Little Learners Lodge

A Look at Homework the Montessori Way

Little Learners Lodge • July 15, 2022

Many authentic Montessori schools do not assign homework until upper elementary or middle school- and even then it is more individualized rather than rote style. This is for several reasons including:


  • The school day is structured with longer work periods to allow for more in-depth concentration and completion of the work cycle rather than moving from subject to subject on a group schedule.
  • Time with family and friends is greatly valued to help cultivate a balanced individual.
  • Montessori follows the child’s timeline of readiness and interests to capitalize on sensitive periods of learning, natural enthusiasm and concentration.


“An interesting piece of work that has been freely chosen, has the virtue of inducing concentration rather than fatigue and adds to children’s energies and mental capacities, and leads them to self-mastery.”

-Maria Montessori


But don’t think you’re off the hook yet.


Most Montessori and RIE programs assume that parents ARE working with their children at home. In fact, we rely on it. Integrating home and school on a consistent basis ensures that your child reaches his full potential.


A parent’s HOMEWORK assignment is to prepare the home environment keeping in mind your child’s developing needs. Once prepared, you can trust your child to navigate through seeking those areas which speak to her inner need.


For it to work, you will need to turn off the television AND the computer.


Here are some starting points:


Infant


  • Free movement on the floor
  • Access to the outside
  • Free choice of play objects
  • Fully present during physical care
  • Communication of physical care routine, giving time for processing and response
  • Opportunities for self-soothing
  • Opportunities for struggle and problem-solving
  • Minimal clothing for maximum safety and exploration


Toddler


  • Choose clothes from drawer
  • Sort laundry
  • Fold and put clothes away in drawers
  • Get newspaper
  • Pour drink from small pitcher
  • Scrub veggies
  • Stir ingredients
  • Set table
  • Clean up toys
  • Feed the cat
  • Water plants


3-4 year old


  • Clean windows with small spray bottle
  • Dust
  • Prepare the bath
  • Fill a bird feeder
  • Put dirty clothes in washer
  • Peel & slice cucumbers
  • Make coffee/toast/salad
  • Bake bread
  • Sweep & mop
  • Dress self including buttons, snaps, zippers, buckles
  • Pack school bag and carry personal items
  • Plant seeds
  • Wash car
  • Clean up toys


5-6 year old


  • Tie shoes
  • Read face clock
  • Make breakfast for self and others
  • Write notes (thank you, to grandma, grocery list, to do, requests, etc.)
  • Fill soap pumps
  • Shred junk mail
  • Read to younger siblings
  • Change lightbulbs


Young children are capable of doing so much and naturally have the urge to interact with and imitate the world around them.  It is our job to prepare an environment that calls to them and meets their developmental needs.

Child watering plants

What kinds of activities do you and your child share at home to foster a LIFE LONG LOVE OF LEARNING? Hey- that’s not a bad homework assignment after all.


“My vision of the future is no longer of people taking exams and proceeding on that certificate from the secondary schools to the University, but of individuals passing from one stage of independence to a higher, by means of their own activity, through their own effort of will, which constitutes the inner evolutions of the individual.”

Dr. Maria Montessori

You might also like

Intentional Community Preschools- Bigger Bang for Your Preschool Buck

Intentional Community Preschools- Bigger Bang for Your Preschool Buck

March 13, 2023
Recently a friend referred to our childcare center as an intentional community model. Unfamiliar with the term, I soon discovered intentional communities are planned communities defined by teamwork encompassing a group of people sharing a c ommon vision or ideal. Here, Magda Gerber’s parting words in Your Self-Confident Baby best describes the shared value system of MMP School: A respectful beginning is an investment in the future of the relationship between your child and you, your child and others, and in your child’s exploration of the world. A RIE beginning helps to develop a competent, confident child.
Children playing together

Infant Peer Learning- Five Essential Elements

October 25, 2022
When it comes to the research on peer learning, we don’t often think of infants. However, groups of young children together in a trusting environment demonstrate the earliest stages of this concept. Oftentimes, group providers miss these subtle learning interactions as we balance individual child physical care needs, governing regulatory obligations and parental requests and concerns. How can we trust that the child is learning without adult intervention? In peer learning, students will engage themselves intellectually , emotionally and socially in “ constructive conversation ” and learn by talking and questioning each other’s views and reaching consensus or dissent (Boud, 2001). Here we observe a child struggling to place the lid on the bottom of a bowling pin. He’s noticed the similar circles of the two objects, but he’s become frustrated in trying to put the two together. 

The Empathetic Roots Of Flower Arranging

By Nido Marketing • September 26, 2022
Montessori Practical Life 101 invariably includes the outline for FLOWER ARRANGING. This pivotal work links all cornerstones of the Montessori environment from toddlerhood through elementary- first as a sensorial experience and, later as an in-depth research into the functions and parts of flowers themselves. The appeal of the arranging and the giving of flowers is universal- for centuries flowers have marked important milestones in our daily lives; expressed feelings of love, gratitude or sadness; or been admired as an appreciation for natural beauty. In the classroom, a vaseful of fragrant flowers provided an open invitation from which Dr. Maria Montessori took full advantage:  The process of flower arranging is predictably sequenced with precision and care- as are all of the practical life activities- to best support the development of coordination, concentration, order and independence. The child puts on an apron, selects a vase, fills it with water and chooses the perfect flower to cut and place inside the vase. He then carries the vase and a small doily to a table in the room and lays down the vase carefully on the top corner of the table. There is often another child at work sitting there at the table who looks up. The two make eye contact and exchange a moment of silence.
More Posts
Share by: