Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years

by Elizabeth G. Hainstock, Lee Havis

The bestselling educational book helping parents connect with their child's learning potential.

The great, pioneering achievement of Maria Montessori was to recognize the crucial importance of a child’s first six years of development. During this time, a child’s power of absorption are at their highest, and lifelong attitudes and patterns of learning are formed. It is for this very sensitive period that the Montessori system of education can provide you, as a parent, with a unique opportunity to help your child develop into a responsible, thinking individual.
 
This bestselling book has already helped thousands of parents connect with their children by introducing them at home to the dynamic Montessori method of education. The techniques, exercises, and easy-to-make Montessori materials presented here instill a sense of discovery and awareness in your child, and serve as an essential foundation for future learning. Covering the pre-school years from ages two to five, the lessons focus on reading and writing, mathematics, sensory awareness, and practical life skills. Updated and revised, this acclaimed guide puts the entire range of the Montessori system within your reach, so you can make the most of your child’s vital years.

Genres: Parenting, Education, Nonfiction, Childrens, Family, Reference, Psychology

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son was born very prematurely and had significant developmental delays as a result. Sitting, crawling, walking, talking, etc...all significantly delayed. This has been a blessing in disguise as I believe I am the type of parent that would have focused more on superficial knowledge, believing my son's ability to rattle off ABC's at age 2 was a sign of learning/understanding. I have always imagined I would send my children to a Montessori school, but naively believed it wouldn't be suitable for a child with special needs. On the contrary, when we learned more about the history and intent of the Montessori style of teaching it became clear this is exactly the type of method we needed. At age 2, we began to introduce Montessori style methods (as did my son's therapists to some degree) in addition to maintaining our habit of reading with him daily and talking virtually non-stop. Within 6 months, his receptive lanuage delay went from an estimated 9 month delay to 0! Almost 1 year later, his expressive language delay is almost non-existant when at one point he was approximatey 12 months behind. Other developmental delays (such as fine motor) remain minimal as well.

I say all of this not because Hainstock's book helped us to accomplish this, but to emphasize that I am already a great supporter of the Montessori method. Now on to the book. I believe this book (dated as it is) provides a great summary of the method along with excellent ideas for making Montessori style teaching tools for the home. The activities are age appropriate and do not emphasize superficial knowledge that I believe is the focus of many pre-k programs/parents today. You can easily incorporate these activities into your child's day, even if they are in daycare. It doesn't require expensive toys or equipment, and it doesn't promise that your baby will read by age 2 or 3. It does help your child learn the what, where, why, and how along with independence and ownership of tasks.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am soooooooooo glad I finally read this book! I have been making and buying Montessori materials for my son and I realized that some of them I hadn't clearly understood the correct way to present the materials to him - or I was trying to present a material that he wasn't quite ready for yet. This is an excellent guide on about what ages you can present various sensorial & practical life lessons to your child.

[Cassie Shepherd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because it is filled with some great ideas for developmentally appropriate activities for young children. Most of these activities beat toys from Wal-Mart any day. Plus, you can make most of the activities from materials from around your home. Cheap ways to effectively educate! Yes! It is easy to read and all of the activities are simple to set up.
Part I of the book describes a little bit about the history of Montessori. It reviews the life of Maria Montessori and how her methods developed. It also gives a brief idea of how to set up a school like environment in the home.
Part II is filled with activities for ages ranging two to five and are catered to hold a child’s attention span over a short period of time. The activities are organized and easy to follow with step-by-step instructions that include; materials needed, how to demonstrate, the purpose of the activity, and why it helps teach a child how to problem solve.

[Lauren Mitchell]

I really do love this approach for 5 and under.

[Sarah Chapman]

"Education need not be imposed on the child; given a learning environment he will be free to act and to develop himself along the lines of his own inner direction. Thus Montessori felt that there must be freedom within the prepared environment to develop his physical, mental and spiritual growth. The young child is very hand-minded, and the materials are geared to his need to learn through movement, because it is movement that starts the intellect working. The true Montessori classroom is functionally arranged for the child, enabling him to work, move and develop freely. The room itself and all the furniture in it are proportioned to the child's size; his coat is hung on a low hook, and the materials are arranged on shelves that are easily accessible."

Children are allowed to proceed at their own pace and the classes aren't graded. Montessori believed that each child has "cylces of activity" that should be allowed to be worked through and completed without interruption. When they leave Montessori style of learning they will take with them a strong sense of self, an independent person, and use creativity in working and learning as a healthy thinking individual.

