In Montessori environments, we pride ourselves on having a culture of self-lead work. We inspire children to be mathematicians, writers, discoverers and researchers. We also teach children the value of the ability to work with our hands. How to Create a Culture of Handwork in Your Montessori Environment By Carol Palmer Handwork, the creative, constructive […]
Practical Life
Resources for Talking to Children About Race and Racism
We are living in pivotal times. Issues of race and racism are not new. Modern day America was created after a clash of epic proportions over this issue. A world war has been fought over this. Many of us thought that we, as a species, had put the worst behind us and were headed in […]
Montessori Food Preparation and Cooking Inspiration
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 […]
Sewing Ideas for the Montessori Classroom
Sewing is a fantastic practical life activity for the Montessori classroom. A Sewing Curriculum for the Montessori Classroom If you’re looking for a comprehensive sewing curriculum for the 3-6 classroom, be sure to check out Aimee Fagan’s book, “Sewing in the Montessori Classroom: A Practical Life Curriculum” available on Amazon (where the Kindle unlimited edition […]
Honey Bees: Cooking in the Montessori Children’s House
I am honored to share with you this simple food preparation activity from the Cooking in the Children’s House series by Megan Ray Durkin. Megan has a goal — to help children feel they are stewards of the earth and true citizens of the world. The projects from Cooking in the Children’s House blend her appreciation for children’s […]
Easter Preschool Activities
This week I’m honored to share with you some photos contributed by one of our long time readers, Dagmar Brumovska! She has a lot fun ideas that you can try on your preschool shelves for Easter. We also have photos of the printable cards included in the Trillium Montessori Easter Preschool Pack. Between the two, your […]
A Year of Montessori Fine Motor Shelves
“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 […]
Holiday Gifts Your Child Can Sew
Please welcome Aimee Fagan! Aimee’s work on the Montessori Works Blog has been an inspiration to me for a long time. Aimee is a trained Montessori teacher and she has some wonderful resources for the practical life area of the classroom. She also writes about her experiences raising her children in a Montessori home. Today she […]
A Montessori Lesson
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 books, […]
Preliminary Practical Life Exercises
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: […]