Are you planning to homeschool your little ones this year? It doesn’t matter if you have valid concerns about COVID-19 or merely prefer a self-created curriculum. The Montessori method can benefit your child’s early learning considerably.
How can you create a proper Montessori homeschool? The following explanation and tips should get you started.
What Is the Montessori Method?
Montessori education got its start with Maria Montessori, the first Italian woman to get a doctor of medicine degree. She went on to develop Education for Peace in India and earned two Nobel Peace Prize nominations.
The Montessori method takes a child-centered approach to education that revolves around students’ particular abilities and interests. It emphasizes the following principles:
- Student choice: Instead of saying, Write a paragraph about X topic, you might let kids choose between drawing a picture, making a model or writing their ideas.
- Uninterrupted learning blocks: Instead of spending 30 minutes on math and then moving on to history, Montessori learning provides two to three hours for kids to dive deep into the subject matter.
- Multiage groupings: While traditional school divides students by age and grade level, the Montessori method lets older students assist their younger peers.
10 Methods for Creating a Montessori Homeschool
Montessori learning offers a ton of benefits, not the least of which is that your children will love it. That emotion fosters a positive attitude toward school that can form the foundation of future academic success.
What activities are appropriate for this teaching methodology? Give the following a go.
1. Draw a Map of Your Home
Do your little ones love to look at the globe or even study road maps on long trips? Why not encourage their future cartography skills by having them create a depiction of your home’s layout? You can show them how to use a ruler to draw straight lines.
If your children are older or possess math savvy, you can use mapping to teach fractions. Have the kiddos take measurements of each room and then reduce them to represent size accurately in their house map.
2. Practice Yoga for Kids
Kids take to yoga like so many little ducks if you teach it at their level. You must also consider their physical needs. While adults benefit from a few minutes of quiet focus to begin their practice, children have to work out the wiggles before taking to the mat. You can then make poses into a game by playing Yogi Says instead of Simon Says.
3. Design Clay and Dough Prints and Stamps
The Montessori method involves hands-on learning, and giving little fingers clay spells educational fun. You can use the substance to help them practice writing skills by having them create letters. Alternatively, they can shape homemade salt ornament dough into letters and use them as stamps.
4. Let Kids Help Prep Lunch
Many traditional schools have eliminated home economics, and while this lack alone may not cause the obesity epidemic, it does persuade many into the fast-food drive-thru. Ensure your kids know how to cook healthy meals by letting them help prepare lunch.
5. Tell a Story With Puppets
You can make puppets out of tons of household materials, from old socks to empty paper towel rolls. Creating their characters is part of the learning experience.
Then, have kids act out a story they’ve read by putting on a show. They’ll gain more in-depth insight while exercising their creativity.
6. Make a Trick-or-Treat Graph
Another creative way to introduce math and geography skills involves making a trick-or-treat graph. You can have your kids chart the most efficient route to maximize candy collection in minimal time a valuable skill when it comes to making money as adults. Once they gather their stash on the big day, you can have them create pie and bar graphs illustrating the types of goodies they received.
7. Act Out Power Verbs
It’s one thing to tell kids, A verb is a word that expresses an action. It’s quite another to have them physically act out leap or crawl. This activity helps burn off excess energy that can hinder focus and reinforce a vital grammatical concept.
8. Weave Friendship Bracelets
Maybe knitting an afghan is a bit advanced for your 5-year-old, but you can get them started with string crafts and build small motor skills by braiding friendship bracelets. Transform this activity into an economics lesson by letting them set up shop and sell their homemade wares for Monopoly money.
9. Match Emotions With Music
Music influences mood, and children need lessons in identifying and managing emotions as well as artistic literacy. Dock your iPhone and make a playlist with a variety of songs, from upbeat to angry to relaxing. Then, have your kids label the emotion the melody evokes and act it out through interpretive dance.
10. Teach Fractions With Pizza
Is there a child alive who doesn’t adore pizza? Why not use one of their favorite meals to help teach them fractions? There’s no law saying you have to have eight uniform slices. How can they divide the pie fairly so everyone enjoys a taste?
Create a Proper Montessori Homeschool With These Tips
You can create a Montessori school at home with the activities and knowledge above. Inspire a love of learning in your young ones with these tips.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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