Montessori Monday – Grace and Courtesy for a New School Year

If we want our children and students to be courteous, we need to spend a lot of time focusing on grace and courtesy. Grace and courtesy lessons and practice are important throughout the year. It’s especially helpful to place an extra emphasis on grace and courtesy at the start of the school year in Montessori classrooms and also at home.

If you’re a teacher, you know that Montessori practical life preliminary exercises, such as how to roll a mat, are 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:

Dirigo Montessori School

Discovery Montessori

Oakhaven Montessori School

Here’s a helpful thread from Montessori Assistant on Facebook: “For those in Montessori primary classrooms past and present, what are your absolute go-to Grace and Courtesy lessons to give the new three-year-old children in their first days and weeks?” Here are the answers.

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.

This post and video has ideas for families with toddlers: Introducing Montessori Rules and Routines to a Toddler.

Here’s a post and video showing how you can help prepare a child for Montessori school: How to Teach Toddlers and Preschoolers to Take Turns and Work Together.

Here’s a post and video with a simple way to teach kids to stop interrupting, using a technique from Montessori schools: Simple Way to Teach Kids to Stop Interrupting.

How to Manage Interruptions in Your Montessori Classroom or Homeschool

How to Teach Your Child Manners Using Montessori Principles

Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy!

Grace and Courtesy Games at Home or School

Sharing vs Grace and Courtesy from Teaching from a Tackle Box

Excuse Me! Lessons on Grace and Courtesy from Guidepost Montessori

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

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

Here are all my grace and courtesy posts from Living Montessori Now.

Here’s a list of my main manners posts from here and my Bits of Positivity blog:

• 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
• Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy Is Out!
• Free Grace and Courtesy Printable {Manners Matching Cards}
• Free Manners Songs for Home or Classroom
• 20+ Free Printable Manners Cards, Booklets, Charts, and Games
• The Best Books about Manners for Preschoolers

Wishing you a wonderful school year filled with grace and courtesy! 🙂

Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!

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