I've hinted at this a few times in recent weeks, but school looks very different for us this year. Typically, my children attend in person Montessori schools. Henry and Nora were both supposed to be in public Montessori schools and Gus was attending a small private Children's House. Henry would have been starting upper elementary (4th grade) and Nora was entering lower elementary (1st grade.) But, with Covid, the public schools are distance learning only.
For Henry's unique learning needs, online learning doesn't work. So, we made the decision to leave his school and homeschool using Montessori for the year. Nora is remaining enrolled, participating in distance learning but highly supplementing with concrete Montessori materials. Given this unique situation, I've created a homeschooling classroom in our basement playroom. Here's a look at how I've set it up and some of the materials we are using to get started with our elementary Montessori learning this year.
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Great Lessons Shelf
In the Montessori elementary curriculum the Great Lessons are used as a jumping off point for much of the learning. It is history, science, culture, and social studies all rolled into one. The materials on this shelf will change as we move through the 5 great lessons and dive deeper into our studies through out the year. Here's what's currently on the shelf (top to bottom):
- Pin It World Map
- Great Lesson Books
- Parts of the atmosphere cards (Waseca Biomes)
- Parts of the globe cards (Waseca Biomes)
- Wooden Globe Puzzle
- DIY Volcano Material
- Solar System Puzzle
- DIY Solar System Material
- Large Solar System Magnets
I'll be sure to share more about the Great Lessons and how we are approaching them as we progress throughout the year.
Geometry Shelf
Geometry is an important part of the Montessori math curriculum that I think is often overlooked when considering the genius of the method. We have been fortunate enough to borrow some materials from a friend that is not using them this year, this includes access to the geometric cabinet. I'm excited to dive into more geometry as the year goes on!
Our geometry shelf is also holding some of our other materials for school and play. They include:
Math
Math is another area that I anticipate will change throughout the year as concepts are learned and new concepts are taught. Again, I am borrowing some of these materials, some of these materials are my own and some are DIYed. The paper materials are from Teachers Pay Teachers.
- Short Chains* (holder)
- Large Bead Frame
- Stamp Game*
- Hundreds Board*
- Checkerboard + Beads + Tiles
- Golden Beads*
- Fraction Circles
- Multiplication + Division Bead Boards*
- Multiplication Facts Board
- Snake Game Beads*
- Clock Materials*
I've marked those for Nora (first grade) with a * and the rest is being used by Henry in 4th. I'm waiting on a delivery of some more advanced math materials for Henry at the moment.
Language
This area I anticipate will be fairly similar throughout the year, but we'll see. At this point, we are focusing on Nora's reading skills and Henry is working to move more deeply into grammar and analysis. Here are the materials we have currently:
- Specific sandpaper letters and language objects (just a couple that are getting mixed up when reading)
- traceable alphabet stamps
- Phonogram work
- Punctuation cards
- 3D Grammar Symbols
- Waseca Reading Program
- If I were a... books (there are so many of these, I plan on using these for each of the word concepts and types of speech)
- Wooden grammar symbols
- Grammar symbols stencil + holder
- Sentence analysis
- Bob Books
In addition to these materials, I have the card storage. Inside I'm storing a variety of cards from Maitri Learning and Teachers Pay Teachers. I expect these will change more frequently as we move through our studies.
Practical Life and Gus
Just because Henry and Nora are in elementary school doesn't mean that we have no practical life work for them. In fact, this weird online learning makes it super necessary for us to have things for them to keep their hands busy while they are on zoom meetings - especially Nora. So I've added a few different materials to her shelves to help with that. Additionally, Gus is home from school in the afternoons and needs things to do in our classroom, so I've also included a few trays for him to work with.
- Yarn for finger knitting
- Needlepoint Kit
- Sewing of shapes
- Small container of Lego with timer
- Foam alive
- Fall themed materials
- Sandpaper numerals
Other
Here are some links to some other things found in our homeschool space.
I hope you found this look helpful! Are you interested in more information about how we are approaching homeschooling/distance learning this year?
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