Today, we’re going to look at some fun grammar extensions that can be done inexpensively, using the grammar materials you already have or common items from around your classroom. I like the sound of that! I’ve also included some recommendations for helpful story books about grammar.

Combined Lessons

These lessons combine two or more parts of speech together, to show the relationship between them. All you need is the grammar symbols.

Article/Adjective/Noun: Show the child the three triangles that make up the noun family: article, adjective, noun. This family is used in almost every sentence we say or write. They can think of a few “article, adjective, noun” phrases.

Verb/Adverb: Show the child an verb symbol (large red circle) and then take an adverb symbol (smaller orange circle) and have the adverb orbit around the verb. This demonstrates how the verb and adverb often go together, with the adverb bringing additional meaning to the verb.

Noun/Verb: The last combined presentation is that of the noun and the verb. The child is shown an object and asked to name it (pick something simple, like a book or pencil). Then ask them to perform a task (jump, hop). See if they can tell you the difference between the two: nouns can be seen and felt, verbs can be acted out.

Label Games

These can be played with each part of speech, either when it’s first introduced to the children or later as a review. All you need is an envelope and some small pieces of paper. Write the name of the part of speech on the envelope (“pronoun”) and ask children to think of different words that fit this category. Write the words on small pieces of paper and put them in the envelope.

Keep the grammar envelopes in the language section of the room and encourage kids to add to them every time they think of a word that fits the specific category. You can periodically take the envelopes off the shelf and go through them with the children to look at the words they’ve added.

Older children (8-12, depending on ability), can make envelopes and labels that divide the parts of speech even further:

Nouns: common or proper nouns, places, things, ideas, or masculine and feminine nouns
Articles: definitive and indefinite
Adjectives: proper, predicate, demonstrative, comparative, and superlative
Verbs: states of being (“are”, “is”) and action verbs (“jump”, “swim”)
Adverbs: manner, place, time, frequency, degree
Prepositions: place, direction, and time
Conjunctions: coordinating, subordinating, correlative, and conjunctive adverb

Triangle Detective Game

The material for this exercise can be purchased (it includes many triangles of different types and colors) but you can also simply cut out a few different triangles using different colors of paper.

Spread out all the triangles on a rug or table. Tell the child you only want one of the triangles. Ask them to give you one and see if they guessed correctly. Write “the triangle” on a piece of paper. They will give you one, but it’s the wrong one. Now write “the small triangle”.

Continue until you have written something very specific, like “the small, red, isosceles, right triangle”. The child can clearly see how using adjectives gives us the information we need to distinguish one thing from another.

Preposition Game

Gather some small objects. Write a few different prepositions on pieces of paper. Have the child arrange the objects to illustrate the preposition. For instance, in my preposition box I have a tiny house and a miniature hedgehog. The child might put the hedgehog in front of the house and set out the words “in front of”. They can then write it as a sentence, i.e. “The hedgehog is in front of the house”.

Reading About Grammar – Some Great Books

There’s a fun series of books called “Words Are Categorical” that illustrate the different parts of speech. Written by Brian P. Cleary, they are available through Scholastic as well as at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com. The zany illustrations and bouncy rhymes do a great job of helping kids remember the parts of speech and their functions. He also has books about synonyms, homonyms, and other word groups.

There’s a lovely series of books by Ruth Heller (yes, the author of all the “Designs for Coloring” books) about the parts of speech. The entire series is called “World of Language” and includes such titles as Luscious Lollipops (adjectives) and Kites Sail High (verbs). They are available at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com. eBay is also a great place to buy used books cheaply; just make sure you check the seller’s feedback and the shipping costs.

This is the last installment of the grammar series; I’ve had a great time and plan on doing many of these lessons with my son. We’ve done the introductory grammar work but not the extensions in this post – hope you’re able to use some of them too!

In Montessori, we have many different kinds of activities to teach the parts of speech. Some may be a bit of a surprise – who would think that a farm play set could be used to teach grammar? I love the idea of kids using familiar objects and animals to learn more about language.

Here are a few of the common grammar materials:

The Farm Game

This activity, like the one seen here from Alison’s Montessori, is common in the 3-6 classroom. It usually consists of a wooden farm set, including a barn and miniature farm animals. In addition, the child is provided with small cards that have different nouns, verbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech that might be used on the farm.

