PRACTICAL GUIDE

to the

MONTESSORI
METHOD
at home

With more than 100 activity ideas

from 0 to 6.

AUDIOBOOK COMPANION
DOCUMENT
Copyright of the printed book © 2018 Julia Palmarola
Copyright of the audiobook © 2019 Julia Palmarola
Audiobook Narrated by Nikki Delgado

All rights reserved.

First English Edition.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written
permission of the author. This book has been written with sincere admiration, humility and respect for Dr. Maria
Montessori’s work. The opinions expressed in this book might not always agree with those of the rest of the
Montessori community, and they haven’t been approved by any of the associations or websites mentioned in its
pages. The author is not related to any of the websites, companies or associations mentioned in this book, unless
stated otherwise. This book has been written by a mother with the sole intention of assisting other parents who want
to do Montessori activities at home with their child, and its purpose is educational only. Although the author has made
every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author does not assume and
hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether
such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. This book is not intended as a
substitute for the medical advice of physicians. Basic child and safety measures should always be observed when
working with small children: it is your responsibility to prevent any possible accidents when working with small, sharp
or otherwise dangerous items. Never leave a child unattended. Double check any procedures, techniques or safety
measures described in this book with your paediatrician before implementing them, and always make your child’s
safety and well-being the number one priority. Nothing contained in this book is intended to be nor shall it be deemed
to be legal advice. No warranty of any kind is offered. The author does not imply that the same results will be
achieved with every child if the same activities are done, as we are all different. All images have been taken from the
author’s personal archive unless stated otherwise. Cover image credits: Fotolia.

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Navigate this document:

1. THE MONTESSORI METHOD 4

HOW TO CREATE A MONTESSORI ENVIRONMENT AT HOME 4

2. THE BABY FROM ZERO TO TWELVE MONTHS 7

3. MONTESSORI FOR BABIES: 0-12 MONTHS 7

4. CHILDREN FROM ONE TO THREE 13

5. ACTIVITIES FROM 12 MONTHS TO 3 YEARS-OLD 13

5.1 DAILY LIFE ACTIVITIES 13

5.2 – SENSORIAL ACTIVITIES 16

6. THE PRESCHOOL STAGE: FROM 3 TO 6 YEARS 26

6.1 – READING AND WRITING 26

6.2 – MATHEMATICS 27

6.3 MUSIC AND ART 42

6.4 GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 42

6.5 NATURAL SCIENCES 44

USEFUL LINKS 44

BIBLIOGRAPHY 45

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1. THE MONTESSORI METHOD

How to create a Montessori environment at home

1: Top picture: a baby's room.

Below, the same room prepared for a toddler.

2: A low drawer for the child’s crockery and cutlery.

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 3: This sketch shows how to add a railing for a step stool so that children can
help in the kitchen. Most shops such as Home Depot can cut wood strips for
you if you don’t have the necessary tools at home.

4: Kitchenware suitable for small children: from top to bottom: 1) Plastic Knife
"lettuce knife"; 2) Dull butter knife; 3) Plastic tweezers; 4) Child-sized rolling pin.

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 5: Learning materials set out on shelves.

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 6 Example of MONTESSORI THREE-PART CARDS

2. THE BABY FROM ZERO TO TWELVE MONTHS

3. MONTESSORI FOR BABIES: 0-12 MONTHS

7: Black and White cards are used to stimulate the developing sense of sight in small babies.

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 8: Homemade Munari mobile (front and back)

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 9: Octahedron mobile (red, yellow, blue).

10: You can use this pattern to make your own octahedron shapes.

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 11: Mobile inspired in the Gobbi.

12: Simple toys for babies to explore with their newly discovered hands.

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 13: Sensorial textures basket

14: Knobbed puzzles

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 15: First Montessori puzzle.

16: Classic stacking toys. These are not Montessori materials, but they are a good home alternative.

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4. CHILDREN FROM ONE TO THREE

5. ACTIVITIES FROM 12 MONTHS TO 3 YEARS-OLD

5.1 DAILY LIFE ACTIVITIES

17: A fastening activity on a tray.

18: Once the towel is folded we stack it in a neat pile.

