Rating: 
Summary: perfect resource for getting started...it's so easy
Review: After a recent visit to a local Montessori school with my three year old son, my husband and I became convinced that this was the best educational approach for him, at least for the next few years. Since the school here does not have mid-semester admittance, I decided to start implementing some Montessori activities at home with him. I found this book to be the perfect resource for getting started...it's so easy. I immediately began introducing the exercises at home and my son loves them! Just today he washed his own little dishes, helped sweep the floor, poured rice, and strung beads...he had a fine time and was very interested and quite proud of his accomplishments. Yes, even rambunctious little boys enjoy helping with household tasks. Now we're off to feed the dogs...
Rating:
Summary: Great for Parents on a Budget
Review: Although there are more and more chartered and public schools using Montessori methods of teaching, most Montessori schools are private enterprises and must charge considerable tuition in order to stay open. If you are in favor of Montessori methods but are not able to send your child to a Montessori school, this is the book for you. The author of this book gives a brief history of Maria Montessori and how she discovered how children learn. It then goes on to describe the methods used, and gives detailed instructions for all the exercises and demonstrations which are used with preschool-aged children. The author also gives instructions for making many of the Montessori materials at home, with common household items or easy-to-obtain craft supplies. Throughout the book she offers many alternative suggestions for the materials which are typically used in a Montessori classroom. For instance, she mentions that a muffin tin can be used very effectively to sort buttons, and that a handtowel may be used for the workmat. Although this book was orginally written in the 1960's, most of the information is still useful today. The cover mentions that it has been updated and revised, but it is not clear what information has been changed in this edition. Still, overall this book is a wonderful resource for frugal parents who are able to teach their children at home, and who want to use Montessori methods to do so.
Rating:
Summary: Good Source of Montessori Information
Review: As a parent and teacher I would highly recommend this book to parents looking for information about the Montessori method. I currently teach at a Montessori school and this is one of the books that we recommend to parents.
Rating:
Summary: A Valuable Book for Montessori Parents
Review: Hainstock's easy to understand format will be helpful to the parent who knows little or nothing about how to use the Montessori method. The instructions and presentation of each of the learning activities mentioned in this book, in my humble opinion, are excellent. Parents today are busy and they don't have time to wade through books with complicated, confusing information. Their time is valuable, and Hainstock is sensitive to this fact. She is also sensitive to the child and his or her needs. Her lessons truly represent Montessori in every way. I have looked at this book from two persepectives - a parent and as a teacher and came away with the same feeling. Job well done.
Rating:
Summary: A Valuable Book for Montessori Parents
Review: Hainstock's easy to understand format will be helpful to the parent who knows little or nothing about how to use the Montessori method. The instructions and presentation of each of the learning activities mentioned in this book, in my humble opinion, are excellent. Parents today are busy and they don't have time to wade through books with complicated, confusing information. Their time is valuable, and Hainstock is sensitive to this fact. She is also sensitive to the child and his or her needs. Her lessons truly represent Montessori in every way. I have looked at this book from two persepectives - a parent and as a teacher and came away with the same feeling. Job well done.
Rating: 
Summary: A well written and organized resource guide
Review: I became interested in the Montessori method while researching different educational styles in order to prepare for what my family's options would be once our twin toddlers reach preschool age. After doing research on the internet, attending an open house at a Montessori preschool in our area, and reading "The Discovery of the Child" by Dr. Maria Montessori, I felt that I needed to find a book that I could use as a guide and would serve as a frame of reference for beginning to do activities with my children that are based on the Montessori approach. This book not only served as an excellent reference guide to how to use the Montessori method at home with your children, but it is well written, easy to follow, and well organized. I particularly like how each activity includes clear directions on how to carry out the activity, the materials needed for the activity, the purpose of the activity, and the learning objective for the activity. I also like how the author included a section on how to make a "prepared environment" for learning in your home, being that the "prepared environment" is one of the, if not the most, critical aspects of a Montessori education. This book is really helpful for someone like me who wants establish an early educational foundation for my children at home and see what suits their needs and personalities before the time comes for my husband and I to decide what will be the educational setting for our children's preschool and kindergarten years.
Rating:
Summary: Thank You For This Book!
Review: I spent a year agonizing over how I could implement Montessori in my home preschool. Materials, which are so important to the montessori method are very expensive. This guide tells you how to make your own. It is very simple. If you want to homeschool, are trying to figure out how to transition your toddler into a preschool routine, and want them to LOVE LEARNING...try this out!(I went to montessori as a preschooler and I can still remember the way the materials felt in my hands. It is a sensory and movement based learning that is very appealing and residual)
Rating:
Summary: Thank You For This Book!
Review: I spent a year agonizing over how I could implement Montessori in my home preschool. Materials, which are so important to the montessori method are very expensive. This guide tells you how to make your own. It is very simple. If you want to homeschool, are trying to figure out how to transition your toddler into a preschool routine, and want them to LOVE LEARNING...try this out!(I went to montessori as a preschooler and I can still remember the way the materials felt in my hands. It is a sensory and movement based learning that is very appealing and residual)
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Material
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Rather than finding the emphasis on manners and grace to be outdated, I found it to be a refreshing reinforcement of an aspect of our children's socialization process that has been neglected by busy parents and over-crowded schools. In my child care center, these elements of life are recognized as being extremely important. The child who learns to be respectful and who learns good manners is well received by the world, and usually enjoys a healthier dynamic within her family. With so many two career couples, these socialization skills are often lost in the busy shuffle. Children are pushed very heavily to perform academically, while other aspects of their growth and development are sadly neglected. The ensuing imbalance may be responsible for some of our oft lamented social ills. Montessori materials and proper applications are no less than brilliant. Proper applications being a key term. When learning is presented in the form of play, without pressure in regards to emergent skills, the experience is very powerful and very positive for the child. I'm delighted with this book, and others like it that make Montessori more widely accessible.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring work for parents and young children!
Review: I was completely ignorant about the Montessori method when I bought this book. My son is almost 3 and as I had become tired of playing with cars and trucks and saying "no" all the time. I was looking for a more engaged kind of play-with-learning that we could do at home. This book is fantastic - outlining many activities and giving a taste of the Montessori approach that will let you decide whether you want to know more (I did!). Many Montessori programs are expensive but this book equips you to do the activities with home made equipment. It also inspires parents to teach their children about everyday activities in a more formal way - eg. my son loved the 'lesson' on how to open and close a drawer properly. He quickly 'taught' his panda and Maisie how to do it noiselessly and showed a great deal of pride in his new ability. What a change from throwing Hot Wheels cars at the wall!
| 