A very young child might simply play with the set with a friend, using language skills to identify the animals and their movements. They might use individual labels for the nouns (“sheep”, “goat”). An older child might make longer sentences using more parts of speech, like “The goat jumped over the red fence”.

While the traditional wooden farm set is lovely, it’s also a bit pricey. I’ve heard of people who have found less expensive plastic sets (some are still very nice). I personally bought a feltboard farm set and used that and it worked beautifully.

Grammar Symbol Charts & Definitions

Nomenclature cards and charts can be used to familiarize the child with the symbols and definitions. The child can be asked to give an example of each part of speech, or write a sentence using several of the parts of speech together. You may want to hang a grammar symbol chart on the wall of the language area for reference purposes.

Phrases and Sentences

Here, the children take the symbols and apply them to real sentences. Sentence cards or strips are prepared or bought by the teacher and the child is given a box or container of symbols that are printed on paper or cut out of wood. The child looks at each word in the sentence and decides what part of speech it is. They then place the appropriate symbol above the word.

A reversal of this exercise is to give the child prepared strips with symbols in various orders. The child then thinks of words to make a sentence that fits the pattern.

Grammar Boxes

I’ll be honest with you. I’m not a big fan of the wooden grammar boxes. They are expensive, and to my mind, not essential for grammar studies. The ones from Nienhuis don’t list the words in the correct order for English grammar. I called Nienhuis once to ask why some of the boxes have such strange word order, and they were unable to tell me. If anyone knows, please share!

I feel that great results can be achieved by using the grammar cards alone, as mentioned below. If you do have the grammar boxes, you would use the grammar cards with them to form sentences. The Grammar Boxes offered by Alison’s Montessori (linked to above) have movable labels for the parts of speech, so that you can change the order as needed. Those make more sense to me than the kind with fixed (painted) labels from Nienhuis.

Grammar Cards

For this activity you will need cards with words on them for each part of speech. The child sets them out to create sentences. For instance, they may set out cards (one for each word) that say: A book is on the table. They’ve used an article, noun, verb, preposition, article, and noun.

Then, they could take various adjective cards (“blue”, “smooth”) and try them out in front of the nouns in the sentence. By switching out adjectives, nouns, verbs, and prepositions, the variations are endless.

Reading (or Sentence) Analysis

In Reading Analysis Set 1, the child is introduced to the words and phrases that make up sentences. The first lesson involves only the subject, verb, and direct object. The patterns become more complex, with those parts in different combinations (two subjects with one direct object, or two direct objects with one subject).

Then, the child is shown a larger and more complex chart, Reading Analysis Set 2, that includes all the different types of subjects and predicates, answering questions like “why?”, “when?”, “from what?”, and “with whom?”.

You guessed it…

The one thing all of these materials have in common, like all Montessori materials, is that they are hands-on. Children are matching, moving, and manipulating words and symbols to create patterns and sentences. This kind of tactile work helps solidify the parts of speech in a very special way.

In order for the child to begin the study of grammar, there is a fun, beginning activity for each part of speech.

Take a look!

Noun: For this noun lesson, you’ll need some small objects and slips of paper. Show the child(ren) the objects and have them say the names. Write the names down on the pieces of paper and match them to the correct object. Tell the children that nouns are “naming words”. They name people, places, things, and ideas.

Article: You’ll need about six objects, some singly (one button) and some in quantities (four paperclips). Make sure at least one object starts with a vowel and that you have several of that object (apples, erasers). Then write “a”, “an”, and “the” on slips of paper.

Show the child how to match them correctly: when there is one of an item (one button), you use “the” button. When there’s a group of objects (four paperclips) and you want to single out one, you use “a” paperclip. When there’s an object (one of several) that starts with a vowel sound you use “an” apple.

Let them know that “the” is a definitive article because it points out a definite object. “A” and “an” are indefinite articles because they not clearly specify which item you are indicating.

Adjective: Once a child has successfully worked with nouns and articles, they are ready to learn the function of an adjective. Gather a group of objects (several toy cars, several pencils) that each have a different color. Ask the child(ren) to hand you a car.

The child may hesitate, unsure of which car you want, so you can say, “I will use a special word to help describe the car I want. Please hand me the yellow car”. Explain that adjectives are describing words.

Verb: You can write simple verbs on slips of paper and ask the child to demonstrate them (“hop”, “walk”). Tell them that this type of word is an action word, known as a verb. The verb adds the life, or energy, to the sentence.

