How do you use this material? The Ellipse is a line on the floor of the classroom. It is sometimes in tape, and sometimes painted. Occasionally, classrooms will have different or additional shapes, but the →

How do you use this material? Dish Washing is a big material in the Practical Life area. It is presented to a child who is confident with pouring and able to follow a long sequence →

For many of us, cursive is a mainstay in our lives. We grew up diligently practicing our handwriting in school and watching our parents write in cursive at home. Our role models lived out our →

How do you use this material? Color Box 3 is a large wooden box in the Sensorial Area, containing 63 color tablets: gradation sets of 7 tablets of each of the following colors, blue, red, →

How do you use this material? Color Box 2 is a long wooden box in the Sensorial Area, containing 22 color tablets: pairs of blue, red, yellow, green, orange, purple, black, white, grey, brown, and →

How do you use this material? Color Box 1 is a small, unobtrusive wooden box in the Sensorial Area, containing six color tablets: two blue, two red, two yellow. The guide will invite the child →

How do you use this material? The Cylinder Blocks are one of the first materials a child might be introduced to in the Sensorial Area. There are four cylinder blocks. When they’re on the shelf, →

How do you use this material? The Geometry Cabinet is located in the Sensorial Area. There are six drawers, containing various triangles, polygons, quadrilaterals, and curved figures. The first shapes we introduce are circle, square, →

How do you use this material? The Sandpaper Phonograms are similar to the Sandpaper Letters -- they are cursive letters in sandpaper on a colored board, each one represents a sound, and they are found →

Recently I went out thrifting and found this Mancala board for $2. Mancala is available at any store with a board game section. It is also a cheap and common find at thrift stores. Originally purchased →

The path to literacy is unique in the Montessori classroom. Rather than begin by identifying common simple words -- cat, ball -- we begin with sounds, and move first to writing, then reading. We start →

How do you use this material? The Metal Insets are displayed on a shelf all their own. The guide selects one of the ten insets, or shapes, and the corresponding frame, along with a square →

There are many unexpected moments in the way Montessori presents various concepts of skills to children, including the surprise of introducing children to handwriting first through cursive. The Sandpaper Letters are iconic -- pink or →

How do you use this material? The Moveable Alphabet is a collection of letters arranged in two boxes. The vowels are blue, and the consonants are pink, to coordinate with the Sandpaper Letters. We’ll take →

How do you use this material? An assortment of containers with lids on is in a basket or on a tray on the shelf. The child takes the collection to a table or rug. The →

Practical Life. Purposeful Work. A transition from home to school. A child’s introduction to Montessori. A cornerstone of Montessori Primary Education. Every child begins in the Montessori Primary Classroom with Practical Life. You might hear →

There are lots of common, easily identifiable characteristics of Montessori Materials. We use primarily natural, breakable materials, such as wood, ceramic, metal, and glass. The Montessori Materials are designed to be beautiful and appealing to →

How do you use this material? The Sandpaper Letters are displayed in a classroom in a box or sometimes on a small ledge. The Consonants are pink, and the Vowels are blue. The guide selects →

How do you use this material? The Dressing Frames are part of the Practical Life Area, and are a set of twelve-inch square wooden frames with various clothing fasteners. There might be zippers, large buttons, →

Montessori goes about many things differently. It might not be what you initially expect, it might look different, but understanding the purpose, the intention, what children are gaining, makes things logical and intuitive. Montessori gets →

How do you use this material? Pouring is used so frequently in the Montessori classroom, from various types of Pouring available on the shelf for the child to practice, to pouring water into a basin to →

How is it possible work which easily fits on the shelves in one classroom meets the needs of children from two-and-a-half to six? We don’t have infinite storage. Most of the materials are out on →

The Dressing Frames are rather iconic. Often displayed on a tower or in a box, they are large wooden frames with fabric overlays, and different clothing fasteners down the middle. Children want to do things →

