Montessori Homeschool Preschool

Do you want your preschooler to enjoy the benefits of the Montessori method, but without the expensive tuition or time away from home? Montessori homeschool preschool might just be for you!

Montessori preschool at home can help families enjoy the benefits of both homeschooling and Montessori, all while strengthening family bonds and offering a respectful, personalized learning experience. In this article, we’ll share our favorite benefits of Montessori homeschool preschool — and help you get started.

5 Benefits of Montessori Homeschool Preschool

Time With Your Child

If you’re a parent, we don’t need to tell you that children grow up fast. A significant benefit of Montessori homeschool preschool is that it allows families to spend more time together while their children are young. Even if you don’t plan on homeschooling forever, homeschooling during the preschool years allows you precious time with your child in their earliest years.

As your child’s first teacher, you can experience all the precious learning moments as your child learns how to count, write, read, and more. Together, you can share in the joy that comes from learning and discovery. These experiences can build your bond and help you understand each other on a deeper level.

Personalized Education

Montessori homeschool preschool makes it easy to observe your child and tailor their education to their interests and needs. Homeschooling beautifully complements the core Montessori principle to “follow the child.”

For example, if you notice your child has an intense fascination with dinosaurs, you can spend the day learning at a local dinosaur museum. If you observe that your child works better with light music in the background, you can easily make that change to your home classroom. If your child is a late riser (lucky you!), you can plan your Montessori homeschool schedule accordingly.

This increased flexibility is a gift of homeschooling. You can personalize the environment, curriculum, and daily rhythm to best help your child thrive.

Cost Benefits

Preschool, especially Montessori preschool, isn’t cheap. Depending on your area and the program, Montessori preschool can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month. Montessori homeschool preschool makes Montessori accessible, even to families unable to afford a traditional Montessori preschool program.

Practical Life Opportunities

Maria Montessori designed her classrooms to emulate the home environment, which is rich with practical life opportunities. Practical life trays in a Montessori classroom have their place, but a home environment makes these activities natural, simple, and effective. Montessori homeschool preschool makes it easy to involve children in beneficial practical life activities like cleaning, food preparation, grocery shopping, gardening, laundry, and more.

Low-Pressure Introduction to Homeschool

On the fence about homeschooling? The preschool years offer a low-pressure opportunity for parents to test the waters when it comes to homeschooling. Since preschool isn’t typically mandatory, parents can try out homeschooling without having to worry about state testing, government paperwork, and other external pressures. Instead, you can simply focus on your child and their learning.

How To Start Montessori Homeschool Preschool

Sold on the benefits of Montessori homeschool preschool and ready to start? You’re in the right place! Homeschool, especially for preschool, can be beautifully simple. You don’t need to know the ins and outs of every Montessori material or study every aspect of Montessori theory to be an effective homeschooler. Here’s how you can start Montessori homeschool today:

Choose An Approach

Once you’ve decided to do Montessori homeschool preschool, it’s time to choose your approach. Your exact approach will likely change and adapt as you start homeschooling, and that’s OK. But a solid starting point can give you direction as you find your rhythm.

Take time to solidify your vision for your daily routine and learning. Think about your child, their needs, and your family values. Consider your goals for homeschooling and how you hope to accomplish those goals.

As you form your homeschooling vision, you may ask yourself questions like these: How do I plan to balance the time between shelf work, practical life activities, outside time, reading time, and other activities each day? Do I want to follow a specific Montessori preschool curriculum, or create my own? Would I benefit from homeschool helps like Montessori By Mom Toolboxes? Do I want to follow a strictly Montessori approach, or incorporate other methods? How do I want to change my home environment, if at all, to support my child’s learning? How will my personal family values influence my homeschooling approach? What’s most important to me to prioritize in my home classroom and my child’s homeschool learning experience?

Answering these questions will help you form a homeschooling plan that you feel good about for your child and family.

Educate, Plan, & Prepare

Once you’ve decided on a general homeschooling framework, you can begin to plan the specifics of your homeschool year. Consider the key lessons you hope to introduce to your child and the skills you anticipate they may be working on this year. Take inventory of what materials you will need and what materials you can make yourself.

Since Montessori is child-led, you won’t know exactly what your child will be working on at any given time. But you can educate yourself on Montessori materials and lessons so you are prepared for what’s next. We have plenty of Montessori homeschool resources on our blog. There are many other resources online outlining the Montessori language sequence of lessons, Montessori math materials by age, Montessori cultural activities, and more.

Seek Support

Homeschooling can be richly rewarding and beneficial, but it isn’t always easy. Seeking support can help make your homeschooling experience as smooth as possible. Online support groups, like our Montessori Made Easy Facebook group, can help you connect with other homeschooling parents and find answers to your questions. Local homeschooling groups are another great resource and often offer an opportunity for your children to socialize with other homeschooled preschoolers their age. You may also consider how you can get breaks as a homeschooling parent, whether through childcare swaps or other arrangements.

Seek Connection, Not Perfection

Montessori homeschool preschool can feel overwhelming at first, and it’s easy to get caught up in the desire to do it perfectly. But here’s the truth: you don’t need to do it perfectly. The beauty of Montessori is that it isn’t a set curriculum, but rather a set of principles that each family can apply as they see fit. You don’t need to buy every Montessori material, follow a meticulously-planned curriculum, or have Instagram-worthy themed shelves to be an effective Montessori homeschooler.

Instead, focus on connecting with your child, following their lead, and enjoying the precious gift of time together. You’ll learn as you go, and your child will learn right alongside you. Happy homeschooling!