Montessori Monday – Grace and Courtesy for a New School Year

Grace and courtesy exercises are always helpful at the start of the school year in Montessori classrooms and even in Montessori homeschools. Montessori practical life preliminary exercises, such as how to roll a mat, are also important for the child’s concentration, control of movement, and the smooth functioning of a classroom.

You’ll find it helpful to emphasize both preliminary exercises and grace and courtesy exercises at the beginning of the school year. Of course, it makes a big difference if a classroom has mainly new or returning students.

Greeting a person, walking around a rug (rather than stepping on someone’s work), speaking quietly indoors, and waiting quietly rather than interrupting, are all examples of important grace and courtesy skills. But there isn’t an exact order for each teacher or parent to introduce a specific skill. Here are some ideas from various Montessori classrooms that could help you decide which lessons in grace and courtesy you want to emphasize at the start of this school year.

Examples of Rules at Different Montessori Schools

When I had a Montessori preschool, our general indoor rules were:

• Be kind to one another.
• Walk in the classroom.
• Use a quiet voice in the classroom.
• Use a rug when working on the floor.
• Use materials carefully.
• Put your work away when you are finished with it.
• Push your chair in when you are finished working at a table; roll up your rug and put it away when you are finished working on the floor.
• Respect everyone in the classroom and allow others to work without interruption.

Here are some examples of general and specific rules from a few Montessori schools:

Monticello Montessori

School in the Hills

The Village School

Discovery Montessori

Montessori Ideas about Grace and Courtesy

Here are some ideas about teaching basic grace and courtesy skills as well as ideas for the beginning of the school year:

How to Teach Your Child Manners Using Montessori Principles

Grace and Courtesy Games at Home or School

How to Manage Interruptions in Your Montessori Classroom or Homeschool

The Magic of Grace & Courtesy from Maria Montessori

How to Watch Someone’s Work (Photo from Teaching from a Tackle Box)

Sharing vs Grace and Courtesy from Teaching from a Tackle Box

Encouraging Motor Skills in the Montessori Classroom – Part 1 of 2, Encouraging Motor Skills in the Montessori Classroom – Part 2 of 2, Start of School, Circle Time on the First Day – Establishing Routines Part 1 of 2, Circle Time on the First Day – Establishing Routines Part 2 of 2, The Montessori Work Mat, Grace and Courtesy – Part 1 of 2, Grace and Courtesy – Part 2 of 2, Montessori Grace & Courtesy: Infants, Toddlers & Preschoolers, and Montessori Grace and Courtesy: Lower Elementary from North American Montessori Center

Discovering Boundaries from Montessori Education (UK) Ltd

Montessori Ground Rules You Can Use at Home from Montessori New Zealand

Do you have specific preliminary exercises and grace and courtesy exercises you introduce at the start of each school year? Or do your introductory lessons vary greatly according to your specific class (or the ages of your homeschooled kids)?

Montessori Monday Link-Up

If you have some Montessori activity trays/lessons to share, please link up below. It’s fine to link up a post from your archives – and you may link up anytime during the week! Your post may be any Montessori-inspired activity or idea. It doesn’t need to be related to my Montessori Monday post.

Link up your exact post URL so that we can find your activity if we return to the linky at a later date (which I often do when I’m looking for activities for a roundup post). I publish the Montessori Monday post and linky at 6:00 a.m. EST each Monday and keep the linky open throughout the week.

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