We sing a lot of songs at Baan Dek. Some are seasonal or weather-related, others are fun to sing year-round. We put together a few of our favorites in a recording to share with you. →

When entering the Montessori classroom, you instantly feel a sense of order and calm. Everything has its purpose and its place. To a newcomer, like myself, the Montessori classroom presents a sense of foreign familiarity: →

If we were hard pressed to describe the Montessori approach to education, in a practical, systematic way, we would start by trying to highlight the methodical, progressive nature of the activities, showcasing just how they →

There are so many layers to Montessori. No where is this more apparent than in the simplicity and elegance of the trinomial cube. While the primary aim may seem rather obvious, to build a little →

The Bead Cabinet is the stuff of magic. When a student first walks into the Montessori classroom, takes a deep breath and surveys the room, they are instantly drawn towards the beauty, simplicity and elegance →

The binomial cube is a staple of Montessori classrooms. But, what exactly is it? It looks like a fun puzzle, and it is, but what's the logic behind the blue, black and red wooden pieces? →

Watch, as this three year old student polishes a brass basket. Materials are positioned throughout the classroom, and children are free to choose which ever object they wish to polish. More often than not, the →

Montessori, following a tradition that starts with at least Rousseau, believed that children come to understand the world through their senses. Experience, says Montessori, is the foundation of knowledge. As she explains, to learn, an →

Watch as she engages with the Safety Pin Dressing Frame Activity. Yes, safety pins! Disclaimer, the video is three minutes long, which is almost half the amount of time she spent on the material. Watch →

In before care, many students take the opportunity to help get the classroom ready for their friends. Here's a picture of one of our three year old students, carefully folding the laundry, sorting the towels →

Watch this short video, as Ms. Wood presents the safety pins dressing frame activity to a three year old student. They both persist, going back and forth, helping each other to discover how best to →

Watch as this yet to be three year old boy engages with a pouring presentation from Ms. Wood. She presents the material, carefully and methodically, using deliberate motions and exaggerated gestures. As adults, we're used →

We had a great conversation about imagination yesterday. We were discussing his new shirt, the one that he had painted himself, when we started to hone in on colors and what it means to imagine. →

Did you know that Montessori schools start with cursive, as opposed to print? We thought we would take this opportunity to point out a few of the benefits, and to explain the rationale in greater →

Exploration is a vital component to Montessori classrooms. Let's take a look. Watch as she picks up the number rods, carefully balancing them in her hands, meticulously counting,"One. Two. Three." Glimpse her pointing to the →

The cylinder blocks are a favorite of Montessori classrooms. They're made of wood, and there are ten pieces, and the children absolutely love to work with them. Let's find out why. Materials: A rectangular block →

Threading Activity: There are a lot of practical life activities that have multiple layers and purposes to them. Threading is one of them. One of the most important lessons to be learned is independence and →

One of the many things that makes Montessori so enticing for prospective families, is the fact that their child will receive a one-on-one education. What does this mean? Actually, this means many things. First, it →

Montessori fosters a positive conception of work. Instead of using the word, "play", to describe engaging in activities, in Montessori, we employ the word, "work". Why? The answer goes to the heart of Montessori. We →

Here are a few little tips on how to implement Montessori at home, by using The Sound Game. In order to help children hear the sounds that make up words, we play "The Sound Game" →

The "dressing frame activities" are a staple of the Montessori approach to education. Let's find out why. Not only are these activities enticing tools for children, so neatly and carefully displayed, they're also extremely useful →

What's at work with the cylinder blocks? Let's find out. First, we'll describe the process. As a child navigates through the classroom, they're completely free to choose any activity that interests them, in so far →

In a Montessori classroom, a directress gives presentations. These are individual instructions conducted with a student. As demonstrated in the video above, the directress will introduce the child to the material and establish the nature →

Watching the pink tower being built for the first time of the year is simply magical. The care, the patience, the love, the attention...there is just something about the pink tower. What is it? The →