Creating Montessori lesson plans for your students can be difficult, especially if you are unsure what they should include, but it doesn’t have to be. In her book, Maria Montessori Montessori states that lessons should be:
- Practical
- Concise
- Simple
- Objective
Remember that no matter what lessons are about, they should build upon each other. That way, children can see how everything is connected and use those lessons to create an understanding of the world.
Teach Practical Lessons in Each Subject
One of the main goals of Montessori lesson plans is teaching children practical life lessons like caring for themselves and their environment. However, practical lessons aren’t just limited to learning how to clean up after yourself. With each lesson, be it art or science, integrate how these lessons can be used in everyday life. For example, show children how art can help illustrate a plan or how science is used to cook a meal.
Be Simple & Concise for the Greatest Understanding
Maria Montessori was quite clear when she said that teachers must not inflate lessons with “useless words.” Meaning, when you give a lesson, the words you choose to describe something should be as simple as possible for the greatest understanding—especially for younger children. In the same vein, those words must also be concise.
When you give a lesson, make sure that you aren’t going off on tangents or getting distracted. Stay on topic and make sure that your students understand the lesson. If they don’t understand a concept, be sure to ask what they didn’t understand and go over it with them again.
Keep Montessori Lesson Plans Objective
“The lesson must be presented in such a way that the personality of the teacher shall disappear.” While you should put your heart into each lesson instead of giving a bland presentation of mere facts, what Maria Montessori meant by this statement was that the teacher must only “refer to the truth.” The teacher’s own opinions and biases should remain out of the lesson so the children can form their own opinion based on the facts given them.
