Affordable History Resources for a Montessori Environment from Montessori on a Budget

In a nutshell, history is first introduced in a Montessori environment by using a time line: a long strip of paper or card stock that rolls across the floor. You then place arrows with the date, definition cards, and pictures on the time line…

History Materials from Montessori Materials

Here are a few Montessori History resources.

The History of The Fundamental Needs of Humans (Horizontal Series) from The Albanesi Educational Center

The History of The Fundamental Needs of Humans (2013 Edition – now sold LAMINATED) consists of 11 sets of material and includes 11 full-color control booklets. Each set includes six full color picture cards, six story cards, and 6 labels. Pictures and story cards measure 5.5″ x 5.5″. Each set is stored in custom-designed plastic pocket. The exercises correspond to the study of the six major historic periods of human development in Western Civilization: Prehistory, Egyptian, Greek, Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Modern Time. The Material Needs included are: Shelter, Clothing, Transportation (Land and Water), Nutrition, Physical Health, Defense, and Communication. The Spiritual Needs included are: Social Acceptance, Art, Religion and Philosophy. A custom made wooden Box for The History of The Fundamental Needs of Humans is available for purchase. The History of The Fundamental Needs of Humans (CME Notes) are available for purchase.

The History of The Fundamental Needs of Humans (Vertical Series) from The Albanesi Educational Center

Dr. Montessori’s study of the Fundamental Needs of Humans depicts how the most basic needs of humans were met in each major period of Western history. The HORIZONTAL STUDY of the Fundamental Needs of Humans focuses on HOW A PARTICULAR NEED WAS MET, such as shelter, in each of the six major periods of history. Students can easily observe the progression of human innovation throughout history. Dr. Montessori also developed an important variation on this material which she called the VERTICAL STUDY of the Fundamental Needs of Humans. In the Vertical Study, the focus of the exercises is on how the most basic needs were met in A PARTICULAR PERIOD OF HISTORY, such as in the Classical Age of Greece. Therefore, in the Vertical Study, the student observes the conditions of human life as experienced within each specific time frame. Prior to the development of this new Albanesi material, teachers who chose to present the Vertical Study of The Fundamental Needs of Humans had to sort, select, and remove Pictures & Story cards from each of the 11 basic sets of exercises and reorganize them in order to illustrate how the fundamental needs were met in each of the six time periods. The removal of cards made it difficult for other students to use the material for the Horizontal Study simultaneously. The efficiency and organization of the Montessori classroom is greatly enhanced when the new Vertical Study material is provided. This set for the Vertical study of the Fundamental Needs of Humans includes a total of six sets of exercises and six full-color Control Booklets: one exercise for each of the major periods of Western Civilization (Prehistory, Egyptian, Greek, Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Modern Time. Each individual set consists of eleven 5.5” x 5.5” color picture cards, eleven 5.5” x 5.5” story cards, and 11 labels for matching and matching Control Booklet. Each exercise is stored in colorful, custom-designed plastic pocket.

U.S. History – Advanced Elementary (2013 Edition) from The Albanesi Educational Center

U.S. History – Advanced Elementary (2013 Edition). This material is suitable for students ages 9-12+ (grades 5-8 and up). It consists of 71 digitally printed Picture Cards,* 71 Story Cards and 71 Labels to match. A vinyl Time Line is now included (T-101-USA). The picture cards begin with the migration of humans across the Bering Strait from Asia to North America and conclude with the Obama Presidency. Nine spiral-bound Control Booklets are also included. To isolate difficulty, students may focus on one set of pictures, stories and labels at a time. * 5.5″ x 5.5″ Light Box Compatible Pictures. Essential Coordinated Materials (Sold Separately).

 
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12 Months of Montessori Learning Posts:
January: Practical Life
February: Geography
March: Language Arts
April: Botany
May: Sensorial
June: Zoology
July: Music
Montessori Spaces
September: Mathematics
October: Biology

Biological Science
The interest in nature is a natural thing in every human being since the beginning of time. Language can be used as a pathway to the science of biology. Children have a great, natural interest in living things and biology is the study of living organisms, plants and animals. This is an area in which it is a pure joy in following the child’s natural interest. The child is naturally fascinated by “real and living things”.