A second, similar lesson has you taking one object (ball) and giving the children slips of paper with action words. They take the ball and apply that action to it, e.g., “lift” the ball, “hide” the ball, “push” the ball, “roll” the ball, etc. Again, the idea is that energy (verb) is being applied to matter (noun).

Adverb: Write a command on a slip of paper, like “walk”. Give it to the child and ask them to do it. Then add the word “slowly” and ask them to do it. Then write “walk quickly”, have them do it, and give them a few more examples (“walk proudly”, “walk tiredly”).

Tell them that the adverb modifies the verb in the same way that an adjective modifies a noun. It adds meaning to the verb.

Conjunction: Have the children write some noun phrases (“the big chair”, “the green couch”, “a tiny kitten”). Then write “I saw” and put that in front of the noun phrases. Have the child try to read the sentence. They will have difficulty. Write “and” on two slips of paper and put them in between the noun phrases. The sentence will now read:

I saw the big chair and the green couch and a tiny kitten.

Remove the first “and” slip and turn it over. Explain that instead of saying “and” over again, the first “and”s can be replaced with a comma. Write a comma on the slip of paper and put it back in the sentence. Now the sentence should read:

I saw the big chair, the green couch and a tiny kitten.

[Aside: if you, like me, are a fan of the serial comma – the comma before the last “and” in a series – you can add one there as well].

Explain to the kids that “and” is a conjunction; it joins together phrases and clauses to make sentences.

Preposition: The most basic way to introduce prepositions is to set a chair in front of the children. Ask one child to get up and stand “behind” the chair. Then ask them to get “on” the chair. Have another child get up and go “under” the chair.

Continue until everyone has had a chance to demonstrate some prepositions (over, next to, beside). Explain to them that words that tell us the relationship of one thing to another are called prepositions.

Pronoun: Write a sentence that uses the same noun over and over. For example, “Dana gave Dana’s dog a treat and then went to Dana’s room”. Then read the same sentence but replace the name with a pronoun. “Dana gave her dog a treat and then went to her room”. Explain that the pronoun often takes the place of a noun in a sentence.

Interjection: Give the children a few examples of interjections: “Go!” “Stop!” “Oh?” Tell them that we use interjections to express strong feelings. An interjection is a one-word sentence. Explain that punctuation marks are very helpful in emphasizing the emotion of an interjection.

These simple games rely on the child’s own experience with words (and types of words) so that they can differentiate the parts of speech. Give them a try!

Fortunately, just as with so many sticky areas of study, Montessori takes the pain out of learning grammar. The hands-on materials are visual and sensible; the child quickly learns the parts of speech and how they function, and then moves on to the parts of a sentence and how they function.

We have an advantage when we teach grammar, over another area of study like math or geography: we are simply making the child conscious of something they already do subconsciously. A toddler can speak his or her language and use the parts of speech correctly. What we need to do is make sure the child understands the names, definitions, and functions of each part of speech.

I initially thought I would write one post about grammar, but that quickly grew until I have about four of them. That surprised me, too! Stay tuned in future weeks for more fun with grammar. On with today’s post!

Grammar Symbols – What Do They Mean?

Maria Montessori, knowing that children respond well to shapes and colors, decided to use a system of colored shapes to represent the different parts of speech. Each shape and color has a meaning:

1. The Noun is represented by a black triangle. The triangle stands for the pyramid, one of the first human structures, and black is for carbon, believed to be the first mineral discovered by humans.

2. The Adjective (small dark blue triangle), Article (smaller light blue triangle), and Pronoun (large purple triangle) are part of The Noun Family and so use the triangular shape with different colors.

3. The Verb is a circle, to represent the shape of the sun which gives life. The red color also symbolizes life (blood). The verb gives life to the sentence. The Adverb is a smaller circle and is often pictured orbiting the verb like a planet; it depends on the verb for existence.

4. The Conjunction is a small pink bar which represents a link in a chain; the Preposition is a green crescent to symbolize a bridge. There’s no known significance in the color of either.

5. The Interjection is a gold triangle with a circle on top; it combines the symbols of the noun and the verb together. Interjections function as both noun and verb in a sentence; it may have been the first word spoken by humans (ow!). It is gold because they are the “king of all words”.

Why Do We Need To Know?

Sometimes when we read about the origins of some of the Montessori materials, they might seem a little silly or outdated. The grammar symbols are frequently used by adults and children who don’t know the meaning behind the shapes and colors, but nevertheless find the symbols to be a great way to learn grammar.