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 19: Transfers with two bowls of beans and a spoon.

20: Pouring activity.

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 21: Cutlery sorting activity

22: Table cleaning activity.

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 23: Ready to start our shoe polishing activity.

5.2 – SENSORIAL ACTIVITIES

24: Sensory bin.

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 25: Color sorting activity with building blocks.

26: The pink tower is made out of ten pink cardboard cubes of decreasing size.

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 27: The knobbed cylinders. “Show me the smallest one”.

28: Matryoshka dolls.

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 29: The Montessori brown stairs.

30 : Threading activity.

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 31: You can create your own threading board by punching a few holes in a
piece of cardboard.

32: How to prepare a mystery bag.

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 33: A pillowcase (bottom image) can work as a makeshift “mystery bag”.

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 34: Sorting hard and soft objects.

35: Homemade latches board sketch.

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36: A palmar grasp activity. Squeezing the sponge with one hand to transfer the water to the other bowl.

37: Transferring pompoms with wooden tongs.

38: First pincer grip.

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 39: Tracing letters in a sand tray.

40: Sorting common object by their shapes.

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 41: Montessori blue triangles set.

42: Working with the blue triangles.

43: Tangram

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6. THE PRESCHOOL STAGE: FROM 3 TO 6 YEARS

6.1 – READING AND WRITING

44: Homemade sandpaper letters made out of cardboard and felt.

45Sandpaper letters (bought)

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 6.2 – MATHEMATICS

46: The number rods have a maximum length of 1 meter (3,28 feet).

47An alternative to the number rods: stacking building blocks of different colours.

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 48: Cards and counters.

49: The bead stair.

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 50: Presentation of the teen numbers with bead bars.

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 51: Counting by tens with the golden beads.

52 : Homemade teens boards.

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 53: INSTRUCTIONS TO CREATE HOMEMADE SEGUIN’S BOARDS. You will
need 60 cards to create a set of Seguin’s boards. You can make your own by
copying the numbers from this picture.

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 54: HUNDREDS BOARD: first step: sorting by tens.

55: Working with the hundred board.

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 56: If you put together ten ten-bead bars you can make the number one hundred.

57: You can represent the number 1000 with ten squares of 100 golden pearls.
Create a tangible number 1000 with a cube-shaped box (all the squares should have
10 beads/circles of side).

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 58: Addition with bowls and pompoms.

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 59: The addition snake step-by-step.
You can play again, adding numeral cards and symbol cards (+, =), creating the
following equation:
3 + 7 + 4 + 6 = 20

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 60: Subtraction (1): first step.

61: Subtraction (2): remove the subtracted amount and place it in the second
bowl.

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 62: Subtraction (3): the leftover pompoms are the result of our equation.

63: Homemade multiplication board.

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 64: 4x3 with beans.

65: Drawing your own division board is fairly easy.

Some examples you can use:

4÷2=2
9÷3=3
15 ÷ 3 = 5

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 In this example we will solve the last one:
15 ÷ 3 = 5
Dividend ÷ divisor = quotient

66: If we distribute 15 almonds between 3 children, each child will get 5 almonds.

Division and multiplication boards with their counters and tokens.

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 67: Fractions with cottage cheese: 1, 1/2, 1/3 y 1/4.

68: Fractions with apples.

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 69: Fraction cards (1/2, 1/3, 1/4).

70: Comparing fractions and looking for equivalences.

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6.3 MUSIC AND ART

71: Cutting practice worksheet (draw your own).

6.4 GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY

72: Solar System model (draw your own).

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 73: Montessori puzzle: the continents.

74: Children’s perpetual calendar.

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6.5 NATURAL SCIENCES

75: Sorting land and water animals (3 part cards).