There are two major areas of biology. The first is zoology, which is the scientific study of animals, their structure, physiology, classification, and distribution. The second is botany, which is the study of the classification of plants, their physiology, their structure, their ecology, distribution and economic importance.

In the Elementary class, the children will delve more deeply into these different groups and sub-groups of biology but for the Montessori Primary class, the child is only taught biology as in introduction and to have the awareness of the living organisms in our world.

The young child is taught the structure of plants and the distribution on a geographic level. The child always deals with the real object first, before moving to cards or to the abstract thing. Therefore, the directress should bring in as many different living things as possible. This allows for “real things” to be explored. A garden should ideally be part of every classroom. If not, the directress must make a special effort to bring in as much of nature as possible into the classroom.

All of these experiences are given on the oral level first. The information gained can be greatly enriched once the child is at the reading level.

Biology is a learning process for the directress as well. She will be guided each year by the child’s interests and must create material to follow these interests.

Source

This excerpt from “At Home in Nature: Biology in the Montessori Classroom” by Montessorian Sanford Jones shows teachers how to build a raised flower garden bed with their students. It also includes how to arrange “going out” experiences, implement the use of the Botany Cabinet, select plants and pets for the classroom, set up the “Time Line of Life shelves (Elementary), build an outdoor herb, prepare healthy foods at school and at home, conduct nature walks, recycle, and compost.

Montessori Biology — Birth to Age Twelve from Michael Olaf

Biology for 0-3, 3-6 and 6-12

Biology from Montessori for Everyone

Here are tons of biology resources for sale.

Free Montessori Biology Printables for Children from Montessori Nature

12 Months of Montessori Learning Posts:
January: Practical Life
February: Geography
March: Language Arts
April: Botany
May: Sensorial
June: Zoology
July: Music
Montessori Spaces
September: Mathematics

Living in a townhouse while homeschooling has its challenges. One of them being sorting out Montessori Spaces for each child. I haven’t been able to put one together for each child because of space issues, however, Pixie has been using her set up for quite some time now. Below are more great examples of Montessori Spaces at home that I’ve come across on the internet.

Preparing a Montessori Baby-Toddler Space at Home from Living Montessori Now

Sunlight-Drenched Toddler Montessori Classroom from The Natural Child Learning Community

The Natural Child Learning Community in Georgetown, Texas.

A Serene Creative Space from the University of Southern California Child Care Program.

A Bright and Airy Preschool from Little Sprouts Academy Preschool in San Diego.

A Comfy, Lived-In Learning Space from Kim Pham Stegmaier’s Montessori classroom in Canada.

A Colorful Homeschool Classroom, Photo source Unknown

Montessori Home Spaces: Tips Room by Room from Racheous Loving Learning

Setting up for Home Daycare from Mummy Musings and Mayhem

How to Prepare a Montessori Toddler Environment at Home from Living Montessori Now

Toddler programs in Montessori schools generally start at 15-18 months and run to age 2½ or 3. You can use many of the same Montessori principles and ideas to create a Montessori-friendly toddler environment at home.

How to Set Up a Montessori Space at Home from Living Montessori Now

Setting up a Montessori space at home is something any parent can do – because it can be designed to fit any home and any family. A Montessori space is especially helpful for toddlers and preschoolers, but it’s helpful at the elementary level as well.

Small Space Montessori Setup from Trillium Montessori

Montessori Home Spaces from Racheous Loving Learning

Montessori at Home from Racheous Loving Learning

Tot Trays from 1+1+1=1

A Montessori/Waldorf-Inspired School at Home for Bea & Friends from Apartment Therapy

Our Art Centre from How We Montessori

A new home and a new playroom from An Everyday Story

Designing an Educational Learning Space for Young Children from The Education’s Spin On It

Our Classroom from Child Led Life

Our Homeschool Room from An Everyday Story

How to Start Using Montessori at Home from Living Montessori Now

Montessori In the Home {Play & Learning Space} from Carrots are Orange

Our Montessori Classroom from Imagine our Life

Kit’s Montessori Room from How We Montessori

Art area – more details from How We Montessori

Language Centres from Montessori Print Shop

 
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12 Months of Montessori Learning Posts:
January: Practical Life
February: Geography
March: Language Arts
April: Botany
May: Sensorial
June: Zoology
July: Introducing Music Lessons