March Classroom Madness

Getting ready to start off into March, I wanted to share a few of the things I will be putting on my shelf this St. March!


I really enjoy the changing of the season and work. I'm the type of teacher that gets really bored with her classroom set up and materials, so if I get bored I know my children do also.

Here are a few items that I created for my classroom.

This is a piece of work that I made for my younger students so that they can start working on their visual discrimination. This is an extension that I placed in the Sensorial area. 

I created a counting work zero through ten with St. Patrick's Day pictures. I wanted the numeral and the name on one card with the counting pictures in the other. 

This following is for language, its a play on the Dice and Roll work we all know about. I wanted something more festive and for it to be more Montessori based Language. Most that I have seen are for sight words... which is great but I wanted different. So, I created pink, blue, and green series cards. For those who are saying "What the heck is pink, blue and green?" We like to divide language into sections pink: easiest level, consonant-vowel-consonant words (bob, sat, ran, red, etc), blue: blends that you can hear each sound and double consonants (frog, crab, bell, etc), Green: Special sounds and basically everything hard (make, church, shell, bird, rain, etc). 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Simply-Montessori 

I love this shamrock 'plastic' inset. It's older and I couldn't even tell you where I purchased it but its the best. 

Pin pricking shamrocks!

This beautifully drawn rainbow is amazing. I'm not sure where I got it from because I've had it a long time but all you have to do is google "rainbow color sheets". I'm sure you can find one just like it or better! I just love this one because it's simple and straight to the point.

Practical Life, my basic life skill friend. This area saves my butt multiple times a day with children who just can't that day or children that I just can't that day with. I sound like a horrible human being, huh but let's all be honest, some days we just can't. And you know what, that's okay! Because we may be teachers but we're still humans in the end. I need my coffee each morning and some days I just need a quiet and peaceful classroom, so that I can act like the graceful Montessori teacher that I really want to be. So, here are some things I did to help engage the tiny humans and help crazy children ease into the classroom.

Sensorial bin that I made for all my seeking children. I made all the colors at home, so easy to do!

Grating nutmeg, this is a great alternative to soap, because the nutmeg smells amazing! 

Solar System Work

I've had a lot of questions about how I made my solar system work. So, I thought this would be a good time as any to post about it.


First here is the final product:

When I was searching for rings, I couldn't find anything online or in the stores that would fit what I wanted. So, I went to Esty and started contacting shops that dealt with cutting wood pieces into shapes. I found one that I had used before for wood purchases. I contact Travis at LaserWoodShapes and he was great about it. He is so easy to work with, he could almost anything I requested and didn't charge me a special price! His shop is called LaserWoodShapes. I highly recommend him and NO I'm not getting a kickback from him. I just like dropping names, when I trust people to do a good job, no money involved. We are teachers we need to know who to trust because we don't have a lot of money to waste.  

Here are my order details, if you are wanting to order it also.

The first circle in the center is to be 2" in diameter, then nine other rings around that one, at 1" wide each. A total of 13 inches with a 1/4 inch thickness. 

This cost me under $15! That was a score for me as a teacher!

Then, I went to look for what to use for the planets. So, I went to Hobby Lobby (if you don't have one go online and order!) to look at the different wooden knob sizes. I purchased a range of sizes, the sun is the largest at 3 inches and the smallest is tiny! They cost me more than the rings because I had to purchase them in packages of multiple ones.

Then, I just googled the colors of each planet, I had acrylic paint already at home to use. I painted each one then sprayed with a clear coat, I prefer using Modge Podge clear coat but that's just my preference. I would think any clear coat spray would work just fine.

I spray painted the rings the color black, then flicked paint at them (this is messy use a cardboard box!) I clear coated that also. Then I was done! Super easy but a lot of time goes into this so it makes is hard in that sense.  I hope this helps everyone! If you have any questions, please let me know!

Happy Painting!

