I wanted to try and get this post together for y’all as quickly as possible, so I’ll continue to updated it with resources that I find helpful & think you may enjoy during the COVID-19 school shutdown. I am NOT an educator, but just a mama who wants to not go stir crazy for the unforeseeable future while schools are out.
I attended Montessori school myself through 8th grade and Brody has been in Montessori since he was 18 months old. I know that I carry skills with me to this day from my Montessori days and I’ve watched first hand how successful it is with my own son. He is now completing Montessori Kindergarten and I cannot say enough good things.
If you aren’t familiar with Montessori, here’s a quick synopsis from another blogger that I thought explained it pretty well: What the Heck is Montessori But long story short, I think that everyone faced with this tough situation we are in can benefit from this type of learning and making it work with your current home schedule.
I’ll round up some of our favorite Montessori friendly at-home toys for toddlers as well as some other resources we will be utilizing while the kids are home. I’ll also share the schedule that we plan on trying to follow most days in case it could work for your family as well.
Thanks for doing your part in social distancing, Godspeed and good health to all of you!
MONTESSORI FRIENDLY TOYS
I’ve created an Amazon Idea List where you can shop some of our favorite toys, Montessori friendly, and anything else that I find that could benefit you during the shutdown. I will be continually adding to it, so keep checking back in!
A friend just shared with me that Melissa & Doug is discounted on Zulily right now too!
TECHNOLOGY
Aside from watching TV & movies and our beloved ALEXA, our kids don’t use much technology in the home (or at school). Getting to use the iPad is really a treat and I love that Brody hasn’t pushed back on the apps we suggest to him. Our absolute favorite iPad resource is the OSMO and we have both the Creative Kit & the Genius Kit. You only need to buy the full kit once and then can buy the additional games separately to save some money. It’s a little on the pricey side, but it is AWESOME! I HIGHLY recommend the OSMO!
The other app that we utilize is ABC MOUSE . Your teachers may already be utilizing this as well! *BONUS* I just found out they are offering it FREE right now with code: SCHOOL4276
RESOURCES
Additional resources that I’ve seen pop up & I think may be worth checking out:
Teachers Pay Teachers: Lots of great printable resources created by teachers!
The Cincinnati Zoo is doing a Facebook Live every day at 3pm. “Each session will highlight an animal and provide an activity that you can do at home.” HOW COOL IS THIS?!
KiwiCo – this is a subscription box that sends you an age-designated STEAM box with projects & learning materials for your kiddo. We just signed up for this today so that we can get boxes to help fuel Brody’s love for science over this break. You can pay up front for 1, 3, 6, or 12 months and you can cancel anytime!
A teacher friend of mine created a FB group for Kindergarten mamas to share resources. Here are links being shared in that group and I’ll continue to update this as they come:
SCHEDULE
This is the schedule that I created for our family to utilize while school is out. I’m hoping this can keep us on track with continuing education at home through both play-based and resource guided materials!
If our schedule doesn’t work for you, here’s a blank one you can fill out to fit your needs:
I hope that some of this can be helpful to you. I’ll update it as resources and recommendations come my way!
