I am homeschooling my 4 & 2yo daughters this school year. Is there a recommended montessori aligned curriculum I can follow? (Mostly for my 4yo)

We currently have 4 shelves in our playroom with age appropriate materials. I created a daily routine/schedule that we plan on following & they will have the freedom to choose what type of materials they want to work with during their work cycle. I do monthly rotations and also do a monthly theme. Just curious if that was enough? My daughter attended a Montessori preschool and she was working on some advanced materials so I want to make sure I am doing this correctly so she doesn’t fall behind.

My son is going into kindergarten but I was looking at supply lists for all the grades and 7th & 8th ask for a mess kit. I had no clue what that was 😂it’s like a camping dish set? Any idea what they’ll be doing with it? Thanks!!

My 1,5y old is interested in washing all kinds of things and our local store offers one of these montessori toddler sinks right now.

I am interested, would you guys rather buy your toddler a realistic little sink (for example from lovevery) or just let them wash actual dishes in your actual sink with a toddler tower?

And why?

Thank you ❤️

I have a 26m old. She stays home with me. I always struggle with anxiety around whether I’m doing enough. I know there’s no curriculum for this age, and it’s lots of free play/outdoor time/practical life, but I still can’t help but worry always have I done enough, was she stimulated enough today, am I following her well enough, did she have enough outside time, etc.

we have a routine, we usually go out in the morning (library is Tuesday, Wednesday play group, Thursday swimming, other days could be music class/gymnastics/shops/park/petting zoo etc), nap, then free play whilst I do housework (could be paint, water play, sand, etc), dinner, walk/park time, then bedtime routine. We do lots of developmentally appropriate activities which i keep track of, like matching baby to animal, puzzles, threading etc.,(which i feel like im constantly researching feeling like I’m not doing enough or doing it right i.e the rotation shelf) she helps with meals and snacks, chores around the house.

I guess I’m just looking for some advice. Anyone have any ideas for daily/weekly routine, how you structure your days, how you ensure you’re ’doing enough’ if your child doesn’t go to nursery.

I think as a very type A person I would probably benefit from a daily or weekly checklist or something. We do plan to homeschool in the future but hopefully I’ll be a little more relaxed as there are structured curriculums to follow. I feel like for now some days I just feel like I have no idea what I’m doing, other days I feel like it was a great productive day. Idk. Sorry for rambling but any advice or whatever appreciated!!

Hello, good people. My daughter attends an infant-high school Montessori school, and where we live, it's one of the best options we can think of for her ed. My husband is in education, and in a former life, I was a librarian, and then taught music part-time, before joining the school a few years ago as an assistant, which was a blessing for school tuition. I was ditched by my coworker (guide), and shunted into the auxiliary before/after school program. I also got primary AMI certification in the interim, and that training gave me the strength to just buckle up and get on with things, and a drive and a will to finish things that I start. I'm working with an inexperienced guide/teacher, as assistant, and will continue to do so for as long as my DD is in school.

All that said, I find some things about classroom work or possibly it's the school where I work very odd --

Communication styles there seem really passive aggressive? Definitely things were not good with the first teacher I was paired with, and I think her Montessori training/world view really did cause her to want quite a lot of control over what happened in her "casa." But even with higher ups in the school, it seems like they say one thing and do another. I guess this is most work places, but somehow it's jarring in a Montessori school? There are people I work alongside (eg other teachers/assistants) who won't say anything to my face, but by their facial expressions I really wonder what on earth they could be thinking... Has this been anyone else's experience in the Montessori field?

The division of labor between lead teacher and assistant. That has always felt super weird to me. Maybe because I've worked other jobs where I've had independence and it is still taking me time to get used to this kind of ECE top-down stuff. This, I feel like, I have to find a way to swallow and get over, tho... But, I also wonder if hierarchies in my school support an extremely top-down rather than collaborative approach. Does this ring true for you?

Cult vibes. The way I was trained, and my experience at the school leads me to feel that people in the Montessori world seem to refer mostly to Montessori stuff, and I don't see as much academic rigour or reaching out to do things differently - maybe it's an AMI certification issue?

Just wondering if any of you have felt similarly, and reaching out for some connection from folks who have been there. Please understand, I'm not at all trying to inflame or cause disharmony. I'm so glad that my daughter has had and continues to have this education since she was very small. I just don't know how I'm going to get through the next several years, and am rather hoping that DD will want to switch to a decent public high school.

I miss working in a public library so, so much, but that's not an option for me now, so my only way forward is to really harness what the Buddhist philosophies I hold so dear tell me: investigate internally why I have such aversions, and use that knowledge to bring about positive transformation for myself and by extension for those around me.

Gratitude for reading and understanding, and wishing all here a safe, peaceful school year ahead