However, I do think it can be helpful to know the “why” behind the materials we use; they can help us remember what makes each part of speech special, as well as the relationships that they have with each other. I’ve found that kids enjoy learning the meanings of the shapes and colors.

The Importance of Grammar Study

The study of grammar is to language what the study of anatomy is to science. By studying grammar, we become better writers and readers. Generally, the grammar materials are started in second grade. The child, at this age, has learned to read but is still interested in words, their meanings, and their functions.

Some of the simple introductory lessons (which I’ll cover in the next post) can be done with the 3-6 age group. They are done as sensorial lessons, that is, lessons that evoke a certain feeling or imagery. They are not done with the intention of having the child understand the concept in an academic way.

After the child has been introduced to grammar on a sensorial level, they are ready to understand it in a deeper way. The elementary lessons are done with the intent of academic understanding.

In the rest of this series, we’ll be covering all the introductory grammar lessons, the basic grammar materials, and extensions for the study of grammar. Stay tuned – it’s gonna be awesome!

When Dr. Montessori developed her sandpaper letters, she was delighted to discover that small children could absorb these skills with great ease and pleasure. Her moment of revelation came in realizing she only needed to let children touch, with their fingers, the letters of the alphabet, for them to start comprehending exactly how each letter is formed. This is really an exercise in observing design, and children enjoy getting to feel the slightly rough surface of basic Montessori sandpaper letters.

How to use the sandpaper letters

In the classroom or homeschool environment, you can begin by offering the child a selection of three letters. Present one of the letters first, and demonstrate tracing the letter with two fingers while you say the sound of that letter. It’s important to make a distinction between the names of the letters and their sounds. Rather than saying, “This is B”, you want to give the sound of the letter, as in, “buh”.

After your demonstration, let the child trace the letter several times while they pronounce its sound. After several repetitions, give the second letter with its spoken sound, and so onto the third. Finally, set all three letters before the child and let them trace and verbalize each one if they can. Make a record of which letters or sounds have been perfected so that you can keep track of their progress.

Many instructors advise making sure that all of the vowels are among the first 1/2 of the letters given to a child in this way. When we learn vowels, we are well on our way to having the tools we need to form words. The above work will enable the children not only to master recognition of the forms and sounds of each letter, but the act of tracing with the fingers puts them just one step away from being able to reproduce those tracings with a writing implement!

Further exercises with letters

The North American Montessori Center makes some good suggestions for promoting further confidence with the designs of the alphabet. For example, allow the child to take the sandpaper letters over to a tray of cornmeal where he can trace the forms right into the grain. Or, let the children form the letters out of dough or clay. A nice group activity involves letting a small group of children who have been introduced to the same number of letters play a game that is rather like Concentration. Let them put the letter cards upside down on a mat. In turn, each child knocks on the back of a card, saying, “Knock-knock. Who’s there?”. When the letter is turned upright, the child identifies the sound of the letter that appears.

If your progress chart indicates that the child is feeling confident about some letters but not others, it’s time to go back to the original demonstration of those letters for review and more practice.

What sandpaper letters should look like

The letters should be cut of finest grade sandpaper, and care should be taken, if you are making them yourself, that the letters are accurately shaped. Each letter is then securely glued to a hard cardboard card. Generally, consonants are mounted on pink cards and the vowels on blue ones. (Photo courtesy Alison’s Montessori.)

There remains an interesting debate within the Montessori community as to whether it is better to offer print or cursive-style letters first. This may vary given your own experience or preferences. For more information on print vs. cursive, please see this post: Cursive vs. Printing: Is One Better Than the Other?. Whether you start with printing or cursive, most Montessori instructors do agree that the lower case letters should be given before capital letters.

Important notes

The sandpaper letters are truly one of the most innovative Montessori materials. They are the key to unlocking the wonderful world of words. Sandpaper letters put the skill of reading and writing at the child’s fingertips – literally!

Craft stores are a gold mine for the Montessori teacher. Of course, we all need art supplies in our classrooms, but there are lots of other things that make nice additions to our materials. Here are my five favorites:

1. Tiny wooden shapes
These can usually be found in the woodworking aisle—and they are adorable! Basically, they’re flat, wooden painted shapes about the size of a quarter (and price of a quarter each, too). I like them for Pink, Blue, and Green Series work. I find shapes that fit each of the word schemes, and then have children pick a few at a time and spell them with the movable alphabet. They’re much less expensive than miniature objects, and just as fun.

