Our Home Classroom Part 2: Language
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my family recently moved to a new house and I have had a great time setting up a classroom in the basement for my children, ages 9 and 6.
Today I’d like to cover what I’ve done for their language studies; while this is in a home classroom, it’s very similar to what I did in my school classrooms, just smaller.
Let’s get started!
In my earlier post about our homeschool classroom, I posted a picture of the room from one angle, but here it is from another angle:
Remembering dark, paneled basements of my youth, I always thought that if I had a basement, I would paint it yellow. It’s not really possible to have a basement that’s too sunny.
Here’s my daughter’s language shelf, which in the picture above is on the far right:
She is in first grade, and has worked through the Pink Series and is in the middle of Blue Series work. Here is the Blue Series shelf:
I have Blue Series booklets in the far left container (those are from Montessori Matters and are hard to find, but you can make your own by stapling together cards with Blue Series words on them).
Next are the Blue Series Word Cards, in a clear glass container that used to have a candle in it. (I’ll use just about anything as a container!) Then there are the Blue Series Spelling Cards, in a holder from Office Max (they have them at Staples, too; they are known as literature holders). After that is a tray with two bags containing Blue Series Objects with labels. Those I made myself; you can see suggestions for objects here.
The second shelf has a multi-drawer cabinet, which I use for Word Study cards as outlined here. Next to that are three plural sets with objects, as mentioned in this post about using objects for language work.
The third shelf has another Word Study cabinet (I also put things like Initial Consonant and Initial Vowel Sound Cards in those), the Vowel Tree (a free download here under Reading & Pre-Reading), poetry cards from the Poetry Kit, and some phonics readers:
The bottom shelf has a movable alphabet and boxes for five of the nine grammar symbols. Each box has labels and objects inside for grammar study (many of those are shown here).
I have other materials that she uses (more Blue Series work, nomenclature cards, more phonics readers, etc.) but I have limited space, so I switch things around and keep most of it stored in the large closet at the end of the room.
My son is in 4th grade and does a lot of reading and writing; his language shelf doesn’t have too much on it because more time is spent with things like book reports, creative writing, and research (we have a small room nearby that we use as a library, with lots of reference books and other resources).
Here is his language shelf:
On the top shelf are the Advanced Spelling Cards (on the left) and Creative Writing Command Cards (in the middle).
On the far right of the top shelf is a really nifty book on grammar called Nitty Gritty Grammar. I got it from Scholastic but I’m sure it’s available other places too. It uses funny cartoon-style drawings to illustrate grammar, normally a dull subject. My son loves it and reads a few pages a day.
On the second shelf on the left are some fantastic cards that I only discovered recently: English from the Roots Up flashcards. They have Greek or Latin root words on one side and related English words on the other. A lot of fun to read and very eye-opening.
Next to that is a Word Study cabinet with Level 4 work; I have not had a chance to make more advanced Word Study work yet so for now I am relying on some materials found across the web, including some free language downloads from Cultivating Dharma, a blog run by an Upper Elementary teacher who kindly shares his materials.
On the third shelf you’ll find a Prefix/Suffix Chart (from Montessori Matters, somewhat hard to find). Next to that is a bin with Advanced Studies Command Cards for language.
On the bottom shelf is a container with central theme story cards (like ones on my Free Downloads – Language page). Over the years I’ve made many of them, mostly with stickers and some with clipart/photos. Next to that is a dictionary; with all the writing and research we do my son uses it a lot.
Hope that gives you an idea of how we handle language studies in our homeschool classroom!
Fantastic! So well organized, attractive, engaging! Love the yellow! Lots of great ideas here for me and my children.
Please tell me where to find the grammar boxes that are the correct shape and color! I love them and have never seen them before, thanks!
Hi, Lucinda! Thanks so much – it definitely is cheery. So glad you found this helpful.
Christine, I’ve had several requests for the grammar box source, and I’m sad to say that I bought them on Etsy and they are no longer available.
However, I’ve heard that round wooden boxes with hinges are available at Hobby Lobby and Michael’s, and then you can paint them the correct color.
I don’t know where to find the triangle-shaped boxes, but perhaps hobby stores have those too or you can Google it.
I can not thank you enough for all your information and pictures. Greatly appreciated, and very well done!
Thank you so much, Hollis! That’s very kind of you. Thanks for stopping by!
Gorgeous and very inspiring!
Hi, Kylie! Thank you so much for your kind words! How sweet!
