here's an excellent montessori resource for families who want to learn more about montessori and apply it at home :
www.amontessorimarketplace.comi did full doman program with my specialneed daughter and the intellectual program was excellent she is now 15 , we have another 3 years old and 1 year old . i got how smart is your baby and followed it the first few months after my second daughter was born , but than i started questioning some of the approaches skipped many of the activities that i felt htey are not good for a baby , and more and more i found myself moving toward more hands on activities realising that my daughter is not really enjoying flashing bits and words .
she is now 3.5 years old , started reading independently but i cannot say it is doman but working with phonics and montessori language material . she has excellent physical , manual skills , her understanding is quite advanced for her age , very articulated . we are really enjoying more and more montessori type activities and learning . instead of flashing tons of unrelated bits of intelligence to the child , the bits are made to three parts cards ,manilupated , classified , labelled by the child , it is more hands on and a good choice for parents with older kids who are wondering how to homeschool after doman .
yes you can buy few books and read about montessori online but i was a bit lost from so much information so i decided to take karen online teacher training course found at the link i posted . she will provide you with all the albums in language , geography , math , sensorial , practical life , geology , botany , zoology ,... all lesson plans , lots of material to make three parts cards, nomenclature cards , it is so condensed with information but the important thing is that it is all hands on with activities , experiments, reading material , everything set up for your child to enjoy learning . i highly recommend this course .
you realize that it is not practical for your child to have access to the tons of bits you are presenting him , and most of the time those are retired and never seen again .
with montessori the material is on the shelf for the child to use and work with , there are control cards for self check and control of error , so the child is able to work by himself , and activities to put what he learned into practice .
what i love most is the geography material , the way you move from the whole to the parts which is the approach in montessori , they have lovely continents wooden maps , pin maps with the flags of the world , wonderful oportuinity for your child to put into practice all the knowledge he gained from flashing all those geography bits .
check out montessori for everyone website also for a sample of the material used .
i made most of my sensorial material , and ii am working now on some cards and i am finding my daughter and even my one year old enjoy working with them more than those big 11x11 bits .
hope this can help somebody
love
viv