2. Plastic art cups
While these cups are traditionally used for mixing paint, I like to use them with the land and water forms nomenclature cards. You’ll need one cup for each land form, some brown clay, and a clay tool. Let the kids roll the clay in their hands and then make each land form. Give them a pitcher of blue-tinted water to pour in each dish, and watch the land and water forms come alive!

3. Photo boxes
Cardboard photo boxes (the size of a shoebox) are extremely helpful in the classroom. A great use I just heard of recently was for continent boxes. Using one box for each continent, you fill the box with pictures, books, and objects related to that continent. I also use them to hold reading books, art supplies, and mini file folders with matching cards, art postcards, or animal research cards.

2. Silk bags
You should be able to find these in the wedding decorations section of a craft store. They come in lots of different sizes, with ribbons at the top. My favorite use is for gemstones—55 of them, plus cards that say 1-10, make a beautiful “cards and counters” work. The kids love to pull the bag closed with the ribbons. They can also hold language objects, stringing beads, or anything else that needs a beautiful touch.

1. Model animals
All kids love animals. They make any work more special. At most craft stores, you can find a variety of miniature animals. Some are grouped in containers (and slightly cheaper in quality and price), while others, like the Schleich brand, are available individually and are a little more expensive. Target now carries Schleich animals in their toy section. These animals are a great addition to: continent sets, land/air/water work, vertebrate/invertebrate sorting, types of vertebrates, biomes work, vertebrate and invertebrate nomenclature, animal kingdom charts, and more.

The two main craft stores in my area are Michael’s and Hobby Lobby. While neither of them have online stores, you can visit their websites to find a location near you. I’ve seen all of the above items at both stores.

When Maria Montessori began working with the children in the first Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House), she gave them sandpaper letters to trace while saying the correct sound. She didn’t do any specific work in the area of reading, but almost effortlessly, the children began to read. Italian is a very phonetic language (words are spelled the way they sound), and once the children knew the sounds, they could read.

After the Montessori method was brought to the United States in the 1920s, it was clear that another approach was needed to teach reading and writing in English. While there are many phonetically spelled words in English, there are even more that use “phonemes”; that is, groups of letters that create distinct sounds when combined. For instance, “ough” can make several sounds, as in “through” or “bough”. These sounds need to be memorized; they can’t be sounded out phonetically.

The Pink, Blue, and Green Series materials were developed to meet that need. They break down the essentials of English phonics into three groups: short vowel sounds, consonant blends, and phonetic combinations. By moving through these materials in order, a child is able to easily master the art of reading and writing in English.

The Pink Series materials are where it all begins. Pink Series words consist of three letters: a beginning and ending consonant, and a vowel in the middle. All of the vowel sounds in this series are short vowels: “a” as in “cat”; “e” as in “bed”, “i” as in “pig”, “o” as in “hot”, and “u” as in “bus”. The letter “y” is not included in this grouping.

After mastering the Pink Series, the child is ready to move to Blue Series words. These words consist of consonant blends (at the beginning or end of the word, or both), and a short vowel sound. Examples would include “flag”, “mend”, and “clock”. There are about 20 different blends, if you include doubles like “ll” and “ss”. The child may work on this step for quite awhile, as there are hundreds of words that fit into this scheme (see picture for an example of Blue Series matching cards).

Once the Blue Series words have been mastered (essentially, that means the child is familiar with all the blends and can spell most Blue Series Words), they are ready for Green Series. The Green Series is where reading fluency really begins, as the child now has the keys to unlock the inconsistencies and idiosyncrasies of the English language.

The Green Series words consist of all the major phonemes, for example: “ai”, “ou”, “ie”, and “ow”. It also includes vowel combinations with a consonant in the middle, like “a_e” or “i_e” where the “_” is a consonant. These would be words like “cake” or “mice“. It includes silent letters, hard and soft letters, and many other difficult spelling and reading challenges. There are about 40-50 different sound combinations in this group.

There is a huge variety of Pink, Blue, and Green Series work. Common ones include matching cards, rhyming cards, using the movable alphabet to spell words, cards with lists of words for spelling or reading practice, and word cards with matching objects. Materials differ by classroom and teacher and most Montessori companies have their own personalized sets of materials that are all slightly different.