How I learned Not to Lose My Mind

 I sit here rehashing out my day with the children, it makes me sit and wonder why I haven't lost my mind. I teach the room that the children need more assistance, I have received a lot of training and certificates to do this. I found that my need for training came out of desperation to help the children that seemed to pour into my classroom. I'm like every other teacher who wants a perfect normalized classroom full of purposeful children... doesn't that sound amazing?! What I have always found that I have a classroom of sensory seeking, run in circles, hang from the rafts kind of children. I use to find myself uneducated on how to reach and calm these children. These were the days, I would go home and I just want to cry. It wasn't from the fact that my room wasn't perfect or that I was bitten four times that day, punched in the face, head-butted, etc. I wanted to cry because I felt so out of control of what was happening, I felt that I couldn't reach my children, I couldn't help them, how do you help a child understand not to hit their head against a wall when they were upset or overstimulated. I felt helpless. I hated that feeling, so one day I started searching out conferences and workshops. I was lucky enough to attend an all-day therapist conference! This was amazing, it was for child therapist but when they heard my story they allowed me to attend. There I was just a Montessori teacher among giants. They took me in and listened to my struggles and gave me so much advise, I walked away feeling empowered! I then found more conferences, so I went after work during the week, I used my Saturdays to go to all day meetings. I went until I couldn' find anymore. Do I say I am an expert? I wish! I haven't been to college for this and I still and will continue to have so much to learn.

As I applied these methods and principles in my classroom something started to happen, my room started to have moments of quietness, my children started getting what they needed from me and they didn't hang off the rafters as much! It was in those moments that I sat down in my purposeful classroom and wanted to cry, to cry from the peace of the children. Did I still have days where I felt like I was dying on those hills, of course! Though as I found those moments of beauty, it was completely worth it.  So, what I am saying is, seek information, don't take one person's opinion on the matter as the official statement, find four or five people to talk to about your struggles. This has made a world of a difference for me. I still have really hard days, but I don't get upset anymore (15 years later). Now when a child breaks down in front of me, I know it's not because he is being mean but I have upset him by telling him no and this is his way of expressing his pain. I can then work through it with him and help him to see better ways of expressing himself.

If we take care of our minds and bodies, educating them, nurturing them, and resting them. This will allow us to better take care of the children around us. We affect each child's life whether we want to or not, the questions is, is it healthy or unhealthy interactions?

Fall Printables

I'm in the middle of making different fall and winter printables for classrooms and to use at home. This scarecrow I illustrated last night and I’m so excited about how he came out! 

He is up for sale on Etsy and will soon be on Teachers pay Teachers. You can print him out, creaet a booklet and allow the children to make their own booklets!

I’ll also be illustrating this week, parts of a Christmas tree, snowman, and pumpkin. Spanish versions of these will also be available! All art work is by me. Links below

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SimplyMontessoriShop

Halloween Crafts

Halloween Crafts 

This month I decided to do some fun crafts with the children for Halloween. I don't normally do much for Halloween because Montessori doesn't normally recognize it but I wanted to have a little fun... so I did.  The ideas came from a teacher that I work with.

Fall Work Time!

Don't you just love fall! I know I really do and this is one of my favorite times to create work! Here are a few ideas for you and if you would rather purchase then buy, just go to my Esty Shop.  :)

These items I got from the dollar bins at Target and the Dollar Tree. They are erases but are great for sorting and matching work! Most of this was found in the party section of Target or Party City. I like to use table favors and different small objects!

Easter Is Coming!

As a Montessori teacher, there have been always certain things that get me excited in my classroom, new work, yard sale finds, cool items that parents donated, holidays, etc. With Easter coming up, I'm getting pretty excited. I love searching the stores to find everyday items that I can make into work for the shelf. So, I troll the dollar sections in hopes of finding that one amazing item that can be something exciting for the children to use.


Here are the great things I found to make!


I find these amazing pink and purple toothpicks, they aren't too pointy but still enough where they can go into the shaker. The children go crazy over this!

Tonging work that I just couldn't pass up making! I just love the pastel colors. 

Spooning work using those plastic ice cubes you can get in the store, they are pink so how could I pass them up!

Fun Easter eggs that are all glittery for spooning work.

This one has chick erasers in it, I just love using erasers for so many reasons!

All the work shown on this post has been made in doubles and are up for purchase on Etsy 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SimpleCreationsStore?ref=hdr_shop_menu