Montessori School of Denver

Work at Home

Student work, ideas, projects, worksheets, and more for ages two to fourteen

While there’s nothing like a Montessori classroom, you can still find ways to bring elements of the Montessori experience into your home. We have compiled a sampling of Montessori work at each age level that you can do at home with your child. These lessons, projects, and work ideas all come from actual material sent from our teachers to their students through distance learning. 

Click on a program to jump to schoolwork for your child’s age group.

TODDLER (ages 2-3), PRIMARY (ages 3-6), ELEMENTARY (ages 6-11), MIDDLE SCHOOL (ages 11-14)

Toddler

Work at home ideas for Toddlers

Toddler Work 

Here are some simple ideas that you can use to incorporate and practice Montessori principles at home:

  • Practical Life: Care of the Environment
    • Dustpan and Brush – Have the child use a dustpan after any meal or snack to help clean up.
    • Sorting Laundry – Matching washcloths, towels, socks, mittens, gloves.
  • Practical Life: Personal Care
    • Dressing Frame: Buttons – This can be practiced on formal/dress up adult coats. They tend to have large buttons/buttonholes which are similar to the dressing frames in the Montessori classrooms.
    • Dressing Frame: Zipping – You can practice zipping up boots and raincoats as they also have similar zips to the classroom frame.
  • Sensory
    • Natural Objects Tray – Collect any objects from around your yard that have different colors and textures (maybe with a Spring theme?). Place them on a tray or in a box or basket. We use magnifying glasses to get a closer look if you happen to have one around.
    • Mystery Bag – Take an old purse and fill it with a few familiar but differently shaped and textured objects (we have used old contact cases, balls, empty lipstick containers, mirrors, compacts, brushes, etc.). As you and the child sit with it, ask them to describe what they feel and guess what it is. It helps them to strengthen their tactile awareness and descriptive language.
  • Fine Motor Manipulatives
    • Boxes and Lids – The whole Tupperware drawer is available for this activity. If you have several containers for food storage, place them on a rug or beach towel and have them match the base with the lid. They will probably do some stacking too!
    • Lock and Key – Bike locks are great for trying out their dexterity but require close supervision because of their often-small size.
  • Art
    • Brush and Water – This is the easiest art project of all. Put some water in a bowl on the front porch or sidewalk with different width brushes (big paintbrushes, smaller artistic brushes and anything in between). Let the Toddler create.
    • Tearing Paper – This is a great project for old multicolored tissue paper or wrapping paper. Toddlers love the feel, sound, and look of tearing paper.
  • Math
    • Work with your child to recognize shapes (What shape is a stop sign? Etc).
    • You can count cheerios, blocks, whatever you have handy.
    • Sort different objects within the house (ex. If you have dried pasta you can take out a handful of two or three different kinds and allow your child to sort them by shape).

Check out our Toddler and Primary YouTube Channel for more lessons, songs, and readings from our very own Toddler team!

Primary

Work at home ideas for Primary students ages 3-6

Preschool & Kindergarten Work 

Below are examples of the work that MSD Primary and Kindergarten students have received from their teachers to continue their MSD experience at home. Feel free to have your child try them out!

Primary:

  • Number Tracing
  • Geometric Solids Booklet
    • Look for examples of rectangular prisms around your house.
    • An optional step: your child can draw everything they found.
  • Sound Deck
    • Say letter name, the keyword, and then the sound i.e. “c”, cat, /k/
  • Cutting practice
    • An optional step, your child could use glue to create a collage from their cuttings
  • Sound game (see Summer Suggestion letter under Reading to see how to play sound games)

Kindergarten:

  • Journal writing with picture
    • Optional prompt: If you could travel to space, what would you want to see?
    • Your child may want to use the ABC Chart as a resource when writing.
  • 100 Board Paper
    • Skip count by 5s, circling the numbers you land on with a specific color.
    • Notice more patterns?
  • Handwriting: Red Drawer 5 & 6
    • If your child needs extra support, use a highlighter to write the words so that they can trace it.
  • Math Facts
    • Complete one page of the addition or subtraction booklets.
    • Use manipulatives that you have at your house i.e. stones, buttons, Cheerios, beans, etc.

Check out our Toddler and Primary YouTube Channel for more lessons, songs, and readings from our very own Primary team!

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Elementary

Work at home ideas for Elementary students ages 6-11

Elementary Work

Below are examples of the work that MSD Lower and Upper Elementary students have received from their teachers to continue their MSD experience at home. Feel free to have your child try them out!

