We have been using the WAshington Virtual Academy as our main curriculum for homeschool this year (www.wava.org)
But I’ve been adding in some other methods as well, namely the Montessori method. My oldest has attended montessori school for the past year and has gained tremendous benefits from it. I’ve tried to incorporate some of what she loves at school into our home classroom.
In my search for help with this huge undertaking, I came across many wonerful and helpful individuals who are anxious to share their knowledge of this time-tested education strategy. One of these helpful people, Mary, put together the following document which will help ANYONE who wants to start doing some montessori work at home wtih their children. (See below)
It may seem a daunting task, and for sure it will take some time and effort. But the rewards are incredible and for those who want a really quick and easy start to montessori homeschool for preschoolers, I would suggest getting the book , “Teach Me to Do It Myself”. It’s filled wtih simple activites that you can put together with items you alreayd ahve at home or can find at second hand stores very inexpensively.
Here’s the letter from Mary
For ongoing resources and support, my number one recommendation is that you join a
YahooGroups list called Playschool6. This is a Catholic, Montessori homeschoolers site. There are many non-Catholics (of which I am one) and it is a very warm, supportive bunch. Don’t let the name put you off–it refers to the site owner’s kids. You have to “join” yahoo to use this group, but it is free and I have suffered no ill effects. I can’t stress enough how important this group is. Once you are in, check out all the “sister sites” linked from the Playschool6 page. MontessoriMakers is for people wanting advice on making Montessori materials. There’s a book discussion of Montessori books as well as other groups.
Karen Tyler does online training for parents who wish to homeschool Montessori style. I have not taken it, because I am trained already, but she seems to be on the right track. http://www.amontessorimarketplace.com/teachertraining.html
Next, you are going to need some practical books to start you off. (I am assuming that you have already read many books by Maria Montessori. If that is not true, I can give you a list of her books to read.)
“Teaching Montessori in the Home (Preschool)” and “Teaching Montessori in the Home-School Years” by Elizabeth Hainstock
“Basic Montessori” by David Gettman
After that, you will need “albums”. These are books for the adult, telling how to do each lesson. If you were to take training, you would be learning the material in these albums. Go to:
http://www.montessorird.com/ if you wish to purchase, but first look at the free ones below:
Moteaco, an excellent website, has some albums and other resources http://www.moteaco.com/albums.html
http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfsjy/ is Shu-Chen Jenny Yen’s free online albums.
For materials, look at these websites:
www.nienhuis. com Ask this company for a catalog and price sheet. They are very expensive and you won’t want to buy from them, but they have an excellent catalog with pictures of each material.
www.michaelolaf.net (text)
www.michaelolaf.com (products)
This company has great, short info about Montessori and sells good quality products at premium prices
http://www.montessoriworld.org/
http://www.montessorimaterials.org has great printables
Hello Wood products is a great company.
Montessori Services 800-214-8959 www.forsmallhands.com
Be sure and ask for the school catalog–it’s bigger. They sell supplies like trays, aprons, etc.
http://www.learncollection.com/index.html
There are numerous companies now which sell Montessori materials for cheap. I cannot recommend any because I have not used them and I have grave concerns about how they manage to keep their prices down (can you say human rights violations?) which they have never adequately addressed for me. Playschool6 has numerous threads where people tell their experiences with different companies.
You are welcome to ask more questions as they come up. Good luck in the journey of educating your children!
Mary
