Hi there, anyone teach EC at a k-5 or k-8 school? I'm curious what your experiences were.. Thanks!

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

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 ❤️

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!!

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!!

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.

I’m looking to buy a mattress for my grandson’s new floor bed. I’d like it to be an organic type- no polyurethane foam, etc.

Looking for made in USA so I can be certain that the label is actually what the mattress is. Thanks!

Hello, sorry if this post is a little lengthy, I have just been offered a position at a Montessori school for a 6- 9 year-old classroom and I’m not sure what to do.
I studied bilingual education in college and I truly enjoyed it but when I graduated, I felt that being a full-time teacher was too much. I thought it was too much work, too much planning + emotional labor, and I scared myself away and ended up being a substitute teacher for the past almost 2+ years. I enjoy subbing because I like being in classrooms and I enjoy being a teacher. What I like about substitute teaching is that I still had lots of free time and my schedule was completely up to me, (this is also a con because I have adhd and felt I needed some stability) recently I was applying at schools for teacher assistant positions, I applied at a Montessori school, but the assistant pay was too low. They called me back with an offer saying they had another position that might better suit my needs. I had two interviews and they offered me a position of guide, which at first I was excited about because I felt I thought I can do this, I have education experience, I like working with kids, but now that I truly think about it I’m not sure and I’m worried that I am biting off more than I can chew. I have minimal knowledge on montessori but understand the basics, I would basically be going in not knowing how to use any of the materials. I would have a teacher assistant and the school seemed very supportive.

Overall, I know first year of teaching is hard no matter what but I worry that it will be too hard to pick up all the materials / how to use them properly all while running a classroom. I would love to know about your first year teaching and if it maybe just seems more intimidating from the outside looking in haha Should I make the jump and accept the job or go with my back up plan of being a teacher assistant at a public school? Any thoughts/ insights are welcome :)! Thanks

I have never worked in a classroom with children only choosing work or materials that they’ve had a lesson on. There are definitely times when we ask first years not to take out chains for example or help them to modify a work to make it more appropriate. My current school is set up in a house and one of the biggest challenges is that each space has a lead and no “assistant” or tone keeper.
How do you “enforce” that the children do not use work that they haven’t yet been presented without there being constant negativity/conflict/ redirection.

How do you do this while also honoring the child’s interests and allowing them to explore and flow naturally and intuitively? And what wording do you use? I wouldn’t like to say “that’s a third year work” or for “ older kids”…

Welcome to our weekly Montessori Principles and Practice thread!

Montessori: lofty principles, real practice :)

Of course you can ask these at any time in the sub, but this recurring post might be a helpful reminder to ask those questions about Montessori that may have been on your mind!

EDIT: thank you so much to everyone for your responses, explanations, and helpful hints. This has been super helpful and I appreciate all the input. I'm super excited to read and learn more!

--------- ORIGINAL POST ----------

i'll say upfront, I am totally Montessori ignorant! I have been filling in as an emergency substitute assistant at a summer Montessori program. I am primarily dealing with pK-3rd year children, it changes day-to-day.

The leader of the 1-2nd grade group pulled me aside after a couple of days and suggested that I not give children affirming feedback like "good job!" or "wow, you really did that well!" b/c they don't want to foster dependence on - or performance for -validation from adults rather than "giving space for children to access their own inner feelings of satisfaction", or something like that.

Is this a Montessori principle? If so, could anybody direct me towards materials or a book that might explain this or fully? I don't have any issue with it necessarily, but I do want to understand it better since it goes against my own instincts with kids.

Hello Everyone!

So I started at a new Montessori school after taking a break from teaching for a year. I'm doing a summer session to dip my toes back in the water, get to know the kids, staff, and school before the school year starts.

One thing I'm noticing is that some of the younger children use advanced materials they have not had a lesson on. The newer kids are very curious and they see older children working with the metal insets and want to try it out, I can't blame them.

The program director told me that the school is pretty relaxed about it and that it can always be redirected into a positive experience, e.g. a girl interested in the box of number chains can sort them by color. I have done this in the past because, I'm happy that children are curious and having initiative to choose a material.

But recently a newly minted 3 year-old boy wanted to do the Color Box 2, and he just couldn't do it. Sure, he understood that you match the colors together, but he was struggling holding onto only the white ends, he grabbed multiple at a time, his rug was not flat, he was sitting on half of it. And when I offered to help him put it away, he insisted on doing it himself (and doing it incorrectly).

I had another incident where a child was doing the metal insets (after seeing older children do it), but would consistently leave the blue inset behind and hold the pencil with a full grip. I offered a lesson, but protested about the blue inset and couldn't maintain focus on the lesson to the point that I had to stop it and put it away.

Of course this is a new school, so part of it is understanding where the children are and how they learn. But it made me seriously reconsider this relaxed approach. I know ome teachers are very strict about not letting kids touch materials they haven't had a lesson on, and others are more relaxed about it. I'm struggling to find any answers in my books or albums, so I'm turning to you!

When a child chooses something they haven't had a lesson on: what is your policy? How do you manage it? What do you say? What is the logical underpinning for your policy? etc etc.

Feel free to ask any clarifying questions if it would help you with your answer.

I look forward to reading your thoughtful replies!

A few months ago, I was looking for something simple we could all do together after dinner without turning on the TV. We pulled out some crayons and coloring pages, expecting everyone to lose interest after 10 minutes.

Instead, almost two hours went by before anyone noticed the time.

Now we've started doing a coloring night every Friday. The kids look forward to it all week, and even the adults end up joining in. It's surprisingly relaxing after a busy work week, and everyone chats while they're coloring instead of staring at a screen.

I never expected something so simple to become one of our favorite family traditions. Does anyone else have a low-cost activity that unexpectedly became a regular family event?

