I'm excited to share Our Montessori Inspired Homeschool Plan for Preschool (2.5-4 years) that we are starting this school year. This is a loosely formed outline of the lessons we hope to cover this next school year. I am following an older version of the NAMC manuals and a lot of this outline is modified from the table of contents from each of my NAMC manuals. As we complete the activities in this list, I will add a blog link so that you can follow along with our Montessori homeschooling journey!
Follow the Child
Please note that this homeschool plan is fluid and will change to “follow the child” and for what works best for our home life. This plan will also incorporate practical life activities as part of our daily learning. A part of this series is a list of 100+ Practical Life Skills with free printable check list.
I also want to add that I never push Little Bee to do any of these learning activities. If he is not interested, I put the lesson away until a later time. We enjoy learning together and he actually begs me for prepared learning activities! He loves them! He loves when I spend quality time with him. (Note: the Montessori home environment is not the same as a Montessori classroom setting).
Please take into consideration that each child is different and will learn at their own unique pace or in their own style. This is only a suggested guide that you can use for inspiration as you wish. Enjoy!
Montessori Materials
For a list of suggested materials that can be used with this plan, please visit - Montessori Materials List for Preschool at Home.
Themed Unit Studies
We love to do themed unit studies that include a section on language, mathematics, fine and gross motor work, practical life activities, arts & crafts, and other subjects that fit the theme.
Here are two examples:
Montessori Inspired Toddler Rainbow Unit
Our Montessori Inspired Homeschool Plan Outlined by Month
*Click on the live blog links to visit the post and learn how we put each unit study lesson together.
September
- Colors – Color Mixing
- Color Box 2
- Apple Felt Life Cycle
- Apple Unit - Letter A
- Math Introduction Unit – Sensorial Materials, Tot Trays
- Land, Air, Water
- H is for Heaven - Bible Lesson
October
- Leaf Unit – Letter L
- Autumn Sensory Play
- Human Anatomy Unit (Biology)
- November Countdown Thankful Tree
- R is for Rebekah at the Well - Bible Lesson
November
- Snake Unit - Letter S
- Frog Unit
- Turtle Unit – Letter T
- The Calendar & Seasons (History Intro)
- J is for Jesus - Bible Lesson
December
- 20+ Hands On Bible Lessons for Kids
- Montessori Art Appreciation for Toddlers
- 8 Montessori Inspired Christmas Activities
- 6 Firework Art Trays
- 10 Painting Activities
- S is for Star of Bethlehem & Baby Jesus - Bible Lesson
January
- Montessori Geography – Learning Continents
- Culture - Children of the World & Song
- Penguin Unit (Antarctica)
- Winter Forest Animals - Footprints
- Creation of Man (Creation Series) - Bible Lesson
February
- 10 Valentine Tot Trays
- Our Daily Routine - My Day (history)
- Rainbow Unit
- Hibernation Unit
- Scripture Puzzle - Bible Lesson
March
- Dental Unit
- Learning to Read Unit - Preschool Books
- Easter Activities
- Sensorial - DIY Smelling Bottles with Printable
- Image of Daniel Chapter 2 - Bible Lesson
April
- 5 Montessori Seasonal Activities
- Build a Bird Nest
- Solar System Unit Introduction
- Horse Unit
- N is for Noah's Ark - Bible Lesson
May
- Bird Unit
- Garden & Seed Unit (vegetables)
- Preparing Big Brother (or Sister) for a New Baby
- Insect: Bee Unit
- Daniel in the Lion's Den - Bible Lesson
June
- Practical Life - Dressing Frames & Folding Work (Care of Self)
- Ocean Unit (Fish Puzzle)
- Emotions
- Recycling Unit
- U is for United - Bible Lesson
July/August (Summer Break)
- Homeschool Room (updated shelves & organization for the new school year)
Please enjoy reading more about how we incorporate the Montessori method into our home ~
- Let’s Define the Montessori Method
- 100+ Montessori Inspired Activities for Toddlers
- 15 Montessori Toddler Shelf Themes
- 100+ Practical Life Skills with Free Printable Check List
- Tips for Montessori Spaces at Home
- Montessori Materials List for Preschool at Home
- Our Montessori Inspired Homeschool Plan for Preschool (3-4 Years Old)
- Montessori Homeschool Organization
What a fantastic resource breaking down the threads for parent teachers!!! I know many parents are wishing they could give you cupcakes right about now thanks to this post!
