Christian Montessori Curriculum?

[kdeno]

Can anyone suggest a Christian Montessori curriculum I could use at home? Little Hands to Heaven by HOD has a few M elements but I was hoping for more.

 

Thank you!!

[Amy in KS]

I think My Father's world has quite a few montessori elements in it at the younger levels. There are quite a few montessori yahoo groups with printable materials.

[Terabith]

You are not going to find a Montessori curriculum. True Montessori is not a series of lesson plans, or even the (incredibly cool) manipulatives. It is about observing the child, treating the child with respect. It really NEEDS a community of children, because the idea is children teaching one another, peer modeling, etc. It is creating a community. The goal of Montessori is not academic content mastered, but normalization, which is like a "flow" state. In early childhood classrooms, the goals are to promote a sense of order, coordination, concentration (biggie!), and independence.

 

I have had to abandon a real Montessori education for my kids, much to my sorrow. I just can't really reproduce Montessori in my home. We do use a lot of Montessori materials, and I used to try to run my home in a Montessori manner. I'm not as good at it now as I used to be, especially before my second dd was born.

 

You can incorporate a lot of practical life and sensorial activities into your school/ home/ life very easily. It is definitely possible to teach reading and language arts in the Montessori manner at home, making your own materials. Math is more materials driven, but you can still use math lesson plans written for Montessori. Geography, I think no matter what curriculum you use, the Montessori maps are phenomenal! The real issue is that Montessori is not about lesson plans or materials. It's a philosophy, and that is very difficult to just pick up.

[kdeno]

I have used MFW and I liked it a lot. I have 5 children and I can see where the Montessori influence would help a lot. I made a list of Montessori inspired things I want to work on with them, maybe I can start on those. Thank you for all of the helpful information. :001_smile::)

[Dawn E]

Basic Montessori and Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Preschool Years will give you a lot of information and ideas to put into practice at home. I think Charlotte Mason (which is the philosophy MFW leans towards) has a lot of similarities with Montessori's philosophies. Montessori thought of "teachers" as guides, igniting a spark then stepping aside to allow the child to fan the flame. Even if you are unable to have a community, Montessori still has a lot to offer a child.

 

Two more books that would be of help are: How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way and Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius.

 

Montessori was a Catholic herself and believed in the spiritual education of children. In the states, however, most of the Montessori materials (and by that I mean curriculum and books, not manipulatives, of course) have a bit of a New Age slant in regards to spirituality.

Edited January 5, 2010 by Dawn E

[kdeno]

It is good to "see" you here!

 

I think I bought some books from you or vice versa.

 

I will check those out to see if I read them yet :-)

 

Thanks!!!

[Dawn E]

You're welcome! :001_smile: I think we've both bought from and sold to each other in the past. I'm still here...just more of a lurker than a poster. I hope you find what you're looking for. There are some curriculum guides out there, but they're mainly geared towards classrooms.

[Faithr]

Here's a link to Catholic Montessori resources. There are quite a few Catholic homeschoolers who teach via Montessori. http://www.love2learn.net/bkbteduc/montess.htm

[Momling]

You are not going to find a Montessori curriculum. True Montessori is not a series of lesson plans, or even the (incredibly cool) manipulatives. It is about observing the child, treating the child with respect. It really NEEDS a community of children, because the idea is children teaching one another, peer modeling, etc. It is creating a community. The goal of Montessori is not academic content mastered, but normalization, which is like a "flow" state. In early childhood classrooms, the goals are to promote a sense of order, coordination, concentration (biggie!), and independence.

 

I have had to abandon a real Montessori education for my kids, much to my sorrow. I just can't really reproduce Montessori in my home. We do use a lot of Montessori materials, and I used to try to run my home in a Montessori manner. I'm not as good at it now as I used to be, especially before my second dd was born.

 

You can incorporate a lot of practical life and sensorial activities into your school/ home/ life very easily. It is definitely possible to teach reading and language arts in the Montessori manner at home, making your own materials. Math is more materials driven, but you can still use math lesson plans written for Montessori. Geography, I think no matter what curriculum you use, the Montessori maps are phenomenal! The real issue is that Montessori is not about lesson plans or materials. It's a philosophy, and that is very difficult to just pick up.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

We moved and had to leave a wonderful Montessori school. You can buy or make Montessori materials and use them at home and that's nice, but Montessori is so much more than that.

[Tohru]

Yes - Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Preschool Years is good. It's a small book but I contains a lot of information. Another good book that's mostly lessons is Teach Me to Do It Myself, by Maja Pitamic

 

Neither have religious slants though, you'd have to add your own faith.

 

And I agree, Montessori is very similar in style to Charlotte Mason's philosophy on early childhood.

[Closeacademy]

Here are some links to Montessori Albums and such.

 

http://closeacademy.blogspot.com/search/label/Montessori This is my blog posts on how I incorporate Montessori and make materials to use at home. There are also links to yahoogroups where you can access files to make your own materials at home.

 

Albums--lesson plans for free

 

http://www.freemontessori.org/ grade school plans.

 

http://www.infomontessori.com/index.htm

 

http://www.montessorimom.com/

 

http://www.moteaco.com/

 

Other resources:

 

http://www.wikisori.org/index.php/Main_Page

 

http://www.montessorimaterials.org/

 

http://www.montessoriforeveryone.com/

 

I hope this helps. :001_smile:

[kdeno]

:):grouphug:

:bigear:

[Guest]

A thank you from me also. I have read about the Montessori approach and Maria Montessori and would also like to incorporate a Montessori approach to our homeschool for my second child. I am currently reading How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way and have also read Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Preschool Years. Thank you for the added resources and thank you to the OP for asking the question for me ;).