Cooking Up Fractions
We use math in many different ways. For this activity, you will practice using math as you apply it to the idea of cooking, specifically cooking pizza (completing the pizza at the end is optional). If it helps, you can print and cut the fraction circles included at the end of the packet to help you solve the math equations.  You might consider making two copies of the fraction circles. Please keep in mind, the “flavors” refer to the level of difficulty, not the flavor of the pizza 😉. Bon appétit!

Mild/Medium Option:
Addition Fractions Lesson
Addition Fractions Work

Spicy Option:
Multiplication Fractions Lesson
Multiplication Fractions Work

Reading & Vocabulary Practice
All of the following passages have to do with creative problem solving and inventions. The mild level is a fictional story about chipmunks who use various objects to help them go on a trip, while the medium level is a brief history of bicycles. You are guaranteed to learn something new! If you’re up for a challenge, the spicy level is an article about inventions that mimic things found in nature (biomimicry). Enjoy!

Gus and Hal (mild)
A Better Bicycle (medium)
Just Copy Nature (spicy)

Creative Writing
You are going to use your creativity and brilliant mind to compose a complete story. The focus will be on the story’s plot, best defined as the order of events taking place. The plot can be described as a “Story Mountain,” and it includes the characters/setting, challenges, climax, and finally a resolution! We have mild, medium, and spicy graphic organizers, including story mountains, to help you organize and put your ideas onto paper. Choose your best fit. Afterward, you are encouraged to put it all together in a complete story. Lined journal paper is provided at the end of the document as well.

Story Mountain Worksheets

Amazon River
Become an expert on the Amazon River! In this assignment, you have the opportunity to learn facts, identify the location of the Amazon River, conduct animal research, and even do a fun word search.

Amazon River Activity

Mindfulness
Mindfulness is about slowing down, breathing, and experiencing the moment.  As we are experiencing change, it is important to slow down and create space for our emotions while also creating space for our breath.

Here are a few activities to help you practice mindfulness:
Body Scan
Mindfulness Games

Check out the Montessori School of Denver YouTube Channel for even more lessons from our Faculty and Staff!

 
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Middle School

Work at home ideas for Middle School students

Middle School Work

Below are examples of the work that MSD Middle School students have received from their teachers to continue their MSD experience at home. Feel free to have your child try them out!

Independent Activities & Projects


Math:

  • Khan Academy is used by many to learn valuable things, even music theory.
  • Xtra Math is great for just some quick math facts review.
  • Have students get out that favorite recipe and figure out how many ingredients would be used to make it for 1 person or for 100 people which helps them work on their equivalent ratios and rates.
  • Track any type of data like how many dogs are being born and make graphs and guesses (predictions) as to where the data will go next.
  • Create children’s books or comics to teach any type of math skills to each other in the family.
  • Have a lesson night once a week where students can give lessons to the family on things they are learning online.
  • Measure out angles in your house and classify them as acute (less than 90 degrees), right (90 degrees), and obtuse (more than 90 degrees).  You could even make this a picture scavenger hunt.
  • Have a math interview where you talk about different occupations and how they use math in the real world.
  • Look up math mistakes that our world has made and talk about why they are mistakes and how students could fix them and have them correct.
  • Create a very out of the box photo session outside of mathematical tools in nature for example trees and how we could use the Pythagorean theorem to solve for the height of the tree.

English/Language Arts:

  • Read your independent reading novel! Finished it? Begin a log of the books you’ve read, then begin a new book.
  • Newsela is a great source to find news for students.
  • PBS has a wide variety of Language Arts activities with subtopics that range from literature, informational texts, foundational skills, plus speaking and listening. There are also other content subjects to explore.
  • Virtual Field Trips are great to explore places around our world from the comfort of your home.
  • Scholastic has tons of lessons and resources, which are now free for everyone to use!
  • Virtual Tours are available through this link.
  • Khan Academy is more well known for math, but has some solid grammar practice available too!
  • IXL is another learning site that has English activities as well as math, science, social studies, and even Spanish. Without an account, you’re limited to how much you can do.

