Books To Bring Montessori Home

Below, I am summarizing books that have touched my heart. I will first present them by age, whether you have an infant or a three-year-old toddler. Then, I will list books that will give you an overview of how to start Montessori at home, regardless of your child's age.  These books offer profound insights and practical advice that align with the principles of Montessori education. Get ready to embark on a journey of nurturing young minds with love, respect, and a deep appreciation for their innate abilities. 

🔹 Infant ~ Understanding the Human Being: The Importance of the First Three Years of Life by Silvana Montanaro is my absolute favorite book if you are pregnant or have an infant and would like to learn about the beauty of Montessori philosophy. Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro, M.D., is a director of the Assistants to Infancy Training Program at the Association Montessori Internationale in Rome, Denver, Mexico, and London, and her eloquent verse will absolutely make you fall in love with the Montessori method. 

🔹Birth to 3 years ~ Montessori from the Start: The Child at Home, from Birth to Age Three is my second absolute favorite book! I have underlined it, taken notes, and highlighted the entire book! I learned from how to set up mobiles to the importance of a floor bed and a floor mirror, to a suggestion to start Practical Life Activities at 15 months!

The book also has a wealth of pertinent information on planes of development. Based on Dr. Maria Montessori's instructions for raising infants, this comprehensive exploration of the first three years incorporates the furnishings and tools she created for the care and comfort of babies. From the design of the baby's bedroom to the child-sized kitchen table, from diet and food preparation to clothing and movement, the authors provide guidance for the establishment of a beautiful and serviceable environment for babies and very young children. They introduce concepts and tasks, taking into account children's" sensitive periods" for learning such skills as dressing themselves, food preparation, and toilet training. If you can only buy one Montessori book ~ this is a must-have! 

🔹Birth to 3 years ~ The Joyful Child: Montessori, Global Wisdom for Birth to Three by Susan Stephenson is a fantastic book and a great resource for children from birth to three. The first three years of life are too important for experiments, and the Montessori guidelines presented in this book have proved true all over the world for over 100 years. There are over 180 black and white pictures from the author's work around the world with children from birth to three years of age. "The Joyful Child" is used in Montessori teacher training centers, middle school human development classes, and birth preparation classes, and it is of interest to anyone studying education and child development.

🔸 How To Raise An Amazing Child the Montessori Way, written by Montessori president Tim Seldin is my absolute favorite in this category! "While not every teacher is a parent, every parent is a teacher!" said Tim Seldin. Our task is not simply to feed and clothe and cuddle our children but also to teach them to become independent, self-confident, and successful adults who will feel happy and fulfilled. This book, boasting amazing full-page pictures, will gently guide you through Sensorial Activities, including treasure baskets, Science activities, Montessori Birthdays Celebrations, and so much more! Using Montessori learning techniques, a parent will learn how to adapt Montessori teachings easily at home, creating a safe, nurturing environment for children with clear and concise instructions. Packed with Montessori-based preschool activities and educational games that build confidence and independence through active learning, this authoritative illustrated guide helps raise self-reliant and creative children. Celebrate physical and intellectual milestones from birth to age six with activity checklists, and encourage development through proven child-centered teaching methods. This edition also includes information about the neuroscience of child development and shares advice about screen time in the digital age, co-parenting, other family changes, and gentle discipline methods.

🔸Teach Me to Do It Myself: Montessori Activities for You and Your Child by Pitamic is another great resource for simple Montessori-inspired activities. These skill areas include sensory perceptions, body coordination, language, understanding of numbers, and movement. This practical, color-illustrated parenting book is filled with activities and instructions for overseeing children as they carry out a variety of learning activities. The many activities start with dressing and personal hygiene, then go on to include: pouring, threading and sewing, pegging, cutting with scissors, sorting by touch, making musical scales with bottles and water, using alphabet tiles to make words, and many more. Activities are described in detail and include checklists of needed items, as well as variations and related activities for children to try.

🔸Lastly, Teaching Montessori in the Home – The Preschool Years by Hainstock has most of the Montessori activities you would start with starting at around two years of age, with detailed instructions. This paperback with black and white illustrations covers the preschool years from ages two to five, emphasizing the lessons such as reading and writing, mathematics, sensory awareness, and practical life skills.

✍️ The Absorbent Mind and The Discovery of the Child are both books written by Maria Montessori and deserve a careful reading as her views are as relevant now as when they were first proposed a hundred years ago! Bursting with beautiful quotes and startling insights, these books continue to inspire parents, teachers, and educators around the world! "The child is endowed with unknown powers, which can guide us to a radiant future. If what we really want is a new world, then education must take as its aim the development of these hidden possibilities." Dr. Montessori - The Absorbent Mind.

✍️ The Montessori Method by Maria Montessori. This seminal work provides a comprehensive overview of Montessori education. Montessori's groundbreaking insights into child psychology, development, and learning theory continue to inspire educators and parents worldwide. Exploring the importance of hands-on learning, self-discipline, and the role of the environment, this book remains a timeless resource.

• Little People, BIG DREAMS ~ Maria Montessori book
• Maria Montessori: a biography for and by Children book

Maria Montessori believed that children have a world of their own with specific rules and that adults should not interfere. She trusted that a child's world is a better world and that adults should learn from children instead of forcing children into adult ways of thinking.