Montessori: An Education System for Everyone

We believe there is something in Montessori for everyone. Montessori is just one of the many systems we have researched to create the Education for Life Program and this page is meant to function as an ever-expanding archive of open source, free-shared, and duplicable Montessori inspired ideas that we organize into the primary components of the One Community Education Program: Curriculum for Life, Teaching Strategies for Life, Learning Tools and Toys for Life, and building The Ultimate Classroom. These components are designed to be combined to create endless “Lesson Plans for Life” purposed to grow and evolve what we feel will be the most comprehensive, effective, and diversely applicable free-education program and resource archive in the world. The One Community Foundations of Teaching, Leadership, and Communicating, combined with a collaborative Evaluation and Evolution Component (Portfolio Creation and Maintenance), help us to further grow and adapt both the program and as individuals.

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RELATED PAGES

PROGRAM OVERVIEW    ●    STRATEGIES OVERVIEW    ●    OPEN SOURCE PURPOSE

OTHER WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE TO EVOLVING THIS EDUCATION PROGRAM WITH US

SUGGESTIONS    ●    CONSULTANTS    ●    PIONEERS    ●    COLLABORATIVE NOTES

Montessori is for Everyone

If you have ideas from Montessori that you feel should be added to this developing guide, please use our Education for Life Collaborative Input Page. We believe there is something from Montessori for everyone and we have looked at Montessori courses, Montessori curriculum, Montessori classroom design, and explored the question of what is Montessori to students and teachers and how can we summarize what we feel are the best, simplest, and most usable tools with application and benefit for all ages? For a more comprehensive and specific look at Montessori, we suggest starting with The Montessori Foundation or the official Montessori International Site.

NOTE: One Community does not believe there is any one system that is the best. It is our Highest Good of All philosophy to look at all systems and all methodologies. Our goal is to learn and integrate everything we can to better inspire and create the Education for Life program as an open source and free-shared globally collaborative and accessible program available to positively contribute to the education of anyone who chooses to use it.

Here is our continually evolving list of Montessori inspired ideas divided into the categories of the Education for Life program:

Montessori Foundations of Leadership, Teaching, and Communicating

If you’d like to help us make this list better, please submit your Montessori inspired suggestions so that we can integrate them here and into the Foundations of Teaching, Leadership, and Communicating component.

● Director/less: Teacher is an observer, initiates, steps back, and assists when necessary.
● Control of Error: Encouraging self correcting, leading to accepting self, responsibility independence and action change.
● Encouragement Teaching: teacher encourages child innate learning style rather than conforming to a set standard, while offering assistance as needed.
● ???

Montessori Curriculum Ideas

If you’d like to help us make this list better, please submit your Montessori inspired suggestions so that we can integrate the here and into the Curriculum for Life component.

● Pre-reading: Exposure to books, singing, stories, plays and rhyming as pre-reading curriculum.
● Practical Living: Learn to fold, sew, button, cut, tool use, zip, pour, etc. (child sized tools – see below).
● Celebrating Growth: Embracing and teaching about and through the transitional time when physical growth is occurring.
● ???

Montessori Teaching Strategies

If you’d like to help us make this list better, please submit your Montessori inspired suggestions so that we can integrate the here and into the Teaching Strategies for Life component.

● Geography: Countries learned with maps, food, dance, song, stories and history together.
● Seasonal Learning: Lessons are created for fall, winter, spring, and summer, time frames and content geography in mind.
● Freedom Learning: Environment is set for the child to use imagination and freedom to choose activities and learning materials that initiate curiosity.
● Choice Learning: Children are encouraged to choose their own clothes and dress themselves at a very young age.
● ???

Montessori Learning Tools and Toys

If you’d like to help us make this list better, please submit your Montessori inspired suggestions so that we can integrate the here and into the Learning Tools and Toys for Life component.

● Senses: Using our own senses as a tool, child learns to connect self with world
● Sandpaper Letters: Tactile way to enjoy introducing sounds of letters
● Practical Life Tools: Child-size version tools for newly developing muscles to enable the process of learning how-to’s without the restrictions of adult sized and weighted tools
● ???

Montessori Classroom Design

If you’d like to help us make this list better, please submit your Montessori inspired suggestions so that we can integrate the here and into the Ultimate Classroom component.

● Play kitchen with real bowls etc. to teach handling fragile objects… and cleaning up if they break
● Toddler height mirrors and shelves – toddler sized brooms, tools, etc.
● Reading Nook: Specific space designed for quiet reading: rocking chair, reading lamp, bookshelf, beanbags
● The Peace Table: Conflict resolution table and area to engage in thoughtful conversation
● Practical Living Are: An area designated for learning to use your hands: tools, sew, fold, button, etc.
● Freedom Learning Environment: Environment is designed to encourage imagination and freedom through the availability of choosing one’s own activities and learning materials that initiate curiosity
● ???

OTHER SYSTEMS EXPLORED

Waldorf   ●   Orff   ●   Reggio   ●   Multi-Intelligence   ●   Bloom’s Taxonomy   ●   Study Tech