Pink, Blue, and Green Series materials are easy to make at home; for suggestions, check out this post:

What Can You Do With the Language Basics?

Montessori Wooden Materials:

Alison’s Montessori
Materials Company of Boston
Cabdev Montessori

Montessori Printed Materials & PDFs:

Montessori for Everyone
Montessori 123
Priority Montessori

Montessori Practical Life & Sensorial Materials:

Montessori Services
Michael Olaf

Other Montessori Items:

My Montessori House – Phonics Videos
Montessori Greeting Cards
New Child Montessori – Guides for the Montessori Classroom

Online Lessons & Presentations:

Shu-Chen Jenny Yen’s Online Albums
Montessori Great Lessons
Montessori World Educational Institute

Free Downloadable Materials:

Montessori for Everyone
Montessori by Hand
Enchanted Learning

Helpful Websites:

Homeschooling from A to Z
MontessoriMom
American Montessori Society
Association Montessori Internationale

Additional Materials & Educational Toys:

Online Science Mall
Brighter Starts
Oriental Trading Company

Lately I see a clear trend towards using “real photographs” in Montessori work. Quite obviously, the internet and digital cameras have given people access to millions of photos, and certainly many traditional Montessori materials (including mine) have been given a new life through the use of high-quality photos.

Overall I think it’s a great trend, and I think that kids the world over are benefiting by having real pictures in the work they do. The only area where I find this to be a concern is regarding nomenclature cards. These would include anything that starts with “Parts of…” and in Montessori, they span everything from geometry concepts to geographic features to plants and animals.

Traditionally, drawings were used for nomenclature cards (see picture). In the early days, this made a lot of sense. For a long time, pictures weren’t readily available to teachers and parents, and even when cameras became widespread, taking and printing up photos would have been cost- and time-prohibitive for individuals.

The internet has changed all that, and now I am asking: Is this a good change? I don’t believe it is, where nomenclature cards are concerned, and here’s why. Drawings for nomenclature cards have traditionally been very simple, and contain only the “parts” that will be named and defined. It’s very easy to isolate the salient part of the drawing, and kids will be very clear as to which name/label refers to which part.

Today’s use of photos for nomenclature cards adds new points of interest – backgrounds, colors, and attributes – that are not related to the actual nomenclature. While they may initially be more appealing to look at, I feel that in the end they stand in the way of the child; they confuse rather than clarify. That’s why you’ll never see me use photos for nomenclature cards.

Why do I use photos for things like “Types of Birds”, then? These kinds of cards should be used, if the teacher or parent is being conscientious, by children who have completely mastered the names and definitions of the “parts”. At this point, they are able to go from a very specific concept of a “bird” to a more general concept of “types of birds”. Photos in this case are not a hindrance to mastery of the material.

With any change, it’s important to make sure that we’re not making a change just for the sake of change, but because it’s actually an improvement. In this case, I don’t think it is.

10. The Sandpaper Letters – brilliantly enabling children to see, touch, and say (hear) a phonetic sound. It doesn’t matter what your learning style is, these have got you covered.

9. The Movable Alphabet – what a great idea! The first time I heard of it – without seeing it – I thought, “An alphabet that moves? How can that be?” Sure enough, it does.

8. The Golden Beads/Bead Stair – math has never been so hands-on or so satisfying. Plus, the beads can be used for truly endless types of math activities.

7. Pouring & Scooping Work – the perfect intersection of the child’s own desires, and the acquiring of a life skill. Kids can’t resist it.

6. Nomenclature & Classification Cards – hmm, I wonder why I like these so much? I love the fact that Montessori kids can tell you the parts of a volcano, the sun, the moon, and the earth by the age of 5.

5. The Wooden Puzzle Maps – a fantastic way to teach geography, and like so many other Montessori materials, they’re beautiful as well.

4. The Checkerboard – fun, challenging, and clever. I never would have thought this up myself, but it works perfectly.

3. The Triangle Boxes – how I wish I had these in high school during my geometry class! Things would have made so much more sense.

2. The Pink Tower – it’s just so perfectly formed, each block proportionately smaller and smaller. Everything from the color to the shape of it just says “Montessori”.

1. The Binomial & Trinomial Cubes – I’ll never forget when I took the Montessori training, and the teacher was explaining how each side of each cube related to a term in the binomial and trinomial equations. A light bulb went on! I got it!

I’m sure you have your own personal favorites! Care to share?