USEFUL LINKS

Other books by the author:

MONTESSORI READING WORKBOOK by Julia Palmarola

More about the author and her books on her website:

METODO-MONTESSORI.COM

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Bibliography
 [1] Montitute, Unit 3: The Casa dei Bambini and the Worldwide Response (Online), Seen
https://www.montitute.com/unit/the-first-montessori-school-and-the-worldwide-response/
(2017)
 [2] Montessori, M., 2004, La Mente Absorbente del Niño (The absorbent mind), Editorial
Diana, Mexico, p. 16
 [3] Montessori, M., La Mente Absorbente del Niño, p. 43
 [4] Montessori, M., La Mente Absorbente del Niño (The absorbent mind), 123
 [5] Montessori, M., La Mente Absorbente del Niño (The absorbent mind), 185
 [6] Montessori, M., La Mente Absorbente del Niño (The absorbent mind), 46
 [7] Werner Andrews, S., Montessori Northwest, Primary Course 37, 2013-14, p. 7
 [8] Montessori, M., La Mente Absorbente del Niño (The absorbent mind), 168, 179
 [9] Montessori, M., La Mente Absorbente del Niño (The absorbent mind), 185
 [10] Werner Andrews, S., Montessori Northwest, Primary Course 37, 2013-14, p. 8
 [11] WHO, Breastfeeding, (Online), Seen on: http://www.who.int/topics/breastfeeding/en/,
(2107)
 [12] Montessori, M., La Mente Absorbente del Niño (The absorbent mind), 143, 144
 [13] Mariamontessori.com, Freedom and Discipline (Online). Seen on:
http://www.mariamontessori.com/2012/05/25/freedom-and-discipline/ (2017)
 [14] Montessori, M., La Mente Absorbente del Niño (The absorbent mind), 286
 [15] Michigan State University Extension, Article: Butcher, Kittie et al.: Cognitive
development and sensory play. Seen online (2017)
http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/cognitive_development_and_sensory_play
 [16] Montessori, M., La Mente Absorbente del Niño (The absorbent mind), 135-144
 [17] When a child sleeps in the same bed as his parent(s). [18] The Guardian, Singing
to children may help the development of language skills (online), Seen on:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/may/08/singing-children-development-
language-skills (2017).
 [19] Montessori, M., 2004, La Mente Absorbente del Niño (The absorbent mind), Editorial
Diana, Mexico, 143-144
 [20] PubMed, Increased carrying reduces infant crying: a randomized controlled trial,
(Online). Seen on: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3517799 (2017)
 [21] Babywearing International, Safety, (Online). Seen
https://babywearinginternational.org/what-is-babywearing/safety/ (2017)
 [22] This book is not meant to provide health or nutrition advice or substitute the advice
of your health care provider / paediatrician.
 [23] In order to minimize the risk of allergies, ask your paediatrician for a list of allowed
foods and their recommended age of introduction. Be especially careful with well-known
allergens such as dairy, gluten, soy, egg, nuts and peanuts. Some babies can be
sensitive to citrus fruits too.

45 |AUDIOBOOK COMPANION · P r a c t i c a l G u i d e t o t h e M o n t e s s o r i M e t h o d
  [24] Geometric solids Montessori shapes, public domain image, CC0 Creative Commons
 [25] Australian council for educational research, Article: Nagel, Michael: The brain, early
development and learning. Visto online (2017) https://research.acer.edu.au/
 [26] The Guardian, Ban under-threes from watching television, says study, (Online),
Seen on: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/oct/09/ban-under-threes-watching-
television (2017)
 [27] nprEd, American Academy of Pediatrics lifts “No screens under 2” rule, (Online),
Seen https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/10/21/498550475/american-academy-of-
pediatrics-lifts-no-screens-under-2-rule (2017)
 [28] Digest of education statistics, Age range for compulsory school attendance and
special education services, and policies on year-round schools and kindergarten
programs, by state (Online). Seen on:
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d08/tables/dt08_165.asp (2018)
 [29] Legislation.gov.uk, Compulsory school age (Online). Seen on:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/8 (2018)
 [30] ScienceDirect, Children learning to read later catch up to children learning earlier,
(Online), Seen on: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885200612000397
(2017)
 [31] Ibid.
 [32] Georgetown University Medical Center. Brain Processes Written Words As Unique
'Objects,' Neuroscientists Say.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090429132228.htm

Palmarola, Julia. Practical Guide to the Montessori Method at Home:

With more than 100 activity ideas from 0 to 6 .

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