Montessori at Home: 8 Principals to Know

1. Movement and Cognition Movement and cognition are closely entwined and movement can enhance thinking and learning. * Let children move every day. 2. Choice Learning and well being are improved when people have a sense of control over their lives. *make a list of work assignments for the day and have them create their own schedule. *keep a basket in the refrigerator of healthy snacks for them to chose from *create a basket of pre-selected books for them to chose from 3. Intrerest People learn better when they are interested in what they are learning *Fill a basket with over-sized coffee table books. These types of books are often filled with beautiful, inspiring pictures that will spark conversation and interest. *create a lapbook or unit study around a favorite hobby, period in history, or animal of your child's choosing. *love letter writing? create a letter writing station for kids to help themselves. be sure to include everything needed. 4. Extrinsic rewards are avoided Tying extrinsic rewards to an activity, like money for reading or good grades, negatively impacts motivation to engage in that activity when the reward is withdrawn. *this challenges normal practice for many of us. 5. Learning from & with peers Collaborative arrangements can be very conductive to learning *meet at a funky cafe for a weekly play group *form a young writers group 6. Learning in context Learning situated in meaningful contexts is often deeper and richer than learning in abstract contexts *make homemade snacks rather than talk about how the snack in made *learn about flowers by going to the Botanical Gardens * go to the grocery store with a budget and meal plan *explore science my making homemade lip balm or soap 7. Teacher & Child ways Particular forms of adult interaction are associated with more optimal child outcomes. *have weelky family meetings *have your child partener with you to design a garden or rearrange the furniture. have them choose a few books for you to read to them 8. Order in environemtn Order in the environment is beneficial to children *maintain an art shelf with easy to access projects. Rotate the projects weekly *keep your environment free of clutter *adopt a "10 minute tidy" period at the end of each day