November 4, 2019
As you are on your journey of implementing Montessori homeschooling, there are many ideas vying for your attention and you may not even know how to obtain Montessori curriculum. In this post, the author will be uncovering what curriculum to use and what other resources are available to you as you begin this process, based on personal research and over 20 years of Montessori and Homeschooling experience. A list of online locations to purchase materials and resources has been included as well as specific curriculum packages. This post will further answer the following question:
What curriculums can guide my Montessori homeschooling? The Montessori method doesn’t have one singular curriculum to describe it or define it. In fact, the Montessori method could be categorized as a philosophy, rather than a curriculum. However, there are numerous curriculums being made to supplement this teaching and learning approach. There are also materials and resources available that can help you create your own curriculum if you so choose.
Curriculums and Resources
When formulating your Montessori curriculum, work with your child’s interests and your own abilities, such as room size and the overall space you plan to use for Montessori homeschooling. If you plan to assemble your own curriculum, I recommend that you list out all the Montessori sections to ensure that you cover all of them.
These sections include mathematics, language, sensorial, practical life (everyday living skills), and culture (science, history and geography). Within the culture section, there is also art and music.
If you plan to buy a curriculum package, keep in mind the size of the package compared to the size of your room or storage space. You want to be careful not to buy too much upfront that you either won’t be able to utilize or store. If you are new to homeschooling and Montessori, I also recommend that you buy only one package at a time, or that you only buy parts of the overall curriculum that you hope to assemble.
In your excitement or newness, you may purchase more materials than are actually needed and thus waste money and time. Buy the basics first. As you grow accustomed on how to use it, add more supplements and rotate materials.
Additionally, consider buying materials with other friends who are using the Montessori method to homeschool their children. This will allow you to cut costs and have more materials to rotate between your children. If the ages vary, then pass down used materials to younger children.
1. North American Montessori Center
The North American Montessori Center provides intensive Early Childhood Curriculum (3-6 years), that has been in publication since 1998. It has been ranked as the best available Montessori curriculum worldwide and is managed and created by professionals. You can find all the curriculum and website information here.
Detailed Description
The curriculum can be bought in section or in full. The complete package includes six manuals, training video DVDs, and a CMC CD. The manuals can each be bought separately and they cover the following topics: classroom guide, practical life, sensorial, mathematics, culture and science, and language arts. These manuals can also all be bought within a package.
The most in-depth manual, and perhaps the most helpful, especially for those new to Montessori, is the classroom guide manual. This guide covers the essential topics of the methodology that Dr. Montessori gathered, as well as the theory and philosophy. Additionally, it explains the ideas, techniques, materials, and principles that Montessori is built upon.
Furthermore, it describes the growth and development of early childhood, planes of development, sensitive periods and the absorbent mind. It provides details on how to implement the lessons and activities in the correct Montessori manner, as well as explaining the materials used in the Montessori early childhood classroom.
It teaches parents how to be more involved and what their role as a Montessori teacher will look like. It also teaches parents how to organize an early childhood classroom and what a typical day within the classroom should look like.
The support material CD has over 1,500 printable resources that correlate with the various topics covered in the curriculum manuals. The demonstration DVDs portray the activities within all the Montessori sections to help those who are new to Montessori understand the method in depth. Whether you choose a manual, package or the CD/DVD option, you will receive extremely helpful information on how to begin Montessori homeschooling.
Review
The North American Montessori Center (NAMC) provides the most descriptive curriculum that I found while doing my research. The NAMC specifically provides curriculum resources, rather than the materials. You will have to go elsewhere to purchase your materials.
Additionally, the NAMC provides curriculum for infants all the way into upper elementary. This is helpful if you decide to continue Montessori homeschool past pre-k. The only downside I found with the NAMC is that it is a more expensive option. However, this can be curbed if you have other Montessori homeschool families purchase and share the materials with you.
2. NAMC’s 3-6 Montessori Homeschool Program
The North American Montessori Center also has a curriculum that is designated solely for homeschooling ages 3-6 years. The NAMC Montessori Homeschool Program provides the step by step processes, materials, and templates on CD for three years of learning. By the end of it, your child should be able to read and write, add, subtract, multiply and divide. Your child will also learn about history, geography, and the sciences.
This approach is beneficial because it is one price that covers three years of curriculum, which can save you money in the long run. However, the materials it provides are only print outs. To be successful in Montessori, you should implement real-life experiences and hands-on materials.
