Montessori at Home: The Books

Starting off my series on Montessori at Home, a small series of posts on how we use Montessori in our homeschool setting, is a post on the books I use for material, and general guidance, Alhumdullilah. 

Masha' Allah, since the Professors were about one year old, I have been implementing Montessori based learning. One aspect often overlooked about Montessori is its application to everyday life, two of the most important being care of self, and care of your environment, both of which can be 'taught' years before formal learning begins.

Here are the main books I have been using with the Professors:

Teach Me To Do It Myself 

by Maja Pitamic

This book contains many sequential lesson plans, all of which can be, or are adapted for the home. We are able to find most of our supplies around the house, if not, the $1 store and Wal Mart are great stand ins.  Insha' Allah I hope to begin some of lessons again with all the Professors over the winter. 

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Montessori Play and Learn: A Parents Guide To Purposeful Play From Two To Six
by Lesly Britton

This book has beautiful, full color photography and very condensed text. A quick look at the pictures will tell you its dated (80's) but the information is still relevant. Its a very easy read, even for the Montessori novice. The content focuses mainly on how to establish a child friendly environment in your home, and is full of great ideas, that are easy to implement. I refer to it often.

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There is one more book titled: Teaching Montessori In The Home The Pre-school Years.
by Elizabeth G. Hainstock

I have been over my bookshelves numerous times in the past few days looking for it to snap a photo but I can not locate it. Here is a link instead: 

http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Montessori-Home-Pre-School-Years/dp/0452279097

This book contains a brief overview of who Maria Montessori was, and the Montessori method, but the main focus is on how to make Montessori materials in your home. There are a good amount of templates, with instructions and pictures (sketched), and a few lesson plans.
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The three of these books are the most recommended (or were at the time we started using them back in 2008, Masha'Allah) for the Montessori in the home educator, and can all be found most likely at your local library. If you are interested in purchasing them, it is recommended that you purchase all three together, as they compliment each other.