Science:

  • https://thecrashcourse.com/courses This site has great, short lessons that tie in remarkably well with content we have covered and upcoming work.
  • Consider what items/ingredients you have around your house to recreate science experiments.
  • Use a YouTube tutorial to attempt building….anything you want – be mindful of supply lists and what tools you will need before beginning.
  • Watch a video from the Columbia Earth Institute. The series will feature scientific experts from across the institute in 60-minute live sessions where they will share aspects of their work through lectures, interactive activities, and/or demos. The series will be streamed live to YouTube and will occur twice a week beginning April 6 until June 29 on Mondays and Wednesdays at 2:00pm EDT/12:00 MST

History/Social Studies:

  • Interview a family member (Grandparents, Aunt, Uncle, Parent, etc.) and make an “About Me” booklet with stories from their life.
  • Research your Family Tree and make a family tree chart. How many generations can you go back?
  • Did you know that you are actually living through a major historical event that people will talk about for generations?  Why not keep a journal with pictures, videos, stories, etc. about your experience? It might become a primary source for historians one day or you might like to share your experiences with your children or grandchildren!
  • Visit an online Museum and write a tour map or brochure of must-see exhibits and artists. Other sites Top 10 virtual tours, Smithsonian Museums, 300 Virtual Museums
  • Plan a trip to a place you have always wanted to visit or a time period you would like to travel to. Make an itinerary of the attractions you want to visit or make a travel brochure of all the sites. Video ideas here.
  • Khan Academy: Europe 1300-1600 Renaissance & Reformation – Brush up on our current unit and quiz yourself at the end.
  • Collect historical trivia and make a Kahoot to challenge your friends and family.
  • Listen to a historical podcast and write a summary, or quiz, or just listen for fun!
  • Make & play a historical board game or check out these versions you can buy.
  • Read about or listen to other people’s life stories on StoryCorps.org.
  • Visit the Witness History for historical videos, podcasts, movies and more
  • Hang out with Rick Steves again and learn about Travel, History, or Global Issues of today.
  • Visit  iCivics.com to play games, solve real problems, and learn about citizenship and the US Government. Play as a judge, a member of Congress, a community activist, and even the President of the United States.

Social Emotional:

  • Sam Harris App (typically it costs money per month, but is currently free of charge)
  • Headspace App
  • Calm App 
  • Go Noodle
  • Do some coloring, a puzzle, yoga, or check out the Mindfulness Course on Schoology for other ideas and activities! Course access code is: ZZHW-BPBB-P3WGR

Service Work:

  • Search your closet & room to find items in good condition that you have outgrown or do not wear or use anymore. Take them to your local Goodwill, Salvation Army, or shelter.
  • Pick up some non-perishables to donate to your local food bank.
  • Send a card, make a bracelet or care package for others through Operation Gratitude.
  • Pick up some trash. Head out to a local trail or go around your neighborhood and spend a few hours beautifying your surroundings. (Wear gloves!)
  • Get involved in a cause through DoSomething.org
  • Write a letter or send a postcard to the elderly residents at local assisted living homes. You can also record or video yourself reading a story and email it with your parents and the residence’s permission.
    • Springbrooke Retirement Home: 6800 Leetsdale Dr, Denver, CO 80224
    • Five Star Residents at Dayton Place: 1950 S Dayton St, Denver, CO 80247

Miscellaneous Activities & Projects:

  • Listen to one of the best 25 Podcasts for teens and kids! (Stories, Life Topics, and Silly Fun!)
  • Virtually visit the Cincinnati Zoo. Join the Zoo for a Home Safari Facebook Live each weekday at 1pm MST/3pm EST, where they will highlight one of their amazing animals and include an activity you can do from home! Or visit the Denver Zoo’s virtual safari and webcams!
  • Virtually visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium! Visit sea otters to sharks to hypnotic moon jellies through 10 live webcams. They also post guided MeditOcean (meditations) before bedtime if you check out their Facebook or YouTube pages.
  • Do a puzzle!
  • Learn to Cook or learn a new recipe!
  • Learn to do your laundry, iron, or ask your parents how you can help around the house.
  • Make an “About Me” book – Answer questions about your wishes and fears, memories and beliefs, secrets and dreams, likes and dislikes.
  • Check out this website for DIY Projects for Teens!
  • Take a free online exercise YMCA Class or Dance on GoNoodle.
  • Learn a new language or brush up on your Spanish.
  • Attend an Online Opera.
  • Listen to a story or book.
  • Make some Kool-Aid Playdough or Regular Playdough.
  • Make a comic book.

Find more stay at home project ideas on MSD’s Instagram!