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Art is essential – it is a way for children to express themselves, to communicate and to develop their fine motor skills. And it is fun! At St Andrew’s Montessori, we celebrate creativity and have art and craft supplies at the ready for children to explore and get lost in. In her book The Absorbent […]
As we celebrated World Book Day last month with the children at school, we were reminded of the potential for a great story to not only encourage imagination and allow children to escape but also, to help them process what is going on around them – growing up, relationships and yes, even a pandemic. In […]
Maria Montessori believed that children can absorb mathematical concepts naturally through the joyful repetition of practical life and sensorial activities. It therefore makes sense that one of the best ways to introduce the principles of fractions is at home through everyday activities, like: cutting a pie, a banana or a sandwich into halves or quarters, […]
Gross motor skills are abilities that require the use of larger muscles in the torso, arms and legs (whole-body movements) like standing, walking, running, jumping, throwing, lifting and sitting upright at the table. Skills relate to body awareness, reaction speed, balance and strength. At a Montessori school there are specific activities that we encourage in order […]
The first version of this wet pouring lesson (found on our blog, Water Pouring (I)) is slightly simpler in that the child will pour water from one jug into another, and clean up any spills along the way. It’s an exercise in coordination, concentration and fine motor skills. A progression of this initial task is […]
In a year that has been largely uncertain, it’s tough to know how to celebrate birthdays – as per the ever-changing rules and also in terms of what’s sensible and what we’re comfortable with. Whilst the type of celebration we host for our children might be in a state of flux, what we know for […]
Before engaging a child in a ‘Sound with Objects’ lesson, he/she must be familiar with the phonetic letter sounds, which are taught in a sound lesson presentation. Then you can have fun with sounds and objects, and eventually move on to sound blending. To present this lesson in the classroom or at home, you will […]
For 6 months in 2020, schools in the UK closed their doors to most children in order to keep society safe. Mums and dads worked from home and children were home-schooled during national lockdown. Families had to adapt – children adjusted to new routines and parents became educators. Whilst this was no easy thing, it […]
A game of Word Bingo is the perfect lesson for children who are blending sounds together and learning to read – a progression from the Sound Bingo tutorial previously shared on our blog. In a game of Sound Bingo, children will draw a letter cards in turn and sound them out before matching them to […]
Oh Winter! So stark yet so beautiful. Whilst it might be easier to sit inside cuddled on the couch because, let’s be honest, coats, scarves, wellies and hats are all a bit of a palaver, the fact is that children need to play outside, even when it is cold. Outdoor play encourages the use of […]
The Pink Tower is a sensorial material that teaches children sizing, dimension and order. It consists of 10 wooden cubes, ranging in size from 1 cubic centimetre to 10 cubic centimetres, differing in three dimensions. Lessons with the Pink Tower aim to refine a child’s visual sense by discriminating differences in dimension and interestingly, little […]
Birthdays are deeply significant. They represent the passage of time, which is an important albeit abstract concept for children to grasp. Maria Montessori thought up a birthday ritual to help children understand that they are growing older with each passing year. Many Montessori schools practice a variation of this ritual in their classrooms when children […]
