Basic Montessori

by David Gettman

For more than a century, Dr. Maria Montessori’s educational philosophy has been adopted by schools around the world. Based on her scientific approach to child learning through observation and experimentation, the Montessori Method champions a classroom where children are encouraged to interact with their environment and develop their own natural need for knowledge.

In Basic Montessori , David Gettman has devised a clear and modern explanation of Montessori's revolutionary ideas about early intellectual development, offering a step-by-step guide to the learning behaviors most commonly used with children under-five. These include activities for introducing reading and writing, counting and decimal concepts, science, and geography, as well as activities that help develop the child's practical and sensorial skills.

A perfect primer for teachers, child caregivers, and parents, this volume shares this essential program to help adults discover how their children learn.

Genres: Parenting, Education, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Rowena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative for work

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's what I like: H just turned 3, and is "spontaneously" doing half of the activities suggested in the Montessori book. This book gives a bunch of great ideas for letting him practice the things he's already doing in a way that's far more intelligent than I've been able to come up with myself. The author suggests either buying things from or consulting http://www.nienhuis.com for a visual example of the things presented in the book - looking at the site has been really helpful in determining how I'm going to make some of this stuff myself.

I'm also a fan of the way the author explains Montessori's approach. Because my reading time is limited to after the kids have crashed, my strong preference is for something not too text-booky, or at least text-booky only in small doses. This book seems to be able to do that.

[Vanny Kusumawardhani · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to sum up many of Maria Montessori's book. I learnt a lot about Montessori's philosophy just by reading this book. It's not an easy read - imagine a college textbook, but I feel that I can highlight most of the early chapter. Most of the chapters explain in details about 5 areas in Montessori and it's apparatus, which is great, because most of the people just using the apparatus without knowing the philosophy.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is laid out in an easy to read manner and goes through examples and activities for different age/learning times in a little ones preschool years. I didn't do all the activities, but the ones I did include into our routine I felt like I saw progress and they had real world applications.

[Sierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. The activities are described very well so it's easy to conduct them and I like the fact that the author explains the philosophy behind each of them.

[Allison Hibbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear, directly applicable, and approachable; very inspiring with no fluff. A vibrant resource that I will continue to reach for in the early years of my daughters' learning.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the Montessori books I've purchased, this is by far the best and probably one of the only ones I would have needed. David Gettman briefly goes over Dr. Montessori's theories in the first chapter. The rest of the book explains how to go about presenting and using the materials required for a lesson. There are chapters for Practical Activities, Sensorial Activities, Language Activities, Mathematics and Cultures. All the information you need and want wrapped up in one book - absolutely perfect!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read, synthesized format of the Montessori theory with lots of activity ideas you can do at home. My complaint is that there are some that you wouldnt do at home or need to source some materials for. But this is a comprehensive guide laid out to progress to harder activities.

"The essence of a good presentation is that you don't explain the activity to the child, you show it."

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential if you're doing Montessori lessons in the home. He gives a great overview of each period of learning, as well as explanations of basic materials and how to present them. I'll be using this one almost daily.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been fascinated learning about Montessori style education and philosophy lately. I liked this book because it gives you a basic look into this style without going too in depth and without having to read Maria Montessori's own works. Great ideas that I'd like to incorporate into our home.

[Keli Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the montessori ways and this book was really a great tool. I think I would use it more if/when I have my own pre-school or kids

[JQ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not overly into Montessori, this book gives me everything I need without giving me too much.

[Lorena]

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