A young child's curiosity is insatiable, and he should have unlimited opportunities for observation, movement and exploration. Take them with you to meet people,places and things. They want to learn and don not think of it as work or something unpleasant. Learning should be fun and a constant source of interest to the young child. If you take the time to teach them to do things for himself, the rewards will be great for both of you. You need to resist the temptation to always "help" if you care about their future well being. Children are too often being forced to submit to a curriculum in an environment where the teacher makes all the decisions, while the children suffer.

[Allison Renner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to learn a bit of background about montessori teaching, and stumbled across this book at the library. Published in 1968, some of it is a bit outdated - "For practical-life training the Bissel Little Queen set is ideal - it contains an apron, carpet sweeper, mop, broom, sponge and dustpan. It may be found at any toy shop or obtained with trading stamps." But overall it has a brief yet thorough history of Maria Montessori, an outline of how and why montessori is taught, and tons of great learning activities. The best part is that all of the activity supplies can be made if you have the time - especially effective if you don't have any trading stamps laying around.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written in the 60s and it has a funny tone to it; very authoritarian and kind of angry. I did like the ideas at the end on how to make your own montessori materials and I plan to try some.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource. Concise. Great ideas for DIY Montessori homeschool materials and lessons. Why didn't I read this sooner?!

This book is a bit dated, as it was written in the 1960s, it seems. Some of the toys that are recommended in the back are considered "vintage" now and expensive collectors' items. Sad birds. Toy companies just don't make 'em like they used to!

[Ružica · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's quite helpful if you want to teach your kid at home without overwhelming them (or yourself).

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting (though dated) overview of Montessori activities for early learning. This book is helpful as a first introduction, but likely won't hold much of value to someone who already has a background in child education. Many of the groundbreaking methods are more mainstream now, as this book was initially written in the 60s and updated in the late 90s.

That being said, I found it useful for some ideas for beginning preschool education and helpful for parents who are beginning to dive into the topic of how to be your parent's first teacher!

I wouldn't recommend buying this book but seeing if your local library has a copy to loan. Depending on how this sits with you, I would then suggest looking into more modern and in depth books on the Montessori (and other!) teaching methods.

[Susan Andrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've checked this out from the library before and skimmed it, but I read through the whole thing this time and I'm going to buy it. The exercises aren't to difficult to do at home and the equipment isn't too unusual or specific. This looks like a great way to add the Montessori method, and some of it's benefits, at home if you, like me, can't afford to send your children to a Montessori preschool.

This book is a great place to start, but I'd recommend further reading on the subject if you're interested in the Montessori method.

[S. Garland · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this, but it wasn't really helpful for me because I was never able to make it work. I didnt understand the "how" and "why". I just decided I might as well go get certified and took an accreditted 40 credit hour program and feel more strongly that this book poorly represents montessori and the lessons. I appreciate the attempt, but the layman attempt made by the book really missed the mark for me. I wasnt able to implement montessori methods at my home with it.

[Janae · Rating 5 out of 5]

If reading Maria Montessori's books are a little bit hard, then this book will be great for you. It gives succinct reasons for giving a total body education with great tips on how to apply the Montessori Method in your home on a limited budget.

[Alissa Faust · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was an easy read mostly because most of the book is activities to do with your children to teach them skills at home before they enter school. I really liked that they focused on real-life skills such as dressing and cleaning.

[Alexandra de Leon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un libro muy práctico para todos aquellos interesados en la pedagogía Montessori. Explica la importancia que tiene la estimulación sensorial tempranda del niño, para su desarrollo y expone una gran y diversa cantidad de ejercicios/didácticas útiles. Recomiendo.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the DIY instructions.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy implementing a good amount of Montessori to our daily life and specifically our homeschool preschool activities, so I was curious about what activities were included in this book, which focuses on traditionally-aged preschoolers (3-5 years). Originally published in 1968, it was most recently updated in 1997, so it is definitely outdated, and a lot of the activities have been mentioned in other books I have read (like The Montessori Home and The Montessori Toddler), so there wasn't a ton of new material for me. I liked the large section of activities that were clearly explained, and found a few I could implement, but most of them were already on my radar. I enjoyed reading a Montessori book that was so old since it gave me a perspective on how long many of these Montessori activities have been used. But I will be looking at Youtube videos (like Haps Family) and the aforementioned books rather than referring to this book for these activities since they're more accessible and current with materials we use today.

