I am a big fan of Maja Pitamic and have always loved her books. She is a Montessori Teacher with a specialisation in Early Years teaching. Maya is also the co-author of ” I Can Play It ” ( another favourite book of mine ) and Modern Art Adventures. It is through her association with the parents of her students that Maja realised the need for a practical play- and workbook for parents and their children.
This book is genuinely a fun- filled practical book for children aged 3-5. ” It is based on key Montessori principles of learning through the experience, but rest assured that there is no need to create a Montessori Classroom in your own home ” . This is really one of the main reasons why I absolutely love her books.
The book is divided in 5 chapters , covering all the main areas of Montessori teaching for ages 3-5 :
1 )Life skills – There are 18 activities in this chapter -such as washing hands, cleaning teeth, buttoning a shirt, weaving paper , threading buttons and many more.
2)Developing the Senses– All the activities in this chapter not only help to stimulate and develop all five senses, but also introduce new concepts and vocabulary. Here you will be able to find activities such as – learning size and shape, tactile opposites, discovering colours, musicals scales and many more.
3)Language development– ” The activities in this chapter will help to instil in your child love for language and books, and when you achieve this, reading will follow naturally .” Some of the activities included are – matching paper letters, word building, making a diary, making a book, constructing phrases.
4)Numeracy skills– ” Maria Montessori observed the mathematician is an abstract concept and she felt that for children to be able to understand it, she needed to make it as concrete as possible. The activities in this chapter follow this principle . ” Some of them are -objects on a line, combining quantities and numerals, introducing money, number songs and rhymes and many more.
5)Science skills– there is a great selection of activities on here, that will certainly engage your child’s imagination and increase his/her sense of wonderment. I really loved the activities included in this chapter. Some of them are- making a flower puzzle, growing carrot tops/sunflowers, discovering the weather.
The book is very well laid out, sturdy and with glossy pages. It is full of lovely pictures and diagrams and not to forget easy to follow instructions. I really like the fact that the descriptions of how to present the activities to your child are very ‘Montessori’ without being excessively prescriptive. So you will not feel overwhelmed or confused in regards to how to present the activities . Most of them require very little preparation and use readily available materials .The best part of the book is the Appendix. Maja has included 7 worksheets at the end of the book, which you can photocopy and use with your child. Overall, the book is a fantastic resource for parents/ childminders and anyone who wants to embark on the Montessori method at home. You can buy the book from Amazon – https://amzn.to/347vmK2 ( affiliated link ) or borrow it from your local library.
Let's learn , Mama! 