I was lucky to have the opportunity to review the teaching manuals created by Jennifer at Montessori Print Shop.
Disclosure: I received a Montessori Print Shop Primary Teaching Manuals Bundle in order to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and any opinions expressed are my own. This post also contains some affiliate links (at no cost to you).
You’re probably already aware of Montessori Print Shop’s free printables, inexpensive printables, and information and resources (see all the drop-down menus at the top of the Montessori Print Shop page).
Review of Montessori Print Shop Primary Teaching Manuals Bundle
The Primary Teaching Manuals Bundle includes 4 Montessori Teaching Manuals – Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, and Math. The manuals are based on AMI principles from Jennifer’s AMI training through the Foundation of Montessori Education (Toronto, ON). The courses were taught and guided by Renilde Montessori in 1993/94.
You can see all the teaching manuals here.
The presentations and lessons included are for children who are approximately 2½ to 6 years of age. This, of course, depends on the individual child, and many activities also work well for 7- and 8 year olds. (Note: In Montessori education, primary is generally ages 2½-6 or 3-6 with elementary at ages 6-12.)
Each lesson includes:
- materials list
- material photo(s)
- detailed step-by-step instructions
- notes to the teacher
- purpose of activity
- points of interest
- control of error
- suggested age for presentation
Over the years, I’ve accumulated a number of Montessori teaching albums from my training course as well as from other training programs. My first experience in Montessori was through an AMI-trained teacher who let me photocopy her albums and gave me guidance in creating a Montessori environment and activities for a day care center. Later on, I completed Montessori training and worked with Montessori teachers from different types of Montessori training programs. Here are my thoughts on the Montessori Print Shop AMI-based albums:
- AMI albums always feel like I’m coming home. There’s so much available online, which I thoroughly appreciate. Yet it can be very overwhelming, especially for parents or teachers who haven’t had the opportunity to take a Montessori training course. The Montessori Print Shop albums are wonderful for both parents and teachers new to Montessori and for parents and teachers wanting to keep a firm foundation in Montessori principles and techniques.
- I love the clarity and simplicity of the Montessori Print Shop albums. AMI training courses stay the truest to Maria Montessori’s original ideas. You’ll find photos of the traditional Montessori materials in each of the manuals except the practical life manual, where they aren’t essential. There are a number of hand-drawn illustrations for the practical life activities that need illustrations.
- I love that the presentations follow the original Montessori guidelines. Montessori presentations are not all the same. It’s surprising how many presentations there can be for one activity when you look at different Montessori manuals. In general, I like to stay with an AMI presentation when there’s more than one way to present an activity. It’s well-thought-out and focuses on the essentials. When I created DIY Montessori materials in the past, I preferred to use traditional Montessori colors and designs whenever possible. There can be variations. You can count on AMI information if you’d like to stay with the original Montessori colors, designs, and presentations.
- I also love that you’ll find links to Montessori Print Shop materials within the lessons. Montessori Print Shop has so many wonderful free and inexpensive extensions for Montessori lessons as well as printables that are essential parts of many lessons. Having the links within the teaching manuals simplifies the preparation process.
Adjective Sample Pages – Montessori Print Shop Primary Language Manual
If you go to each teaching manual page at Montessori Print Shop, click on the photos in each page’s left sidebar for a detailed Table of Contents and sample lesson.
Practical Life Teaching Manual Sensorial Teaching Manual Language Teaching Manual Math Teaching ManualUnless you’re already an AMI-trained teacher and have your own AMI-based albums, I think these are the ideal teaching manuals to have along with any other Montessori materials you already own. It’s easiest to add ideas and personalize your own unique way of teaching Montessori when you have a solid foundation to return to whenever needed.
And check out their eBook Montessori Primary Education – Understanding the Theory.
See all my reviews of Montessori Print Shop materials here.
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I would love this! I’m new to homeschooling my four year old starting this year and would love a “jumpstart” on what to do! Thanks for the great giveaway!!
I would love to win because I will be homeschooling my 6 year old first grader, as well as my almost 4 year old preschooler this fall.
I am trying to learn more about Montessori and using it with my kids.
I’d love to learn how to present function of words then move on to simple sentences using grammar symbols.
I will have my new classroom next school year and would love to win the manuals to help me jumpstart and guide me in my new classroom. Thanks!
OH man I would love to win this for my son! I really want to use Montessori with him but am having trouble getting started . I know i just need to pick an activity and go, but I would love these resources to really give me a guideline!
i would like to learn more about montessori math
i have 3 kiddos 4 years and under and i’ve been reading a lot about montessori methods. these manuals would be great to help me actually teach my little ones.
love your blog, btw – thanks for all your work!!
This is a great giveaway! Thank you Deb!
My son is on his way to be 2 and I have been indulging myself into Montessori for the last half a year and I strongly believe these materials would help us stay focused and on the right track. Thx and best luck to the rest.
I’m starting my to homeschool my 1 year old and would love to start preparing for next year!
as a mum with 4 children under 4 i would love to use these manuals while we homeschool. Am just learning a lot from reading blogs and have some books but these will really open up the method for me.
Thank you
We had our two older boys in a local Montessori until we needed to pull them out for financial reasons. We are now homeschooling and will be under the guidance of a charter school. I am excited to have the handholding for our first year by a certified teacher but I am not excited about the curiculum that we will be given. Thankfully this school is open to accepting other curiculum choices. I would love to have actual Montessori books to show as our choice instead of a bunch of print outs from the internet.
Thank you, and good luck everyone!
I would love these albums because I am a mom of three Montessori children ages 10, 8, & 3 and I am also a substitute assistant in a public Montessori school for ages 2.9-12yrs oldl. These albums would be very helpful at work and at home!
I’d love to win because my son just turned 2.5 and he already knows his letters, sounds, can sound out and spell out simple words, knows one sight words, counts to 20 (not just rote counting, but actually counts out objects). Most of this was not learned through ny formal instruction, just through play.
But now I’m at a loss as o what to do next. We are at a standstill. I’ve been looking at curriculum out there and slot is either too basic, or too craft-heavy (he hates crafts). I started to look at Montessori and love the concept. I visited a local Montessori school (bu we can’t afford it) do I started transforming his room ino a Montessori friendly environment, but I’m not sure where I o from here.
These teaching manuals ould give me step by step instructions about what to o next with him, and that is exactly what I need!
I am leaving this comment on the Rafflecopter form because I LOVE LOVE LOVE Montessori! I am loving it so much that I take my son to a 3hours drive away Montessori school staying for 3 nights and I love Montessori so much that I will start a Montessori Playgroup in our hometown and I love it so much that I will push for starting a school as well!!! Thank you so much to everyone supporting Montessori and these albums would be absolutely helpful for our future school!!! Mel
Winning this bundle would be so awesome! We are opoening a new Primary classroom for 3-5 year-olds and I would love the ooportunity to prepare materials from this bundle.
I’d love to win this giveaway for a thousand of wonderful reasons ! I am a montessori mom, l live in France and we do not have so brightful blogs or montessori leaders here ! (I’m gonna loose friends 😉 I will start my montessori training in september through the NAMC and this giveaway would Help a lot as I am not a native english speaker ! Thanks a lot ! Ariane
My child has the right age for this product
I’d love to win this set. I’m beginning my homeschooling journey with my kindergarten-age twins and these would be MOST helpful! Thanks!