In 1907, Maria Montessori founded the first Montessori school in Rome. Its overall purpose was to give four to seven year old children from lowincome families a fullday educational program.

The idea quickly developed and grew in popularity and thus more Montessori schools were formed in Europe and India. It did not take long for the school method to cross over to the United States of America.

In fact, Montessori’s teaching methods created great interest in the United States from 1910 through 1920. Unfortunately, Montessori’s methods seem to be largely forgotten in the United States until the late 1950s.

It was around that time when a second Montessori movement started in America. This time, the main focus was on a set of private schools that served an almost entirely middleclass population.

The Montessori educational system struggled with it’s own success when it started having trouble finding enough teachers. In fact, it took that teacher shortage to start the creation of freestanding private Montessori teacher training centers. Each of these centers were not associated with any college or university and taught the Montessori teaching methods to aspiring educators.

In the late 1960s, some parents started to call for the public schools in their local areas to offer the Montessori education model for their elementary school children who had graduated from private Montessori preschools.

The publics rush of support was given a boost by government funds being made available for new Montessori programs starting up in public school areas. Today, over one hundred U.S. school districts have some type of Montessori program.

But just why has Montessori become so popular  Many believe it is due to the programs ability to overcome three major problems that the public school systems are still faced with. While the public school system has been put into a state of upheaval, the Montessori school systems have flourished.

Using their unique teaching methods, Montessori students have demonstrated a consistently high level of reading comprehension and academic performance. In the book Montessori Parents Guide, we dive deeper into how a Montessori program is powerfully unique and sets itself aside from current teaching methods.

One of the advantages of homeschooling is that you are not obligated to follow a strict lesson plan. The structure of your schooling at home is totally up to you, and you are free to follow the interests and learning style of your child. There are, however, some very fun lesson plans that are designed to put your child at the helm of their own educational experience.

One fabulous way to bring learning to life is to visit your local, or even not so local, museums. Start with the subjects that most interest your child, such as science or history, and go to those museums. Suddenly, subjects that were only known to your child in books are made more visually real, stimulating your child’s natural desire to learn. And exploring the museum is an adventure that will not be forgotten quickly.

Nature hikes are another way to broaden your child’s experience with science and nature, learning about the flora and fauna of your local area. Most cities or towns have a nature trail that is typically free to visitors and might even come with a guided hike at no extra cost.

Baking at its best is another great lesson plan for kids to gain an awareness of their creativity in the kitchen. They are encouraged to be creative and if things do not taste so great, it teaches them how to solve the problem of taste by experimenting with different spices or methods of cooking. Baking also integrates math because measuring requires them to get familiar with fraction adding, for doubling recipes, as well as units of measure.

Art in free form is also another great tool to help with just about any lesson or subject. It helps to take a trip to the hobby store and load up on all kinds of different things that can be made into an art project. Then, let your child select the things they would like to use to create with. This assists with spatial skills, hand-eye coordination, as well as giving them a hands-on experience where they control the project outcome.

Going to the library is a resource that should never be underestimated, especially if you are homeschooling. you can, however, utilize your library’s resources even further. An example of this is to regularly attend readings by authors. This is a wonderful way to show your child that reading is very fundamental skill and can be extremely exciting. At most libraries, when an author agrees to hold a reading, they make it into an event, including refreshments. Also, who knows the author’s intent and expression better than the author themselves? It is very worthwhile and entertaining to hear a book read by its own creator.

With these ideas, you can both have lots of fun and be able to enjoy each other all while learning in the process. And, who knows, you might also learn a thing or two that you didn’t know in the process!