Our team at Alison’s Montessori is thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-new set of Teacher Training Manuals for the early childhood classroom. Months of dedicated development, passionate work, and expertise have gone into crafting these comprehensive manuals to share with our Montessori guides, educators, and parents. The Teacher Training Manuals cover eight core content areas: Astronomy, Botany, Zoology, Sensorial, Practical Life, Geography, Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Language 1, Language 2, and Language 3.
What makes our manuals different
This is a new series of 11 manuals designed for early childhood (3-6). It is meant to be accessible to anyone guiding children, whether that is a Montessori teacher, a homeschooling parent, or someone new to the method. The manuals are comprehensive across all of these subject areas, and the supplemental printable material comes included with each manual at no additional cost.
Each manual comes with supplemental material. Some of it is shelf-ready, which are colorful printables that only need to be laminated and cut before they go into the classroom: three-part cards, illustrations, pictures for classification, and control charts. The rest are reproducibles, meaning there is a master copy that gets copied as needed, such as templates, booklets, diagrams to copy and label, and material for extended activities.
In the supplemental material, you will also conveniently find 2 progress trackers designed for multi learners across the cycle of 3 years, or multi-year for individual learners. Tracker 1 contains “Year 1”, “Year 2”, “Year 3”, and “Age”Each manual opens with a table of contents and a product index. Materials mentioned throughout the book are coded with a reference or item number, so a teacher can match what is on the page to what is on the shelf.
for each year, and two columns representing the time the matter was presented and the time of mastery. Tracker 2 is a grid with a vertical column with the activities and horizontal slots at the top for each individual. The teacher can use a pencil to write the letter P for presented or the letter M for mastered.
Each manual opens with a table of contents and a product index. Materials mentioned throughout the book are coded with a material reference number, so a teacher can search for the material on our website when applicable. Other unlabeled materials materials are located in the Supplemental Materials set, while other activities can be supplied with affordable items from general stores.
At the beginning of each manual, there is a complete explanation on how to conduct the three-period lesson. Throughout the manuals, you will find the symbols of a blue circle (“This is”), a red square (“Show me”), and a yellow triangle (“What is this?”) next to the appropriate activity, where it is highly recommended to conduct the lesson prior to moving on to the next step. This ensures that the child has had plenty of exposure to the new concept.
Lessons are called activities. Every activity begins with age appropriateness, purpose, and the materials needed before moving into the presentation. We recommend that teachers read through the preparation steps carefully as it ensures that all materials are gathered and properly set up. The description and pictures provide additional support and optimize time. After the presentation, activities include variations, extensions, points of interest, control of error, and language, meaning the vocabulary introduced during the lesson.
Each lesson is crafted in a way that optimizes the teacher’s time and respects the child’s development. The manuals are designed for beginner teachers as well as experienced teachers. Our step-by-step approach is what makes our manual for beginners teachers and veteran teachers alike. A new teacher may follow the presentation word for word, and refer to the illustrations for positioning materials on the working space. However, teachers who already know the presentation can still use the manual to double-check a point of interest, confirm material’s reference number, or refresh their knowledge.
Between the supplemental material and the materials sold at Alison’s Montessori, this series of eight manuals is one of the most unique on the market. The manuals include almost everything necessary to conduct the lessons, so very few external items are ever needed. Alison’s Montessori also offers comprehensive packages that pair each manual with its matching materials, available at www.alisonsmontessori.com.