Thursday, December 2, 2010

My favorite Montessori Books

I've had several people ask me about what books I recommend to learn more about Montessori at home.  Here are some books I have read and enjoyed.  Of course, it is good to go straight to the source and read Maria Montessori's own books as well, but I did find them a bit slower to read due to the way they are written (it didn't help that my copies had extremely small print!).

How To Raise An Amazing Child the Montessori Way by Tim Seldin is my favorite, especially as a starting point.  It is easy to read with lots of inspiring photos as to how to set up your home.  I would start with this book if you are a total Montessori beginner.

Teach Me to Do It Myself: Montessori Activities for You and Your Child has good activities one can do at home without necessarily using the Montessori materials.
Montessori from the Start: The Child at Home, from Birth to Age Three.  I read this one back when J-jo was six months old and found it very inspiring.  I learned a lot from this one about the sensitive periods of the toddler years.
Montessori Play And Learn: A Parent's Guide to Purposeful Play from Two to Six.  This one has lots of great game ideas but some of the games are no longer being made or are very expensive.  You could make your own versions I suppose, but I liked Teach Me To Do It Myself better.  I still liked Montessori Play and Learn though and got different ideas from it.
Teaching Montessori in the Home: Pre-School Years: The Pre-School Years was another good read. 

Of course, if you are going to be implementing Montessori at home then I really recommend "the Gettman" - Basic Montessori: Learning Activities For Under-Fives.  It has a list of each "lesson" presentation grouped into periods, or order, it should be presented, and is very detailed.

I found all but the Gettman and the Tim Seldin books (the first on the list) at my public library.

I'd be happy to answer any other questions you may have. 

5 comments:

  1. Thank you!!!

    I'm actually reading How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way right now. I checked it out at the library on Tuesday. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have 3rd, 4th and 5th book on your list. Great list!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have not checked out Montessori from the Start yet. Thanks for the recommendation! Kerri

    ReplyDelete
  4. Do you know any similar books like gettman but for ages beyond 5?

    ReplyDelete