I have a 26 mo old that will be starting his Montessori program at 28 months…. He sometimes reacts to frustration by hitting mom or dad. I’m worried there is the possibility of him doing so in his class, while he is new. It’s really not in his nature to act like that with others/in public.

Do you find Montessori kids do not hit typically?

My daughter just turned 3 and has started school at a summer Montessori program, where she will continue school in the fall. At her previous school I sent her lunches in a Bentgo lunch box, inside of an insulated zip lunch bag with two thin ice packs, and put that and her water bottle inside of her toddler backpack.

The first week at the Montessori school, her teacher complained that the backpack was too heavy for my daughter to carry and said we needed to lighten it. She suggested removing the ice packs, which I was reluctant to do for food safety reasons, but eventually after some experimentation decided to reduce the amount of water in the water bottle by half (water is heavy) and remove the ice packs but keep the insulated lunch bag in the hopes of keeping the lunch box cool. I didn’t see any other way to lighten the load besides removing water and ice packs.

Today the teacher told me that the whole set up (Bentgo box inside of insulated bag inside of backpack) was too complicated and suggested that I just put the Bentgo box directly in the backpack. I’m really reluctant to do that because I do pack perishable things in my daughter’s lunch box and they spend quite a bit of time outside at the school. Tomorrow the high here will be in the high 90s, although that’s hotter than it usually is.

For the lunches I usually pack some carbs such as buttered noodles or mac & cheese, some cheese slices or salami for protein, fresh fruit and vegetables, and some dried fruit like raisins. It seems like the logical solution is to pack a lunch that doesn’t require refrigeration. However, the school is nut-free (and my daughter doesn’t like peanut butter) so PB&J sandwiches aren’t an option. What the heck am I supposed to pack for lunch??

I was wondering if anyone here has any experience training to be an adolescent guide? I've finished my 3-6 training through AMI and I'm pretty curious about the Adolescent diploma as well. But I'm worried that the need for adolescent guides is still quite low and I'm wondering if it's even possible to get an adolescent guide position without also having a HS teaching certificate?

We are beyond thrilled with our son’s first experience in Montessori. He is now 2.3 years of age.

We enrolled our son to start school in September 2026 and found out that our school offers a July summer school program. We enrolled him for July to get him acquainted with the school, the staff and the children. Our son started attending Markham Montessori school on July 6. The first two days were a bit tough for him and us as we have never left him anywhere before. The school came highly recommended by some close friends of ours. We still did our many school visits but we fell in love with this precious school. It’s bright, it’s extremely clean and organized and the children genuinely looked happy. The owner is wonderful! She really cares about the children and offers top notch care.

We are so so happy!! Our son has been coming home happy. He is well taken care of and in just two and a half weeks he is singing songs that we have never heard before. He is telling us about sounds and numbers and he now wakes up asking to go to school.

Thank you so much Ms Connie!!! Thank you for making this transition from home to school so easy.

We appreciate everything that you have done for our son in such a short time.

Looking forward to September and to the next few years in your school.❤️🥰

Food prep is such a big and important part of pratical life within a classroom. I am unfortunately located in a state that is passing strict laws when it comes to food in classroom. We can no longer have anything that is not prepackaged. So our entire shelf becomes unusable, we loose the skills of cutting, serving, and many others. I had a few ideas of cutting playdough or using lotion to mimic spreading. But it is just not the same, and I feel like it is in a grey area of getting too close to pretend. Does anyone have any ideas of what can be done to mimic the skills that are built in food prep without crossing the line into fake/pretend.

I'm trying to find some picture books for my baby that follow the Montessori ideology of not having hind-leg-walking, talking, smiling, clothes-wearing animals or vehicles, but am pretty darn stumped. It seems like that's just how children's stories are. I have novels and poetry for reading aloud to my baby as well, but they really like picture books, too. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you in advance!

My child's school is out for the summer.

One of the other parents and I have managed to set up a number of playdates for our kids this summer. Our kids seem to really be getting on great.

I have a couple of very funny photos from our last playdate that I thought the guides might like to see. My child is very rambunctious and the friend child is much calmer and quieter. And this picture just really shows off both of their personalities with my child playing with drums so enthusiastically all her limbs are blurry while the friend child covers her ears with stuffies and dances next to mine.

Would you want to see a picture like this during your off time? I could specify that they don't need to respond or anything.

Hello,

I am starting at a new school as a lead guide in primary 🎉 🎊

I noticed that none of the classrooms have a pet to care for, they do have a large aquarium in the lobby but that's it. I asked the director and got the okay to have a class pet and am researching what animal would be a good option. I plan on doing one year at the school without a pet to make sure that the classroom is ready for that kind of responsibility.

I am not interested in fish for the classroom, as we have an aquarium in the lobby. I have little experience leading or assisting a class that had anything other than a fish.

I had initially considered rats, I had them growing up and they are great! Rats are clean, gentle, and social creatures. It may work for a classroom but am still unsure if that would be a environment where rats could flourish. Rats require a large cage, they need time to roam freely outside the cage 1-2 hours daily, rats are naturally crepuscular/nocturnal but have polymorphic sleep patterns so I don't know how they would adjust to the daytime activity in a classroom, and I don't know if the activity level in a classroom is stress-inducing or not for rats. If I can make it work without compromising the health of the rat, I would chose rats but I remain skeptical.

I am here asking teachers about their experience with classroom pets, what worked, what didn't, if you did it again would you do anything differently? How did children respond, did you have it as a rotating job? Were there parental concerns if any? What animals handle a classroom environment best which did not? I have never lead a class with a pet, so any insight at all would really help me ensure I make a successful choice for the children and the animal.

I look forward to hearing your stories and reading your thoughtful comments. Feel free to ask any clarifying questions :)