Trillium Montessori

Early Childhood Curriculum

High Frequency Words

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High frequency words are the most commonly used words in the English language, appearing frequently in texts, conversations, and everyday writing. Recognizing high-frequency words quickly helps build reading fluency, allowing students to focus on new vocabulary and sentence comprehension. Since many of these words don’t follow typical phonetic rules, memorizing them can significantly boost reading […]

Montessori Push Pinning Activities

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The Montessori pushpinning or pin punching activity is a practical life exercise designed to develop fine motor skills and concentration in young children. In this activity, a child uses a small pushpin or punch tool to create holes along the outline of a shape or pattern on a piece of paper. The child places the […]

The Montessori Cultural Curriculum

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The Montessori approach is based on the belief that children learn best when they are given the opportunity to explore and discover the world around them. The Montessori cultural curriculum includes lessons on geography, botany, zoology, science, art, and music. In addition to helping children develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of the world around […]

Montessori Practical Life Activities

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Montessori ‘Practical Life’ activities focus on the care of the child’s own person (personal dressing and grooming), care of the environment (cleaning, caring for plants and pets, preparing food), development of fine and gross motor skills, and learning courteous behavior and conflict resolution. The Benefits of Practical Life Activities Independence, Confidence, and Self-Care The activities […]

Montessori Curriculum for Early Childhood

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The Montessori curriculum nurtures a child’s natural curiosity and independence across areas like Practical Life, Sensorial, Math, Language, and Cultural studies. In a prepared environment, the prepared adult facilitates hands-on, self-directed learning, encouraging exploration and mastery of foundational skills. This holistic approach supports both academic growth and the development of social-emotional skills, laying the groundwork for lifelong learning.
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Montessori and Preschool Art Activities: An Overview

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Preschool Art Activities: Cutting Using hands and tools to change the shape of objects, especially paper Examples: Tearing Paper This is exactly what it sounds like: using fingers to tear paper into smaller pieces. This activity seems quite simple but contributes to the development of hand-eye coordination. Tearing paper also helps strengthen the hand muscles […]

Montessori Art

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In this category, we’ll explore the role of art in Montessori education, offer suggestions and resources for setting up a successful art space in a Montessori environment, share a list of common art activities found in Montessori primary programs, and discuss strategies for addressing common challenges in Montessori art activities.  Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian […]

Setting Up The Montessori Art Area

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When setting up a Montessori art area, ensure that materials for art activities are accessible to children with minimal adult intervention. If an art activity or technique has been presented, then the supplies for that activity should be made available for children to select freely. Montessori Shelves: Organized to Encourage Independence Many Montessori art activities […]

Montessori Art Curriculum

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The Montessori art curriculum plays a vital role in young children’s growth and development. Montessori art activities aid in the development of fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and cognitive abilities such as problem-solving and critical thinking. Montessori art activities also foster creativity and imagination, allowing children to express themselves freely and explore their ideas visually.  […]

Montessori Language: An Overview of the Materials and Curriculum

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The Montessori approach to language and literacy development in early childhood is grounded in the belief that children learn best through hands-on, experiential learning. In a Montessori classroom, children are encouraged to explore language and literacy through a variety of activities and materials.  Montessori schools place a strong emphasis on developing literacy skills in young […]

The 5 Components of Reading

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There are five components of reading: vocabulary, phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, and fluency. History of the 5 Components of Reading Instruction Reading instruction in the United States has undergone a lot of changes over the years. In the 1980s and 90s, educators were divided on the best way to teach children to read. The “reading […]

Phonological Awareness vs Phonemic Awareness

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Phonological awareness is about being able to hear and manipulate units of sound in spoken words, including syllables, onset, rime, and phonemes. Phonemic awareness is about being able to hear and manipulate the smallest unit of sound, a phoneme. Phonemic awareness is a part of phonological awareness, and they both focus on the sounds that […]

Big and Small Activities for Preschool

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Understanding the concepts of “big” and “small” is a fundamental step in a child’s cognitive development. For teachers and parents looking for quick and easy ways to impart these ideas, here’s a list of engaging “big and small activities” that will not only educate but also entertain young learners. The Pink Tower & The Montessori […]

Montessori Food Preparation

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Montessori food preparation teaches children practical life skills through the use of child-sized tools and age-appropriate activities. By allowing children to prepare their own snacks and meals, food prep activities promote independence, concentration, development of fine motor skills, and healthy eating habits. Montessori education is a child-centered approach to learning that emphasizes independence, hands-on learning, […]

