Rainbow at St Andrew's Montessori
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Ten tips on how to manage coronavirus fears in the early years

Life during the Covid-19 pandemic has been strange and difficult but the return to school for many children in the early years group is, hopefully, a welcome step. Little ones will be able to reconnect with their friends and teachers, and although…
Water Pouring tutorial with St Andrew's Montessori
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Practical Life: Water Pouring

In a Montessori classroom, the water pouring activity is the first follow-on from the Dry Pouring lesson where children learn the skill transferring dry goods from one jug to another. To practice water pouring at home, you will need: two jugs,…
Montessori girl washing her hands and learning about hygeine
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Toddler self-hygiene – washing hands

Maria Montessori was a trained physician and sought to teach children at an early age how to incorporate the practical life skill of personal hygiene into their daily lives. As well as nurturing an understanding that being hygienically safe…
Bow tying frame to teach practical life in Montessori
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Practical Life: Tying Frame

Learning to tie a shoelace is one of the most exciting milestones for a child (and a parent, too!) but it takes time to learn, requiring much practice before perfection. In Montessori classrooms, we use a bow-tying frame, which involves the…
Girl staring at a screen
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How to include screen time in a Montessori lifestyle

The more time our children spend with screens, the less time they spend interacting with others or in hands-on, creative play, which are both proven to be important for learning. Screens were invented in an era that came after Maria Montessori…
Matching pairs to teach language in Montessori
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Language: Matching

Matching pairs is a game that children love to play – there is likely a version in most of our homes and if not, it’s quite easy to create your own playing cards using postcards or stock images, as long as the paired images are identical.…
St Andrew's Montessori nursery adopt a tiger
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We adopted a tiger!

Imagine having a tiger at school! – Being able to protect it and feed it, look after it and learn from it. It might sound bizarre but not at all in the mind of a child – and is, in fact, exactly what the children were discussing in one of…
Hexagon boxes teaching Montessori sensorial
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Sensorial: Hexagon Box

The hexagon box shows children how different shapes can be used to create other shapes; more specifically, that by joining together different triangles, four-sided figures are formed.  The sensorial angle of the lesson means that it can be…
Indoor montessori activities for children

Five Montessori-inspired indoor activities

Winter is a beautiful time of year – walks in the wood, collecting cold-weather treasures in the garden and building snowmen (if we’re lucky enough to have snow) but it’s also cold and dark earlier, and sometimes snuggling indoors is the…
Montessori sensorial smelling jars
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Sensorial: Smelling Jars

When doing sensory work in the classroom at St. Andrew’s Montessori, we engage in a variety of exercises that help children isolate each of their five senses in an effort to nurture an awareness and understanding of each particular sense.…
St. Andrew's Montessori Nursery awarded Ofsted Outstanding for the third time in a row.
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Ofsted OUTSTANDING – Third time in a row!

We are delighted to share with you, the outcome of our recent Ofsted inspection. St. Andrew’s Montessori school was judged to be outstanding in all aspects of teaching and learning, attainment, behaviour and leadership resulting in an overall…
Montessori calming glitter jar
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How a Calming Jar helps children become more self-aware

Calm is a beautiful thing. If you’ve ever walked into a Montessori classroom, you’ll notice how peaceful it is, with children learning, exploring and creating to their heart’s content. That’s not to say that these same children don’t…