If you choose this route, I highly recommend that you purchase other Montessori materials and that you use practical life Montessori methods throughout your home. If you are curious about Where to get Homeschool Montessori Materials, visit the CMTC’s previous blog.
3. Skiller Learning Montessori At Home
Skiller Learning Montessori At Home provides materials and lessons that are utilized in Montessori schools across the globe, yet it is still highly acclaimed for home use as well. Their research-based curriculum includes flashcards, workbooks, lessons, answer keys, songs and manipulates that are based on the Montessori method. The lessons are already prepared which allows parents who have no Montessori experience to easily lead their children.
All of the curricula is formulated around the belief that children have four primary learning styles: visual, tactile, auditory, and kinesthetic. These four areas reach the brain in various manners, creating connections and long memories. This results in a stronger understanding, prolonged retention, and a solid foundation.
The visual learning style has been adapted to stimulate the retina and optic nerve within the eye. The visual style of learning is accomplished with the lesson books that provide reading and the viewing of pictures. By playing with manipulates, the nerves within a child’s skin communicate with the brain and develop the tactile approach. The songs within the curriculum stimulate the auditory nerve, thus implementing the auditory style. The kinesthetic approach involves the movement of the body, which correlates with nerve cells that are deep within muscles.
Skiller Learning Montessori At Home is an easy approach for parents who are new to homeschooling and Montessori and who want clear direction. This curriculum also has different kits available.
4. Alison’s Montessori
Alison’s Montessori has curriculum and materials to accommodate infants all the way up to twelve years of age. They offer three different infant and toddler classroom packages that have a wide array of physical Montessori materials. There are printed materials that cover language, association, classification, everyday items and more. The products within the packages can either be purchased as one large group or individually.
Furthermore, there are also classroom packages for all ages up to twelve years of age. Much like the infant and toddler packages, these packages can be purchased as a whole or separately. These packages cover the Montessori materials as well as curriculum books and printouts. Additionally, there are printed curriculum materials that cover language, mathematics, science, geography, and history, which are sold separately.
Alison’s Montessori also offers common core curriculum that covers math, science, and social studies for grades 1-3. These are flashcard style sets that have a question on the front with the answer on the back. There are also DVD’s available that lead parents through the various stages of Montessori based on a child’s age and the different subject matters.
Other helpful books for parents are the Montessori albums. These albums have been created by an AMS trained Montessori educator of thirty years. These resources are the same resources that are used for teacher training. They cover the following topics: botany, astronomy, mathematics, ecology, geology, history, geography, language, zoology, sensorial, physical science, and practical life.
Review
Moreover, Alison’s Montessori offers an impressive bank of resources, including timelines and charts for numerous subjects that will certainly support your Montessori classroom and curriculum. Alison’s Montessori is a great option because it offers overall materials, curriculum and supplements all in one location. If you are satisfied with this business, you will be able to utilize it for years within your child’s time in grades.
5. Montessori Services
Montessori Services is well known for its authentic Montessori materials that encompass all subjects and that build even further upon the basic subjects. Many of the materials are made in the USA and they are made with non-toxic materials. If you are looking for physical material sets, Montessori Services is a great place to find authentic materials for practical life, sensorial, mathematics, language, geography and culture, art, music and movement, science, and community. Similar to other sites, Montessori Services offer packages and individual items.
I personally am impressed with Montessori Services in these areas because they offer the widest array of materials for each category. Additionally, they offer materials for these categories that I have yet to see another business offer.
Montessori Services does offer printed materials, charts, cards, books for children, books for parents, and curriculum per subject. Again, I will reiterate that Montessori Services is impressive in its depth and extensive variety in interaction with books and curriculum. All of the materials, even the printed ones, are hands-on and beyond expectations. They also have resources that equip parents to understand and implement Montessori efficiently.
6. Kid Advance Montessori
Kid Advance Montessori is similar to Montessori Services because it offers a wide array of materials for each subject and section. It does offer a few different classroom packages, but they tend to be more expensive. Unless you are confident that you will utilize all the materials, I would recommend that you only buy what you need separately.
Kid Advance Montessori is a great place to buy tools, furniture and classroom materials. If you are looking strictly for books, supplements, and curriculum, you will be able to find helpful resources, but less than on other websites.
Rather than being assembled in one book, the curriculum comes in the form of supplementary materials. These curriculum supplements are reasonably priced and sold individually. The majority of the curriculum support materials are less than ten dollars. This can be extremely helpful if you are looking to fill in gaps in your own curriculum without breaking your budget.