Grace and Courtesy in Montessori

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Grace and Courtesy is a fundamental aspect of the Montessori curriculum. It is an essential part of Montessori philosophy, which emphasizes the importance of respect, empathy, and kindness. Grace and Courtesy lessons teach young children how to interact with others in a polite, respectful, and considerate manner. The Montessori Method of education recognizes that learning […]

Cooking in the Montessori Classroom

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Food preparation and cooking are some of the most fun practical life activities in a Montessori environment! My personal preference is to create individualized food preparation activities that children can choose on their own, rather than group cooking activities that have to be done with a teacher.  I want to show the children how to […]

A Tour of Jennifer’s Montessori Language Shelves

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Jennifer Nichols’ gave us a tour of the materials on her Montessori Language shelves in the Trillium Community Facebook group a few weeks ago and I am delighted to feature her photos on the blog today!  Jennifer has a charming little Montessori school in her home, called Whole Child Montessori.  Affiliate links are used in this […]

Movement in the Montessori Music Room

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by Carolyn Lucento “Okay! Time for our musical movement activity… but how do I effectively manage the children?”  If you find yourself asking this question during Music circle, then check out these tips from Carolyn Lucento of the Magical Movement Company!  Carolyn is a long time Montessorian and trained Orff-Schulwerk music specialist.  She teaches music classes […]

A Year of Early Language Shelves

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I love the early language development area of my classroom!  There is a lot of foundational work that comes before children are introduced to letters.  Today’s post is about the kinds of activities we have on our pre-literacy or early language Montessori shelves.   The Language Area This is a photo of the Language area […]

Phonetic Books for Beginning Readers

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Finding decodable reading books for early readers can be quite a challenge!  Below are some of the books we have in our classroom. The Peacekeeper Series I absolutely love the Peacekeeper Series available on Montessori Services.  Each story is set in a Montessori classroom and shows how the children prevent or resolve a conflict.  The words are phonetically […]

Montessori Golden Beads

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by Jessica Renée A new visitor to a Montessori classroom will likely notice many unusual and intriguing materials, laid out on wooden shelves, as if calling out to be touched. This is exactly what happened recently at my dual-track school where some classes follow the traditional school model, and other classes follow the Montessori model. […]

Short Vowels: How Much is Enough Practice?

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By Cathie Perolman Read more about Cathie’s process for practicing letter sounds here: Are Sandpaper Letters Enough? The Letter Race Game Once a child has mastered some letters and is able to blend sounds into words he is ready for some “heavy duty” work with three letter short vowel words. As I visit schools and support […]

A Year of Montessori Fine Motor Shelves

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“Practical Life” is a huge area of the Montessori Curriculum.  It’s about giving children opportunities to engage in real everyday activities such as taking care of themselves and their surroundings, preparing food, cleaning up etc.  Real. Life. Stuff. Many Montessori teachers call their fine motor activities Practical Life activities.  I think of them more as […]

An Introduction to the Baric Tablets- A Montessori Sensorial Activity

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Today I’m excited to welcome Tanya Wright to the blog!  She is sharing some information about the Montessori Baric Tablets.  This is an elegant Montessori activity that you don’t hear about much, which is unfortunate because it’s an important part of the Montessori sensorial curriculum.   The senses are the child’s window to the world; […]

A Montessori Lesson

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Today I’d like to introduce you to Linda Karchmar.  Linda is a now retired Montessori Guide who owned her own school for 28 years, and taught for 32 years.  She has a wonderful online store where she is selling materials from her school, including lots of lovely Practical Life items! You can also find children’s […]

The Letter Race Game

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I’m excited to welcome Cathie Perolman back to the Trillium Montessori Blog!  Last time she was here, she gave us a wonderfully detailed look at many of her letter work activities.  Today she’s got a great letter sounds game to share with us.  This is perfect for students who are in the “second period” of […]

Preliminary Practical Life Exercises

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The Practical Life activities in a Montessori classroom are designed to be purposeful work that lead the child to an understanding of his environment and how it works.  These activities are appealing to the young child as they resemble everyday activities the child has seen adults complete.  The Practical Life Area of the classroom encompasses: […]

Introduction to Montessori Geography

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Introduction to Geography: A Montessori Approach The Montessori approach utilizes hands-on learning, independence, and exploration. When it comes to introducing young learners to geography, this method proves to be both engaging and effective, fostering a sense of curiosity and wonder about the world. Children are introduced to geography through tactile and visual experiences, such as […]

Working with the Easel

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We love everything about painting at the easel! Over the last few weeks we’ve been exploring tints. What happens to blue when you mix it with white? I love how this little guy left the top right quadrant of his paper blank and declared his painting finished. Check out some of these old videos of […]