Thanks so much Kelly! Please share to get the word out there. 😉 I appreciate your kind comment.
WOW!!! That is awesome! Good luck with your journey
How wonderful! You seem so well organised 🙂 This post came at a great time for me – In spite of the best of intentions, I can’t seem to get back to being organised and get on track with our shelves :/ Thanks for the inspiration!
You are welcome!
What a great homeschool plan, Vanessa! That should make a huge difference in your feelings of comfort and success this school year. (Thanks so much for linking to my posts, too!) Don’t hesitate to make changes if needed for your son. I pinned your post to my Homeschool Resources Pinterest Board. 🙂
Thanks so much Deb! I plan to “follow my child” as he grows and develops. 🙂 So my homeschool plan may change, but at least I have a plan! It really is helpful.
Love this plan! Thanks so much for sharing and spelling the months/weeks out.
Do you have videos of you teaching some of them? Would love to get an idea.
And what if I want to start the plans chronologically but we’re already months into the year? What would you recommend?
Thanks!
Hi Jess 🙂 Thank you for your feedback! Making a video is on my to do list, but I’m not very good at it. LOL! I’ll be honest and say that it is challenging to do these activities and photograph them at the same time. So I will have to increase my talents to a new level to try and video the whole process. 🙂 LOL! I have a very active 3 year old, so honestly the most time that he will spend on each activity is about 3-5 minutes. If I don’t photograph it quickly, the moment is gone… He is a “wild” three year old boy who keeps me high up on my toes! 🙂 Maybe when he is older and has a little more patience, I will be able to make videos. Please start in the curriculum at any place! 🙂 You can make your own curriculum too. If you want to follow along with the activities I have already done, then maybe make a curriculum starting now with activities that are already done. I like to create unit studies for learning that include fine motor, language, math, art/crafts, and other. So I would choose one theme for each week. Try to follow the interests of your child, if possible. 🙂 Our Montessori “inspired” curriculum is fluid and will probably change soon. I need to update it to reflect the current interests. I hope I answered your questions. Let me know if you have any more questions. 🙂 Take care, Vanessa
Hi where do you find the mystery bag itlems?
A lot of the items that I use are from the Safari Toobs. Also, Montessori Services has language objects that can be used in the mystery bags.
I am so excited to have found this site! Does this include the whole curriculum? I have been looking for something just like this to help me with my twins. Thank you so much.
Hi Jennifer, When you ask if this includes the whole curriculum – what do you mean? What do you need? How old is your child or children? Take care, Vanessa
Hello,
I just stumbled upon your site and am very excited to delve deeper into what your curriculum looks like. My son just turned three and I would like to start an informal preschool homeschool with him this year. I used ABC Jesus Loves Me last year, but wanted to look into some other options that still feature play and discovery as the main avenue for learning. I love how you have things set up here by the months. I was wondering if you had or could give me an example of what that would look like on a daily basis. Do you do a little bit of everything each day? Do you spend one week on each topic for the month? I’m planning to do three days a week with him and I would like to be able to make a loose lesson plan for me to follow for each day in that week. The Montessori way of doing things really resonates with me so I’m so curious to see how that plays out as a daily lesson. Thank you in advance!
Hi Gianna 🙂 I’m sorry it took me awhile to get back to you. I hope that this post gives you an idea how we schedule our days. https://www.mamashappyhive.com/montessori-inspired-routine-at-three/
The daily lesson is really short for a 3 year old. I would spend 1-2 hours preparing the lesson and then he would spend about 10-15 minutes on it. Unless, it was practical life. That always engrossed him for more time.
At three years old, just keep learning light and fun! If they are not interested, put it away for a later time. My best advice is to HAVE FUN!
Take care, Vanessa
hi
I wanted to know where you got the Montessori parts of the body bee puzzle.
thanks
Hi Cindy, I purchased the bee puzzle second-hand. Here is an affiliate link to a bee puzzle on Amazon – http://amzn.to/2wSQPuw 🙂