Art: Artterro - Eco Art Kits

http://artterro.com/






Family-friendly art projects; real skills; eco-friendly... who could ask for a more Montessori-style art kit to give a Montessori-educated child - or indeed ANY child - as a birthday or holiday gift?

We have the booklet-making one. More "girl-focused" than this household of boys cares for, but the skills learned have been utilized to transform other now-recycled materials into more boy-coordinated themes. Saving the girl stuff for the girl cousins!

The book-making kits fit right into the Montessori classroom; the other projects are great for the family setting :)

Games: Family Pastimes

http://familypastimes.com/ - Family Pastimes Games



These fantastic games, almost all co-operative, build family and community relationships, while learning some great skills.

Some of these games are listed over at Michael Olaf, but I chose to list the original company so you could see the widest gamut of options available!

Great for birthdays, celebrations, holidays and more!
Not to mention a neat "break" from school! (ok so around here, games like these COUNT as school ;) )

I can't even list out all the Montessori album pages and Family Pastimes games that correlate with one another- out favorite is Farmers Market ;)
(check the "economic geography" section of the elementary geography album for this one!)

Music: Rhythm Flashcards

http://laytonmusic.wordpress.com/2007/12/19/rhythm-flashcards/



Great place to download rhythm flashcards for Montessori rhythm exercises in clapping. Children taking piano and other instrumental lessons will also find them useful in their music study.

These are a fantastic resource! Totally free and the work is done for us!

Maitri Learning - Environment downloads

http://www.maitrilearning.com/downloads.html





Maitri Learning has a series of downloads that are OH so helpful for organizing a Montessori space - whether at school or at home.


These guides are most helpful in a rough determination of what is going to be "school" and what is going to be "home" in a homeschool environment.

And are definitely helpful for teachers in schools. I love her recommendation in every one:
JUST FOLLOW YOUR ALBUMS! If it's not in your albums, it's not on the shelves!

This is a top-notch statement for all teachers whether at school or at home. And at home, it can help delineate "school" lessons from just being home and living life (though the items will be related - some items should be "school" such as the number rods, but some items are "home" such as legos connected together to re-create the number rods!).


I am not over-excited about the downloadable papers for primary level, but they could prove useful for some people :)

Music: Montessori Moms Music

http://www.montessorimomsmusic.com/



From their homepage:

Welcome to the place where the Montessori philosophy meets music in EVERYTHING we do!

Our first release is "Songs for a Practical Day".   

We hope you find this collection of music to be fun, helpful and educational. Our goal was to create music that assists with Montessori themes and practical life activities in the classroom. You will find songs for circle time, reinforcing learning, walking the line, and even for birthday celebrations. "Strummin' Time" and "Ebb and Flow" can be used as background music while children complete their work.  Teachers, parents, caretakers, please use this CD anyway you please!  It was created with a Montessori mind, but will be useful for many environments.