One of the key elements of Montessori activities is providing your child with the right learning materials. Children learn on their own, but the right material can help them move in the right direction. This is especially true for kindergarten-aged children.
There is not necessarily a specific Montessori kindergarten curriculum like traditional kindergarten. But Montessori education usually begins in preschool, and for many children, kindergarten is the last year of Montessori school. You’ve probably been following philosophy tutorials for years and are already familiar with the idea of self-paced learning.
At Montessori Kindergarten, children are committed to critical thinking, handwriting, and counting
In Montessori school, kids learn the basics of these important skills they will use throughout their lives.
Language and classification cards
Most children have a basic understanding of how letters work together to create words. However, there are additional learning materials that can help to enhance this understanding for younger children. Language and classification cards are a great tool to help kids learn the names of different objects in their world. Although Montessori school philosophy believes that real-life experience is important, we know that it isn’t always possible for a child to experience everything in person.
Language cards are great for learning the vocabulary of different objects. They include three parts:
- cards with only the name of the object,
- cards with only the picture or the object,
- cards with both the name and the picture of the object. These cards can help your child learn the name of objects and also help them learn another language.
With these cards, you can help your child learn the name of objects, as well as introduce them to new vocabulary in another language. The three-part cards from Maitri Learning are a great way to teach your child the names of many non-living things, like rocks and cookies. If you want to tailor the learning to your child, you can also make your own cards.
Classification cards: Instructions
Cut out the cards so that you have pictures with labels, pictures without labels, and labels.
There are many ways to use these cards. Some examples:
● Use picture cards as flashcards.
● Let kids find items around the house that match the cards, such as food items.
● Use picture cards with labels to play a game as I spy. For E.g. “I spy with my little eye a food item that starts with the sound “s”.
● Let kids match the picture cards with the labels, using the pictures with labels as control cards to
check their own work.
Food Items
Animals Items
Shape Sewing
After printing these pages, roughly cut the shapes. Take a very large and blunt needle and some
thread. Let your child sew the shapes from dot to dot. Alternatively, you could pre-cut the dots and let your child use a shoelace to lace the shapes.
Clothespin Number Match
After printing these pages, cut out the numbered cards. Take (mini) clothespins or if you don’t have one have those paperclips. Let your child pin the number of clothespins on the card that matches the number. make sure the total number of clothespins matches what you put in and corresponds to the total of the cards.
Days Of The Week
Cut the seven pieces below. Let your child recreate the rainbow.
As a control of error, you could print the page a second time without cutting it, possibly in black
and white to encourage reading the wording.
Months Of The Year
Cut the 12 pieces below. Let your child recreate the rainbow.
As a control of error, you could print the page a second time without cutting it, possibly in black
and white to encourage reading the wording.
Alphabet Play Cards
Print and cut these alphabet play cards, as many times as you like. Let your child find an item that
matches the beginning letter on the card. This could be done around the house, but also on a
walk or during a long car ride. Depending on the English experience of your child, only use letters that aren’t too hard for them. The letters q and x are included in this set, but you might want to leave those out.
Images Matching
- Cut out the images.
- Present your child with two sets of 12 cards. One of the sets contains
square photographs. The second set of cards contains circles with a
small section of these photographs. - Your child can match the square photographs with the circles.
Montessori School: Beginning sound
Draw a line to match the beginning sound of the image on the left to a
letter on the right.
Montessori School: Rhyming Riddles
- Cut out the picture and riddle cards.
- Present the picture cards to your child. Make sure it’s clear to him or
her what is displayed. - Read the riddle aloud to your child. Ask him or her to match it to a
picture card.
Summer Pattern Strips
- Cut out the eight strips and the eight separate cards.
- Present all of the material to your child.
- Take four strips and four (matching) separate cards.
- Your child can find the image that’s supposed to come next on a strip
based on the sequencing of the images. - Once the work is complete, all of the separate cards should have
been matched, creating a built-in control of error.
