Each book has a different focus, but together they make a great foundation for any parent wanting to start Montessori at home.
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My Top 3 Picks for Best Montessori Books for Parents are:
- The Montessori Baby / Toddler
- Montessori from the Start
- Teach Me to Do It Myself
There are heaps more out there, but these 3 cover the foundational needs of understanding the philosophy of Montessori (Montessori from the Start), how to apply it in the different parts of your home as a parent (The Montessori Baby / Toddler) , and exact activities you can do and it what order to do them (Teach Me to Do It Myself).
The Montessori Baby
After the wildly successful “The Montessori Toddler” the authors, to the excitement of many, produced “The Montessori Baby“.
The book to help new parents begin their journey of Montessori at home.
I would HIGHLY recommend this book to any new parent starting Montessori with their baby.
It is written out like a guide book to help you step-by-step with all the fun things you can do to start your Montessori family journey.
PRO’S
– FANTASTIC
– Modern examples
– Routines
– Many infographics
– Stages really laid out
CON’S
– Lack’s background theory
– Only for babies, so if you have older child not for you
When I discovered Montessori while I was pregnant with my first born I sifted through many reviews of what to read and took in as many tips from other Montessori families online as I could.
Let’s just say there are LOTS of resources, and it can become a little overwhelming.
So I thought I would share my top picks for most useful Montessori books for parents to help others out.
They each have different qualities to them and I have provided pro’s and con’s to each book. Together they make a great foundation for Montessori at home parenting.
You could easily only read these books and be able to do Montessori from home with your child from birth to Kindy.
If you want to know my most recommended straight away, The Montessori Baby is what I truly think is the best resource out their right now for beginning Montessori at home.
Best Montessori Books for Beginning – Power Duo
If you are just starting Montessori at Home I am updating this article with this “Power Duo” suggestion.
If I could only pick 2 that would get you through the early years easily without needing any other Montessori resources it would be “The Montessori Baby” and “The Montessori Toddler” by Simone Davies.
“The Montessori Baby” wasn’t out when my first was born, but having it with my 2nd has made me recognize more home opportunities for bringing Montessori to the baby year.
So I HIGHLY recommend the “Power Duo” if you are looking for a modern, straight-forward guide to beginning Montessori at home.
Babies Build Toddlers
Another great option that is geared towards babies and the first months of life. This book has a 5 start rating for a reason!
The lovely women who collaboratively put this book together have really laid out the foundation you can begin at home to begin Montessori. The illustrations are beautiful and really give you a visual developmental charts are great resource.
PRO’S
– First 18 months
– Helpful visual illustrations
– Easy to digest
– Perfect for new parents
– Multi-culture representation
CON’S
– A bit brief on Maria’s background reasons
– Only for babies, so if you have older child not for you
Montessori From The Start {review}
This book is the one to read if you are truly looking to start Montessori from birth.
“Montessori from the Start” will give you the guidance and explain the concepts behind the each of the actions promoted.
This was the first book to give me the real keys of “What to Do?” for my child at home.
It is an older book, so it can be a tad dry at times, but I still was able to read it in one weekend. Post-it notes marked throughout for future use as little one grew older.
It gives you instructions on what to do for different stages and activities, as well as the different areas of you home.
PRO’S
– Laid out well
– Pictures!
– Info-graphics
– Real guidance
– Montessori Background
CON’S
– Bit dry to read
– older book
The Montessori Toddler {review}
Okay, If I had to pick ONE BOOK for every parent thinking of doing Montessori at home to have, THIS would be the one.
“The Montessori Toddler” is very modern book, and laid out in the most straightforward, amazing way.
It is like a true manual to doing Montessori at home.
The graphics make it so fun to read and it is absolutely filled with examples, pictures, routines, options, and everything in between!
It doesn’t go into the background of Montessori as much as other books, which can be quite useful for the understanding of “Why” Montessori. So, I would encourage any parent to eventually read the background of Montessori.
PRO’S
– AWESOME!
– Modern examples
– Routines
– Many infographics
– Ages/Stages really laid out
CON’S
– Lack”s background information
– Not infant relatable
Teach Me To Do It Myself {review}
The best guide to examples of activities you can do at home and how to set them up.
This book is a bit on the older side as well, but is still a true gem!
It gives you the activity and how to do it, including supplies, instructions, and what the activity is teaching.
“Teach Me To Do It Myself” has the activities in categories, and then starts with easy activities and gets to more challenging activities as you progress through each section.
PRO’S
– Resource for activity options
– Step-by-step instructions
– Categorized by skills
– LOTS of photos
CON’S
-Aim at toddlers and up
– Bit older book
Review of Montessori Parenting Books
These are most useful Montessori Parenting Books I have come across. Books I could easily read and apply to our life at home.
As I said in my review, The Montessori Baby is my top pick of being the most useful to new parents/carers starting out learning Montessori and want to use it straight away.
When You’re Ready for More Heavy Reading
Now it is a good idea to get more background information on Maria Montessori and where the principles of Montessori learning came from eventually.
Though, the most detailed explanations are…well…very heavy, dry reading.
This may not be some peoples cup of tea. Which is totally fine, there are many great summaries in the books above.
If you are someone who is interested in reading up on it at some point then these two options are what I would recommend to any friend.
The Essential Montessori is a fantastic summary of Maria Montessori and her works over the years. It was still a heavy read, but not nearly as much as Maria Montessori’s actual writing.
There are actual large snippets of Maria Montessori’s writing in this book, which do a great job in my opinion of summarizing the background of this age-old teaching method.
If you want to get into the true Montessori background, then The Absorbent Mind is the book to read.
VERY heavy, dry reading and can be tricky to follow along. Though it is filled with the true counts of how Maria came up with her methods.
Other Awesome Montessori Families
Below I have included a few wonderful familys’ who also write about their experiences doing Montessori at home.
I find these beautiful people the “role models” of what Montessori at home can look like…with a bit more of a budget and space than I have (oh how I dream to have a big open space like this for my kiddo).
All have great resources on what Montessori at home can look like for young children!
So, if you are a visual person and want to see what other’s do in their homes these are some great websites to go and check out!
Kavanaugh Report
The Kavanaugh Report written by Nicole is a great resource for all things Montessori at home. She has many articles on her journey as Montessori parent with her 3 children.
This is a blog that many folks use for example of things to set-up in their own home.
Montessori in Real Life
Montessori in Real Life is about a lovely family with two small children in the Midwest and their lives using Montessori principles at home. They have provided extensive tours of their home and how they have set it up with Montessori principles in mind.
How We Montessori
How We Montessori is written by Kylie who lives in Australia and is filled with many many many examples of activities you can do with young children at home.
She goes very in depth month-by-month with her kiddos and what they did at home at each stage.
Montessori Website’s with Good Resources
Guide & Grow
Guide and Grow are great group who have put together soo many useful resources (videos especially) for us everyday parents.
Some of their best video’s include:
- Navigating Biting, Hitting, and Throwing
- Follow the Child – What does that mean?
- DIY Montessori Material on a Budget
Child of the Redwoods
Aubrey from Child of the Redwood’s is one of the most down to earth women I have come across in the Montessori realm. She offers some beautiful podcasts to help give insight to using Montessori at home.
She even offers a Montessori homeschooling for preschoolers program which many have said only beautiful things about.
Some of her podcasts include:
- Montessori is for REGULAR people. NOT just for rich people.
- Nose picking, window licking, and other gross things kids do.
- Noisy, Plastic toys from Grandparent’s Don’t Have to Ruin Your Life.
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