronauts, go to the planetarium, look through the telescope, do science experiments, anything we can about the solar system. Then we do something else! Of course right now he wants to be an astronaut.
ReplyDeleteHi! im so excited, i am a teacher of special education in México, my kids and i love the montessori games or things, specially sensorial games :D
ReplyDeleteLike the Home Teacher on Facebook
ReplyDeleteLike Montessori at Home! on Facebook
ReplyDeleteLike Montessori Print Shop on Facebook
ReplyDeleteMy oldest is only 2 but our favorite things to do to learn together are singing songs and playing a silly "yes or no" game where I ask him questions and throw in silly ones. His answers make him think and both of us laugh.
ReplyDeleteWe love to look at books with real-life pictures like animals and insects and then compare them to what we saw on television the other day, or on our last trip to the zoo
ReplyDeleteI already like Montessori at Home on Facebook
ReplyDeleteI like Montessori Print Shop on Facebook
ReplyDeleteI like The Home teacher on Facebook
ReplyDeleteawesome giveaway! i love doing fine motor work with my kids- for some reason it's always my favorite.
ReplyDeleteI am just getting introduced to Montessori and would love to win more info. I think it is great way to teach kids
ReplyDeleteWe love to read together-his medical encyclopedia is his favorite! Miss you guys!
ReplyDeleteLiked the home teacher on facebook.
ReplyDeleteLiked montessori printshop.
ReplyDeleteLiked montessori at home.
ReplyDeleteWe love to do puzzles together and talk about what's on the pieces.
ReplyDeleteI like home teacher on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteLiked Montessori printshop on facebook.
ReplyDeleteLiked Montessori at home on facebook.
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