It’s the most wonderful time of the year

by

No, not Christmas, back-to-school.

I’m prepping the curriculum and setting up the shelves, so I thought I’d take a quick moment to share some of what we’re using this year for homeschooling.

We will have 11 kiddos here each day- my 5 plus 6 cousins, spanning 3 families, and covering ages 12 down to a brand new baby nephew. It’s going to be beautiful, wonderful chaos, and it means I absolutely have to be organized.

Getting back to our Montessori roots

Montessori shelves at home

Last year between Mary Catherine’s arrival and her subsequent health issues, we didn’t really have the chance to do much Montessori. And while I love The Good and the Beautiful (we’re using them again for math, language, and typing this year), I’m also so excited to have had the time, space, and bandwidth this summer to organize and prepare Montessori works for each age group.

My 2 kindergarteners and the 2 three-year-olds especially are going to benefit from this, though my big kids have plenty they enjoy off the shelves.

Here are a few of the types of works I’m setting out. Of note: not all items will be out at once, and I always rotate through- so I have several types of lacing for example and lots of tiny objects for sorting. I’ll try to link to previous posts or my favorite versions (the Amazon links are affiliate links,the full disclosure it at the bottom of the page).

You’ll also notice that there are overlaps- all of these can be tweaked to make them easier or more difficult.

Also of note: I’ve spent almost a decade compiling my collection of Montessori materials. Don’t ever feel like you have to do it all at once.

Little Boys

Stacking toy

Fine Motor 

  • Lacing
  • Scooping: a tiny scoop and a bowl are all you need for this 
  • Pouring (this doesn’t have to be water, rice works just as well)
  • Tweezers and Bees
  • Knobbed Cylinders (large and small versions, we were lucky enough to inherit a set of large ones, but the smaller work well and are much more affordable)
  • Pipe cleaners and pony beads to make bracelets (bonus, this is a craft as well)
  • Open and Close Basket: this is a DIY favorite of mine. I get a big basket and fill it with all types of containers
  • Scissors: lots of options here from Cut and Paste Books to just strips of paper for them to snip
  • Coloring pages: Rebecca Gorzynska’s are my FAVORITES.
Montessori shelves at home

Sensorial 

  • Sorting: I have a whole bin of tiny objects, most of which are from JoAnn’s or Michael’s. You can get some gorgeous beads in all different shapes
    • Type
    • Size
    • Color 
  • Sounds 
  • Play doh
  • Stacking: if you have a brown stair or a pink tower, amazing. If not, these towers are awesome too.

Math 

Language 

Kindergarten Girls 

Fine Motor 

Sensorial

  • Play doh
  • Color Box 3 (my absolute favorite and one of the most beautiful Montessori works ever)
  • Sorting
    • Type
    • Size
    • Color 
  • Stacking
  • Pattern Puzzle

Math

  • Teen Bars
  • Counting 1-20 Puzzles 
  • 1-20 object counting 
  • Tan grams 
  • 1 to 10 box 
  • Short bead chains 

Language 

Welp, that’s all for now, the almost-three-year-old has woken up from his nap and is ready for attention. You can peruse the Montessori and Homeschooling archives for more. I’ve also got this Fall Activities Post for you.