What a gorgeous and peaceful environment! I feel like working there myself (as I look around at my desk stacked high with papers). Your kids are lucky, indeed!
Thank you so much! I do find it a fun, peaceful place to work.
Lori, Thank you for sharing.
My older one is six and will be going from 3-6 to 6-9 this fall. Your photos give me a good idea of how I should consider setting up his 6-9 workspace. Am still a little unsure how it is going to flow to have one doing 3-6 and the other doing 6-9.
Would love any thoughts you have on this with one in each level…
will most likely order some materials from you for 6-9, too…just trying to go through and think about how it is going to work for us.
Also, saw your name on the most recent article about Montessori Top 50 that Jesse Young wrote. Congrats to you! Love your blog!
Colleen
Hi, Colleen! Thanks for your kind words about my blog. It’s a lot of work but fun to think of things to share and write about.
When you’re juggling more than one age group, I don’t have much to add other than what I’ve already shared – have separate areas for each one’s work, and swap things out rather than trying to have everything out at once.
Thanks for stopping by!
Your new classroom is BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for sharing the views. I recently posted some pictures of our new classroom at home. The kids love the room. Lori, I’m interested in buying an English Dictionary that’s appropriate for my kids (8 & 3 yo). English is our 2nd language so I assume a picture dictionary would be very appropriate. I’ll make my best effort in remembering to come back for your response. However, I’d love to get your answer over my email address, if you don’t mind.
THANKS SO MUCH!
Evelyn
Hi, Evelyn! I did send you an email about dictionary recommendations (basically, any children’s dictionary from Scholastic, in case anyone else is wondering).
Thank you so much for your kind words about our home classroom. We’ve worked hard on it and get a lot of use from it!
Hi Lori, my name is Silvia & I just finished my first year of homeschooling (6 & 9yrs old). My family recently moved and we have an upstairs loft that we’re using as a family room and classroom. Do you have any ideas on how to make a multipurpose room work without looking messy?
Hi, Silvia! Sure, just do what I did: have a section for your classroom and a section for toys (keep them separate) and use lots of shelves and attractive containers. And have the kids clean it up every day
I am new to homeschooling and would love to ask for free resources and support to teach my 7,7, and 5 yr olds. It’s going to be fun!
Lori
Hi, Lori! I have several free resources. One is this blog which is chock-full of great posts about homeschooling, education, Montessori, and child development. Feel free to use the green “Blog Categories” box at the top right to find your way around.
The other free things I offer are my free downloads, which you can save to your computer and print as needed. There are over 100, so have fun looking around!
Last, feel free to join our Facebook page. I post interesting links there, and it’s also a way for people to interact and communicate about education.
Thanks!
Hi Lori,
I am currently deconstructing our homeschool space as I have three age groups on the go at the moment and a four about to be mobile. I’ve decided I like your set up so much I’m going to copy it. My question is in your photos and the workplans you have the language boxes labelled set 1 , set 2 etc. Why and how are these activities divided like that? My age groups are 7, 5, 20months and 5 months. Its busy, its exciting and I love it. I love your website and your resources, without them, I would have packed it all in years ago. Keep up the great work!
Hi, Anabel! Sorry, I don’t know which language boxes or activities you’re referring to, but if I do label them Set 1, Set 2, etc., it’s just because there’s more than one set and I’m keeping them separate. Many of the items I sell have more than one set (like Animal Homes has Animal Homes Set 1, Animal Homes Set 2, etc.)
Thanks!
Thanks Lori, I was referring to the multidrawer cabinets you have in the photo of your language shelf. Your explanation really helped, thanks.
It’s perfect but I´m Mexican and the Series Word Cards are in English. What can I do? Thanks!
Hi, Verenice! I don’t know of any Pink, Blue, and Green Series available in other languages, including Spanish, and part of that is because they were designed specifically for teaching English.
However, many places do offer Spanish Montessori materials. We have them here, and here’s a post with other sources for foreign language materials.
Wow! You just have know idea how helpful your site is to me. I can easily find a wealth of information about implementing primary Montessori activities in my home, but have had a much more difficult time finding resources for the elementary years. Thank you so much for all of the careful explanations, helpful links and lovely photos. This is beyond inspiring!
So glad to hear it! And glad you found us
I was so excited to find triangle wooden boxes for the grammar cards at Michael’s yesterday. I found them in the wooden section near the ready to paint shelves in case anyone wants to search their Michael’s store!