Content rating: G

[Brittney Sifford · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this can serve as a good, simple introduction to Montessori, I don’t know if it helped me as much as a hoped it would.

My biggest issue (and this is on me for not paying attention when I bought the book) was that this was originally published in 1968 and updated in 1997. Many of the philosophies and activities feel like they are just a part of early childhood education now, and not nearly as groundbreaking as they were 50 years ago.

There were plenty of good tips and reminders in here. And it may have been more interesting if I knew nothing about Montessori (I am a teacher, so while I do have a background, I am by no means an expert - I guess I wanted more depth). Overall, I felt like a lot of the activities listed are easily found on Pinterest.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, which is aimed at parents, is an excellent introduction to the Montessori method. I love how straightforward the author presents the hows and whys of Montessori and there's just enough information to get you started. With that said, if you're interested in learning more, I highly recommend How To Raise An Amazing Child the Montessori Way, which gives a more in-depth look at the Montessori method, and The Absorbent Mind, which was written by Maria Montessori herself.

[Caitlin Coska · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very straightforward, simple breakdown of the principles of Montessori.

The tone in the book made me feel like I was being scolded a little and the language is definitely a little out of date. But overall, there are a lot of foundational techniques in here. It’s written in a way that balances the history of the method, why it’s important and how to implement it.

I have been already practicing the Montessori method in our home but this gave me even more ideas on how to build on it. Definitely worth the read!

[Dominik Šimůnek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moje první čtení o Montessori. Nejsem si jist, že jsem pochopil, o čem Montessori přesně je, neboť se to v knize ani tak moc nerozebírá. Ve skutečnosti se jedná o soubor návodů, jak se s dětmi (věk 2-5 let) učit určitým dovednostem - od praktických jako prostírání stolu, přes smyslové až po čtení a psaní. Ty praktické mi přišly zbytečně detailně rozepsány. Avšak pár tipů, jak učit děti vnímat, číst a psát, jsem si z knihy odnesl.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the Montessori theories and activities presented in this book to be insightful because it offered a lot of screen-free activities for pre-school-aged children that help to develop necessary skills to build upon later. I did find it somewhat dated, however, and I cannot say I am inclined to want to invest time and money into materials to make some of the items needed for the tasks/activities. I would rather just buy a ready-made kit.

[Ozy Frantz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reasonable collection of Montessori activities suitable for the home. Could use more early language development (for instance, it does not explain the sound games, which give young children a grasp of phonics). However, it has a very useful section on how to make Montessori materials yourself, which allows the parent to save a good deal of money.

[Alaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one for the bookshelf! I loved the step-by-step guidance on focused activities to introduce your child to at home. As a parent who loves Montessori but isn’t quite ready to send my toddler away to school, this book made me feel like I can offer something similar at home with only a few additional materials and some patience. I’ll be returning to this again as my child grows.

[Tia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Filled with many Montessori exercises that you can set up in the home, divided by age. But I found many of the examples were too outdated and the tone too old-fashioned. If you're interested in teaching Montessori at home, I recommend "The Montessori Toddler" and "Montessori for Every Family" instead.

[Caroline Shelatz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short read and while I'm not necessarily looking to teach my child with the Montessori method, I'm definitely going to implement some of these things into our daily routines and activities.
This book made me change my reading challenge this year so I can focus on more engaged and intentional time with my child.

[Sarah Tawfik · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great book, deals with age 3-5yrs so better read it before the age as she gives you the right track to how to start with your preschooler and how to make the tools in an easy way instead of buying it and also at the end she wrote recommended toys that will be also useful for the child.

[Anuradha Baliga · Rating 4 out of 5]

am glad I stumbled upon this book. this book gives you an intro on how to plan and set up Montessori activities with materials lying around at home . the activities have clear instructions . a must read for beginners trying to understand Montessori principles

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great intro on how to incorporate Montessori teachings and traditions into parenting. While I'd love to do all of it, I have a FT job and live in a one bedroom apt with my partner, child, and cat - so we do what we can. I do apprecate the philosophies.

[Joanna Nieves Bosque · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many great activity ideas, some dated, but perfectly adjustable for use. Perfect for homeschooling prek during pandemic, though about a third was too young for my personal use. Still, a good resource.