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 […]
EC Classroom Organization
A Year of Early Language Shelves
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 […]
How to Set Up a Classroom in 48 Hours
This week’s Classroom Showcase post is not a tour of a classroom but the (brief) story of how I had to set up my space in under 48 hours when we moved to our current location. These pictures are from 2010. Step 1: Get Some Efficient Movers Friday Aug 20th 7pm (in the garage) […]
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 […]
Organizing Thematic Units and Seasonal Supplies
Last month I wrote about how I use a unit studies approach to our “cultural” curriculum. I love how it has simplified my organization system. I used to keep my materials categorized by curriculum area. For example, all the language materials were in one cabinet, all the practical life materials were in one spot, and […]
Organizing Art Supplies
Organizing Art Ideas Pinterest is now my organizing tool of choice for all curriculum ideas. I have a board dedicated just to art, but I tend to add more art pins to my Unit studies boards. This makes it easier to decide when to use a particular activity. But before Pinterest, I had binders […]
8 Tips for Organizing Practical Life Supplies
Woohoo! Only a Montessori teacher can understand the rush of owning tiny bowls and pitchers and tongs. In the early days, you think you can’t possibly ever have enough. And then the day comes when you realize, by golly, you have to stop accumulating them because there’s no room left in the ~ahem~ fourth dimension. […]
Organizing in Four Dimensions
Over the years, I’ve collected a lot of classroom materials. I mean, a lot. If you’re a teacher, there’s a good chance you know exactly what I’m talking about. It starts with a few cute trays, a stack of themed printables, some thrift store finds that might come in handy one day… and before you […]
The Evolution of My Montessori Record Keeping System
I have been working and observing in Montessori classrooms for a good fifteen years now and I’ve seen dozens of different ways to keep track of the mountain of information generated on a daily basis. I’m also a bit of an information junkie and I collect ideas like they’re about to run out (have you seen my Pinterest boards?!) […]