Montessori materials are also popular in some households. The Montessori method emphasizes "errorless learning," where the children learn at their own pace and in that way develop their full potential. The Montessori homeschool emphasizes beauty and quality and avoids things that are confusing or cluttered.
Wooden tools are preferred over plastic tools, and learning materials are kept well organized and ready to use.
Typical Montessori Schedule
According to Montessori philosophy, children should be allowed as much unscheduled time as possible in order for them to learn to manage their own time. Children are also encouraged to select their own learning materials and to learn at their own pace, in the belief that children will be drawn to what they need.
Montessori families often set learning centers in their home, for example:
- A "practical life" area, which promotes activities such as pouring, spooning, and food preparation, and includes child-size buckets, brooms, and mops for cleaning up.
- A "sensorial" area, which includes such items as wooden blocks (that teach size comparison), different scents for smelling, and colored tablets for learning about colors.
- A math area, which includes hands-on materials like number rods, sandpaper numbers, and colored beads for counting.
- A language area, which includes sandpaper numbers, a movable alphabet, books, and phonics materials.
- A "cultural" area for history and geography, which includes globes, map puzzles, time lines, books, and pictures about different cultures, and the Montessori "peace curriculum" (a course on conflict resolution for children).
- A music area, which includes bells and a variety of rhythm and other instruments.
- An art area, which includes drawing materials, prints from a variety of different artists, including the masters, and craft and sewing supplies.