We are doing everything we can to help make your Montessori experience more manageable.

	Livable Learning - organizing the environment for the student
	Teaching from a Tackle Box - organizing the materials
	Montessori in a Box! - organizing the course of study

We are breaking each area of study into bite size pieces so that you can get started with a particular concept rather than becoming overwhelmed with all the individual materials available.

Donations are accepted *and needed*  to make this website bigger and better.

Montessori in a Box!

My desire is to offer a Livable Learning plan for Montessori education. It is so overwhelming at first for most of us:  learning a whole new way of education; learning to observe and to follow our child; investigating materials and presentations; considering the spiritual preparation of the teacher....

In our personal Montessori homeschooling adventure, I  have been working for more than three years to design homeschool-friendly materials and to simplify the write-ups of the basic presentations. I have been asked more than once to put "Montessori in a Box" - in other words to offer materials and presentations together.

Sensorial            Practical Life            Language            Math            Culture

 

Sensorial

Sensorial I:  Sensorial Basics Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Intro to Sensorial     Set 1 - Basic Form/The Block Sets     Set 2 - The Basic Senses       Sensorial II:  Geometry and Fractions - Planes and Solids Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Set 1 - Stereognostic Sense/Solids     Set 2 - Geometric Cabinet & Cards     Set 3 - Constructive Triangles     Set 4 - Fraction Insets

Practical Life

Practical Life consists of exercises in Elementary Movements, Care of the Environment, Care of the Person, and Grace and Courtesy (Care of Others).  The Preliminary activities establish the atmosphere and ground rules for the work area.   Practical Life I:  Preliminary Activities Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Intro to Practical Life     Set 1 - Working with Mats/Trays     Set 2 - Moving Furniture     Set 3 - Silence & Line Activities     Set 4 - Peace Table       Practical Life II:  Elementary Movements Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Set 1 - Opening/Closing     Set 2 - Stringing/Sewing     Set 3 - Transfer/Sorting     Set 4 - Pouring     Set 5 - Spooning/Ladling     Set 6 - Tonging/Tweezing     Set 7 - Folding     Set 8 - Cutting/Tearing     Set 9 - Tracing/Punching       Practical Life III:  Care of the Environment Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Set 1 - Crumbing/Sweeping     Set 2 - Washing/Scrubbing     Set 3 - Dusting/Polishing     Set 4 - Care of Plants     Set 5 - Care of Animals       Practical Life IV:  Care of The Person Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Set 1 - Dressing     Set 2 - Grooming     Set 3 - Food/Table Preparation       Practical Life IV:  Grace and Courtesy Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials

Language

Language I:  Vocabulary Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Intro to Language     Set 1 - Two-Part Cards     Set 2 - Three-Part Cards     Set 3 - Classification Cards       Language II:  Phonics Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Set 1 - Pink Level/printed MA     Set 2 - Blue Level/Sight Words     Set 3 - Green Level/fabric MA       Language III:  Grammar Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Set 1 - Grammar Games     Set 2 - Grammar Boxes       Language IV:  Word Study Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials         Language V:  Sentence Analysis Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials

Math

Math I:  Numeration Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Intro to Math     Set 1 - Beginning Counting     Set 2 - Linear/Skip Counting       Math II:  Decimal System Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Set 1 - Place Value/Hierarchy     Set 2 - Bank Game/Operations     Set 3 - Stamp Game/Dot Game     Set 4 - Bead Frames     Set 5 - Decimal Board       Math III:  Memorization of Math Facts Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Set 1 - Snake Game/Mult Layout     Set 2 - Math Fact Folders/Boards   LL Math materials Set 3 - Decanomial Materials       Math IV:  Abstraction Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Set 1 - Checkerboards/Long Mult     Set 2 - Racks and Tubes/Long Div     Set 3 - Algebraic Pegboards     Set 4 - Algebraic Cube Puzzles

Culture

Culture I:  Measurement of Time Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Intro to Culture     Set 1 - Minutes Clock   LL Culture materials Set 2 - Calendar/Seasons     Set 3 - Timelines       Culture II:  Geography Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials Set 1 - Land and Water Forms     Set 2 - Globes& Puzzle Maps     Set 3 - Continent Folders       Culture III:  Science Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials  Set 1 - Great Lessons     Set 2 - Botany     Set 3 - Zoology     Set 4 - Anatomy       Culture IV:  Music Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials         Culture V:  Art Presentation Summaries DIY Materials Plans Ready-made Materials

 

	Recycle the pictures from old workbooks. Make cards and laminate, put the answers on the back of the material. Use two different background colors for matching, or put a bold black outline with permanent marker on one set of cards.
	I bought a clock activity set (and found the perfect tackle box for it),  then decided that the digital clocks would be the control,  so the time (e.g. 1:00) is written on the back of the disc with the analog time and on the back of the disc with the words (e.g. "one o'clock"). (see upper center)
	We use many of the Carson Dellosa file folder games and adapt them to be self correcting. For our homemade *Verbs* file folder activity (see upper right) I wanted to use the labels as command card, so I taped (with clear packing tape)  four sets of 1" red strips onto the file folder to make horizontal pockets. The picture cards are cut using a card with rounded corners (from a deck of playing cards) for the template. The answer is already printed on the bottom of the picture card (which was taken from an old children's dictionary). The picture card slides into the horizontal pocket to hide the answer. Then the labels can be matched to the picture. The child can self-check his work by pulling the picture card out of the pocket. If we just want to do commands then the kids act out the action on the small red card.