The supplements are charts, cards, activity sets, maps, tables, and labels. They cover botany, geography, geometry, addition, multiplication, division, fractions, concepts of time, human anatomy, weather, the solar system, and landforms.
7. Montessori for Everyone
Montessori for Everyone was created in 2005 by a certified Montessori Education Teacher who has also homeschooled her two children through high school. The materials were originally designed for personal homeschool use, however, they became accepted among other Montessori teachers.
All the materials are in the form of PDF files or a CD-ROM collection that can either be mailed, emailed or downloaded instantly. The printable resources are intended to be used with the Montessori Method to cover language, phonics and reading, geometry, math, geography, history, botany and zoology, art and music, and astronomy. The materials are fit to accompany all ages that range from two to twelve years of age.
The collections can either be purchased separately as a primary, or elementary collection. There is also a complete collection that includes both packages. If you plan to homeschool your child for both primary and elementary school, you would greatly benefit from purchasing the overall collection. This will be a one time purchase and it is offered at a discounted price compared to buying each section individually.
Not only does Montessori for Everyone offer a variety of materials for pre-reading and reading, it also offers materials for the languages of Russian, French, Chinese, and Spanish.
8. Montessori by Mom
Montessori by Mom is a monthly subscription that can be purchased yearly or monthly and that can be canceled at any time. Each month, you will receive a box filled with Montessori materials that fit a specific theme. A few examples of a theme would be “Shoots and Sprouts” (understanding the basis for nature and plant growth), “Kings, Queens and Castles” (developing concepts of art, culture, and technology), and “Land, Water, and Air” (the scientific basis of land and water formation).
These packages are yours to keep and can help build your curriculum and classroom. There are also online resources available with activity guides and videos. The monthly subscription box is a fun and exciting way to build anticipation and excitement for learning within your child. The boxes come with a variety of materials that may include puzzles, laminated pictures, posters or cards, and other manipulatives.
Separate materials can also be purchased alongside the monthly package or without a monthly subscription. There are seventeen different categories for products that are available. Additionally, there are activity sets, single items, and refill items.
Review
Montessori by Mom is a great resource that can help you get started on your Montessori classroom. However, Montessori by Mom is not a place where you can purchase specific manuals or curriculum books. The resources come with guides but you may want to utilize other outside manuals and materials along with the subscription.
9. My Montessori House
My Montessori House uses exercises and presentations from the original AMI Training Courses. Content from these courses have been compiled into binders that are separated by age group. There are binders available for ages from infancy to first grade.
Detailed Description
These binders can be purchased individually and used as needed for your child. Since Montessori encourages children to learn and grow as they desire, it is recommended that you have the appropriate age manual at hand as well as the next level up if your child is showing signs of advancement.
These binders give in-depth instructions on teaching the subject section based on the brain, education, and language acquisition development. Each manual prepares you for the upcoming year and walks you through the developmental milestones and Montessori sections you will be covering while simultaneously showing you how to do so.
There are also DVD’s for your children to watch that will introduce math and reading to younger children. Furthermore, there are printable books available, and bilingual flashcards available to teach Mandarin.
Review
My Montessori House offers great curriculum binders that will be incredibly helpful in the teaching and start of Montessori homeschooling. These binders give clear instructions on how to use the curriculum. Because this website primarily only offers the curriculum, you will have to search elsewhere for the actual materials that will be utilized.
10. The Ultimate Montessori Planner
The Ultimate Montessori Planner is less of a curriculum and more of a guide and resource to utilize other curriculums or create your own. If you choose to create your own curriculum and to assemble your own materials for homeschooling, then this planner will be a helpful asset to you.
This planner is downloadable and has various sections for either preschool or elementary ages. The planner is broken into sections based on the subject matter. This planner can help you organize what materials you choose to use during the week and with each specific day. It will also be a helpful tool to look back on to check your child’s growth. You will be able to easily write down notes per section and how your child interacted during that time.
Concluding Thoughts
As you are searching for a Montessori homeschool curriculum, do sufficient research for each curriculum to see what best fits you and your family. There are various curriculums, supplements, and materials available that you can choose from. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t find what you are looking for at first. You may decide to use a combination of curriculums or to even create your own.
In summary, the journey to incorporate Montessori methods and materials at home is a recommended plan. It does provide the best of both worlds. Of course, finding a supportive group that also embraces the Montessori method would be ideal like the one found at Hand In Hand Christian Montessori www.hihcm.org.